5 Minutes for Books: It’s All Relative

It’s nearly Memorial Day. My three teenage children have a long weekend, and I, for one, am looking forward to them doing a lot of chores and yard work. Because that is totally a normal thing to expect your family to do when you’re working and they’re not, right?

Read 5 Minutes for Books' Disney vacation recommendations. 

It helps that I literally hold the keys to their freedom and can cajole/bribe them into at least doing the dishes and vacuuming. I’m also giving them fuel for the stories they will tell later in life to ...

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5 Minutes for Books: Disney World Guides

Vacation season is quickly approaching, and this year, one of the world's most visited places celebrates its 40th anniversary. On Oct. 1, 1971, the Magic Kingdom opened its doors in Florida. Forty years later, Walt Disney World includes four theme parks, two water parks, resorts, golf courses, a campground, shopping and entertainment venues, and much more. For anyone considering a trip to Disney World, planning can be overwhelming, but there are excellent guidebooks to help.

Read about living a French lifestyle at 5 Minutes for Books at Kirkus.

When it comes to Disney guides, The Unofficial Guide Walt Disney ...

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5 Minutes for Books: Sampling French Life with ‘Bonjour Happiness’

During the year we spent in France, my husband and I said repeatedly how much we admired the French philosophy of life. We felt we fit in; we matched. We watched our new friends effortlessly balance the demands of work, family and home—and spend their weekends relaxing because that was a priority.

Did you read the last 5 Minutes for Books at Kirkus? 

Every Sunday morning we would see families walking through the park, a patisserie box bound up with string swinging from the papa’s hand on their way to the grandparents for a big Sunday dinner. We ...

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'The Mommy Docs’ Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy and Birth'

The trio of board-certified doctors behind Discovery Health’s Deliver Me, which is moving to Oprah’s OWN network this May, celebrate Mother’s Day with the release of their comprehensive and engaging The Mommy Docs’ Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy and Birth. Leading readers from the first neo-natal stirrings through the postpartum process, Yvonne Bohn, Allison Hill and Alane Park pull from their professional knowledge—as well as what they’ve picked up along the way as mothers themselves. They told us what makes their guide different from other pregnancy books, what motherhood has taught them about doctoring and the ...

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Oprah's Health Guru Bob Greene Takes on Aging

We all want to look and feel younger, but what’s the secret? Veteran health and wellness expert Bob Greene has held an interest in the betterment of himself and those around him since he was a child. He's parlayed this interest into a series of books on feeling, looking and becoming more youthful, healthy and vibrant from the inside out. 20 Years Younger, Greene’s seventh book, details a program designed to maximize the benefits and capitalize on the choices made when applied to four key lifestyle components: regular exercise, a healthful diet, revitalizing skin care and restorative ...

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5 Minutes for Books: ‘The Anti-Romantic Child’

Childhood memories play such a large role in how individuals approach parenthood, for better or worse. For Priscilla Gilman, who’s spent much of her life enmeshed in poetry from the Romantic era, her perspective was fully in line with a "romantic" image of childhood. Days filled with endless wonder and exploration, marked by imaginative and emotional play pursuits—these were the marks of her ideal childhood experience. So, when Gilman had her first child, she had these images dancing in her head as she visualized the years to come. Her memoir, The Anti-Romantic Child: A Story of Unexpected Joy ...

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Cristina Ferrare's Fall-Off-The-Bone Roasted Chicken Thighs

New York Times bestselling author and former cover model Cristina Ferrare celebrates the debut of her new cooking show on the Oprah Winfrey Network Cristina Ferrare's Big Bowl of Love, with a new cookbook. Her latest release, which shares the same title as her new show, celebrates family and friends with more than 150 simple recipes, beginning with savory appetizers, such as her Spicy Tuna Tartare on Sliced Cucumbers or Ruffled Chips, and moving all the way through desserts, like her sublime Peach Crumble. Ferrare's recipe for Fall-Off-the-Bone Roasted Chicken Thighs, below, is one of our favorites. 

Read ...

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Passover for Couples

Ten years after their interfaith confessional From This Day Forward, Cokie and Steve Roberts return to co-author Our Haggadah, a personalized version of the Passover prayer book. The journalistic power couple—she’s political commentator and news analyst, he’s a professor at George Washington University and a political analyst—get in the holiday spirit with straightforward advice and anecdotes geared toward couples of disparate religions.

Why did you decide to write this book? Seems an unusual subject.

Cokie Roberts: Is that because there are already 3,000 haggadahs out there?

Steve Roberts: In a general sense, [we] have counseled ...

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Rediscovering Singapore, One Recipe at a Time

She chronicles it all in her charming memoir of cuisine and culture A Tiger in the Kitchen, guaranteed to send readers out, with taste buds salivating, in search of the nearest Singaporean restaurant or booking the next ...

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‘Feed Your Face’ tackles skin woes with food

Plagued by blackheads? Annoyed by eczema? Creased with crows’ feet? Dermatologist to the stars Jessica Wu offers a revolutionary, yet simple treatment plan for improved skin and a healthier body in her debut book, Feed Your Face—watch what you eat.

Readers will learn how to strengthen their nails, lengthen their lashes and clear their complexions all while tidying up their waistlines, like longtime Wu patients Maria Bello, Kimora Lee Simmons and Lisa Ling. Wu’s easy-to-read, practical advice on skin care and total body maintenance is peppered with anecdotes, scientific evidence and includes recipes for homemade skin cleansers and ...

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The ‘Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother’ rages on

For most of January, it was practically impossible to avoid encountering Amy Chua, fierce champion of her idiosyncratic interpretation of “Chinese parenting.” Talk-show hosts heckled and fumed. Top-flight pundits and psychologists offered rebuttals. Furious parents flooded letter columns, defending “Western parenting,” even calling for Chua’s prosecution for child abuse.

But make no mistake—despite what it says on the book jacket, Tiger Mother isn’t a child-rearing manifesto. It isn’t even a memoir. Instead, Chua has joined Elizabeth Gilbert in a burgeoning new genre—semi-autobiographical Chick Lit.

ENTER KIRKUS' TIGER MOM CONTEST FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A ...

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