Review: Contagious

Word-of-mouth often leads to popularity, or notoriety. It is much more effective than any form of traditional advertising and it seriously impacts the products people buy, the way they behave, and what they discuss.

So, how do you get it? What makes people talk about certain subjects rather than others? What makes some online content go viral? According to marketing professor Jonah Berger, the answer came be found in the psychology of social transmission.

Continued in Selling Points

Contagious

Why Things Catch On

by Jonah Berger

Simon & Schuster, 2013

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Review: Drinking History

Food historian Andrew F. Smith takes some 300 pages in his latest book to examine the wide assortment of beverages that Americans consume, try to figure out why certain drinks have become popular, and distill his findings down to 15 pivotal events that defined the culture's drinking habits.

Those "pivotal" events include Prohibition and the Tea Parties, of course, as well as the diversity of beverages introduced to the continent with colonial settlement from Europe. The growth of the rum trade in the Americas was pivotal, as was the development of local whiskeys, hard cider, and beer.

Subsequent chapters focus on the development and impact of milk, cocktails, fruit juices, soft drinks, kids' beverages, wine, bottled waters, and coffee on Americans.

Continued in The Book Stall

Drinking History

Fifteen Turning Points in the Making of American Beverages

by Andrew F. Smith

Columbia University Press, 2012

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Reading the History: The Kentucky Derby

If the Super Bowl had been played in the same city each year, say a working class community like Green Bay, and still grew up to become a multi-billion-dollar spectacle attracting the world's rich and famous as well as the beer-swilling, tattooed commoners then it would be an event comparable to the Kentucky Derby, especially if you added an extra hundred years of tradition to its history.

An unabashed  thoroughbred horse enthusiast and Kentucky Derby fan, the author nevertheless provides a straightforward history and honest assessment of the event and its evolution.

The book follows the progress of the Derby through the decades as it broke away from a pack of other races to become America’s premier thoroughbred event.

The Kentucky Derby

How the Run for the Roses Became America's Premier Sporting Event

by James C. Nicholson

The University Press of Kentucky, 2012

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Review: Hot Drinks

Original recipes and new interpretations of hot beverage classics from around the world are served up in this slim volume by  Mary Lou and Robert J. Heiss.

Illustrated with historic photos, colorful advertisements and drawings, and spiced with both practical and unusual recipes, this enticingly clever text is a fun browse and a mouth-watering temptation.

Look inside for some liquid holiday cheer in the form of Mistletoe and Holly (part cranberry juice, part peppermint schnapps), the traditional wassail (a British ale-based drink with spices and apples) or a basic Hot Buttered Rum.
The 50 drink recipes include mixed coffees, special teas, festive punches, spiked cocoas, warm ciders and sophisticated cocktails.

Hot Drinks

Cider, Coffee, Tea, Hot Chocolate, Spiced Punch, and Spirits

by Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J. Heiss

Ten Speed Press, 2007.

continued in The Book Stall

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Farm and Garden Picks: Homegrown Honey Bees

This beginner’s guide to beekeeping clearly explains everything you need to know, from getting your first bees to harvesting your first crop of honey.

Spectacular macro photography brings the inner workings of the hive to life, while the playful text gives you the information you need to make it through your first year.

Everything is addressed here, from allergies, permits and restrictions, and how to deal with the neighbors to hive structure, colony hierarchy, and bee behavior.

Homegrown Honey Bees

An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Beekeeping

by Alethea Morrison

Storey Publishing, 2013

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Review: Organic Gardener's Companion

This is a guide for growing organic produce specifically in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Montana and in the similarly semi-arid high altitude  climates of Utah, Idaho, northern Arizona and eastern Oregon. Short growing seasons, thin soils and inclimate weather makes any kind of gardening a challenge; growing organically is even more of a test.

"I've gardened in the West without using chemicals or poisons for more than forty years," notes author Jane Shellenberger.  "It's not difficult, but it helps to have a bit of education on the topic."

Organic Gardener's Companion

Growing Vegetables in the West

by Jane Shellenberger

Fulcrum, 2012

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Review: Organic Meat Production and Processing

As organic farming continues to emerge as a growth industry for both crops and meat, there is increasing demand for accurate and up-to-date information on producing, processing, marketing, and maintaining food safety in organic foods.

This textbook compiled by a team of editors and an international collection of authors focuses on the management issues facing producers of organic beef, swine, poultry and other meat species. It also includes background articles on the history of organic operations, current market and regulatory issues, the differences between organic and conventional meats, and the future of the organic movement worldwide.

Organic Meat Production and Processing

edited by Steven C. Ricke, et al.

Wiley-Blackwell, 2012

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