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ARC's on my TBR Dec 2020-February 2021

 Here's what I have from Netgalley that's coming out Dec 2020-February 2021


December 2020

#Blocked: A Social Media Love Story


Fashion influencer, Winter Smith, portrays a picture-perfect lifestyle to her many followers. In reality, she’s plagued by anxiety, panic attacks, and the memories of an abusive past relationship. Winter’s best friend Mia, a health and fitness influencer, finally convinces her to get out of the house and attend the grand opening of a hipster-tech bowling alley in Portland, Oregon. There she meets the charming, tattoo-covered owner, Bo Blaine. No matter how hard she resists, Winter can’t deny the electricity between them.

When Bo Blaine, the youngest member of the powerful Pacific Northwest Blaine family, meets Winter Smith, he’s instantly infatuated. Their connection is undeniable, but when he tries to contact her again, he hits a brick wall. Email. Phone. App. Every social media platform. BLOCKED. Bo has worked hard to shake his “bad boy” reputation, but he knows that anything posted or written about him online will be there forever.

How can Bo convince Winter that he’s more than his digital footprint? And if he ever does get unblocked online and IRL, will the demons of both of their pasts derail what they could have together?


Grow Your Own Spices


Unlike herbs, which consist of the green leaves of certain plants, spices come from the seeds, roots, bark, or berries of plants, which means growing, harvesting, and preparing spices is a lot more nuanced than growing leafy herbs. Start with easy-to-grow seed spices first, such as sesame seeds, fennel, and cumin, then graduate to more challenging spice varieties, such as star anise, cinnamon, and nutmeg. 

Spices not only offer culinary flare, there’s also increasing evidence of their ability to fight inflammation and reduce various health risks. Medical usage tips from expert herbalist Lindsey Feldpausch are found throughout the book and offer well-researched advice on how to use homegrown spices to improve your well-being. 

Regardless of whether you’re using spices as a health-boosting supplement or simply to power-up the flavor of your meals, purchasing spices is an expensive proposition. Why pay all that money when you can grow your own organic spices with the easy-to-follow advice found here?  

  In the pages of Grow Your Own Spices, you’ll learn:  

How to cultivate your own saffron, the world’s most expensive spice

The best way to tend tropical spices, like ginger, turmeric, and cardamom, even if you live in a cold climate

Easy-to-grow spices that are perfect for beginners

The unique way certain spices, such as wasabi, cloves, and cinnamon, are grown and harvested

How to cultivate root spices, including horseradish and chicory

Tips for harvesting your own capers, mustard, sesame seeds, and even paprika

Let Grow Your Own Spices show you how to spice up your garden, your plate, and your health, with your own fresh, homegrown spices! 




January 2021


Human Hacking

Eroding social conventions, technology, and rapid economic change are making human beings more stressed and socially awkward and isolated than ever. We live in our own bubbles, reluctant to connect, and feeling increasingly powerless, insecure, and apprehensive when communicating with others.

A pioneer in the field of social engineering and a master hacker, Christopher Hadnagy specializes in understanding how malicious attackers exploit principles of human communication to access information and resources through manipulation and deceit. Now, he shows you how to use social engineering as a force for good—to help you regain your confidence and control. Human Hacking provides tools that will help you establish rapport with strangers, use body language and verbal cues to your advantage, steer conversations and influence other’s decisions, and protect yourself from manipulators. Ultimately, you’ll become far more self-aware about how you’re presenting yourself—and able to use it to improve your life. 

Hadnagy includes lessons and interactive “missions”—exercises spread throughout the book to help you learn the skills, practice them, and master them. With Human Hacking, you’ll soon be winning friends, influencing people, and achieving your goals.



Hall of Smoke

Epic fantasy featuring warrior priestesses and fickle gods at war, for readers of Brian Staveley's Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne.

Hessa is an Eangi: a warrior priestess of the Goddess of War, with the power to turn an enemy's bones to dust with a scream. Banished for disobeying her goddess's command to murder a traveller, she prays for forgiveness alone on a mountainside.
 
While she is gone, raiders raze her village and obliterate the Eangi priesthood. Grieving and alone, Hessa - the last Eangi - must find the traveller and atone for her weakness and secure her place with her loved ones in the High Halls. As clans from the north and legionaries from the south tear through her homeland, slaughtering everyone in their path Hessa strives to win back her goddess' favour. 

Beset by zealot soldiers, deceitful gods, and newly-awakened demons at every turn, Hessa burns her path towards redemption and revenge. But her journey reveals a harrowing truth: the gods are dying and the High Halls of the afterlife are fading. Soon Hessa's trust in her goddess weakens with every unheeded prayer.

Thrust into a battle between the gods of the Old World and the New, Hessa realizes there is far more on the line than securing a life beyond her own death. Bigger, older powers slumber beneath the surface of her world. And they're about to wake up.


February 2021

Simplicity at Home

For anyone who dreams of a home filled with well-organized closets, eye-catching flower arrangements, perfectly draped blankets, and thoughtfully curated shelves, here is a guide to cultivating an elegant home. 

Yumiko Sekine, founder of the internationally celebrated lifestyle brand Fog Linen Work, shares lovely rituals and simple techniques based on Japanese traditions, including practices for decorating, organizing, preparing food, and more. From the kitchen to the bedroom and every space in between, here are tips for refreshing a home each season—arranging and displaying fresh flowers in spring, choosing the right sheets and linens for summer, taking warm herbal baths in autumn, and draping blankets and layering rugs to cozy up a space for winter. 








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