Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This cookbook is INSANE! First off, it's HUGE! I love the simplicity of the recipes and their ingredients. As a busy Mom myself, I know that time is precious, and spending time with my family is even more so. This cookbook reflects the same for Jojo and her family. Some people don't like this, to each their own...I'd rather cook simple recipes, with fewer ingredients, that I have on hand, vs have to spend tons of $$ on obscure ingredients. That's just me. I am also a VERY PICKY eater, and I often have a hard time finding a recipe in ANY cookbook that sounds or looks good. 9/10ths of these recipes look right up my alley, lots of healthy choices, and comfort food too!!! This book is chock full of BEAUTIFUL photographs, the pages are crisp and thick, the cover and binding are good quality. This is the type of book I'd display on my coffee table, not just shelve in my kitchen and pull out once in awhile. I am only giving this book 4 stars on account of a few design flaws that others have mentioned. My biggest issue with this book is the binding is so tight this book cannot be laid flat, no matter how hard you try. I wish this book would have come spiral bound, or put together in such a way that it could be laid flat during use. I don't think any amount of opening/closing or spine flexing is going to change this, aside from tearing up the book itself. The only other thing I noted, is that Target has a different addition with several different recipes NOT included in the Amazon/Mass Market versions. The price at Target vs Amazon is actually a dollar and a handful of cents cheaper if you have a Target Red Card, plus you can get free shipping. Because of this (and some shipping/packaging issues mentioned below), I am returning my copy from Amazon, and ordering another copy from Target. Another few issues (not related to the book itself), Amazon's shipping was POOR! This was packaged in a flimsy brown padded envelope, and as a result, the book arrived with corners dented, and my book arrived with the spine "out of alignment", the book actually looked a little twisted. Others have complained about "wavy" pages, I noted this too, but I really feel that this is just due to the high quality paper used in the book, along with the tight binding. It was not an issue for me, however the obvious damage from poor packaging on Amazon's part was. All in all, I am pleased overall with this cookbook, and look forward to trying several of these recipes.