Confidence and Resilience
Blue Blood explores the leadership principles and team culture that helped guide the University of Michigan football program to its historic 2023 National Championship. What made the 2023 championship season the right moment to share your personal perspective on Michigan football’s history and culture?
I was in the early stages of writing a business book called The Rules of the Game, which was about all the lessons I’ve learned during thirty years in the real estate business, when I decided to pivot. Throughout the fall of 2023, when I wasn’t running my real estate investment and management company, I’d been spending a lot of time with the Michigan football team. When they finished their season 15-0 and won the National Championship, I realized there was another story I needed to write first. So, I called my writing coach.
“Have you heard about Michigan football?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “I’m reading about it right now in the Detroit News.”
“Take a look at the front page. You see the picture of J.J. McCarthy? He’s hugging a guy.”
“Yeah, I see it,” he said, then paused. “Wait a minute. Is that you he’s hugging?”
It was, and that, really, was when we started mapping out Blue Blood.
A few days later, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh told me that he was leaving the university to coach the Los Angeles Chargers. I also knew that several of the star players were leaving to train and prepare for the NFL Draft. It occurred to me that, other than the parade in the rain in January in Ann Arbor, this team was not likely to be properly celebrated. And that bothered me. Their National Championship was historic, and I knew I had inside information about what that team went through. No one else was going to write that story. Jim Harbaugh wasn’t going to write it. The newspaper reporters weren’t going to write it because they hadn’t seen what I had seen. They hadn’t been in the locker room like I had. They hadn’t hosted the team at Lake Charlevoix like I had. They hadn’t raised a glass with the coaches in the off-season, or heard all the recruiting debates, or conducted business training for the players. I’d done all that, and over the course of the last few seasons, I had become a close friend and confidant to many of the coaches, staff members, and star players. There wasn’t anyone else who could tell the story I could tell, so I felt compelled to switch gears and write Blue Blood. There was a gravitational pull. Hey man, you have to write this, or it’s going to be potentially lost.
What inspired you to become involved in mentoring Michigan football players and helping them prepare for opportunities beyond their athletic careers?
The original idea for our internship program for Michigan players came from Courtney Morgan. He’s currently the general manager for Alabama football, but in 2021, he was the director of player personnel at Michigan for Jim Harbaugh. I remember the day very clearly. We had just hosted the coaching staff at my farm on Lake Charlevoix, and we were gathering at the airport for a flight back to Ann Arbor when we learned that one of our two planes needed a part and couldn’t fly that day. So, some of us stayed behind to wait for another plane, and to kill time, we went to town for lunch.
Courtney and I got to talking, and he told me the story of a former teammate, Charles Drake, who had been a great football player but had struggled in the pros and in life, and had later committed suicide. Courtney felt that if his friend had been mentored and introduced to things other than football—connected with someone he could have turned to later in life for help—he might still be alive. “It’s our responsibility to do more than just coach these guys on a football field,” Courtney said. “We need to let our players bounce off people like you, Matt. To be mentored by people like you —someone who can show them they can be successful and happy outside of football.” That’s how we created the first internship program.
Each year, we bring in twenty players for an intense two-week seminar on business, investing, dressing for success, and more. Harbaugh bought into it completely, and each year he sent us the perfect combination of kids who needed it and would benefit the most from it. Some were destined for the NFL, and others wouldn’t play much at all. They were a mix of guys from all walks of life, handpicked by Harbaugh. One of the key components of the program is this promise: if you graduate, you get all the benefits Charles Drake never had. We’re here, we tell them. It’s a lifelong association. You don’t need me? Fine. Drop me an email once in a while and tell me what you’re up to. But if you need help, call me.
What leadership qualities do you believe contributed most significantly to Michigan’s success during Harbaugh’s tenure?
