Hospitality Summer Reading

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Anyone else read more during the summer? If you’re looking for some great reads about Hospitality, I’ve got some recommendations for you. Whether you want party ideas, yummy recipes or to learn more about the heart of hospitality, these books are of a great variety.

The Inviting Life: An Inspirational Guide to Homemaking, Hosting and Opening the Door to Happiness Far more than a guide to homemaking and being a fine host—although it is definitely all that too—The Inviting Life is about how to live each day with a desire and determination to turn the ordinary into something lovely. It’s also a book about why we should bother. Whether the subject is décor, ambience, shopping, feeding weary travellers, mixing cocktails, planning dinner parties, or getting yourself motivated for spring cleaning, Laura Calder affirms the value of our everyday activities and shows how beauty, creativity, and delight have the power to change the world. This one-of-a-kind book is both a page-turning narrative about Laura’s own hosting and home-making adventures and an invaluable work of reference. It’s a spur to ideas for everything from creating a welcoming living space and making a respectable salad, to putting guests at their ease and writing a thank-you note worth receiving. Written with candour and humour in Laura’s inimitable and engaging voice, The Inviting Life offers empowering guidance for anyone looking to take more pleasure in their life and home.

Simple Gatherings Welcoming friends and family into your home doesn’t have to be intimidating! These 50 affordable and inspired ideas from bestselling author Melissa Michaels will help you turn any get-together into a special memory.

  • Simplify tasks and focus on what guests remember most: the atmosphere, feast, conversation, and special touches.
  • Reduce stress when you embrace your authentic hosting style, easy DIYs, and the freedom of using what you have.
  • Celebrate people as the centerpiece of any gathering with simple activities that spark conversation and connection.

With more than 300 tips for a variety of gatherings—from a casual outdoor barbeque to a creative guest-of-honor dessert–you’ll feel inspired to open your door with confidence!

The Turquise Table Are you consumed with a busy life but unsure how to slow down? Do you desire connection within your community and think, “Absolutely, but I don’t have time for that” or “I can’t create that”? What if there was another way through it all, a way to find those moments of peace and to create a time for honest, comfortable connection? What if meeting neighbors and connecting with friends was as simple as showing up and being available?

Desperate for a way to slow down and connect, Kristin Schell put an ordinary picnic table in her front yard, painted it turquoise, and began inviting friends and neighbors to join her. Life changed in her community and it can change in yours, too. Alongside personal and heartwarming stories, Kristin gives you:

Stress-free ideas for kick-starting your own Turquoise Table

Simple recipes to take outside and share with others

Stories from people using Turquoise Tables in their neighborhoods

Encouragement to overcome barriers that keep you from connecting

New ways to view hospitality

Today, Turquoise Tables are inviting individuals to connect with each other in nearly all fifty states and seven countries. Ordinary people like you wanting to make a difference right where they live.

Community and friendship are waiting just outside your front door.

Just Open the Door For many of us, inviting people into our lives and homes feels more like inviting judgment on our entertaining skills and stress on our already maxed-out schedules. But what if you knew that opening your front door had the power to radically change the world? To make an impact and leave a legacy with everyday invitations?

Jen Schmidt has set out to reframe how we think about hospitality and to equip us to walk a road of welcome in our daily lives. Jen knows that every time we choose open-door living—whether in our homes or by taking hospitality on the road just like Jesus—those we invite in get to experience the lived-out Gospel, our kids grow up in a life-lab of generosity, and we trade insecurity for connection.

Just Open the Door is a personal yes-you-can guide to offering the life-changing gift of invitation. Whether you’re a seasoned host looking for renewed inspiration or a nervous newbie not sure where to begin, these personal stories, practical ideas, and poignant insights will give you the confidence you need to see your home as the most likely location for changing the world around you, one open door at a time.

Celebrate From lifestyle and fashion icon Lauren Conrad—#1 New York Times bestselling author of Lauren Conrad Style and Lauren Conrad Beauty—comes her dazzling and essential guide to entertaining, filled with an inspiring array of lifestyle tips and personal stories and lavishly illustrated with dozens of color photographs throughout.

Now that Lauren Conrad has gotten everyone all dressed up and looking their most beautiful, she gives them somewhere to go in this must-have guide to entertaining. Showcasing the same approachable attitude and insight that have made her books smash bestsellers, Lauren Conrad Celebrate shows how easy it is to throw a fantastic party.

Filled with lush and inspiring original four-color photos and budget friendly tips, Lauren Conrad Celebrateoffers advice about the basics to make planning any type of event a breeze, including suggestions for the perfect invitations, food, drinks, decorations, and gifts. Lauren shows how to put it all together for a diverse range of events that span the calendar, from a charming Baby shower to a festive holiday party. And she packs the book with creative full-color photos and stories from her own life, including her housewarming party, and her recent bridal shower and wedding.

Just as her trusted advice has inspired women to look and feel their best, now Lauren Conrad brings out the fabulous party-giver in all of us in this elegant, must-have guide.

Pull Up A Chair Tiffani Thiessen is beloved for her roles in Saved by the Bell and Beverly Hills 90210, but for the past few years she’s been known as the host of the Cooking Channel series Dinner at Tiffani’s. Each episode showcased her classic-with-a-twist recipes and knack for hosting a good time. For three seasons, Tiffani’s fans were able to fall in love with her all over again. Now, in Pull Up a Chair, readers can bring home Tiffani’s delicious food and warm hospitality. The 125 recipes in this debut cookbook are the kind that bring people together. Whether it’s Stuffed French Toast or her husband, Brady’s Favorite Short Rib Enchiladas for family-friendly meals, Curried Deviled Eggs or Boozy Date Milkshakes for special-occasion treats, or Mom’s Cream Cheese Pie–because you can’t forget dessert! With recipes and tips for pleasing the pickiest of eaters, feeding a crowd or pulling off a party in your PJs, plus gorgeous photography, Pull Up a Chair will be the book that fans and avid home cooks alike will want to include in their collection.

Host Host is a contemporary guide to eating, drinking and entertaining from W&P Design co-founders Eric Prum and Josh Williams. From intimate weeknight dinners to festive large-scale gatherings, Eric and Josh show how to be a better host with inspired-yet-approachable recipes and advice for creating delicious meals and unforgettable experiences all with an eye towards how people eat and drink in today’s urban centers.