Lifestyle/Art

Published on March 16th, 2021 | by Darren Paltrowitz

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15 Great Books Worth Adding to Your March 2021 Reading List

Few hobbies are more pandemic-proof or recession-proof than reading. Whether you prefer hardcovers or e-books, you can read just about anywhere. Many of us are still home-based, and below are 15 recommendations — all available for ordering online through Amazon and other top book-related retailers — for those seeking some new titles for their March 2021 reading lists.

Tim Spector’s Spoon-Fed: Why Almost Everything We’ve Been Told About Food Is Wrong

We are all bombarded with advice about what we should and should not eat, and new scientific discoveries are announced every day, even if we are a few months past the “New Year, New You” portion of the year. Yet the more we are told about nutrition, the less we everyday people seem to understand. Through his pioneering scientific research, author Tim Spector has been shocked to discover how little good evidence there is for many of our most deep-rooted ideas about food. In a series of short, myth-busting chapters, Spoon-Fed reveals why almost everything we have been told about food is wrong. Spector explores the scandalous lack of good science behind many medical and government food recommendations, and how the food industry holds sway over many policies.

Spoon-Fed is altogether a ground-breaking book that forces us to question every diet plan, official recommendation, miracle cure or food label we encounter. Altogether it encourages us to rethink our whole relationship with food, as diet may be the most important medicine we all possess.

Chartwell Books’ My Grandfather’s Life: Grandpa, I Want To Know Everything About You

In My Grandfather’s Life, both thought-provoking and lighthearted writing prompts and guided exercises are organized into chapters based on one’s grandfather’s life stages to help a grandfather record his life’s memoir. Beginning with early childhood, questions like “What are some family holiday traditions you remember?” are followed by early adulthood prompts such as “Did a particular person inspire you in pursuing a job or career?” and then moving to the wisdom he has learned and would like to share such as “If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be and why?” In turn, the My Grandfather’s Life Journal ought to jump-start the reflective writing process to open up a grandfather’s mind to dig deeper into who he is, where he started, and what he has learned.

Also available within this series: 3,001 Questions All About Me, My Grandmother’s Life, My Life Story, 3,001 This Or That Questions, and Why I Love You Journal. In turn, the Chartwell Books team is there to help everyday people reflect, document and preserve.

Christopher Long’s A Shot Of Poison: 10th Anniversary Director’s Cut

A Shot Of Poison is intended to be a “virtual backstage pass” into the behind-the-scenes world of the band Poison, as based on the personal encounters of author Christopher Long. Long first encountered the band in late 1980s and would later serve as Poison bassist Bobby Dall’s personal assistant in the 2000s. In turn, Long was around Poison members through highs and lows, and his book does offer some never-before-published stories and photos.

While an unauthorized memoir, Long offers a unique perspective having been a fan of the band before joining its inner circle. Poison may have been one of the bigger bands to come out of the 1980s glam-rock scene — still playing large venues all these years later — yet little has been documented for the public to see as far as behind-the-scenes Poison content goes. Long gives you the good, the bad and the ugly with relation to Poison, and that certainly is better than just getting what the band authorizes, assuming you want to hear how a high-level band functions behind the scenes.

Joel Selvin’s Hollywood Eden: Electric Guitars, Fast Cars, & The Myth Of The California Paradise

Within his new book Hollywood Eden, author Joel Selvin tells the story of a group of young artists and musicians who came together at the dawn of the 1960s to create the lasting myth of the California dream. Central to the story is a group of teenages from University High School (“Uni High”) Class of ’58, a class that included Jan & Dean, Kim Fowley, Sandy Nelson, Nancy Sinatra and future members of the Beach Boys. They came of age in Southern California at the dawn of a new golden era when anything seemed possible. These were the kids who created the idea of modern Southern California, complete with surf music, hot-rods and electric guitars, that the rest of world saw as a teenage paradise on earth. Ultimately tying in with the likes of other notables (e.g. The Byrds, The Mamas & The Papas), that “teenage paradise” would eventually lead to violence, deceit, intrigue, comedy and drama.