Number one: selflessness—putting your teammates and the team ahead of yourself. Number two: preparation unparalleled, unmatched preparation. Physically and mentally, whether that is in the weight room, the film room, or strategy sessions with your coaches. I’ve never seen a group of men more physically and mentally prepared than these players. They were mature, respectful, intelligent, and utterly committed to the task at hand. That was their ethos, and it was also the source of the great confidence and resilience they exhibited that year.
As people, they were kind and generous. They were larger than life in their thinking. Take a guy like Blake Corum. He didn’t measure himself just by how many yards per carry he got. What was he doing with his downtime? Giving time to C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. Conducting turkey drives and toy drives. Mentally, Blake and his teammates were totally immersed in what it meant to be a Michigan Man.
What do you hope readers who aren’t Michigan fans take away from the book’s exploration of leadership, loyalty, mentorship, and teamwork?
I like to think that the book is for anyone who wants to learn about what differentiates good from great. How do you go from good to great? This book helps you see what it takes and how to go about it. This book will appeal to more than just Michigan football fans, because it also explores the strategies, rules, and life lessons for how to be your best self and how to make others around you more successful.
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In Blue Blood, Lester provides an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at how Michigan revitalized a storied program and ascended to the pinnacle of college football. He shares previously untold stories of Team 144, from team retreats at his farm on Lake Charlevoix to the strategic conversations that paved the way to the national championship. While most fans never experience the inner workings of the huddle or the sidelines during historic plays, Blue Blood gives you an all-access pass.
Through his unique perspective, Lester explores:
the Harbaugh leadership philosophy that restored Michigan’s glory;
the players Matt guided through internships and life beyond the turf; and
the historic 2023 season, defined by the resilience of a team that refused to break.
Blue Blood is the definitive account of a program that overcame every obstacle to reach the mountaintop. It is a masterclass in building a winning culture, a celebration of unwavering loyalty, and a love letter to the winningest program in college football history.
Flawed and Human
The Fall is an unsettling psychological story following one night in the life of a man battling opioid addiction, withdrawal, and the lasting wounds of childhood trauma. Where did the idea behind this novel come from?
This story came from necessity. In the Terms Series, readers see Sebastian’s overdose from the outside and watch him fight his way toward recovery. What they never saw was the night from inside his head. Showing him at his worst gives readers a fuller sense of how far he travels across the series.
It’s also personal. I’ve watched loved ones struggle with addiction, and I know the toll it takes. The disease twists someone’s personality and morals during their hardest moments. My goal was to explore the difference between who Sebastian is beneath his addiction, how the disease changes his behavior, and the pain that led him there. I kept it to a single night on purpose. Addiction shrinks a person’s whole world down to the next fix, and I wanted readers to feel the suffocation Sebastian felt that night.
The hallucinations give the story an almost horror-like quality. Did you consciously draw on horror conventions?
No, actually. When I sent the first draft to my beta readers, many of whom had firsthand experience, they told me to push the hallucinations further. They shared their own specific experiences of drug-induced psychosis for me to draw from as I shaped the story, and that changed the book. If it reads like horror, it’s because that’s how they told me it felt.
The structure came from the same place. The fragmented sentences, the repetition, and the abrupt jumps between memory and the present mirror how Sebastian’s mind works in withdrawal. His thoughts loop, his past keeps intruding, and he can’t always tell what’s real. Then, as the high takes hold, his mind warms, and the sentences grow longer and more fluid to carry that shift. I wanted readers to feel trapped in that cycle the way he is.
What do you hope readers feel toward Sebastian, even when his behavior is difficult to accept?
That’s a hard question. When I set out to write the Holt Universe, my goal was to tell stories, not to interpret them for the people who read them. Everyone who picks up The Fall arrives from a different headspace, with different lives and different experiences, and all of that shapes how they read it. Someone who has loved a person through addiction may see Sebastian very differently from someone who hasn’t, and both readings are valid. So, I guess, I don’t have a hope for how readers feel about him. That part belongs to them.
