Weekly Wrap-Up: 11/24 – 11/30

Yay! I’m not super late with the Weekly Wrap-Up this week! Hopefully this is a good sign for the future!

Though my blogging wasn’t really any better than it’s been, I did read some books this past week. Or at least a couple novellas. But considering my track record with novel reading lately, I definitely see that as a huge win.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the Weekly Wrap-Up!

Thursday 11/27: Thanksgiving Day

Last Thursday was Turkey Day! To those who celebrate, once again, Happy Thanksgiving!! 🦃🍽️🥧🌽🍂🍁 Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday, and not because of the food or anything. I enjoy it because I love seeing family and friends I don’t usually get to see. I also like it because the hype for the holiday season officially starts here.

We had a good day again this year. I enjoyed seeing everyone that I got to see, and even though it’s not the reason that I love this holiday, the food was great this year. So it was a pretty okay Thanksgiving, this time around.

Saturday 11/29: Books I’m Thankful For

This past Saturday, I finally posted the usual thing I do for Thanksgiving, Books I’m Thankful For. It was about a day later than I’d have liked, but it wasn’t that late so I was pretty satisfied.

This year, the book – or series in this case, technically – that I gushed about were the Legend of Zelda bug books. AKA: The strategy guides and the lore books.

Books I’m Thankful For: Legend of Zelda Lore Books & Strategy Guides

Sunday 11/30: Birthstone Book Covers

On Sunday, I participated in Birthstone Book Covers – just barely getting it in before the end of November. Birthstone Book Covers is a fun little post created and hosted by Leslie @ Books Are the New Black.

Each month, for the post, you feature book covers that are either the same color of the month’s birthstone or include the color in the title. This month was November, and its birthstones are topaz and citrine. So the colors of the month were yellow, gold, and yellow-orange.

Birthstone Book Covers: November 2025

Books I Read Last Week

Wrapping It All Up

So yeah, in some ways last week was a bit of an improvement, and in some ways it wasn’t. I’m happy with it overall – especially with the holiday and all that. Here’s hoping this is a sign of good things to come for the rest of the year. 🍀🤞

For my blog stuff this week, I definitely want to get my Most Interesting Looking New Books of December 2025 post, as well as my monthly wrap-up regarding my reading for November 2025. I want to get those two out during a reasonable week of the month this time around! I also want to get a book review – or two! – out as well. I’m waayyy behind now, especially in light of the fact that I read two novellas last week (which is something I’m very happy about).

Regarding books and reading… I just read the first two novels of the Penric and Desdemona series, but I think I’m gonna pause on that for a bit, even though I’ve enjoyed it. There’s just too much that I want to read. Next on my immediate TBR is the final volume of The Glass Scientists is coming out today, so I’ll be reading that as soon as my copy arrives. I’m very excited to see how everything concludes! After that, I’m not quite sure what I’ll read next, but I feel like I’m finally back on a reading kick. So hopefully it doesn’t go away!

Outside of books and blogging, last week had a lot going on. Sort of. Well, okay, “a lot” was basically only Thanksgiving, but my spouse and I also had a lot of extra time to ourselves compared to usual, courtesy of the holiday. We spent a lot of our time chilling and taking it easy, but we also binged Dispatch. It’s a new game developed by AdHoc Studio that was released episodically from mid-October to mid-November, and is the spiritual successor to Telltale Games. My spouse and I just lounged and watched and played a bunch of stuff in general, though.

Other than this stuff, however, nothing much happened. We even kind of took a break with the diet and stuff, because Thanksgiving is all about food and all. This is like one of the only weeks of the year where we kind of acknowledge that we’re not really going to eat healthy. Oh well. But this coming week we should be back on it.

Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Books I’m Thankful For: Legend of Zelda Lore Books & Strategy Guides

Ugh, this is later than I wanted it to be. Oh well, this week is always busier than normal for me, because of the holiday and all. But I’m still doing it. Here we go – the books I’m thankful for! (Edit: I scheduled this post wrong. I have to pay more attention when I’m doing that – or maybe I just shouldn’t do it when I’m so tired I feel like crashing, haha. I fixed it now.)

