Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For December, we’re looking at travel-themed memoirs, new cookbooks, history (both American and ancient), heartwarming pet stories, and adventure gone wrong. We have lots of holiday-themed books and movies too, but if you’re looking for a change of pace from that, well, this post is for you!
If you prefer nonfiction adventure:
Heidi Eliason’s Confessions of a Middle-Aged Runaway: An RV Travel Adventure (2019)*
The author’s solution to feeling like she was in a rut in her forties was to quit her job, buy an RV, and hit the road with her dog. Her adventure lasted five years, and this memoir is an account of what she learned while driving through the United States and Mexico.
*Ebook also available on Libby.
Recommended for those who are fans of Jessica Bruder’s Nomadland.
Will Grant’s The Last Ride of the Pony Express: My 2,000-Mile Horseback Journey into the Old West (2023)**
The Pony Express only lasted eighteen months, but it still looms large in the mythos of the American West. To that end, author Will Grant saddles up to retrace the historic route from Missouri to California. This book chronicles his journey and all the people he met along the way.
**Ebook and audiobook also available on Libby.
Recommended for those who are fans of the work of John Boessenecker.
If you love to cook:
The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2001–2024: Every Recipe from the Hit TV Show Along with Product Ratings Includes the 2024 Season (2023)
If you love America’s Test Kitchen, you can’t miss their latest book! It features every single recipe ever featured on the show, even what hasn’t aired yet from next year’s season. Beyond nearly 2,000 recipes, the book also features dozens of pages of equipment and ingredient reviews.
Recommended for America’s Test Kitchen fans and anyone looking for a comprehensive cooking resource!
Mary Bryant Shrader’s The Modern Pioneer Cookbook: Nourishing Recipes From a Traditional Foods Kitchen (2023)
Learn how to make your own from-scratch bone broths, sourdough starters, and more from this handy cookbook. YouTube star Mary also covers basic canning and home preservation and includes recipes for everything from homemade graham crackers to how to make tasty, affordable additive-free meals like chili.
Recommended for those who are interested in exploring more about the traditional foods movement.
If you enjoy history:
Peter Cozzens’s A Brutal Reckoning: Andrew Jackson, the Creek Indians, and the Epic War for the American South (2023)
Peter Cozzens is noted for his well-researched, thought-provoking historical nonfiction about the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. In his latest book, Cozzens turns his attention to the relatively neglected but brutally devastating Creek War of the early 1810s. It’s a complicated topic, but Cozzens clearly and effectively explains the event and its major players, as well as its background and aftermath, the infamous Trail of Tears.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Dee Brown.
Garrett Ryan’s Insane Emperors, Sunken Cities, and Earthquake Machines: More Frequently Asked Questions about the Ancient Greeks and Romans (2023)***
Earlier this year, we profiled Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants, Garrett Ryan’s engaging look at life in the ancient world. In his latest book, he’s back with more fascinating answers to intriguing questions about ancient Greece and ancient Rome. This time around, he covers everything from ancient natural disasters to tattoos to libraries.
***Ebook and audiobook also available on Libby.
Recommended for those who enjoy the work of Mary Beard.
If you need an audiobook:
Julia Romp’s The Cat Who Came Back for Christmas: How a Cat Brought a Family the Gift of Love (2010)****
This lovely story tells the story of a boy and his cat. A chance encounter with a stray cat seemed to bring Julia’s autistic son George out of his shell. The two quickly become separable, until one day the unthinkable happened–Ben the cat disappears. But never fear this book has a happy ending and a Christmas miracle.
****Ebook and audiobook also available on Libby.
Recommended for those who enjoy a good book about cats.
Andrea Lankford’s Trail of the Lost: The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail (2023)
In this book, former park ranger Andrea Lankford delves into missing persons cases on the Pacific Crest Trail. Three hikers have gone missing in separate incidents on the trail in recent years, and she records their stories as well as the determined search and rescue efforts to find them.
Recommended for those who enjoyed Cheryl Strayed’s Wild and Kathryn Miles’s Trailed.
What’s your favorite new-ish books? What books are you buzzing about these days? Have you read any of these books? Tell us in the comments! As always, please follow this link to our online library catalog for more information on any of these items or to place them on hold.
Berryville Book Buzz 