What I can say is that I didn’t write him to be excused or condemned. I don’t sanitize hard material or soften it to hold a reader’s hand. I wrote him to be honest: cruel and frightened, selfish and lonely, all at once. Flawed and human, just like the rest of us.
Is there another character in the Holt Universe whose story you are especially eager to explore?
Absolutely! I’m especially eager to explore Rosie, the matriarch of the Holt family, and Ava, a sleeper character in the Terms Series with a much bigger role to play than readers realize.
Their stories intertwine, and that’s what excites me most about the Holt Universe. At its heart, it’s a multigenerational family saga, stretching from Rosie’s youth to her grandchildren and beyond. What one generation lives through shapes the next, and I want to explore those lives through the eyes of the people who lived them.
The stories often overlap in time, meaning two characters can live through the same moment and walk away with completely different truths, shaped by their own histories, experiences, and biases, much like readers do.
That’s also why I love the idea of rereading these books. On a first read, you might question a character’s motives or finish with unanswered questions. But people aren’t omniscient, and neither are my characters, my readers, or even me. Each book reveals another piece of the larger picture, changing how you understand everything that came before it.
Rosie and Ava are where that really begins. Trinity, releasing January 30, 2027, follows Rosie’s journey to becoming the woman readers know from the Terms Series. Running alongside it is Ava’s Golden Trilogy, beginning with Shattered, which explores those same years from her perspective. Readers will encounter the same events and the same people, but through two very different sets of eyes.
And that’s the part I can’t wait for readers to discover. Neither woman has the whole story, but together, they offer readers a perspective neither could provide alone.
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Shut up.
Shut the f—
I fisted my hair, pulling at the strands.
Everything hurt.
Sick.
I was getting—
One night.
A man in withdrawal, chasing a fix across the city.
It ends on a balcony.
The Fall is Sebastian Holt’s story, an experimental 5,300 word literary short story. There is no love interest, no HEA, and no relief. It is a single night inside a single mind, told from the point of view of a man in active opioid addiction, and it does not look away.
This story isn’t written to be enjoyed. It’s meant to be endured.
No prior Holt Universe knowledge required. The Fall runs alongside the final days of Terms of Surrender, Book 1 of the Terms series. Readers who have not read Terms of Surrender should know that this story reveals how that book ends.
Content warnings are listed in full at the front of the book, with a more detailed version on Nicole Gregory’s website. Please read them.
We Watch All: Priest’s Last Call
Michael Spencer’s We Watch All is a thought-provoking science fiction novel that mixes dystopian suspense, psychological drama, and a fascinating exploration of power and truth. Set on Neo Mars, a human colony that has built a seemingly stable civilization far from Earth, the story begins with a major announcement. Glen, the colony’s longtime Priest and keeper of humanity’s history, is preparing to retire after sixty years of leadership. His successor will be selected through a series of mysterious trials open to the colony’s young adults. What initially sounds like an extraordinary opportunity quickly becomes something much more unsettling. The Priest holds knowledge that ordinary citizens aren’t permitted to access, and the governing Council maintains an uneasy relationship with the mysterious beings known as the Ones. Spencer creates an intriguing society where secrecy is woven into everyday life, and the promise of protecting humanity carries a disturbing price.
I really liked the ensemble of characters, and how each approaches the trials with different motivations, insecurities, and personal histories. Skyler, a young woman who uses a wheelchair, brings determination and vulnerability to the competition. Max, who has spent years without a stable home, struggles with belonging and self-worth. Meanwhile, characters such as Mark, Jason, Stacy, and Thomas offer contrasting perspectives on loyalty, ambition, and responsibility. Their individual experiences give the story an emotional dimension that extends beyond the larger mysteries of Neo Mars. Spencer frequently shifts between viewpoints, allowing readers to understand how the same circumstances can affect people in very different ways. The trials themselves are especially interesting because they challenge the candidates’ beliefs, memories, and emotional resilience. These encounters can be intense, sometimes deeply uncomfortable, and they raise compelling questions about what makes someone worthy of leadership. The conversations between characters also bring moments of humor and familiarity into an increasingly tense environment.