If you’ve been following me for a while, you might know that I’m a huge Legend of Zelda fan. But for those who don’t know, I’m a huge Legend of Zelda fan. It’s one of my favorite things ever, and it’s probably one of the bigger reasons why I’m a fantasy fan, among other things. I actually did a post about Zelda a couple of years ago, the day before Tears of the Kingdom came out. Zelda is also special to me this time of the year in particular, because one of my earliest and most profound memories with it was watching my cousin play a little bit of Twilight Princess on Thanksgiving in 2006.

Now part of the reason this is late is because I wasn’t sure what Zelda books I wanted to do this year and what Zelda books I wanted to do next year. Just because there are too many, and they can also be easily divided into categories. It was between what you see here or the Zelda manga, and seeing as I haven’t read all of the manga yet (even though I own all of it), I decided I’d save that one for next year. And I really wanted to do a Books I’m Thankful For post regarding Zelda stuff next year in particular because the Legend of Zelda series’ 40th anniversary is next year. I thought it would be nice and stuff.

Anyway, I love Zelda – I’m not sure if I’ve been clear enough about that or not, lol. And I really like the literature involved with it as well. All of it – to be clear! – but I’m only gonna focus on the strategy guides, and the lore and art books this year. (I’ll do the manga next year – promise!)

Regarding the strategy guides… Well, they were basically my first exposure to the “literature” side of the Zelda series. I got the strategy guide for Twilight Princess for Christmas in 2007 from my grandmother, who noticed that I was really fixated on the game, which had come out the year before. I treasure it greatly, because my grandma was very precious to me. Not just because Twilight Princess was and is my favorite game in the series, haha. But it was an incredibly memorable gift, and one I read more than once, even though I was already on my way to having the game memorized.

But that sparked an interest in me. And a few weeks later, I acquired a strategy guide for Phantom Hourglass from Best Buy. And years later, I bought the rest of the set myself. Seeing those books and their different colored spines is always so nice, and I’m glad I finally have them all. (Except for maybe one. I might be missing one strategy guide. But if I am it didn’t come with the set so that’s why. And I’m gonna correct it eventually if I am.)

And these guides are what got me hooked on the extra stuff in the Legend of Zelda. So when the Hyrule Historia came out for the 25th anniversary, you better believe I was all over that… translation. Yeah, they didn’t release that one in the west right away – we had to wait like a year for that. But in 2013 I did get a copy, and I adored it. The lore it added and/or confirmed was amazing. And it was just so cool in general.

And in the years after Art & Artifacts and the Zelda Encyclopedia released, and I got ahold of those immediately as they came out. They were just as awesome, even if the Encyclopedia did outright contradict or retcon a few things. (Art & Artifacts just has art and stuff – it’s really cool and very inoffensive noncontributory. I don’t think anyone has any problems with it.) I love seeing the green, red, and blue spines all lined up together. It’s beautiful.

So yeah, these are the books that I love, that I’m thankful for, that have had an impact on me, and that I’m gonna gush about this year for Thanksgiving. Also, it’s a bit late (again), but Happy Thanksgiving 🦃🥧 to everyone and anyone who celebrates it! I hope you all enjoyed good food with the ones you love.

What books are you thankful for? What are your favorite novels?

Thank you for reading. I’m always so thankful that anyone reads or follows my little blog at all. I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 11/25 – 12/1

Uhhh… Last week was so busy. I didn’t really have time to work on blog stuff, and I couldn’t figure out which book I wanted to read next. Which, um, doesn’t have anything to do with me being busy, but whatever. Anyway.

Concerning the number of posts I did do… Yeah, it wasn’t a lot. But I honestly wasn’t expecting too much to get done, even though I was hopeful about how many posts I’d get out. And the books I’d read. But that’s just how the cookie crumbles when there’s a holiday.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get going!

Thursday 11/28: Thanksgiving 2024

Last Thursday was Thanksgiving. It came pretty late this year, so I ended up putting the Christmas decorations up early. And good thing I did too, because it’s kind of been snowing since then and I wouldn’t have gotten the chance to put the outdoor ones up until later this week had I waited. Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving 🦃🍽️🥧🌽🍂🍁 to everyone who celebrates!!

Friday 11/29: First Line Friday

On Friday, I participated in the weekly post, First Line Fridays. Two weeks in a row! Oh yeah! First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words. It’s a fun little post that focuses on guessing books based on their first lines.

First Line Friday: 11/29

Saturday 11/30: Books I’m Thankful For

This year, the book – or series in this case (once again) – that I gushed about was the Warrior Cats series by (the team of ghostwriters that is) Erin Hunter.

