Showing results by publisher "Recorded Books" in Home & Garden

Kaffe Fassett has led an extraordinary life and is a captivating storyteller with a vivid memory. Born in 1937, he spent much of his youth in Big Sur, California, where his parents bought a cabin from Orson Welles and transformed it into the world-famous Nepenthe restaurant, a gathering place for artists and bohemians. After attending a boarding school run by the disciples of Krishnamurti, an Indian guru, he studied painting at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, then traveled to England, where he made his home.

No one is better than Dr. Marc Bekoff at turning state-of-the-art animal science into practical, digestible information. His subjects include dog care, dog cognition and emotions, and dog-human relationships, and though he has impressive scientific credentials and much technical expertise, this is the accessible book that every dog lover should have.

From the beloved host of NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday, moving tales of the marvelous animals who have crossed his path. Scott Simon’s household does not make much distinction between humans and other animals. Whether two-legged or four-, flesh-covered, fur-covered, feathered, or...

An excellent bottle of wine can be the spark that inspires a brainstorming session. Such was the case for Ian Tattersall and Rob DeSalle, scientists who frequently collaborate on book and museum exhibition projects. When the conversation turned to wine one evening, it almost inevitably led the two - one a palaeoanthropologist, the other a molecular biologist - to begin exploring the many intersections between science and wine. This audiobook presents their fascinating, freewheeling answers to the question.

In the wake of a devastating hurricane, Special Agent Meg Jennings and her Labrador, Hawk - invaluable members of the FBI’s Human Scent Evidence Team - have been deployed to Virginia Beach. They have their work cut out for them. Amid graveyards of debris, and the buried cries for help, the search and rescue operation begins. The most alarming discovery is yet to come - a teenage girl hiding in the Great Dismal Swamp. Shaken by the storm, she has reason to be scared. But this young survivor is terrified of so much more.

There are nearly 1,400 known varieties of wine grapes in the world—from altesse to zierfandler—but 80 percent of the wine we drink is made from only 20 grapes. In Godforsaken Grapes, award-winning travel writer Jason Wilson looks at how that came to be and embarks on a journey to discover what we miss.

Mahjong: A Chinese Game and the Making of Modern American Culture illustrates how the spaces between tiles and the moments between games have fostered distinct social cultures in the United States. This mass-produced game crossed the Pacific, creating waves of popularity over the 20th century. Annelise Heinz narrates the history of this game to show how it has created a variety of meanings, among them American modernity, Chinese American heritage, and Jewish American women's culture.

In this charming volume, authors including leading industry professionals and lifelong gamers from all walks of life tell us in their own words what board games mean to them. From stories of friends and loved ones met through games to how others came to make careers and livelihoods out of them, from the story of how an academic strike in Nigeria led to the founding of the first board games convention in Sub-Saharan Africa to how board games helped one autistic child discover his dream job, the essays in this volume lift the lid on how games have changed lives in the most remarkable ways.

In this warm collection of personal essays and recipes, best-selling author Ann Hood nourishes both our bodies and our souls. From her Italian-American childhood through raising and feeding a growing family and cooking with her new husband, food writer Michael Ruhlman, Ann Hood has long appreciated the power of a good meal. Hood details recipes and more in Kitchen Yarns, along with tales of loss and starting from scratch, family love, and feasts with friends, and how the perfect meal is one that tastes like home.

Ancient trees stand as sentinels against all odds while Earth and its people have changed around them. Award-winning author Anthony D. Fredericks examines their awe-inspiring longevity and evolutionary intelligence, drawing on expert interviews, scientific research, and a remarkable reverence for the environment. Fredericks focuses on ten of the oldest trees in the United States and marvels at the complexity of roots, the determination of growth, and the wisdom of forests.

Long considered a culinary renegade and a pioneering chef, Van Aken is an American original who chopped and charred, sweated and seared his way to cooking stardom with no formal training, but with extra helpings of energy, creativity, and faith. After landing on the deceptively breezy shores of Key West, Van Aken faced hurricanes, economic downturns, and mercurial moneymen during the decades when a restaurant could open and close faster than you can type haute cuisine.

When Jon Katz got a call from an animal control officer about Simon, a neglected donkey who had been found on a failing farm in upstate New York, he wasn't expecting to add another animal to his already full life. But when he made the trek out to meet him, he couldn't help falling in love with the skinny, mangy donkey who had already suffered so much, and he ended up taking him into his home. It was Simon who listened in the fields as Jon read to him and discussed philosophy.

In Tender Paws, award-winning journalist Wendy Lyons Sunshine shows dog lovers how to use best practices from child development, attachment theory, trauma research, parenting styles, and learning theory to foster trust, resilience, and cooperation in their canine companions.

It’s a natural impulse: As dog owners watch their canine best friend age, they think about getting a puppy, hoping that the new pup will be influenced by the older dog while softening the inevitable loss. But is that the right step? Supporting an aging dog who’s declining while attending to the demands of a puppy presents unique challenges. Can both be done well at the same time? In this first-of-its-kind guide, senior dog expert Helen St. Pierre and puppy expert Kathy Callahan have come together to help dog lovers answer this question and navigate the terrain with joy and compassion.

Become a better birder with brief profiles of 200 top North American birds. This friendly, relatable audiobook is a celebration of the art, science, and delights of bird-watching. How to Know the Birds introduces a new, holistic approach to bird-watching, by noting how behaviors, settings, and seasonal cycles connect with shape, song, color, gender, age distinctions, and other features traditionally used to identify species. With short essays on 200 observable species, expert author Ted Floyd guides us through a year of becoming a better birder.

In the fifth FBI K-9 novel, Sara Driscoll weaves together fast-paced suspense and the fascinating world of law enforcement canines, as Meg Jennings and her search-and-rescue dog, Hawk, are heading south, where it's hunting season. But this time the prey is human.

From Scratch looks at 10 favorite meals, including roast chicken, the perfect omelet, and paella, then explores myriad alternative pathways that the kitchen invites. A delicious lasagna can be ready in about an hour, or you could turn it into a project: Try making and adding some homemade sausage. Explore the limits of from-scratch cooking: Make your own pasta, grow your own tomatoes, and make your own homemade mozzarella and ricotta. Ruhlman tells you how.

In this witty, deeply original book, the renowned novelist Jamaica Kincaid offers an ABC of the plants that define our world and reveals the often brutal history behind them.

What can beer teach us about biology, history, and the natural world? From ancient Mesopotamian fermentation practices to the resurgent American craft brewery, authors Rob DeSalle and Ian Tattersall peruse the historical record and traverse the globe for engaging and often surprising stories about beer. They explain how we came to drink beer, what ingredients combine to give beers their distinctive flavors, how beer's chemistry works at the molecular level, and how various societies have regulated the production and consumption of beer. 

Mark H. Brezinski is a forty-five-year veteran of the dynamic restaurant industry. A graduate of the famed School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, Mark went on to create or co-create multiple nationally acclaimed restaurant companies. His experiences span the globe in search of culinary discoveries and inspirations with industry icons like the late Norman Brinker, Paul Fleming, Phil Romano, and chefs Michael Mina and Mark Miller. This book takes you to all of these places and more, while telling behind-the-scenes stories.