
“April 1. This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four.”
― Mark Twain
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Cooking For Kings: The Life of Antonin Careme, the First Celebrity Chef by Ian Kelly
A biographical cookbook, Cooking for Kings presents scenes of daily life in royal Regency kitchens from the firing of the coal ovens before dawn to the spinning of breathtaking sugar creations for elaborate feasts. Many recipes are included interspersed with lavish descriptions of palaces and aristocrats. Most seem too ambitious for the home cook but reading them brings to life a world of opulence and indulgence.

Same Kind of Different as Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Brought Them Together by Ron Hall
Hall gives us his story with an open heart. Haunting memories of his traumatic childhood lead him into poverty and despair with no hope of redemption. At this low ebb, the unexpected love of strangers intercedes. Deeply spiritual, Hall’s memoir is fierce in its love and loyalty.

My Antonia by Willa Cather
My Antonia swells my heart. The longing of a boy for the out-of-reach girl he admires threads through a story of hardships and endurance. Constricted by the mores of their times and the difference in their ages, Jim pines for Antonia as they find their separate ways from the farmsteads of rural immigrants to the wider world.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie
A sometimes-banned must read. This book is challenging, not just because it tackles issues and racial and cultural discrimination, but because it is so real, so angry, so heartbroken. Too honest to let us look away, Alexie throws aside any romantic notions we may have about First Nations and forces a conversation about human tragedies too long ignored.

Children’s Shelf

Scuffy the Tugboat by Gertrude Crampton
One of the beloved Little Golden Books series, Scuffy has been a happy childhood memory all my life. Though his adventures take him a little too far from home for a toy tugboat, Scuffy is rescued by the boy who loves him and safely returned to the bathtub. Toot, toot!