From the sacred fudge served to India's gods to the ephemeral baklava of Istanbul's harems, the towering sugar creations of Renaissance Italy, and the exotically scented macarons of twenty-first century Paris, the world's confectionary arts have not only mirrored social, technological, and political revolutions, they have also, in many ways, been in their vanguard. Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert captures the stories of sweet makers past and present from India, the Middle Ea...

Pumpkins are one of those few ingredients that can do it all-soups, salads, starters, side dishes, dinners, and desserts. Make it sweet or make it savory, this native American makes any meal a little more festive. Here, Michael Krondl offers a staggering selection of choices from the traditionally familiar to the exotically ethnic.

The smell of sweet cinnamon on your morning oatmeal, the gentle heat of gingerbread, the sharp piquant bite from your everyday peppermill. The tales these spices could tell: of lavish Renaissance banquets perfumed with cloves, and flimsy sailing ships sent around the world to secure a scented prize; of cinnamon-dusted custard tarts and nutmeg-induced genocide; of pungent elixirs and the quest for the pepper groves of paradise.The Taste of Conquest offers up a riveting, globe-trotti...

In this engaging, anecdotal history of food, world conquest, and desire, a chef-turned-journalist tells the story of three legendary cities—Venice, Lisbon, and Amsterdam—that transformed the globe in the quest for spice.Written in a colorful style that will appeal to fans of Mark Kurlansky and Michael Pollan, this ambitious yet accessible book travels effortlessly from the Crusades to the present day. Michael Krondl explains that it was the desire for spices that got international ...

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • NPR • The Guardian • Kirkus Reviews • The fiction of multiple award–winning author China Miéville is powered by intelligence and imagination. Like George Saunders, Karen Russell, and David Mitchell, he pulls from a variety of genres with equal facility, employing the fantastic not to escape from reality but instead to interrogate it in provocative, unexpected ways.London awakes one m...

New York Times bestselling author China Miéville delivers his most accomplished novel yet, an existential thriller set in a city unlike any other–real or imagined.When a murdered woman is found in the city of Beszel, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks to be a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad. But as he investigates, the evidence points to conspiracies far stranger and more deadly than anything he could have imagined.Borlú mu...

Barbara Demick's Nothing to Envy follows the lives of six North Koreans over fifteen years—a chaotic period that saw the death of Kim Il-sung and the unchallenged rise to power of his son, Kim Jong-il, and the devastation of a far-ranging famine that killed one-fifth of the population. Taking us into a landscape never before seen, Demick brings to life what it means to be an average Korean citizen, living under the most repressive totalitarian regime today—an Orwellian world in wh...

The New York Times bestseller that’s changing America’s diet is now perfect for younger readers“What’s for dinner?” seemed like a simple question—until journalist and supermarket detective Michael Pollan delved behind the scenes. From fast food and big organic to small farms and old-fashioned hunting and gathering, this young readers’ adaptation of Pollan’s famous food-chain exploration encourages kids to consider the personal and global health implication...

A writer in Victorian London turns detective to clear his own name in this historical mystery series debut by a New York Times –bestselling author.Winner of the Macavity and Nero AwardsALA Reading List Award for Best Mystery"A masterpiece . . .a fantastic historical thriller, beautifully written, intricately plotted, and populated with unforgettable characters… . ....

*A brand new companion to the Last Kingdom series, Uhtred’s Feast, is available to pre-order now*Welcome to The Last KingdomDiscover the first book in the epic, bestselling series that has gripped millions.A hero will be forged from this broken land.In a land torn apart by conflict, an orphan boy has come of age. Raised by the Vikings, deadly enemies of his own Saxon people, Uhtred is a fierce and s...

Private investigator Cormoran Strike must track down a missing writer -- and a sinister killer bent on destruction -- in this "wonderfully entertaining" mystery (Harlan Coben, New York Times Book Review) that inspired the acclaimed HBO Max series C.B. Strike.When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, Mrs. Quine just thinks her husband has gone off by himself for a few days -- as he has don...

A CLASSIC FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF UNDER MAGNOLIAThe author who unforgettably captured the experience of starting a new life in Tuscany in bestselling travel memoirs expands her horizons to immerse herself—and her readers—in the sights, aromas, and treasures of twelve new special places.A Year in the World is vintage Frances Mayes—a celebration of the allure of travel, of serendipitous pleasures found in unlik...