Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan (The Random House Publishing Group, 2014, $16.45, 224 pp.) If stories about relationships, particularly those tricky mother-daughter ones where it turns out the mom was right after all, appeal to you, then Piedmont-based author Kelly Corrigan’s latest memoir might be just the read for you. Corrigan’s down-to-earth everywoman’s tone makes the prose instantly accessible, right from the prologue. Plus it’s hard to resist the New York Times bestselling author’s heartfelt coming-of-age confessional about herself as a young college grad slumming as a nanny in Australia who learns to value, welcome, and invite the solid and unwavering citizenship of her mother into her life.

Explosion Green: One Man’s Journey to Green the World’s Largest Industry by David Gottfried (Morgan James Publishing, June 2014, $17.95. 306 pp) Berkeley’s David Gottfried, considered the father of green building practices as the guy behind the U.S. Green Building Council and its wildly successful LEED rating system, recounts 20 years of the green building movement he started in his soon-to-be-released memoir. Gottfried tells the tale with evangelical zeal, boasting that he and his partners, “had fire in our bellies for transformation of the world’s largest industry,” ultimately taking the GBC global into 140 countries. An explosion indeed.

Afro-Vegan: Farm-Fresh African, Caribbean and Southern Flavors Remixed by Bryant Terry (Ten Speed Press, 2014, $27.50, 256 pp.) Chef, food-justice advocate, and author Bryant Terry of Oakland has a beautiful, new cookbook out, one that looks to the African diaspora for inspiration in 100 vegan recipes. Terry reveres the African influences so prevalent in modern cookery’s ingredients, techniques, and flavor profiles, and he uses this collection to raise awareness about such origins. Jaw-dropping gorgeous photography by Paige Green makes thumbing through the cookbook especially pleasurable, and Terry’s suggested soundtrack for every recipe is a nice touch.