★ You Suck at Cooking
I had just perused several stunning cookbooks, replete with jaw-dropping dishes that made me both hungry and in want of a nap, when I picked up You Suck at Cooking and saw recipes like “Toasted Walnut Cauliflower Stuff” and “Broccoli Cheddar Quiche Cupcake Muffin-Type Things.” This book is the antidote to precious food culture, and it’s the first cookbook to ever make me repeatedly LOL. The (anonymous) author turns the expected on its head in a voice that’s perhaps best described as Super Mock Textbook. In the “Things You Might Need” section, for example: “There are many heat sources to choose from, each more dangerous than the next. . . . Make sure you choose the heat source that is just dangerous enough for you.” Thing is, the recipes herein could become anyone’s favorite go-tos. Don’t dare miss the section on sandwiches.
Embrace Your Weird
Someone once told me I reminded her of the actor Felicia Day. I didn’t know who Day was at the time, but now I’m glad to see she’s written a book called Embrace Your Weird, a concept I can fully get behind. Building on the success of her previous title, You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost), Day returns with a creativity guide that positively vibrates with her bubbly comedic sensibility. If you are exclamation point- or ALL CAPS-averse, this is not the book for YOU! But she isn’t wrong when she writes, “Playfulness is the root of all creation.” Her book delights in manifesting that idea, with the help of cute illustrations, meme jokes and many parenthetical asides.
Shared Living
Our journey into the wilds of adulting begins with Emily Hutchinson’s Shared Living, which takes features of the best modern interior design books—Q&As with stylish folks around the globe, tip lists, gorgeous photography on matte stock—and applies them to spaces shared by two or more people. Communal living, after all, is on the uptick these days, with home ownership ever further out of reach. A number of lofts and open floor plans are featured here, with ideas for breaking up the space and balancing housemates’ varying styles. It’s fun to examine how these individuals bring their cherished and whimsical objects together in ways that work, and this would make a great gift for someone signing their first lease with a roomie.