Beach Boys collaborator Van Dyke Parks had the following endorsement of Selvin’s latest book: “Hollywood Eden is a keeper. Startlingly moving, its somehow sympathetic characters are all looking for a fast buck, some luck of the draw, or intimations of immortality. I know full well most of the subjects in this tumultuous time. I was there, in also a hedge-row cameo. So I read the book through and through. I now warrant every word of it is true.” Author Selvin’s previous books include Atlamont: The Rolling Stones, The Hells Angels & The Inside Story of Rock’s Darkest Day and Ricky Nelson: Idol For A Generation, while Stephen King has gone on-record to call Selvin “a rock legend.” Thus, you have another well-researched and timeless title from Selvin that has been praised by all-time greats.

Krissy Cela’s Do This For You: How To Be A Strong Woman From The Inside Out

Do This For You is intended to serve as a personal action plan for building your best life. Starting from the inside out, author Krissy Cela’s expert coaching ought to lead you towards growing into a stronger and more confident you.

As fitness is as much about the mental battle as it is the physical, Cela’s simple techniques aim to help you to develop the inner strength to do this for you, find the “why” that drives you, learn to value routine over motivation, challenge mental barriers and self-doubt, reframe your thoughts on diet and exercise, and build healthy habits that last. Uplifting and empowering, this book will hopefully inspire a sense of self-worth that will radiate into every corner of your life.

Dr. Bat Sheva Marcus’ Sex Points: Reclaim Your Sex Life With The Revolutionary Multi-Point System

Often, sex-related books focus on emotional behavior and intimacy, and the typical remedies offered are sexy lingerie and a beach vacation. Other books focus solely on physical and medical issues and are all lasers and hormone patches. In turn, practically no one is having straightforward conversations about this topic.

Enter Dr. Bat Sheva Marcus: the founder and director of Maze Women’s Sexual Health, the country’s largest independent women’s sexual health center. For 20 years, Dr. Marcus has developed and overseen the treatment of thousands of women ages 18 to 81. A Licensed Clinical Social worker with a master’s in public health, a master’s degree in social work, a master’s degree in Jewish studies and a Ph.D. in Human Sexuality, Dr. Marcus has been profiled in numerous publications, including New York Times Magazine and Lenny Letter. She provides lots of perspective within this well-researched book.

Jayne Zanglein’s The Girl Explorers: The Untold Story Of The Globetrotting Women Who Trekked, Flew & Fought Their Way Around The World

Jayne Zanglein is passionate about publicizing the accomplishments of women ignored by history and chronicling the challenges women face today. Like the founding members of the Society of Woman Geographers, Zanglein believes that marginalized groups become visible through empathic reporting, law and democracy. Before the coronavirus curtailed her travels, Zanglein visited 58 countries, often following in the footsteps of the women featured in The Girl Explorers.

Ultimately The Girl Explorers is the untold story of the founding of the Society of Women Geographers, which is still in existence today with 500 members worldwide and whose notable members have included Amelia Earhart, Eleanor Roosevelt, Margaret Mead and Pearl Buck. As said in a review by Library Journal: “This book is perfect for those interested in women’s history and adventure stories.”

Linda Shiue, MD, Chef’s Spicebox Kitchen: Eat Well & Be Healthy With Globally Inspired, Vegetable-Forward Recipes

One of the few MD’s who is also a trained chef, Linda Shiue has dedicated her life’s work to bridging the gap between the medical, nutrition and culinary worlds. Dr. Shiue is the founder and director of Thrive Kitchen, a teaching kitchen at a large national healthcare system, where she educates patients on cooking delicious yet healthy meals. A practicing internist for more than a decade, Dr. Shiue made the journey from the clinic into the kitchen to more effectively-support the many patients she saw struggling with lifestyle-related medical issues, despite taking medications. Noticing the gap in conventional Western medical training to address nutrition — only a quarter of medical schools in the U.S. offer a nutrition class — Dr. Shiue formalized her own culinary education, attending San Francisco Cooking School, before staging in the kitchen of Michelin-starred restaurant Mourad in San Francisco and obtaining a certificate in Plant Based Nutrition from Cornell University.