Books I’m Thankful For: Warrior Cats

Books I Read Last Week

💖🎁 Wrapping It All Up 💖🎁

So yeah, I didn’t get a ton of reading or blogging done last week, but with the holiday I didn’t really expect to. Hopefully this week will go better. 🤞🍀

This week, I’m planning on doing a book review at some point, as well as my reading wrap-up for November. I’m also most likely going to do a couple of the usual weekly posts that I participate in. So I’m hoping to do four blog posts, but if I only get out three, I guess I’ll be okay. Since I’m still getting my crap together after the busyness that was last week.

Talking about stuff I did last week beyond the blog… It was all basically Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving adjacent. Either I was celebrating it, or getting ready for it, whether that be baking and cooking or cleaning. It was honestly kind of busy and stressful. I’m looking forward to relaxing and reading a bit more this week.

It’s also still snowing on and off so far this week. Winter is coming, y’all. ❄️☃️

Anyway, as always, thank you to everyone for reading, and I hope you all have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Books I’m Thankful For: Warrior Cats

Ugh. Thanksgiving kicked my butt once again. What am I even doing with these posts being at least a day late?! It is what it is, I guess. Sorry about how lackluster the blog has been in general this past week, as well. Thanksgiving, why are you so busy?!

Anyway. It’s time for that certain annual post of mine – Books I’m Thankful For. It’s something I started the first year I started this blog (about the first month in, even), and I think that the name is pretty self explanatory. It’s just me talking about a book or series that I’m really appreciative of or felt was something life changing for me to read.

My post from 2022, the year I started this, was all about Mary Pope Osborne’s Magic Treehouse series. And in my post from last year, I focused on Obert Skye’s Leven Thumps series. This year, the book (or series) I’m gonna gush about is… 🥁🥁 The Warrior Cats books by Erin Hunter (who’s actually five people – or more is it more now?? – under a pseudonym but whatever)!!

Full Disclosure: I’m very aware that Warrior Cats does not really hold up as an adult. These books have got all kinds of issues and weirdness: reused plots, ridiculous written romance (it’s always forbidden love), and Omen of the Stars gets really weird at times. But if you were there in its hay day in the late ’00s you’d get it. There’s just something about these cat books that kept you coming back for more.

So, first off, we have to start with the honest truth. What originally attracted me to these books was the fact that beautiful and colorful cats were the main focus of these series and I wanted a cat very badly growing up but wasn’t allowed to have one. That’s it, that’s what primarily caught my eye about Warrior Cats. It let me live out my fantasy in an extremely overly fantastical way of experiencing cats. And that’s what I liked most about it. Maybe.

Another thing that I really enjoyed about these novels was how. Freaking. Many. There were. When I first got into these books the first two series – The Prophecies Begin and The New Prophecy – were already out completely and even in paperback. The first super edition, Firestar’s Quest, had also been released (and was in paperback as well). Warrior Cats was currently on its third saga, The Power of Three. The first three books of this series had come out (though not all in paperback yet) and the fourth book was poised to come out any time. So yeah, I had a lot of books to occupy my time.

And boy did I spend a lot of time with these books. I’d read them, then I’d reread them, and then I’d reread my favorite parts of them. I even acquired one of the official guide books, Cats of the Clans, and read and reread that. And admired all of the pretty cat artwork, of course. Not to mention, I spent a substantial amount of time on the (unofficial) wiki once I discovered it and these books got me into drawing as well. (They made me want to learn how to draw cats, okay?) And don’t get me started on the fanfiction. This was one of the first book series I read fanfiction for, and was the second thing ever I considered writing fanfiction for. I also owned all of the books and super editions that were out at the time and came out while I was following all of the series.

So yeah, basically, I was obsessed with the Warrior Cats books. For a good two years or so, at least. Then I kind of started losing interest sometime in Omen of the Stars (I told you, it gets weird), and dropped off. Also, I was beginning to suspect a certain cat I Ioved was gonna die and I wasn’t ready to read that. (I ended up being right, btw.) But I never forgot these novels and how they took over my life for a while. And how they filled the void inside myself that desperately wanted to have a cat.

About five years ago, a few Warrior Cats videos started popping up on my YouTube feed and I got back into it a little. I sort of caught up to where the books were currently at (only like how many series there were at the time and the vaguest notions of their plots), and even bought a couple books. Specifically, one of the other super editions, and the second half of Omen of the Stars. Because I’d never finished it, and I kind of wanted to.