Readers familiar with Lois Lowry’s The Giver will recognize some interesting similarities in Spencer’s approach to memory, authority, and the preservation of history. Both novels imagine communities whose apparent stability depends on carefully controlled information, with certain individuals entrusted to carry knowledge that others cannot possess. There’s also a shared fascination with the emotional cost of remembering what society has chosen to conceal. Spencer, however, develops these ideas through a larger cast, a Martian setting, and an unsettling combination of science fiction and almost spiritual experiences. The Ones add an element of cosmic mystery, while the Council’s involvement introduces political tension and questions about institutional accountability. Spencer’s writing is especially effective when characters confront their own convictions under extraordinary psychological pressure. Some passages revisit similar emotional conflicts, and the changing perspectives occasionally interrupt the narrative’s momentum, but the book’s central mysteries provide a strong reason to keep reading.
What makes We Watch All memorable is its interest in the relationship between knowledge and responsibility. The novel repeatedly asks whether protecting a civilization justifies controlling its history, how much authority any individual should possess, and what happens when obedience becomes a measure of personal worth. These questions give the story substance beyond its suspenseful premise. Spencer also makes good use of the Martian setting, presenting a society with familiar family relationships, educational ambitions, and everyday routines alongside deeply unusual traditions and governing structures. That contrast makes Neo Mars feel recognizably human even as its secrets become increasingly troubling. The book’s darker moments carry genuine emotional weight, especially when ordinary families must live with the consequences of decisions made behind closed doors. With its ambitious ideas, varied characters, and persistent sense of mystery, We Watch All: Priest’s Last Call is an engaging read for science fiction fans who enjoy stories about hidden histories, difficult moral choices, and the complicated nature of human freedom.
Pages: 308 | ASIN : B0FVWDVJTV
You Must Believe in Spring
Steven Hutton’s You Must Believe in Spring is a literary fiction novel that explores love, commitment, fatherhood, and the unpredictable ways life asks us to grow up. Set in southeastern Pennsylvania, the story follows Evan, a thirty-two-year-old man whose active imagination is both his favorite escape and one of his biggest obstacles. When his girlfriend, Ellen, becomes unexpectedly pregnant, Evan finds himself facing a future that suddenly feels very real. He’s already imagining their daughter, Helen, picturing everything from childhood adventures to conversations they’ll have decades down the road. There’s something wonderfully revealing about a man who can envision an entire lifetime with a child who hasn’t been born yet, even as he struggles to figure out his own next steps. Hutton builds this contemporary literary fiction story around that tension, giving readers an intimate look at a man trying to reconcile the life he’s imagined with the responsibilities waiting for him.
Much of the novel’s personality comes from Evan’s distinctive narrative voice. He’s funny, observant, occasionally exasperating, and capable of turning an ordinary moment into an elaborate mental production. A walk through town, a conversation over breakfast, or a visit with neighbors can send his thoughts spinning in unexpected directions. His imagination is constantly at work, creating scenes that range from genuinely touching to wonderfully absurd. Hutton has a particular talent for finding humor in mundane situations, and Evan’s running commentary gives the novel a lively, unpredictable rhythm. The writing is richly descriptive, sometimes following a thought through several unexpected turns before returning to the moment that inspired it. Readers who enjoy character-driven literary fiction will appreciate how much personality emerges through these digressions. They’re an essential part of understanding Evan, whose restless mind reveals his anxieties, affections, insecurities, and hopes, often all within the same conversation.