For her first cookbook Spicebox Kitchen, Dr. Shiue shares her uniquely informed perspective on food and medicine. Using the vast world of spices and their health benefits as her guide, she takes readers on a journey through worldly and healthful flavors. Part one of the book titled “Healthy Cooking 101” includes a comprehensive glossary of spices and their health benefits. Part two of the book puts that knowledge into practice, with 175 predominantly plant-forward recipes that are organized by geographic regions of personal importance to Dr. Shiue including: California (where she lives), Asia (inspired by her Taiwanese heritage and personal travels), Mediterranean/Middle East (home of the Mediterranean diet and a region of personal interest to her) and Trinidad (where her husband is from). And within each region there are breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack and dessert recipes.

Marina Khidekel’s Your Time To Thrive: End Burnout, Increase Well-Being & Unlock Your Full Potential With The New Science Of Microsteps

Helping people build healthy new habits that improve their lives is more important than ever. Arianna Huffington launched Thrive Global to do just that — and Thrive Global’s specific mission is to end the epidemic of stress and burnout and help individuals and companies unlock their greatest potential. Science continues to show that we do not have to sacrifice our well-being in order to succeed. In fact, it turns out that well-being is critical to peak performance.

Eschewing trendy self-care fixes or the latest health fads, Your Time To Thrive is the revolutionary guide to living and working based on microsteps, or tiny, science-backed changes. By making these steps too-small-to fail, we can incorporate them into our daily lives right away, and begin building healthier ways of living and working. In turn, Marina Khidekel’s book is a “Microstep bible.” With chapters dedicated to sleep, nutrition, movement, focus and prioritization, communication and relationships, unplugging and recharging, creativity and inspiration and purpose/meaning, Your Time To Thrive shares practical, usable, research-supported mini-habits that will yield huge benefits and empower people to truly thrive in all parts of their lives.

Joe Lunardi & David Smale’s Bracketology: March Madness, College Basketball & The Creation Of A National Obsession

Basketball’s NCAA Tournament has become one of the most popular sports events in the country, consuming fans for weeks with the run to the Final Four and ultimately the crowning of the champion of college hoops. Each March, millions of Americans fill out their bracket in the hopes of correctly predicting the future. Yet there is no true “Madness” without the oft-debated question about what teams should be seeded where — from the Power-5 Blue Blood with some early season stumbles on their resume to the mid-major that rampaged through their less competitive conference season — and the inventor of Bracketology himself, Joe Lunardi, now reveals the science behind the legend.

While going in depth on his ever-evolving predictive formula, Lunardi compares great teams from different eras with intriguing results, talks to the biggest names in college basketball about their perception of Bracketology, both good and bad. He looks ahead to the future of the sport and how Bracketology will help shape the conversation. A must-read for any NCAA basketball devotee.

Ann Savoy’s Cajun Music – A Reflection Of A People Volume II

In 1985, Cajun Music: A Reflection Of A People Volume I — a sumptuous 444-page book which had been published the previous year — was described in the Washington Post as “perhaps the most comprehensive stunning portrait of this music ever written.” Now, more than 36 years later, author Ann Savoy has published Cajun Music: A Reflection Of A People Volume II, the 456-page companion to her earlier effort. Savoy’s 2 books document the music and music-makers that are central to a rich cultural tradition that dates back more than 350 years. The softcover edition of the book is available for $45.00 plus shipping via annsavoy.com and savoymusiccenter.com; a special limited edition run of 200 first edition hardcover books is available for $70.00 plus shipping.

Like its predecessor, Savoy’s new book is lushly-illustrated with historic and recent photographs, transcriptions of 35 English and Cajun French interviews and biographies and more than 100 songs with French translations and phonetics and musical notation. The book is not only a reference resource but also is, itself, a repository of cultural artifacts that document an idiosyncratic music and way of lifem focusing on such artists as Boozoo Chavis, Happy Fats, Harry Choates, Nathan Abshire, Octa Clark, Chester “Pee Wee” Broussard and Wilfred Latour. As an adjunct to Savoy’s books, the Arhoolie Foundation’s website will host The Ann Savoy Collection, an aggregation of the audio from almost 200 interviews that are part of these books, in addition to interviews with Cajun, Creole and zydeco artists that were conducted by Arhoolie Records’ Chris Strachwitz.

