Seattle-based writer Kathleen Flinn’s first book, The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry, memoired her adventure attending cooking school at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.

Her second—which is due out on Viking this Thursday, September 29—chronicles her experience putting that degree to good use as she taught nine kitchenphobes how to make healthy, tasty meals that were also affordable. At a recent launch event, Flinn introduced guests to the nine women with whom she worked, and described the deep sense of responsibility she felt while writing the book, since this time around she had to document the lives of others rather than just her own.

It’s currently available for pre-order on Amazon and will be sold at Elliott Bay Books too.

Jessie Oleson, better known as Cakespy, celebrates the release of her first book this October from Sasquatch Books. It’s called Sweet Treats for a Sugar-Filled Life and it includes recipes for pie fries, deep-fried cupcakes on a stick, and dessert tacos. Like Cakespy herself, the book manages to feel hip and arty but also whimsically kid-friendly and approachable. Urban Outfitters recently bought up a bunch of copies.

On October 13, Oleson will celebrates the book’s launch during the Capitol Hill art walk. The party is at her East Pine shop.

Chronicle Books released Jess Thomson’s new tome Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts: Secrets and Recipes for the Home Baker last week. The author, along with Michael and Mark Klebeck of Top Pot, will be at soon-to-exist culinary works emporium Book Larder on October 15 beginning at noon. The store opens October 12.

Oh and come December, look out for Maggie Savarino’s The Seasonal Cocktail Companion. A booze columnist for Seattle Weekly during that newspaper’s culinary coverage glory days, Savarino now runs the bar show over at Madison Park Conservatory.