I still want to. Because I never did end up reading them and it’s always been something I’ve regretted a little. Like, I’m definitely gonna stop after Omen of the Stars (I’m really not interested in the stuff that comes after), but it feels a little weird leaving it unfinished, you know? I mean, these books were my life (to some degree) for two years. That’s not insignificant. But who knows. Maybe I’ll read them, maybe I won’t.

I didn’t really get into it, but I did like a lot that the novels had to offer, despite the lower points and some of the odd decisions made. I really liked the characters (for the most part), and even adored some of them. Also, I loved the setting and aesthetic of the groups of cats living in the forest, and then later around a lake (but still actually in the woods – just with a body of water in the middle this time). And I really enjoyed the magical aspect of these books too; it added a mystical fantasy aspect to the novels that wouldn’t feel the same without it. (Well more fantastical than cats that fight over territory and have human-like interactions with one another already are.) Someday, I might even do a massive review of all the books I’ve read from this gigantic series. Who knows.

Anyway, even with all the weirdness, the Warrior Cats series was really impactful for me, and I’m really thankful for it for various reasons. I’ll never, ever regret the time I spent with all of these books. And I recommend giving them a shot to any middle grade readers who are interested, but in the same way that I recommended One Piece to people. Because they’re both so ridiculously long at this point. (With Warrior Cats you can stop off much easier, though. You can just read the individual series within the bigger series if you want to. It’s mostly a bunch of books that are simply set in the same universe at this point. You just gotta read them in order.)

So yeah, it’s a bit late (again), but Happy Thanksgiving 🦃🥧 to everyone and anyone who celebrates it! I hope you all enjoyed good food with the ones you love.

What books are you thankful for? What are your favorite novels?

Thank you for reading. I’m always so thankful that anyone reads or follows my little blog at all. I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 11/20 – 12/4

So it’s been some time since my last weekly wrap-up. It wasn’t very weekly, was it?

But hear me out! I only skipped last week’s because I was only able to post once the week before. And I didn’t think that that really warranted a weekly wrap-up post just for that. It seemed… overkill.

So I’m doing the past two weeks in this one post. That’s it, that’s what I really wanted to say. On with the wrap-up.

Thursday 11/23: Thanksgiving Day

I didn’t do a post this day, or on the day after, so here’s a very, very late Happy Thanksgiving!! 🦃🥧 I hope that everyone who celebrated enjoyed good food and good company!

Sunday 11/26: Books I’m Thankful For

Two Sundays ago was the only post I managed to do the week of Thanksgiving, unfortunately. But seeing as it was said week and I hadn’t done my Books I’m Thankful For post of the year yet, I decided to do that one.

Books I’m Thankful For: Leven Thumps

Thursday 11/30: System Collapse Review

This past Thursday, I finally got my book review posted for System Collapse by Martha Wells. It was a perfectly fine addition to the Murderbot Diaries. I gave it ★★★★✯.

My review of System Collapse

Friday 12/1: First Lines Friday

On Friday, I participated in another First Line Fridays for the first time in a while. First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words.

First Line Friday: 12/1

Sunday 12/3: November 2023 Monthly Reading Wrap-Up

Yesterday, I posted my monthly reading wrap-up for November 2023. For those who don’t know, monthly wrap-ups are when I go over the books I read over the past month, as well as my stats over on The StoryGraph.

Monthly Wrap-Up: November Reading 2023

Books I Read in the Last Two Weeks

One Piece: Volumes 19 - 20 - 21 by Eiichiro Oda

One Piece: Volumes 22 - 23 - 24 by Eiichiro Oda

💖🎁 Wrapping It All Up 💖🎁

So yeah, that’s it. This time I wrapped up not one, but two, weeks. And since both these past weeks are finally done and acknowledged on the blog, my conscious is now clear.

This coming week I’d like to do a Tasteful Tuesday, seeing as it’s been a few weeks since I last did it. I promise, I really do want this to be a weekly thing! It just… hasn’t worked out that way lately.

