CULTURE + ARTS

3 Cool Reads for a Long, Hot Summer

Beach read, anyone? A cookbook, a memoir, and a how-to guide to improving your memory round out our summer issue book recs by authors with local ties.

By Natalie Moore

June 29, 2026

Eating at Home

By Trinity Mouzon Wofford

The Saratoga-born cofounder of superfood brand Golde is now the author of a new cookbook entitled Eating at Home: The Nourishing Practice of Everyday Cooking. Described as a manifesto for taking pleasure in the act of cooking, the book features 85 simple, healthful recipes that center around affordable, local produce and approachable techniques that celebrate a multicultural culinary heritage. (Name sound familiar? That’s Mouzon as in the family that used to live in the home that’s now The Mouzon House!)

A Life’s Calling

By Tom Durkin, Paul Volponi, and Lenny Shulman

Longtime fans of New York horse racing, listen here: Legendary Saratoga racecaller Tom Durkin’s autobiography, A Life’s Calling: The Voice Behind the World’s Greatest Horse Races, came out in late May, just in time for the longest racing season the Spa City has ever seen. The book tells Durkin’s full story, from learning the sport of horseracing in rickety Midwest grandstands to calling the first Breeders’ Cup and winding up at an afterparty with Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, and Cary Grant.

Everyday Genius

By Nelson Dellis

Did you know that we have a six-time USA Memory Champion living among us here in Saratoga? It’s true, Skidmore computer science lecturer Nelson Dellis is one of the country’s leading experts on memory and mental performance. This spring, Dellis released his third book, Everyday Genius: Hacks to Boost Your Memory, Focus, Problem-Solving, and Much More, in which he teaches readers the skills that make genius-level thinking accessible to anyone.

Natalie Moore

Natalie Moore is the editor of Saratoga Living and Capital Region Living magazines. A native of Ballston Lake, she began her career as an editorial intern at Saratoga Living, and, essentially, never left. In addition to overseeing the creation of the print magazines, she is the main contributor to Saratoga Living After Hours, a Substack newsletter that covers the Spa City’s social scene. In an alternate reality, she is a professional pickleball player.