Ellie's Picks

This is an exceptional reference for every home bar! The dedication is charming: "To my mother, who could use a drink for having been blessed with me." The contents are all inclusive, from bartending commandments to mixing techniques, choosing glasses as well as recipes for any drink you can think of, I do mean any. The list is exhaustive, alphabetical as well as cross referenced by specific type of liquor. If someone "gifts" you the obscure bottle, research some recipes and have a theme party! Beer and wine are addressed as well as non-alcoholic drinks. Spiral bound, this is the ultimate and only bar reference you will ever need.

I really enjoyed this book from a Psych 101 perspective; you certainly could base a graduate thesis on the inner workings of Russell Brand's mind. This memoir of abuse both external and self-inflicted is written with great wit, intelligence, and jaw-dropping honesty. Who couldn't love a book with this cover?

This book is a joy! Martha tells you how to clean everything, fold a fitted sheet (!) and save your favorite shirt from your tipsy evening at the winebar! If you have a new house or an old one, she tells you how to maintain hardwood floors and marble counters as well as extremely helpful hints about scheduling housecleaning...good for us all! I love this and feel it makes the best house warming gift or wedding gift or "I want a present" gift! Enjoy!

I really enjoyed this book because I liked that the story was told from the perspective of the Wicked Witch of the West. Everyone who has seen The Wizard of Oz feels no compassion for her as she is "melting", but it is fantastic that Gregory Maguire looked at the story differently. His other titles, The Ugly Stepsister included, present classic stories from the view of the "other". Fairy tales, like life can be brutal to those considered undesirable or different and the book's gift of compassion is welcome. The story is good and in musical form as well! This is a light read and references a story known by all.