Cotton candy in book form
922533
2.5 stars

This book is pure fluff -- sweet, light, and colorful, but without much substance. The world-building is pretty vague and the romance -- while sweet -- is predicable YA fare. All that being said, it has its enjoyable, fluffy, romantic moments, if you're not expecting or looking for something deeper. Shannon Hale's Princess Academy has a lot more heart than The Selection, but doesn't have some of the fun, shiny moments: makeovers, pretty dresses, and the like. It doesn't have the depth of a fleshed-out, dystopian world (like The Hunger Games), but if you want something less "serious", this is a good place to look.

My biggest complaint with The Selection had to do Cass's writing style. Too much tell, not enough show! I don't want a stilted play-by-play of every action or clear-cut commentary on our main character's thoughts. Show me what's happening; show me how she's feeling! Don't make it so cut and dry that I get bored (which I did, often).

America's characterization didn't always ring true for me. Some of her actions seemed to serve the sole purpose of creating conflict or moving the plot along. For that reason, she didn't come across as authentic or particularly well-developed.

Another thing: several of the names in this book were ridiculous. I honestly think I would have had an easier, more enjoyable read if America, Aspen, and Maxon had different names -- or at least oft-used nicknames. ("Mer" was cute. I wish we could have had more of it!)

All in all, I enjoyed it enough to finish it. The Selection didn't tickle my fancy, but I certainly see its appeal. (That cover is gorgeous!)
2790246
I ordered Bunny Farts to send to family overseas. It is such a cute name and containing cotton candy that I could not resist!
787407
This is a truly delightful book and I highky recommend it.  I loved the introduction in which the author discussed food references in some of my favorite children's book (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, the Little House series, etc.).  I loved the pastel polka dots and stripes on each page(as if each page were a gift to the reader) as well as the literary quotes scattered throughout the book.  Many recipes feature beautifully styled color photos.

The desserts featured are truly decadent (worth saving up your Weight Watchers points). Chapters include Sticky, Chewy Chocolate (chocolate-mayonnaise cupcakes with caramel-butterscotch buttercream frosting; chocolate caramel-pecan souffle cake), the Pudding Club (sticky toffee pudding; banana bread pudding with hot fudge and toasted walnuts), Cookies, Cakes & Pies (sticky pear and walnut upside-down gingerbread; butterscotch bourbon macademia nut pie), and Do Try This at Home (salted cashew toffee; cheescake pops; white trash panini).

There are several pages focused on individual ingredients (Which Whiskey, Cracking Coconuts, A Tale of Two Cocoas, Give Me Some Sugar) which were very informative and well-written.

I liked the author's fun tone, the scrumptious recipes and the beautiful photos and page styling so much I have already bought one for a friend for Christmas.  If she enjoys it half as much as I have, I will consider it a well-received gift.

I just wished the author lived nearby so I could ivite her to join my book club...
1740987
I bought this booklet (spiral bound and thin) because of some distinctive-looking recipes in it.  In other words, it's not just run of the mill chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies.  It has a lot of photos, which to me is a plus.  What I esp. like about it is that it doesn't have gobs of recipes with candy tossed into it.  Candy is not cookies.  Baking cookies is what I look to do, and I don't want the non-bake kind.  I also don't want gobs of candy in my cookies; I don't want to  make candy.  If you want gluten-free, vegan stuff, don't buy this book.  This is more for people who want to bake traditional cookies but with maybe some unusual flavor variations, i.e. cherry date bars, glazed rum bars, banana cream sandwich cookies, Cornish biscuits, etc.  I have not baked from it yet as it just arrived today.
3831199
I long for the cotton candy sold in bags at the store but alas that era is gone forever. This is a second best and is well worth getting. Though, I must tell you that Walmart sells this for $2.
3251130
Title: Small Batch - Pickles, Cheese, Chocolate, Spirits, and the Return of Artisanal Foods
Author: Suzanne Cope
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Published: 10-15-2014
Pages: 244
Genre: Nonfiction
Sub-Genre: Cooking, Food & Wine, Cookbook, Education & References, History, Gastronomy
ISBN: 978142227347
ASIN: B00OLG9VJA
Reviewed For NetGalley and Rowman & Littlefield
Reviewer: DelAnne
Rating: 4.25 Stars

This is not a how to book, rather it is a short history on making small batches and the way it has become a popular preparation of smaller, personalized homemade batches of pickles, cheeses, chocolates and spirits by todays consumers.  There is much to be learned for those interested.

