SIX READS ON MY CURRENT RADAR...

So I'm still working at accomplishing my goal of reading more this year and it is working out quite well!  I used to be a "read one book at a time" kind of girl, but I am learning that in order to read something daily or nightly, I need to read something that is of interest to me at that particular moment.  That could be novel, a magazine, an article that I printed off earlier in the day, a cookbook, or a nonfiction book about something really interesting to me. Here are few books that I plan to add - or have recently added- to my growing stack of options that are currently on my nightstand...

1. Food 52 Genius Recipes: The Genius Recipe column of the Food 52 website is one of my favorite reads, so I have a feeling that this cookbook will be one of my favorites as well. The column as well as the cookbook features 100 typical recipes that are not-so-typical because of the unique way they are made or what they are actually made with. Think "Roasted Waffles," "Red Salad," "Potato Dominos," and "Caramelized White Chocolate." Roasted waffles - gosh that just sounds delish to me...

2.  The Sprouted Kitchen Bowl & Spoon: This book is not honestly not on my radar. It's sitting right here next to me on my nightstand as I write this post. It arrived on Monday (the release date) and I've had my nose stuck in it since then. This is the second cookbook by Sara Forte, the food blogger behind the lovely blog, "The Sprouted Kitchen." I adore her take on whole and healthy foods, but I especially love her take on this book. All of the recipes in this book are not only healthy and whole, but they are made for bowls. That got me. I eat most of my meals out of bowls. Bowls make eating anywhere other than the table much more comfortable and it's an easy way to control portions. Plus, I love mixing my food together. My grandmother used to eat her meals out of bowls, too, so perhaps I get my love of it from her. Eating healthy requires creativity to avoid boredom, and Sara's recipes are far from boring in my opinion. They are all made from a mix of ingredients that are colorful and go extremely well together. Most importantly, they all look simple to make. Her recipes for Double Chocolate Pudding, Strawberry Tabbouleh, Cauliflower Gratin, and Key Lime Eton Mess are certainly on my list of things to make. Oh and Sara's husband, Hugh Forte, should get some kind of special award for his food photography in the book. It's so, so, so pretty. You can see Sara and Hugh's beautiful introduction to the book here.

3. The Girl On The Train: I've been seeing this book EVERYWHERE and this past weekend I found out why. I was in Costco and had some time to waste until meeting a friend for dinner. I saw the book as I walked past the book section. I backed up, picked up the book (because I just had to know WHY I kept seeing it everywhere) and I opened it to Chapter 1. Well - I was almost late for dinner. I literally stood there in the book section of Costco and read the first few chapters of the book  - totally oblivious to anything around me - and as if Costco was a library. The book sucked me right in and I immediately downloaded the book to my Kindle when I got home. From what I read in Costco, it is about a girl who rides the train to and from her job in London every day. She pretty much sees the same things outside the window of the train each day - until one day. She sees something different that day - something not so good - and everything changes. She's got a lot going on in her personal life too that seems quite interesting. It's been compared to Gone Girl, but I can't and won't confirm that comparison until I read the whole book! I'm currently finishing up the sequel to this book, so I'll be reading it soon after I finish!

4. What Katie Ate On The Weekend: Katie Davies received a James Beard award for her stunning food photography in her first cookbook, so.... naturally I'm a lover of her work. Her blog "What Katie Ate" has been on my blogroll since my early days of blogging and I adore it. In her second cookbook, she features more of her inspirational photography of simple recipes that can be shared with friends during weekend dinner parties or brunch. She also offers tips on how to make the most of your time enjoying those friends as opposed to spending that time in the kitchen. You know I love cooking on the weekends, especially for others, so this book is certainly on my list...

5.  Deliciously Ella: I think Ella Woodward is such a charm. I've seen her really good-looking food on Pinterest and have linked to her recipes a few times. But I spent a little more time on her blog as I was doing research for this post and I have to say that she is a new favorite of mine. She developed Postural Tachycardia Syndrome about four years ago, which lead her to her current diet that is a whole-foods, gluten-free, plant-based diet. She credits that diet to healing her, putting her illness into remission, and teaching her how to cook things other than eggs and pasta! Ella finds really creative ways to make not-so-good for you foods out of simple and unprocessed ingredients. I'm so interested to know how she has used those ingredients to create her Classic Carrot Cake, Cinnamon Pecan Granola, and Sweet Potato Brownies. I also love her YouTube channel. It's so informative and I just might love her British even more...

6. The Body Book: This book is another book that is actually sitting on my nightstand as I write this. This book has been out for over a year, but I am just now hip to the game. Learning more about health, body, and food and how all three of them relate to each other has become a huge interest to me - as you may be able to tell from some recent blog posts and cookbook selections here. I am getting older - like 5 years away from 40 and I'm starting see and feel differences in my body. Overall I feel great and I want to keep feeling that way as long as possible. In the book, Cameron Diaz really breaks down- in layman's terms- how nutrition, fitness, and the mind can all work together to create the most optimal level of health - specifically for women. Yes, Cameron is an actress, not a health professional, but she talks about what she's learned from her experiences with food and fitness and I quite frankly believe her and find her journey to be so interesting. In the book, she presents good facts about healthy food and goes into detail about how the food provides for the body. She also talks about how the body should actually work in general, how to know when it's not working properly, and how the way we think has a huge effect on the body. I often put the book down at night wanting to treat my body even better the next day. That to me is a good read.

What are you reading??