Cookbook stars Rose Levy Beranbaum and Paola Velez help launch our holiday coverage.

It’s time for our seventh annual Holiday Gift Guide! We’ve been having so much fun exploring the season’s extra-special books—great, big glossy art books, design books, architecture, travel, cookbooks, anthologies, embossed boxed sets, and new deckle-edged editions of our favorite novels—that, this year, we’ve doubled our coverage: Nov. 5 will be Books for Cooks, featuring cookbooks, of course, but also foodie fiction, culinary histories, and kids’ books. Nov. 12 will be our traditional Holiday Gift Guide episode, with art and design, travel, and fun fast holiday reads aplenty.

On this special episode of Fully Booked, fiction editor and fellow foodie Laurie Muchnick joins me as guest co-host, to interview two fabulous cookbook authors:

First, we’re thrilled to welcome Rose Levy Beranbaum, author of a new, revised, updated, and expanded edition of her classic cookbook The Cake Bible (35th Anniversary Edition) (William Morrow Cookbooks, Oct. 22). A multi-award-winning, bestselling, treasured kitchen compendium, The Cake Bible introduced many baking techniques now generally acknowledged as best practices, as well as bold new recipes with exquisitely detailed instructions. This stunning new edition is co-authored by Beranbaum’s longtime assistant, now husband, Woody Wolston.

And we’re delighted to welcome debut author Paola Velez to discuss Bodega Bakes: Recipes for Sweets and Treats Inspired by My Corner Store (Union Sq. & Co., Oct. 1). This vibrant, inviting, and exciting cookbook is a love letter to the places Velez grew up, the Bronx and the Dominican Republic: their people, cultures, and flavors. Velez is an award-winning Afro Dominican chef, community activist, and entrepreneur currently based in Washington, D.C. In the summer of 2020, she founded the grassroots organization Bakers Against Racism, raising millions of dollars for crucial social justice causes.

Then editors Laura Simeon, Mahnaz Dar, and John McMurtrie join us to discuss hot gifts for culinary-minded readers.

EDITORS’ GIFT GUIDE PICKS:

What’s Eating Jackie Oh? by Patricia Park (Crown)

Rising by Sidura Ludwig, illus. by Sophia Vincent Guy (Candlewick)

Keep It Zesty: A Celebration of Lebanese Flavors & Culture From Edy’s Grocer by Edy Massih (Harper)

Second Generation: Hungarian and Jewish Classics Reimagined for the Modern Table by Jeremy Salamon and Casey Elsass (Harvest)

THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:

Wink edited by Henry Herz, illus. by Adam Gustavson

Different Ducks by C. Calvin Page

Wildflower: The Love Song From Heaven by Lesley Ann Richardson

Those We Carry by Scott Saxberg

Fully Booked is produced by Cabel Adkins Audio and Megan Labrise.