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Whether it’s a coloring book, a cookbook or a lifestyle guide, cannabis literature belongs on every stoner’s bookshelf.
Gone are the days of hastily downloaded and printed-out pages from the deep internet. Cannabis has outgrown counterculture status and is rightfully reclaiming its holistic heritage with gorgeously photographed, coffee table-worthy tomes brimming with valuable information. From therapeutic recipes and candy-making tips to inspirational words from successful cannacreatives and mom-centered lifestyle guides, there really is a piece of cannalit for every bookshelf.
This week, as we put Portland Book Festival in the rearview and slide toward gifting season, keep these titles in mind: They’ve all earned spots of honor on my own bookcases, and each would make a thoughtful gift for the cannathusiast bookworm in your life, especially if that bookworm is you.
If you don’t have at least one bookshelf, never talk to me or my son again.
Weed Mom by Danielle Simone Brand
(Ulysses Press, 288 pages, $15.95)
Subtitled “The Canna-Curious Woman’s Guide to Healthier Relaxation, Happier Parenting, and Chilling TF Out,” this breezy read is a guide to all things weed for the parent new to cannabis therapy. The book would be a great addition to any stoner parent’s library, but perhaps most useful to novice pot moms who’ve yet to find their place in cannabis culture.
Weed Mom has the levity of a novelty lifestyle guide but delivers information as effectively as a Cannabis 101 textbook, covering everything from terminology and medicinal uses to sexual health and harm reduction.
The Art of Weed Butter by Mennlay Golokeh Aggrey
(Ulysses Press, 96 pages, $14.95)
There are many cookbooks in the weedosphere, but Mennlay Golokeh Aggrey’s is distinct in its focus on the foundation of cannabis kitchen exploits: butter.
Infused oils and fats made on a kitchen stovetop are the cornerstone of quality edibles. From savory dishes to the sweets that line dispo shelves, the best products (imho) start with infused butter (or virtually any oil).
Golokeh Aggrey’s book includes dosing breakdowns, terpene effects, and even tips on how to curb a too-intense high. Once readers complete the curriculum on infusion, there are a number of surprisingly straightforward recipes like shrimp and grits, West African chicken and, of course, brownies to round out the book.
The Cannabis Apothecary by Laurie Wolf
(Black Dog & Leventhal, 256 pages, $35)
Regarded by many in the cannabis industry as the Martha Stewart of weed, Laurie Wolf has been writing cannabis recipes long before she founded the popular edible brand Laurie + MaryJane. The Cannabis Apothecary is a gorgeous mashup of cannabis photo essay and comprehensive lifestyle, recipe and health-and-wellness opus. Consider giving this to the domestic deities in your life who would enjoy adding chic cannabis art to their homes and making edibles with new recipes.
Cannabis for Creatives by Jordana Wright
(Rocky Nook, 365 pages, $25)
By conducting in-depth interviews with more than 30 working artists, author Jordana Wright was able to mine a certain class of creatives to determine what makes cannabis so valuable to their work. Conversations with authors, art directors, musicians. interdisciplinary artists and others make this a compelling read for any artist who’s been judged for their consumption habits instead of their bodies of work. From composers to chefs to metalsmithing sculptors, there’s plenty in these pages for creative stoners to both relate to and be inspired by.
The Weed Gummies Cookbook by Monica Lo
(Ulysses Press, 128 pages, $17.95)
One of the slimmest books in this roundup is also the brightest, punchiest and sweetest of them all. Monica Lo’s Weed Gummies Cookbook covers all the need-to-knows for someone new to the art of creating cannabis edibles, but it’s also sumptuously designed, with glittering photos of confections far more impressive than your everyday 5-milligram gummy cube. Readers can learn to make not only gummies, but also nougat, milk candy, caramels, boba balls, marzipan, lollipops and more. There’s even a chapter on sugar candy alternatives, like fruit leathers and spiced nuts. For the culinary cannathusiast gearing up for the holiday season, this book could be a game changer.