Jess's Reviews

To know him is to love him, and to love him is to want to cook his recipes. Queer Eye cutie Antoni Porowski delivers big with his newest cookbook, Antoni: Let’s Do Dinner. Easy-to-follow recipes meet gorgeous plates in this compilation of Antoni’s favorites. He may not be able to join you at your dinner table but he’ll coach you through the cooking process with all the delightful encouragement he’d give any Queer Eye guest.—Jess

Attorney and TikTok sensation Joanne Lee Molinaro finally graces us with a collection of her brilliant recipes, inspired by her Omma (mom). This gorgeous cookbook features vegan recipes ranging from classics like kimbap and egg rolls to crunchy garlic “wings” and power bowls, not to mention a whole chapter of various kimchi recipes and all the essentials, including “fish” sauce, BBQ sauce, and gochujang dressing. Healthy, delicious, spicy, and all vegan!—Jess

Escaping to a cabin in the woods has never looked better than it does in this compilation of the dreamiest rustic destinations across the planet. From Finland to Fiji, New Zealand to Nevada, Cabin Tripping shows off beautifully designed destinations that embrace and integrate the natural world. A gorgeous book for any coffee table, it’s perfect for both inspiring your own cabin design and for helping you plan your post-Covid dream vacation—and haven’t you earned a little daydream after the last year and a half?—Jess 

When your mind is running away from you to many untold, anxious destinations, it always helps to have recentering tools. And let’s be honest: These days we need to recenter more than we ever have before. Enter Senbazaru, by yoga and mindfulness coach Michael James Wong. Based on the principles of the Japanese art of folding paper cranes, Senbazaru will guide you through daily mindfulness practices that will enrich your life and settle your soul. Time to get folding!—Jess

A psychological thriller that forces the reader to empathize—even root for—a diagnosed psychopath, Never Saw Me Coming is an exciting mind game of a novel. What happens when a hunter becomes prey? How can several psychopaths ever truly trust each other? Why are college frat boys so douchey?? Look up “page-turner” in the dictionary and you’ll find a picture of this book. Read it fast before any twists get spoiled! —Jess

Lauren Groff is a master of language, and I will follow her wherever her prose takes me. This time, it’s to 12th-century France, where Marie, an awkward-looking member of Eleanor of Aquitaine’s royal court, learns that she’s bound for the abbey, by the queen’s command. Though not initially religiously inclined, Marie does as she’s bid and spends a lifetime rising through the ranks of nunhood. Every paragraph of this novel is gorgeously wrought; a must for readers of Hamnet. —Jess

A debut short story collection people will be reading for decades to come, Afterparties is the work of a wry, playful, brilliant writer at the start of a knockout career. Veasna So passed away suddenly, but by the age of 28 he had already written stories that plumb the depths of what it means to be raised by immigrants, to be queer, to be Cambodian-American, and above all, to grow up as an other in a place that encourages sameness. —Jess

Beautiful World, Where Are You? is Sally Rooney at her Rooney-est, tackling the intricacies of sex, love, and friendship once again. But this time she’s gone existential, incorporating philosophical musings about Marxism and the working class; what it means to be a writer of books about friendship, love, and sex; and where beauty might bloom most bountifully. A must-read for current fans, and a rich entry point for anyone who hasn’t yet dabbled in Rooneyism. Profound, funny, and emotionally sprawling. —Jess

These little essays about life during Covid contain so many nuggets of graceful wisdom. Smith writes about the embarrassment of having family members fully witness how we spend our days during quarantine; about menopause and the guy who hoverboards in the park; flowers in a garden and the way boys are indoctrinated by the toxic masculinity of our culture. She contains multitudes, and so does Intimations. - Jess

Be prepared to stay up all night reading Carmen Maria Machado’s latest masterpiece. How can a book about abuse be so beautiful? Part memoir, part poem, part fever dream, In the Dream House contains so much searing honesty, such heart-crunching truth, that it will never leave you once you’ve read it. - Jess