The relationship between Evan and Ellen gives You Must Believe in Spring its emotional center. Ellen is intelligent, independent, practical, and understandably concerned about the enormous changes an unexpected pregnancy could bring. Evan approaches their situation with enthusiasm and a remarkable capacity for romanticizing the future, while Ellen wants to consider what their choices will mean for their lives and careers. Their conversations capture the complicated dynamics of two people who love each other deeply but don’t always see their circumstances the same way. The supporting characters add welcome texture, particularly Evan’s outspoken friend Finn, whose sharp humor and spirited exchanges bring another dimension to the story. Hutton also draws thoughtfully on the rhythms of small-town life, friendships, family expectations, work, and the natural world. Springtime becomes an especially meaningful presence, with birdsong, shifting light, gardens, and changing weather reflecting the possibilities and uncertainties surrounding the characters.
What makes this work of contemporary fiction engaging is its interest in the everyday experiences through which people discover who they are and what matters to them. Hutton approaches serious subjects with humor, tenderness, and a willingness to linger over the details that give ordinary life its emotional weight. The novel’s reflective, sometimes meandering style invites readers to spend time inside Evan’s thoughts, where philosophical questions about love, mortality, imagination, and personal responsibility mingle with affectionate observations and comic distractions. Music also plays an important role, adding another layer to the book’s contemplation of time, memory, and hope. At its heart, You Must Believe in Spring is a thoughtful, frequently funny exploration of what it means to love someone while learning how to show up for them. Readers drawn to introspective literary fiction, relationship-centered novels, and stories about personal growth will find plenty to appreciate in Hutton’s distinctive portrayal of a man discovering how much life can ask of him, and how much he wants to give.
Pages: 257 | ASIN : B0HK79XGLN
The Wall
The Wall, written and illustrated by Natalia Morris, is a thoughtful and emotionally engaging children’s book about sensory overwhelm, social anxiety, and the longing to belong. The story follows a young girl who finds comfort in quiet, familiar activities but struggles when faced with the unpredictable sights, sounds, and interactions of a busy playground. What seems like an ordinary outing becomes an emotionally complicated experience as she navigates her desire to connect with other children and the overwhelming feelings that make doing so difficult. Morris approaches these experiences with sensitivity, creating a story that encourages readers to consider how differently children can experience the same environment. At its heart, this is a book about wanting to participate in the world while learning to manage the challenges that come with it.
After a brief introduction, Morris allows the illustrations to carry nearly the entire narrative. The wall itself serves as a powerful visual representation of the barriers that can arise between a child and the social world around them. Its imposing presence makes an internal struggle visible and understandable, even for younger readers who may have difficulty articulating similar emotions. The book also incorporates sign language, facial expressions, and body language as meaningful forms of communication. This approach gives the story a distinctive rhythm, inviting readers to slow down, observe the characters, and consider what their gestures and expressions reveal.
Morris uses a combination of vibrant colors, soft watercolor-like textures, and expressive character drawings to create an atmosphere that shifts with the protagonist’s experiences. The girl’s bright yellow coat and patterned boots make her immediately recognizable, while the reddish brick wall provides a striking visual contrast. Particularly effective are the illustrations showing the girl curled up beside the wall, where her small posture conveys a powerful sense of vulnerability. Other images capture the energy of children playing, with colorful playground equipment, changing seasons, and lively movement. These details give the illustrations warmth and personality while helping readers understand the emotional distance the protagonist sometimes feels.
What makes The Wall especially meaningful for me is the personal experience behind its creation. In an author’s letter, Morris explains that her daughter’s experiences with autism, language impairment, and sensory overload inspired the story. That perspective gives the book an authenticity that comes through in its attention to emotional challenges and the importance of patience. Morris recognizes that connection can require considerable effort and that every child’s progress follows a different path. The book offers families an opportunity to talk about neurodivergence, empathy, inclusion, and the many ways children communicate their needs. With its expressive artwork, gentle storytelling, and compassionate understanding of childhood experiences, The Wall is a touching book that encourages readers to look more closely at the feelings and experiences of those around them.
