Welcome to the Monthly Book Report and Book Review Link-up #18 – January 2026!
On the First Wednesday of each month I will be sharing my latest read – which could be a cookbook, a celebrity chef biography or memoir, a lifestyle book, a gardening book, a homemaking book or maybe even a cozy kitchen mystery book. They may be paper books, eBooks, or audio books. I have challenged myself to read or listen to at least one book per week, and I plan to share that with you all here.
In addition to my Book Report, there will be a Book Report LInky – a chance for all of you to share your own book review blog post (TWO per blog, please). We want to see what had you page flipping, can’t put it down, totally captivated.
Lastly will be a few Featured Reviews from the previous month’s shared posts. This will be a post picked at random by the host. Each host will likely pick their own features – so that’s multiple chances to be featured!
If you have any suggestions for me on book I should check out – please let me know!
Title: Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Cookery Course
Author: Gordon Ramsey
Publication Date: January 2012
Published by:Hodder & Stoughton LTD
Listed Price: $43.32(Hardback)
About the Author:
Scottish by birth, Gordon Ramsay was brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, and initially aspired to be a professional soccer player but an injury put an end to that and led him to the kitchen. He’s trained with some of the world’s leading chefs, such as Albert Roux and Marco Pierre White in London, and Guy Savoy and Joël Robuchon in France. At the age of 31, Ramsay set up his first wholly owned and namesake restaurant, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, which quickly received the most prestigious accolade in the culinary world – three Michelin stars.
Brief Description of the book:
The ultimate reference bible, this book is about giving home cooks the desire, confidence and inspiration to hit the stoves and get cooking. Gordon will share all sorts of useful tricks and tips from his years as a professional chef, making this the only cookery course you’ll ever need.
My Review:
I am a huge fan of Gordon Ramsey. I watch most all of his shows (the ones that have the icky restuarants are not for me). But I really love reading his books. He has some amazing insights and he makes it all so easy to follow and understand. This book in particular is really more of a refernce guide and should be kept out on the shelf with the cookbooks. Wheenever I have an issue with a cooking term from another recipe, I can find an explaination in this book. He focuses on things from the persepective of a home cook and I love that.
Title: Out of the Woods
Author: Gregg Olsen
Publication Date: August 2025
Published by:Thomas & Mercer
Listed Price: $15.83 (Paperback), $9.99 (Kindle)
About the Author:
I live in rural Washington State (a mile as the crow flies from Dr. Hazzard’s infamous Starvation Heights sanitarium). My thriller, THE LAST THING SHE EVER DID was an Amazon Charts bestseller. LYING NEXT TO ME was a reader favorite, charting at No. 1 in the Kindle store and the bestseller’s list at the Washington Post. My true crime book, IF YOU TELL, found a home on Amazon Charts for more than 340 weeks. In fact, it was the bestselling Kindle ebook of 2020 (and the second-bestselling of 2021). THE AMISH WIFE was a finalist for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for best fact crime book. THE BOY SHE LEFT BEHIND was a finalist for International Thriller Writers of America Thriller Award for best juvenile novel. I have been a guest on Dateline NBC, NPR, Good Morning America, Early Show, FOX News, CNN, Anderson Cooper, Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition, Extra, Access Hollywood, 20/20, Snapped, Deadly Women, William Shatner’s Aftermath, and A&E’s Biography.
Brief Description of the book:
In May 2005, authorities discovered the Groene family murdered in their Idaho home. The family’s youngest members—eight-year-old Shasta and her brother, nine-year-old Dylan—were nowhere to be found. As a community prayed for their return, Shasta and Dylan were already miles away in the woods of Montana at the hands of serial killer Joseph Edward Duncan.
After a harrowing forty-eight day ordeal, Shasta was rescued. In many ways, her survival story was only beginning. In the following years, while Shasta struggled to outrun her trauma, a pattern of self-destructive behavior shadowed her like an ever-worsening thunderstorm. She still had hope buried deep inside. Every bit as much as the little girl who had been held captive in the woods. This would be an all-new battle for Shasta. And she was determined not to lose.
Out of the Woods is the haunting and intimate true-crime story of one of the most notorious criminal cases in American history—and a young woman’s journey to reclaim her life in its wake.
My Review:
This is an incredible true crime tale of a family that was ripped apart by a serial killer. The story is largely told from the perspective of the survivor – Shasta. A young girl who was largely neglected by her parents and brothers, to become the focus of a deranged man. The writing is captivating and compassionate. You really see how the story does not end with the “rescue” – but that she must spend the rest of her life dealing with the haunting three months she spent in the middle of a national forest at the hands of a lunatic. A true testament to the resilience of the human spirit, the story still breaks my heart. To think that someone could be so very cruel and unkind to children. A rather astonishing sidenote – the Denny’s that Shasta is ultimately rescued from is one that my husband and I stopped at in Idaho on one of the many trips we made to move from Oregon to Montana.
This Months’s Featured Posts:
These are posts that stood out from the list of linked up posts last month. I hope you will hope over and check out their review. And don’t forget to link-up your own book-centric posts – YOU MIGHT BE NEXT WEEK’S FEATURE!
December Reading
Shared by Where the Wild Things Were
Watercress by Andrea Wang
Shared by Watercress Words
The Book Review Linky
Meet Your Librarians…errmmm I mean Hosts!
Now for the link-up!
Party Guidelines:
1. Please take some time to poke around and visit some of the other links.
2. Please take some time to check out your hosts and co-hosts on social media.
3. We appreciate the variety of blogs on the www; however, the Book Review Linky is for links related to Books. Please link accordingly.
4. All Captions need to be Family-Friendly and PG. If your post has EXPLICIT content, you must label it in the caption. If you DO NOT DO this your link will be removed.
5. You may add TWO Book-Centric Post per URL.
With your help, we can continue to grow the Book Review Linky Party ! Thank you!
We are looking for Co-Hosts. Help us Rock this party!
If you are interested, please contact Estelle at homemadeonaweeknight@gmail.com
By joining the Book Review Linky, you signify permission for the listed Hosts to share your posts and images here and receive an email reminder when our next Book Review Linky is LIVE.
Oh I can’t watch Kitchen Nightmares either; it really makes me not want to eat out ever again! LOL
I always feel like Gordon would make me cry…haha.
Great to have a new linky for books! I had a Gordon Ramsay book a few years ago but gave it away because a lot of the recipes were difficult and featured things I don’t cook, like venison. Sounds like he may have a new publisher/approach.
Out of the Woods sounds really shocking! Being British, I’ve never heard of the case, but it sounds like an interesting and disturbing read.
Popping over from Book Worms Monthly.
Happy New Year Estelle! Thanks so much for hosting & warm hospitality. I’m sitting at #5&11 this month.