The book you read once, then reach for forever.

Susan Spungen, who used to run the food at Martha Stewart Living, on the 250 small decisions a host has to make in an evening. Answered before she asks. Place settings, timing, what to drink first, how to fix a curdled vinaigrette at 7:42pm. The entertaining book that quietly becomes the reason her dinners stopped feeling like a performance. A wedding gift, a hostess gift, a bridal shower staple.

For the new host. For the dinner-party regular who is ready to host one of her own. For the friend who keeps a serving-spoon collection.

Hardcover. 144 pages.