Pages: 49 | ASIN : B0HKGGKVSD
Go Home a Winner
Mathematical Strategies to Winning Short-Term Play Video Poker explores how probability, strategic card selection, and mathematical analysis can help video poker players make decisions and understand their chances during short casino sessions. What inspired you to focus on sessions lasting one to eight hours?
Casinos offer a large variety of games and entertainment options to the players. For the guests who do not wish to stay seated behind the same machine for extended hours, they can select another machine, a different variation of the machine, an entirely different game of chance, watch a show or sports event available at the casino, or even take a break and recollect themself. If a player does not feel the machine is paying at the expected averages for the play duration, he may just be having a “streak of bad luck” and wish to try another machine or an entirely different game.
In my opinion, you should go to the casino to have a good time, enter tournaments, and try your luck at the many different types of games. Sure, to go home a winner is always a plus, but if you don’t and exercise proper money management, you should still have a great experience at the casino.
When analyzing which cards to hold or discard, what surprising mathematical discoveries challenged conventional video poker strategies or your own initial assumptions?
I wanted to do all of the math myself and derive a strategy for the best draw opportunities in each hand. For example, if your initial hand is a Pair, should you draw 1, 2, or 3 cards to form the best hand? Every choice is analyzed from a mathematical perspective, and a suggested play strategy is offered. This strategy may comply with or disagree with conventional wisdom, but is offered from an unbiased mathematical perspective. Also, new opportunities for improving a “junk hand” on the draw are analyzed. Finally, a thorough discussion is presented which allows players to create a drawing strategy of their own and test its effectiveness.
How do differences in pay tables and bonus structures among the six video poker variations influence your recommendations for short-term players?
I suggest that machines that have the highest payouts for the middle-third of the hands (Straight, Flush, and Full House) should be sought to offer the highest returns for the players. The top three hands (Four-of-a-Kind, Straight Flush, and Royal Flush) offer much higher payouts, but are less likely (but not definitely) to appear in a short play session. Bonus payouts are generally considered a very good benefit and can increase your rate of return on the game.
How do you reconcile the mathematical advantages of optimal play with the unpredictability of short-term outcomes, especially when advising readers about bankroll management?
I would consider mathematically derived best play strategies with a touch of luck, as being the best strategy in video poker, even on those machines with a poor pay table. All of the examples worked are done with playing only one bet per play, which should help proper money management for the short-term player, since it is statistically unlikely that he will hit a winning Royal Flush. However, a Royal Flush can, in reality, hit at any time, making you regret that you did not play the full coins. But gambling is all about taking chances and winning and losing streaks. May luck be on your side!
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Finding the Humour
Around the World With a Spare Pair of Jeans is a humorous, engaging memoir of your 1975 journey along the Hippie Trail, capturing the challenges, discoveries, and unexpected kindnesses of budget travel across Europe and Asia. Why was this an important book for you to write?
For those who weren’t there, it is really hard to imagine travelling in a pre-digital world… no cell phone?…no GPS?… no instant cash or online bookings? Truly, in those days, when we were gone, we were really GONE! No safety net at all. That’s how we travelled 50 years ago, and looking back, it does seem challenging. Perhaps even foolhardy. So it just felt right to tell the story now….
Was humour your natural response to difficult situations?
Well, there’s usually a funny side to every situation, and I think finding the humour really helps soften the edges of difficult days. Certainly, things could have gone terribly wrong a number of times, and there was nothing the least bit amusing about the night in Teheran when two men tried to break into our room at 5:00 am.
How did you reconstruct the details of a journey that took place more than fifty years ago?
They say that writing things down carves the words into the brain…I’m sure there’s probably a long Latin word for it!… and since I wrote in my journals every evening, I had a wealth of material. Of course, we didn’t have TV, and it was dark (and cold) quite early at that time of year! I also wrote a lot of letters home…at least every week, sending updates on where we were, although leaving out some of the more scary details, of course! I also kept all the tickets, brochures, and receipts which I accumulated along the way. So when it came to transcribing the journals, I had a mass of information, and everything came back so clearly in my mind. It really is amazing to realize it all happened more than 50 years ago now.
