Book Buzz: Magical Realism, the Titanic, Tacos, Chefs with a Side of Murder, Black Foodways, and Tractors

Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For April, we’re looking at magical realism about an Ecuadorean family, historical fiction about one of the most famous shipwrecks, a romantic comedy about a food truck, murder mysteries with a culinary twist, a fascinating cookbook/anthology about Black food culture around the world, and a nonfiction examination of the now little-remembered Tractor Wars of the early 20th century.

Movie Review: Dune, Part One (2021)

In the year 10191, the planet Arrakis is a harsh desert land, but it is rich in “spice” (maybe we can interest them in our spice club), so it has been a lucrative resource for the brutal Harkonnen, who exploit the locals and the land. When the emperor revokes Harkonnen rights to Arrakis and gives them instead to the duke of House Atreides (Oscar Isaac), an inevitable collision course is set, and complications ensue, including the fact that the duke’s gifted son Paul (Timothée Chalamet) may be the long-awaited messiah the people of Arrakis have been promised.

Cookbook Corner: Eating for Health

In honor of our Books, Spice, and Everything Nice theme (and spice club!), we’ll be doing a monthly round-up of our cookbooks. We have a really nice and extensive collection, but it’s easy to get lost in the sheer number of them. Hopefully these posts help! In honor of our April spice coriander, we’ll be focusing on healthy cooking/eating cookbooks this month.

Some of the more frequent questions we field about our cookbook section occur when one of our patrons has recently received a diagnosis that requires them to modify their eating habits. Sometimes they just are interested in losing weight in general, and other times, they have new dietary restrictions they need to be mindful of (like avoiding allergy triggers or needing diabetic-friendly meals). Regardless, we have you covered! Here’s just a small sample of the books we have devoted to this topic.

Books, Spice, and Everything Nice: Coriander

For 2022, the Berryville Library is hosting its own Books, Spice, and Everything Nice spice club. Stop by the library to get the spice of the month and then stop by the blog on the first Tuesday of the month for recipes and more information on the featured spice. We’ll also be adding monthly posts about cookbooks in our collection. For April, our spice is coriander!