I’m also definitely going to be posting my book review for Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett later this week. It’s been a long time coming, and I’ve been dying to talk about this book since I read it. I had originally hoped to post the review for it last week but… yeah. Oh! And I’ll probably participate in Spell the Month in Books this coming weekend, too. I’m not sure what else I’ll do this week, however.

close up of christmas decoration hanging on tree — *Photo by Gary Spears on Pexels.com*

Also, speaking of stuff I did last week that didn’t have anything to do with reading books or the blog, I changed the home decor. Yup, I put the Christmas decorations up! And decorated the tree! And changed the scents around the house. So now everything’s all festive and perfect for the season at Mar’s!

But yeah, as always, thank you all so much for reading and I hope you have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Books I’m Thankful For: Leven Thumps

Sooo… I’ve been unexpectedly MIA this week. I’m sorry about that, I got a little stressed out with the holiday coming up (Thanksgiving) and it triggered a flare up. So I was out of action for part of the week, unfortunately. And the time I did have was spent cleaning and prepping for Thanksgiving or doing family stuff. So yeah, those are my excuses for not posting basically at all this week.

But I’m rectifying it now. This is my Thanksgiving post, Books I’m Thankful For, and it’s something that I started last year. Speaking of which, my BITF post of 2022 was a soliloquy about the series that got me into reading – The Magic Treehouse series. This year I’m gonna do something slightly less impactful but no less thankful for – the Leven Thumps series by Robert Skye.

My journey with this series began in 2006 on my birthday. I got the first book Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo as one of my birthday gifts. (The other one was another book, but I can’t for the life of me remember what it is. I guess that shows which book ended up being more important to me, lol.) I read it, fell in love with the sketch style art within, and was frothing at the mouth for more.

Then, mere weeks later I saw the sequel, Leven Thumps and the Whispered Secret, at Borders and immediately picked it up. And thus, I was hooked on the series. I then waited every year for each release, eagerly anticipating the next three books. And I was never disappointed.

These books were here with their weird plots and great humor whenever I needed to be cheered up, and they fostered a unique brand of creativity within me, encouraging me to think outside the box when coming up with ideas. I read and reread these novels so many times I’ve lost count. I also buddy read them with at least one friend, and we adored them. The story, the world, the characters – all of it.

This is a series that will always be in my heart, and I absolutely have to give a hearty recommendation for. They have weird but unique plots, imaginative rich worlds, and are generally just fun. I’ll always remember Leven and his friends’ adventures very, very fondly. I’m so thankful for this series I don’t have enough words.

(Before I close off, I will say that these books are definitely not perfect. The world building has a ton of issues, but I liked the writing and most of everything else so I was kind of able to turn off my brain and enjoy it. Plus, I was like 10 or 11 when I first read it, and I honestly didn’t care that much about any of that stuff until several years later in college. I just wanted to enjoy the story and characters. I will say, though, that there were some plot points and character motivations that were that were never addressed properly by series end, which I did find a little irritating.)

(This is also definitely geared towards kids and I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed this too much as an adult, had I read it for the first time now. The protagonists aren’t very active in the first book, which is also a problem, but I kind of let the magic and whimsy carry me through that one. (Also, Leven’s powers are poorly defined and never mean or amount to anything in the first couple of books, unless the plot needed something to happen and this has always bothered me.) (Book four is the best, BTW.))

So yeah, I know it’s extraordinarily late, but Happy Thanksgiving 🦃🥧 to everyone and anyone who celebrates it! I hope you all enjoyed good food with the ones you love.

What books are you thankful for? What are your favorite novels?

Thank you for reading. I’m always so thankful that anyone reads or follows my little blog at all. I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

My Top 3 Cookbooks | Thanksgiving Day Special

Sooo… for Thanksgiving, I decided to do something a little different. Instead of a book review or a post about book covers or something, I’m going to be listing my favorite cookbooks. My top three specifically (in no particular order).

See, this is something y’all might not have realized about me (mostly because I’ve never mentioned it before, ever), but I love to cook and bake stuff. And what better way to celebrate today’s post? Ya know, since it’s a holiday about food and all. Anyway, here we go!

The Nerdy Nummies Cookbook by Rosanna Pansino

I have to make a confession. I haven’t made as much stuff from this book as I would’ve liked. And that’s on me. I’m a bit of a novice at baking certain stuff, particularly some of the pastry chef level stuff in here, so I’ve shied away from some of the more complex recipes.

But the ones that I have tried are delicious, and they’re some of the most ingeniously nerdy things I’ve ever seen. I love this cookbook.

