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The Bookwatch

Volume 21, Number 2 February 2026 Home | BW Index

Table of Contents

Reviewer's Choice Health/Medicine Shelf Cookbook Shelf
Fantasy/SciFi Shelf Self-Help Shelf  


Reviewer's Choice

The Traveling Tree
Michio Hoshino
Gaia
c/o Octopus Books
https://www.octopusbooks.co.uk
9781856755900, $19.99 HC, $9.99 Kindle, 192pp

Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Travelling-Tree-Michio-Hoshino/dp/1856755908

Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-traveling-tree-michio-hoshino/1148351828

The Traveling Tree: Lessons from a Nomadic Life is translated by Eli K.P. William and explores Michio Hoshino's travels through wildlife and nature. If the book sounds familiar, that's because it was first published in 1994, reprinted 57 times since, and now provides new generations of naturalists and adventurers a powerful survey about Hoshino's love of photography and nature. Though Hoshino's photos have received worldwide acclaim, with The Traveling Tree only expanding his reach in the 20 years since his death, no prior familiarity with him or Japanese culture is needed in order to appreciate this book's exquisite focus. The Traveling Tree's reappearance in a format that will lend to gift-giving is to be celebrated.


The Health/Medicine Shelf

Food Noise
Dr. Jack Mosley
Short Books
c/o Octopus Books
https://www.octopusbooks.co.uk
9781804193341, $19.99 PB, $10.99 Kindle, 272pp

Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Food-Noise-medications-nutrition-cravings/dp/1804193348

Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/food-noise-jack-mosley/1147138476

Food Noise makes the case for a combined approach to losing weight that pairs smarter nutritional choices with weight loss medications. It teaches how to use the latest weight loss drugs safely and in conjunction with better eating habits, identifying "food noise" as the inner voice of hunger that too often causes people to eat too much. Filled with a blend of science, lively applications, and considerations of how weight is gained, lost, or managed, Food Noise's holistic and inclusive approach to diet provides not just ideals, but specifics on using FLP-1s to help achieve diet goals. The inclusion of 50 recipes and a 7-day meal plan supports the effort with invaluable tips.


The Cookbook Shelf

The Apothecary Chef
Natasha Macaller
Kyle Books
c/o Octopus Books
https://www.octopusbooks.co.uk
9781804192801, $34.99 HC, $18.99 Kindle, 240pp

Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Apothecary-Chef-Recipes-Beneficial-Healthy/dp/1804192805

Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-apothecary-chef-natasha-macaller/1147387725

The Apothecary Chef: Recipes with Beneficial Herbs & Plants for a Long and Healthy Life features 80 recipes, including those from award-winning international chefs, that support healthier eating, focusing on plants that promote health and longevity. This requires some harvesting ability (which can translate to a farmer's market or a home garden, as well as a field) for fresh ingredients and an interest in foods that are actively linked to health. Recipes backed by full-page color photos include Four Fish and Herb Stew, pairing fish with loveage sprigs, dill fronds, onion, lemon, and carrot; Vegetable Garden Tea Cakes made with ginger, apple, carrots, spices, and maple syrup; and Baby New Potato, Egg & Herb Salad with fennel, loveage, new potatoes, and a herb cream sauce packed with basil, tarragon, and mint. The Apothecary Chef is highly recommended for its original recipes, health-oriented focus, and broader applications of fresh herbs than most cookbooks offer.


The Fantasy/SciFi Shelf

Baen Books
www.baen.com

Two new arrivals from Baen are recommended to sci-fi readers who enjoy fast-paced, engrossing stories.

Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Dragons-Gone-Build-Dragon-Sequence/dp/166807303X

Dan Koboldt's Dragons Gone Wild (9781668073032, $18.00) presents a story in which a genetic engineer helps domesticate dragons for pets and military use. The latest mandate is for him to adapt them to deal with ecological issues in various places of the world. As Noah Parker and his dragon horde tackle environmental disasters around the globe, trouble is brewing back home. It could be that his dragon deployment is about to implode in a most unpleasant way. Fast-paced action, the quandaries of shared custody of small dragons, and delightfully whimsical moments that provide comic relief to serious confrontations and issues make Dragons Gone Wild a winner.

Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Dare-Liaden-Universe%C2%AE-Sharon-Lee/dp/1668073048

Sharon Lee and Steve Miller's I Dare (9781668073049, $18.00) is set in the Liaden Universe and is especially recommended for prior fans of this world. Here scout, heir, and husband Van Con yos'Phelium reappears to wreck havoc and introduce danger to his Clan and civilization in general. The clash between two yos'Pheliums threatens to change civilization itself as a powerful space opera emerges to draw new readers and prior fans alike.

Both of these new science fiction titles are inviting, well-written surveys of strange new worlds and civilizations gone awry.


The Self-Help Shelf

The Power of Moving On
John Purkiss
Monoray
c/o Octopus Books
https://www.octopusbooks.co.uk
9781800963603, $18.99 PB, $10.99 Kindle, 272pp

Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Food-Noise-medications-nutrition-cravings/dp/1804193348

Barnes & Noble
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-power-of-moving-on-john-purkiss/1147389067

The Power of Moving On: How to Let Go and Live the Life You Want is a study in empowerment and action that will especially appeal to self-help readers willing to do the work to define the requirements and elements of their own transformation. It offers exercises to help categorize desires, tools for identifying and addressing negative beliefs that thwart the ambition to change, and insights on how to enact changes to support choice and change in the outer world. From manifesting happy, harmonious relationships to learning how to listen to oneself and get rid of patterns of pain, The Power of Moving On outlines routines and life approaches that can be changed with the help of this book's admonitions and insights. It's a top pick for self-help collections and readers interested in transformative approaches to life.


James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Diane C. Donovan, Editor
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