My Bucket Journals’ National Parks Bucket Journal

National Parks have been a part of our heritage since the first park was dedicated by U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872. There are currently 62 parks covering 52.2 million acres of beautiful land to enjoy within the States. In turn, the spiral-bound National Parks Bucket Journal is 1 part trip planner, 1 part bucket list, 1 part dream discovery and 1 part diary. The National Parks Bucket Journal is organized into 6 regions — Pacific, Rocky Mountain, Southwest, Midwest, Southeast and Northwest — and then alphabetically by state, which allows you to choose an area where you live, or will soon visit, and see the National Parks that are around you without flipping through the whole book.

Each of the 62 national parks has its own 2-page spread with plenty of room to plan, discover and document your trip, record who you went with, how you got there, the views and vistas you loved the most, etc. Currently priced at $39.00 and available via www.mybucketjournals.com.

Karen Fischer, BHSc’s The Healthy Skin Kitchen

From Karen Fischer, the best-selling author of The Eczema Detox, The Healthy Skin Kitchen is intended to be an essential resource for anyone who wants beautiful skin, particularly people who struggle with eczema, acne and other skin disorders. Full of gorgeous photography and nutritious recipes, Fischer’s book is intended to inspire readers to build and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Its recipes are allergy-friendly and include vegan and autoimmune paleo options, ensuring there are plenty of options tailored to a wide range of people.

Most skin health books use ingredients that are rich in salicylates and histamines, like coconut, avocado and fermented foods. This book is reportedly the first to explode the myth that such foods benefit skin health. It focuses on low-chemical foods that are truly healing for the skin. Readers will find methods to combat acne, allergies, dandruff, leaky gut, migraines, rosacea, and many more conditions. Of course, those without skin problems will also benefit from these accessible, nutritious recipes, designed to improve the wellbeing of all readers.

Padma Lakshmi’s Tangy Tart Hot & Sweet: A World Of Recipes For Every Day

Padma Lakshmi is an Emmy-nominated food expert, television producer, host and New York Times best-selling author. She is also the creator of the critically acclaimed Hulu series Taste The Nation, nominated for a 2021 Gotham Award for “Breakthrough Series,” which was recently greenlit for a second season. Lakshmi also serves as host and executive producer of Bravo’s two-time Emmy-winning series Top Chef, which has been nominated for 32 Emmys, including her 2-time nomination for “Outstanding Host For A Reality-Competition Program.” Its new season will premiere in spring 2021.

Tangy Tart Hot & Sweet is Lakshmi’s latest book, as featuring recipes for 121 savory masterpieces and sweet delights. This includes Green Chicken Enchiladas, Root Vegetable Carpaccio, BBQ Korean Short Ribs, and Chilled Papaya Mousse with Cointreau. Featuring stunning, colorful photography and captivating stories, this is more than just a cookbook, as it is intended to be a personal scrapbook illustrating Lakshmi’s life-long passion for food and cooking, while paying tribute to the smorgasbord of immigrant culture around us.

Dikla Laor’s Women Of The Bible

Renowned photographer Dikla Laor spent years producing Women Of The Bible, reliving stories of the Bible “through the lens of the camera and with a focus on femininity.” Every photograph showed within the book is a production that was preceded by months of related research and artistic-related preparations. In turn, Laor spotlights biblical figures who many have failed to learn the importance of. Above all, it is a great-looking, 180-page book with foil stamping.

Cicero’s How To Tell A Joke: An Ancient Guide To The Art Of Humor, as translated by Michael Fontaine

Last but definitely not least… Can jokes win a hostile room, a hopeless argument, or even an election? You bet they can, according to Cicero, and he knew what he was talking about. One of Rome’s greatest politicians, speakers, and lawyers, Cicero was also reputedly one of antiquity’s funniest people. After he was elected commander-in-chief and head of state, his enemies even started calling him “the stand-up Consul.” How To Tell A Joke provides a lively new translation of Cicero’s essential writing on humor alongside that of the later Roman orator and educator Quintilian. The result is a timeless practical guide to how a well-timed joke can win over any audience. Filled with insight, wit, and examples, including more than a few lawyer jokes, How To Tell A Joke — as translated by Michael Fontaine — will appeal to anyone interested in humor or the art of public speaking.


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About the Author

Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."


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