Have you ever heard of this little novel called To Kill a Mockingbird? It was pretty famous.
Well, in the most exciting literary twist of 2015 yet, there is a SEQUEL COMING!! My reaction to the press release on Tuesday:
This is probably the most exciting thing to happen in publishing in the past year forever and ever. And ever. Here’s what we know so far:
If you like food, (i.e. you are any sort of human), you’ve probably encountered one of the most gut-wrenching struggles of mankind. It is this: food has calories. Calories make you fat. This is not good.
I do wish a scenario had worked out where we could eat unlimited qualities of highly caloric food and feel more energetic and healthy than ever. Part of me is still holding out hope that this scientific breakthrough is on its way. It’s the same part of me that is convinced my life purpose is to eat twelve brownies a day.
BUT, until that golden day, you can bet your butt that I will be trying to get as much flavor out of healthy food as possible. And the best way to do this? To the cookbook shelf!
Here are the 5 cookbooks I’ll be pulling from my kitchen shelf this year to make my “get healthier STAT” resolution happen:
Clean Slate: A Cookbook and Guide to Reset Your Health, Detox Your Body, and Feel Your Best by the Editors of Martha Stewart Living
How gorgeous is that cover? My sister bought this book over the holidays, and we both completely fell in love with the spare but elegant design. It also has options for a 3-Day Cleanse or a 21-Day Cleanse, and the recipes look delicious. If you need to watch what you eat, why not do it in style?
People judge books by their covers. This is the cold hard truth of publishing. A book cover is the very first thing a reader will see of your work, and so it’s incredibly important to get it just right.
Think of a book cover like the package of any other consumer good (and by “package” I mean the overall look or style of a product, not its container). A MacBook Pro might have a super-fast processor and long battery life, but it’s the elegant design that draws in most consumers. A BMW might have great horsepower and a fuel-efficient engine, but the sleek lines are what catches your eye on the road. In a crowded marketplace, looks matter.
This week was the official release of a book I’m so proud to have worked on—The $50 Home Makeover by Shaunna West!
It’s a GORGEOUS book, all thanks to Shaunna’s stunning photography. She really has a talent for capturing bright light and pops of colors. She’s also an incredible businesswoman, who’s built her Perfectly Imperfect brand through her blog, online store, and her physical store in Alabama. If you’re not sure how to turn your creative passion into a career and eventually get a book deal, follow her!
She also had a lovely book launch party at her store (read about it here), which made me wish I could jet off to Alabama to buy pretty things in her shop and celebrate this fantastic book.
I acquired and edited this book when I was still an editor, and it’s exciting to finally see it in stores. There are a ton of projects I mentally earmarked to try when I was reviewing the page proofs.
I would love to try her idea for customizing affordable Ikea curtains, especially since we’ll need curtains when we move into our new apartment in September. All you do is buy plain curtains from Ikea and then fancy them up with a swash of gold paint. They look so elegant and timeless—like you spent big bucks on them!
The book also has a great tutorial for painting builder grade cabinets and making them look chic and expensive. And there’s an equally fantastic project for adding a pretty frame to a builder grade mirror, so that it has more personality.
Photo by Shaunna West.
This is the perfect book if you’re feeling very stuck in your home and don’t have the budget or the time to take on big renovations. It’s amazing what a coat of paint and a few bucks can do if you have just the right inspiration.
Go pick up a copy of it, curl up on the couch, and start taking in all the pretty! You’ll be surprised how inspired and excited you’ll be to make your current home your dream home.
