Check It Out:

With the holidays soon upon us, it’s time to bring out the cookbooks and look for new recipes. The Newport Beach Public Library has many to choose from for making your holiday menus a delectable treat. One is “Turkey: An American Story.”“Turkey: An American Story.” Andrew F. Smith discusses fact and myth in the multifaceted history of the turkey. While not a traditional cookbook, you can wow your guests with an amazing amount of facts and history about the bird.

“Paula Deen Celebrates! Best Dishes and Best Wishes for the Best Times of Your Life,” by the Food Network author, focuses on making memorable meals for special occasions. Deen packs the book with her trademark stories of family and friends, as well as decorating and entertaining tips from her personal assistant, Brandon Branch.

The late, celebrated cookbook writer Sheila Lukins, co-author of “The Silver Palate” delivers a glossy full-color volume encompassing almost all the possible celebrations in life in her cookbook, “Celebrate!” “I’m in the mood to celebrate,” Lukins says. “It’s the kind of joyous mood that makes me happy to call friends and family and invite them over for good food, good conversation, and good cheer! It’s the kind of mood that makes needing a reason to celebrate...” Should you find yourself looking for a reason to celebrate, relax. Lukins provides 43 of them.

“The Healthy Hedonist Holidays: A Year of Multi-Cultural, Vegetarian-Friendly Holiday Feasts,” by Myra Kornfeld, author of “The Voluptuous Vegan,” focuses on holidays reflecting America’s multicultural society. For each celebration, Kornfeld offers a vegetarian entree, a fish or poultry dish, numerous sides and dessert, all designed to leave us feeling energetic and nourished after the meal, as well as delighted during the experience. The menus will entice every guest — vegetarian, semi-vegetarian, carnivores, omnivores who can’t eat dairy, and people who just love good food — with delicious, satisfying “flexitarian” meals.