simplyalexandra's reviews
877 reviews

Well-Read Women: Portraits of Fiction's Most Beloved Heroines by Samantha Hahn

5.0

This book is gorgeous. It's simply water color art paired with a quote from a literary heroine. It's a gorgeous gorgeous book. Glad to finally have my hands on it.

This book is an artsy, coffee table type book, and I loved it. It is illustrated pictures of literary leading ladies like Jane Eyre and Anna Karenina, next to beautiful quotes from the novels. I love this book, I picked it up in Florida, because I've wanted it forever. Being and art and lit lover its a great little treasure. It's lovely. I would recommend it just for fun, or to treasure on your coffee table forever. :)

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl by Ree Drummond

4.0

The Pioneer Woman cookbooks are filled with delicious from scratch recipes. There is a definite down-home almost Southern vibe to the comfort food type recipes, but there are definitely some very creative more interesting ones as well. Each book has step by step pictures and you feel like she is reading them to you herself. They are hilarious and filled with great pictures and tips. I have yet to make something out of this book that hasn't been AMAZING! - Maybe the mashed potatoes were a leeetle bit too rich for me. But other than that my friends... fantastic!

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier by Ree Drummond

4.0

The Pioneer Woman cookbooks are filled with delicious from scratch recipes. There is a definite down-home almost Southern vibe to the comfort food type recipes, but there are definitely some very creative more interesting ones as well. Each book has step by step pictures and you feel like she is reading them to you herself. They are hilarious and filled with great pictures and tips. I have yet to make something out of this book that hasn't been AMAZING! Iced Coffee... pastas.... everything. so. good.

The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen by Serena Thompson, Teri Edwards

4.0

I bought this cookbook because it was cute. Seriously. And there was a pie on the cover... you know how I love pie. However, the recipes turned out to be the most amazing part of the book.. which is definitely a good thing. The Farm Chicks live in Spokane, Washington {a region of the country that I desperately want to visit!} so there is a bit of a healthier vibe to these recipes. Now, I'm not talking kale, nutritional yeast and vegan healhty.. I mean that they love to use real ingredients and a variety of fruits and veggies. They have tons of great desserts but other recipes as well! It also has craft and thrifting ideas in it too, so those are very fun to read in between recipes.

Katie Brown's Outdoor Entertaining: Taking the Party Outside by Katie Brown

4.0

Katie Brown is one of my favorite ladies in the cooking/crafting/gardening/entertaining etc world. She has a TV show on PBS that I love to watch, many books and a really fun blog/website. I am constantly inspired by her. I only have 2 of her books so far, but I love the recipes! Of course there are crafts and other ideas as well, but the recipes are fantastic! She is a Midwestern/Great Lakes girl at heart like me, so I love to read her books because they are so rooted in family and entertaining those whom you love the very most. When that is at the heart of a book you can't go wrong. Her recipes range from homemade classics and staples to culinary twists on basics and global influences for theme parties. There is something for everyone in these books!

Katie Brown's Weekends: Making the Most of Your Two Treasured Days by Paul Whicheloe, Katie Brown

4.0

Katie Brown is one of my favorite ladies in the cooking/crafting/gardening/entertaining etc world. She has a TV show on PBS that I love to watch, many books and a really fun blog/website. I am constantly inspired by her. I only have 2 of her books so far, but I love the recipes! Of course there are crafts and other ideas as well, but the recipes are fantastic! She is a Midwestern/Great Lakes girl at heart like me, so I love to read her books because they are so rooted in family and entertaining those whom you love the very most. When that is at the heart of a book you can't go wrong. Her recipes range from homemade classics and staples to culinary twists on basics and global influences for theme parties. There is something for everyone in these books!

101 Sangrias and Pitcher Drinks by Kim Haasarud, Alexandra Grablewski

4.0

Kim Haasarud is the queen of alcoholic beverages. This book is particularly good for anyone because pitcher drinks are always festive, always delicious, and fairly simple to execute. Who doesn't love a good sangria?!? In case you are interested... she also wrote: 101 Tropical Drinks, 101 Blender Drinks 101 Margaritas, 101 Martinis, 101 Mojitos, 101 Champagne Cocktails, and 101 Shots. - Like I said, the queen of alcoholic beverages. So go with your bliss here, or your friend's I guess! I haven't tried a recipe that was bad!! :)

The Flower Workshop: Lessons in Arranging Blooms, Branches, Fruits, and Foraged Materials by Ariella Chezar, Julie Michaels

5.0

I have made it a goal the past few years to learn how to arrange flowers, but I never seem to make it. This book was an incredible one to read, because Chezar's passion for flowers as well as incredibly approachable advice really help you dive into the idea of arranging flowers. She gives very helpful insight into choosing a palette, arranging by size, working in rules of three, tools you need, etc. She even goes so far as to share which flowers come in various colors seasonally. So you can search for yellow spring flowers, and not feel like you might get to the market to purchase your flowers... only to find out they aren't in season. Chezar takes it one step further in showing you specific arrangements, and exactly how to reproduce them. I think this is an incredibly helpful addition to the book, that allows beginners and experienced floral arrangers alike the chance to copy a successful arrangement. The last thing I want to note, is that this book is absolutely gorgeous. It is filled with passion, understanding, helpful advice, as well as some of the most beautiful floral arrangements and photography I have ever seen. If you have been looking for a source on flower arranging, I highly recommend this one!

The Summer We Read Gatsby by Danielle Ganek

Abandoned at page 70. I just couldn't get into this one. I was hoping to, it sounded interesting enough... two step sisters inherit a beach house in the Hamptons... they are very different but have to work together to decipher a clue their aunt left them related to "the most valuable thing" that she left them. I just really didn't like one of the sisters, and the other one wasn't showing a lot of personality, it's like she was overshadowed and therefore just reflected her sister. I don't know, it just wasn't my thing. Even the voice it was written in was just fast paced and self-important. I had to abandon it. I don't like to abandon books... Oh well!

Cake Magic!: Mix & Match Your Way to 100 Amazing Combinations by Caroline Wright

5.0

Oh. My. Goodness. You guys, this book is glorious. I should probably mention that I don't usually choose cake of all of the desserts that exist... but these are so beautiful and they all sound amazing. I was having so much trouble deciding which one to make first... that I haven't tried any of them yet. Maybe for my husband's birthday...? (shh!) All the same, I am sure I will love nearly every recipe in this book, and I really admire how it is laid out. Wright gives you combinations to try, but they are all made up of individual batter, syrup, frosting, and sometimes topping recipes that you can mix and match to make unique cakes. So for example, you can mix up a big batch of the dry ingredients for say, the vanilla cake... and then use it to make several different cakes throughout the year. It's absolutely brilliant. So, while I can't tell you which I want to try first... here are a few at the top for me: S'mores, Chai Pear Cake, Drunken Tuxedo Cake, Vanilla Olive Oil Cake with Rosemary and Lemon, Vanilla Chocolate Cherry Cake, New Orleans Cafe Au Lait Cake.... and a lot more. I also like, that she gives gluten free and vegan alternatives and baking info in each section and recipe. Great for cake lovers who don't want to worry about those details!! If you like baking, or cake, or pictures of cake... go pick up this book. It hit shelves in April! I'll let you know how trying a recipe goes!

*I was given an advance reader edition of this book in exchange for an honest review via netgalley. All opinions are my purely my own.*