What advice would you give young women considering independent international travel today?
Sometimes it’s hard not to feel jaded when we see awful things happening on the news, but most people are genuinely kind and good. I think it’s important to remember that travelling puts you in the shoes of a visitor, and being respectful in dress and demeanour goes a long way toward being accepted in new or very different communities.
Getting along and fitting in is really just a matter of common sense; nobody appreciates loud and rude visitors. As far as safety goes, again, use common sense!
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Departing from London, England, Jean started out in France and Italy, then moved on to Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Thailand, before she made it to Australia. However, Jean’s journey was not without its setbacks. Travel in the 1970s meant no internet, no GPS, and no easy way to retrieve cash. Access to safe drinking water was not guaranteed. Jean describes
with candour and humour how she tackled obstacle after obstacle as she roamed further into unfamiliar cultures.
Although Jean didn’t know it at the time, many places she visited were about to go through drastic changes. The Iranian Revolution and the Soviet-Afghan War closed borders and changed the face of Asia. The eventual capture of serial killer Charles Sobhraj, many of whose victims were back-packers travelling on the Hippie Trail at this time, casts her adventures in a whole new light. Jean’s writings provide a snapshot into this part of the world during a fascinating era in its history. For adventure lovers, armchair travellers, and everyone in between, Jean Ramer’s travel memoir is an eye-opening story of resilience, awe, and self-discovery.
Empowered Kitchen
Empowered Kitchen, compiled by physician and chef Dr. Colin Zhu, connects plant-forward cooking with personal health, community life, and care for the environment. Its contributors include doctors, dietitians, chefs, and farmers, whose perspectives give the book the feel of a shared project. Four opening “toolkits” address nutrition questions, kitchen habits, agriculture, and practical ways to reduce waste. The recipes then put those ideas on the table. Zhu’s introduction recalls watching his parents cook together, and that memory gives the book its center: food is a daily practice shaped by skill, culture, and the people who gather to eat it.
The guidance is most useful when it moves from a broad health goal to a decision a reader can make today. Contributors explain how to stock a pantry, plan meals around a busy schedule, use a freezer, adapt familiar dishes, and build flavor through heat, acid, herbs, and texture. Advice for feeding children, eating at work, and sharing meals at celebrations recognizes that habits have to fit real households. Chef Caryn Dugan captures the book’s encouraging approach: “Cooking is a practice, not a performance.” The chapters also give space to nutrient planning, including vitamin B12 for people eating entirely plant-based diets. Their question-and-answer format makes the material easy to revisit while shopping or deciding what to cook.
The recipe collection ranges from black bean stew and chickpea korma to roasted eggplant with lemon tahini, Haitian epis, red lentil wraps, and sweet potato brownies. Contributor notes often explain a dish’s family or cultural roots, while preparation times, substitutions, and storage tips help readers use the recipes beyond a single meal. Some dishes are quick enough for a weekday; others invite slower cooking and shared preparation. The range of voices brings welcome variety, though it also produces shifts in tone and in how confidently health benefits are described. The book is strongest when a recipe’s flavor, method, and possible variations carry the case for making it.
Its environmental chapters widen the view from the kitchen to soil, farm labor, food access, plastic use, forests, and oceans. Farmers discuss how growing practices affect the food supply, while other contributors suggest smaller household actions, such as using leftovers well or starting an herb garden. This breadth can make individual subjects brief, but it gives readers several points of entry into the book’s central idea. Zhu writes, “Food is meant to be communal and shared.” Empowered Kitchen follows through on that belief by treating cooking as something learned from others and passed along. It’s a generous, practical collection for readers who want more plants on their plates and a closer connection to the people and places behind their food.
Pages: 256 | ASIN: B0HNW5GX2Q