Cookbook Description

The first cookbook from the creator and host of the internet’s most popular baking show, Nerdy Nummies: a collection of Rosanna Pansino’s all-time favorite geeky recipes as well as sensational new recipes exclusive to this book.

The Nerdy Nummies Cookbook is quirky, charming, and fun, featuring the recipes behind Rosanna Pansino’s celebrated, one-of-a-kind creations, as well as beautiful, mouthwatering photographs throughout. It is the perfect companion that you’ll turn to whenever you want to whip up a delicious treat and be entertained all at once. And best of all, these treats are as simple as they are fun to make! No need for costly tools or baking classes to create these marvelous delights yourself.

The Nerdy Nummies Cookbook combines two things Rosanna loves: geek culture and baking. Her fondness for video games, science fiction, math, comics, and lots of other things considered “nerdy” have inspired every recipe in this book. You’ll find the recipes for many beloved fan favorites from the show, such as Apple Pi Pie, the Chocolate Chip Smart Cookie, and Volcano Cake; as well as many new geeky recipes, such as Dinosaur Fossil Cake, Moon Phase Macarons, and the Periodic Table of Cupcakes. The Nerdy Nummies Cookbook showcases Rosanna’s most original and popular creations, and each recipe includes easy-to-follow photo instructions and a stunning shot of the finished treat in all its geeky glory: a delicious confection sure to please the geek in all of us!

Betty Crocker Cookbook [12th Edition] by Betty Crocker

Now this one is a classic. It’s a cookbook that almost everyone uses, and if they don’t own a copy of one of the editions, then they probably use some of the Betty Crocker recipes that are online. And hey, there’s a reason for that: these recipes work. Really well. (For me at least. I’ve never had a problem.)

Everything that I’ve made from these cookbooks has been delicious, and these recipes have been used by my family for generations. But why wouldn’t they? After all, these recipes are dependable and delicious.

Cookbook Description

Now available in a comb-bound format, the 12th edition of a trusted favorite, with everything the home cook needs to cook confidently, fully updated for a newer generation.

This is the book home cooks have come to trust; the 12th edition of the Betty Crocker Cookbook, with updated recipes, new photography, plus expanded and new chapters to meet the needs of today’s home cooks. With 1,500 recipes and variations, and more than 1,000 photos, this colorful new edition packs a punch. How-to step-by-step photos show rather than simply tell how to get great results. The new Technique features explain fully the concepts behind techniques such as braising, deglazing, and hot water–bath canning. A Make-Ahead feature shows how to make a batch of one item and use it various ways. And a Global Flavors ingredient ID introduces new ingredients by region. Now available in a convenient comb-bound edition, this classic is destined to be the most-used book in the kitchen.

Tasty Dessert: All the Sweet You Can Eat by Tasty

This one is one of my newer acquisitions, but it’s just as good as the others. Filled with simple and more complex dessert recipes alike, this is a decent baking book for most cooks out there. The desserts are gorgeous and delicious, and if that’s not a reason to absolutely love this book, then I don’t know what is.

Cookbook Description

75 sweet treats from Tasty to inspire, delight, and satisfy any level of home baker.

Ready to rise from baking newbie to MVP? Tasty Dessert gives you the lowdown on baking basics, from building a fuss-free pantry to mastering easy-as-pie twists on old favorites. You’ll stuff, layer, frost, and meringue your way to the cherry on top of pretty much every meal. If Confetti Birthday Soufflé, No-Bake 16-Layer S’mores Cake, and Sour Cherry Fritters don’t float your boat (are you feeling ok?), here are 75 recipes for any hankering, mood, or occasion, whether you’re jonesing for a sugar adventure with friends or having a late-night dessert emergency. Just don’t forget to save a piece of it for yourself.

So yeah, these are my favorite cookbooks. You’re probably noticing a bit of a theme already with just these three, but I like baking. And I’m a nerd. I haven’t included a star rating for all of these, not because they’re cookbooks, and this is different from what I usually review. No, it’s because they all get five perfect stars from me, and I felt it would be a little redundant.

I definitely recommend these for those who like cooking or baking, or if you’re a geek. They’re must-haves for your kitchen library.

Do you own any of these? Is the one you own the Betty Crocker? What do you think of their recipes? Thanks, as always, for reading with me, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving if you’re in America. Happy Holidays!