My rating of "Small Batch - Pickles, Cheese, Chocolate, Spirits, and the Return of Artisanal Foods" is 4.5  out of 5 stars.
2873404
A wearable book? Are we sure these are childrens books as I took them to a 6th grade class and they loved them too.  A fellow blogger had one of these titles on her blog and when I researched it, I found that my library had 2 other titles that followed the same theme so I grabbed them all.  All of these books are board books so they heavy and thick and contain around 6 double pages, not many pages but they are definitely something to check out.  My granddaughter who is almost three likes the Book-O-Beards and the Book-O-Hats. The other book, I believe is a bit too old for her, as it has a zombie, a skeleton, and a werewolf just to name a few of the characters that are inside and right now shes not really into them yet.  Each rhyming page has 4 lines of fun text to read, corresponding to the character displayed on the page. The name of the character is also displayed.  There is an indention on each book for the reader to place the book either under their nose (for the Book-O-Teeth and the Book-O-Beards) or on top of their heads for the Book-O-Hats.  The illustrations are bright and colorful and children will love being a pirate, a cowboy, Santa Claus, a vampire, etc. for just a few minutes as they wear the book.  I love this idea and I only wish there were more pages.
2956273
A perfect stocking stuffer, and there's a good yuck-yuck on every page.  You wil love it,
2478070
I really enjoy this book. It has Christmas boxes , ornaments, coasters, Merry Christmas game board, a Jesus loves me tote bag for kids, Noah's Game board. St. Nick game board & basket! I
4686082
Purchased this for a friend who often talked about the candy he grew up eating. Most of the contents are "penny candy" still available today. The packaging was cute, but for half the price I could have put together my own simmilar assortment.
1645835
Fun and diverse candy book. The recipes are easy to follow and they've all turned out well. The authors offer lots of tips on methods and alternate flavorings. This would be a great intro to candy-making.
2334434
I got the fun pack for my granddaughters for Christmas to go with the Nostalgia Cotton Candy Maker . They had so much fun making cotton candy for everyone. All the flavors were yummy! The size of the bottles was great. They will be making treats for a long time.
4127714
To mark the 70th anniversary of our favorite family movie, the PEZ candy folks have created a really keen collectible: a pack of eight OZ-related Pez dispensers, including all the '39 film's major characters, plus Toto, Glinda and the giant green head of "the great and powerful Wizard of Oz!"

I saw this curio yesterday afternoon in my local WINN DIXIE grocery store, was intrigued by the fine reproductions and ALMOST bought it, but sadly it took years for me to beat that Pez addiction and the --last-- thing I need right now is cravings for brick-shaped, artificially flavored and colored pieces of sugar. Plus, how would it look for this old woman to reach shakily into her handbag and indiscreetly administer a sucrose fix from the mouth of the Wicked Witch of the West?

All joking aside, this well-made, attractive collectible is an item that's sure to increase in value, is one that Classic Movie fans should own, and for all OZ devotees, why it's, shall we say... indispensible?  (wink)
1532069
This is a really cute little book very typical of Mary Engelbreit's work.  It's well crafted on good quality heavy stock and has all the trimmings and flourishes we have come to expect from this talented illustrator and author.  This treasury of Halloween folklore, jokes, artwork and recipes contains an abundance of fun ideas to treat yourself and your children to during the Halloween season. It has 17 charming Halloween poems, facts about witches, pumpkins, origins of Halloween, black and orange, customs and lore, and felines.  It has 12 silly riddles and jokes and the legend of the Jack-o-lantern.  It has 4 yummy, easy and festive recipes that kids can help to prepare.  Best of all, it has Mary's fun-filled colorful illustrations.  It's a real treat!
3163274
I will recommend this anyone that want to maintain the cotton candy and not have it everywhere ...my clients love this product.
3934864
This was a cute little rhyming book for children. The author set the book during the Christmas season but it could be read at any time during winter. I liked the story line of why sharing "warm" chocolate is fun.

Although the rhyming was cute and worked well for the book, I was not overly impressed with the illustrations. They were simple line drawings but colorful too. The illustrations were underneath the written parts on what looked like torn sheets of paper. This was different from books I have read before but seemed cheesy to me and not too professional.

One thing I did like about the illustrations was the fact that some of them were drawing of really things from the author. In the back of the book, she included a seek and find which was kind of fun to go back through and look for. I almost wished though, they would have been the real photos!

The other thing she includes in the back of the book was the recipe to make "warm" chocolate. Great!

I am giving this book a 3 as I did like the story and was glad to see she included the recipe.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for my open and honest opinion. The views expressed here are 100% my own and may differ from yours. ~Naila Moon
1887205
The copyright page of this book is titled: Nicky Epstein books. There are 22 people or firms listed below that. Which means that for me Nicky Epstein is now a sort of factory putting out lots of books. I can't felt as I have a toploader machine. I noticed some of the scarves have appeared in other publications. The book is quite nicely packaged and I do believe there are enough interesting scarves for me to enjoy my investment in this latest book. I like her fairisle scarf but would want to change the colors. It's an easy fairisle  done back and forth. Patchwork floral was inspired by one of her afghans and is nice with flowers sewn on top of patchwork squares. Tudor lace uses a yarn with  beads enbedded which I couldn't see in the photo but the scarf looks very nice and lacey. Tea rose is a classic houndstooth pattern with flowers sewn on top. Bullets is for a man and looks fine. Cabled scarf with unraveled fringe looks quite pretty and fun to make but the yarn called for is chunky. Royal crowns has cables going up the sides and a nice crown pattern at the two ends with a simple knit stitch pattern for the remainder. Celtic glory uses Koigu KPPM to make medallions which are joined and perhaps one could extend this into a shawl and also use a cheaper fingering weight or sock yarn. Chakra uses yarn from Diakeito which I love but calls for a zipper up the center which strikes me as quite strange. Hot wheels comes from an old afghan of the author's grandmother and is quite interesting. Shawl collar cable point was originally a Vogue cardigan made into a scarf. The model wearing it shows it almost as a vest without the back. There's also a fastener in the front and the edge near her face is turned back into a sort of shawl collar and the ends are pointed. These are the scarves I find attractive.
  There are lots of helpful features such as information on how to join pieces, how to wear the scarves and also many charts for the patterns. The binding, print and photos are all very nicely done. There is no number which shows the type of yarn used such as fingering or whatever so one has to rely on the gauge given for that. Many of the yarns are expensive so it would have been helpful in order to subsitute yarns. But for scarves this isn't all that important anyway. But after looking through this book, I begin to understand that I could go through my wips and make them into scarves using some of the ideas shown here. There are some really nice scarf books out there so look at this before buying.