We're now over the erectile green shoots of asparagus and into lascivious red strawberries, along with the marine smells and yielding pink flesh of tuna and shrimp, and let's not even talk about geoduck. Trevor Corson, however, discusses all these aquatic things in detail in The Zen of Fish: The Story of Sushi, From Samurai to Supermarket (HarperCollinsCanada, $29.95). Documenting the week-by-week progress of a wannabe 20-year-old maki maker at the California Sushi Academy, he delves into the history and minutiae of what's now one of Vancouver's staple foods. "Sea urchins…share 70 percent of their genetic code with humans." Hmmm. As they say on many book jackets, "a riveting read".

Clearly, a riveting amount of work went into Potsie's Organic Recipe Book: A Practice With Food Guide , written and illustrated by Fraser Valley–ite Patti Coffey (Potsie's Ink, $29), whom you may have met selling her vegan edibles at various farmers markets. A throwback to the '70s in style and content, this is good, wholesome food, all vegetarian and all handwritten (or typed; not word-processed). But only the look is retro. Easy, tasty, nutritional bombs, these recipes are what you know you should eat but don't: tomato-pesto cakes, Potsie's all-purpose sauce made with tahini and ume paste, raw fruit pie with a crust of nut, raisin, and coconut. A single bite of her trailhead bars should convince you. To order the book, call toll-free 1-877-814-0339.

The same emphasis on high-quality materials infuses Trish Deseine's Nobody Does It Better: Why French Home Cooking Is Still the Best in the World (Kyle Books, $43.50), which, instead of the usual approach of organizing the recipes seasonally, arranges them according to what inspired them. Think of it as a look at the cogs and wheels in a Frenchwoman's head. "Shops wisely" homes in on ingredient-driven recipes like Cream of Puy lentil soup with hazelnuts. "Knows her classics" spans steak tartare, salade niçoise , and a kissing-on-both-cheeks cousin of that lovely bacon-and-egg salad they make at Bistro Pastis (2153 West 4th Avenue). "Steals from chefs" is a small portfolio of thefts from the best, including Alain Passard's 12-flavoured tomatoes and Alain Ducasse's sardines with tapenade, sun-dried tomatoes, and rocket. Finally, "Rises to the occasion" sets out dishes for entertaining: white gazpacho made with almonds and bread, and gratin of figs. And did I mention drool-worthy photographs of dishes, markets, and the French way of life?

Hands up anyone who's breast-feeding. Something of a challenge when one arm is around the little one and the other is propping open your eyelids. Local author Annemarie Tempelman-Kluit has been there and done that, which is why she penned the enormously practical Healthy Mum, Happy Baby: How to Feed Yourself When You're Breastfeeding Your Baby (Random House Canada, $25) for the real–rather than the mythical–yummy mummy. Mother of two under-threes, Tempelman-Kluit brings honesty and humour to a neglected topic: how to keep you and your family well - fed when you're starving and sleep deprived. Breakfast smoothies to almost-instant pizzas–it's all here, along with reassurance from other moms and even light-reading lists. Skip the hand-embroidered diaper bag and give this to new parents, along with the URL of Tempelman-Kluit's hip new, locally focused and reality-based newsletter and Web site, Yoyomama.ca, aimed at those who don't plan to put their two-year-old in a designer bikini.

Arguably the first cookbook to have the word fuck in its pages, Tucker Shaw's Gentlemen, Start Your Ovens: Killer Recipes for Guys (Chronicle Books, $21.95) drips with testosterone. Get beyond that and you find solid information for absolute beginners of either sex. A strong section on tools and ingredients prologues clever spins on familiar fare: huevos rancheros sandwiches; refried doughnuts with cream-cheese dip; bloody mary tomato soup; "the ramen that eats like a meal"; and a chili-goosed hot-fudge salsa that, with decent ice cream, is the perfect summer-dessert cop-out.

I don't do barbecues. He does. I do the veg, the salad, starters, desserts, and, after 10 p.m., the tight-lipped questions about when the hunk of protein will be ready. All can be the barbecuer's responsibility as Andrew Schloss and David Joachim point out in Mastering the Grill: The Owner's Manual for Outdoor Cooking (Chronicle Books, $29.95). Maybe they don't exactly say that, but besides burgers, steaks, and "spit-roasted whole spring lamb overcome by garlic", they dole out instructions for side dishes like grilled chicory with sour-cherry vinaigrette, vanilla cauliflower, ginger-hoisin Brussels sprouts, and a slew of sweet stuff. Do note that most of the manual's 400-plus pages are in type sizes that will be hard to read after a few pregrilling brewskis.