10 books like Carpathia

I’ll admit I first picked up this book because it was adorable, with its cartoonish drawings. But after trying out a couple of recipes, I was hooked. The book’s title references the building blocks of any successful dish, and the theme throughout elaborates on these principles so that you’ll become a better cook with every section you read or recipe you prepare. The recipes don’t even begin til halfway through the book: The first part devotes a section each to the titular elements with instruction told through the filter of Nosrat’s life stories and experience—a treat for anyone who loves to sit with a cookbook and read it cover to cover. Then come the recipes, and these have a decidedly exotic twist thanks to Nosrat’s Iranian background and adventurous spirit. I haven’t prepared anything from this book that isn’t a flavor bomb, even something as simple as Persian-ish Rice or… show more.

If you want to up your weeknight meal with delicious Middle-Eastern flavors and if you want to learn how to combine veggies in so many delicious ways, then you must read Yotam Ottolenghi's cookbook. He's a true genius of the Middle-Eastern cuisine and probably no other chef can mix unique flavors and simple ingredients as well as he does. While the recipes are truly unique, you'll find that they’re made with simple ingredients in under 30 minutes.

Just Eat It will change the way you think about diets, especially restrictive ones. It covers the ins and outs of Intuitive Eating and goes in-depth about the toxic cycle of the diet culture. It's well-researched and insightful, and it helps you build a healthier relationship with your body.

I'm sure all foodies like to take pictures of their food, and often share them on social media. If you are passionate about food and want to learn how to share that passion with the world through the art of photography, then this book is for you. Beata is a wonderful teacher who knows how to cover all the necessary steps for becoming a food photographer.

This book has engendered controversy for almost forcefully bridging the gap between the 15th Century Wallachian Prince Vlad III or Vlad the Impaler or Dracula. Stoker had already constructed his character, called “Count Wampyr,” before he learned of his future namesake. However, he quite clearly establishes a connection between the two through an explanation provided by Abraham Van Helsing. The Dracula of the eponymous novel is a heavily fictionalized version of the real-life figure, but so are most similarly positioned characters in literature, film, and television. Florescu and McNally provide a cursory overview of Slavic and Balkan vampire folklore, a biographical sketch of Vlad the Impaler, and illuminate the process by which Stoker adapted this violent, cunning, and sometimes brilliant nationalist and military tactician into a fictional monster.

A unique book. Read this and you'll find yourself in a disappearing world. Northern Romania eschewed the modern conveniences and less delicate touches of capitalism for most of the twentieth century. Blacker shares a life wholly dictated by the rhythms of nature. This is a world where the locals recognise someone visiting from another village at a distance, not by their face or their clothes, but by the horse they are riding.

This funny and fascinating memoir is a great read and provides a window into what life was like behind the Iron Curtain in the 1960s, under a brutal and oppressive regime. 

Mackay spends two years in Romania’s capital, Bucharest, as visiting professor at the University. Spied on, treated warily by locals, and forbidden to travel, he nevertheless finds ways to see the country and gain insight into its culture and people.

Whether you want to find out more about Romania or you just want a captivating read which will open your mind to how different life can be without the freedoms and privileges we currently enjoy in the West, you will love this book.

Former BBC reporter Ormsby presents a compilation of anecdotes from his time living in Romania. 

The stories vary between shocking, upsetting, and laugh-out-loud funny. They are authentic and absorbing sketches of the characters and hardships that make up everyday life in Romania before the country had shaken every vestige of its communist past. 

Since each chapter is a complete story, this is a great book to dip into for a little light entertainment. If you’re thinking of visiting Romania, it will help to give perspective on what makes the locals tick.

Romania is not all Dracula and Olympic gymnasts. For example, did you know the original Tarzan, Johnny Weissmuller, was an ethnic Saxon from Transylvania? 

During my time in Romania, I found her people bright and engaging. Simmer that in the melting pot of a turbulent multi-cultural history formed at a crossroads between powerful empires and it’s no surprise that the result is great insight, resilience, and wisdom. However, Romania’s minority language and time as a secretive Soviet state conspire to ensure their worldview has not been shared widely. 

Besides introducing some famous names whom you might not associate with Romania, this book is genuinely inspirational and captures the country’s spirit, humour, and culture.

Humans also draft dance to help heal body and mind. I loved Kligman’s personal ventures deep into the complex concerns about life and death, fertility and health, found in related pre-Christian rituals in three areas of the Balkans: the Căluşari in SW Romania, the Rusaltsi in NW Bulgaria, and the Kraljevi—often with other names—just west in former Yugoslavia. (The word Rusaltsi comes from Rusalka, a Slavic name for the “dancing goddess”, as does Rusalii, the thrice-yearly festival in their honor.)  Her intriguing study comes from direct observation of the healing rituals, and on personal discussions with the dancers—including one who was particularly vulnerable to trance!  This is also true of L. Danforth’s remarkable account of the firewalkers of SE Bulgaria and northern Greece (Firewalking and Religious Healing).