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A message of hope North Carolina native Donna Everhart found inspiration for her latest novel, The Saints of Swallow Hill , when she learned the origin of the nickname “the Tar Heel State.” It comes from an industry that was based on the harvesting of sap from pine forests to produce tar, pitch and turpentine.

“Discovering the history of turpentine camps was one of those lightning strike moments authors sometimes have. I immediately knew I wanted to tell a story that paid tribute to the resilience of the original Tar Heels who lived and toiled in the deep piney woods of the South,” says Everhart. “I also wanted it to convey a message of hope—especially for readers who may fi nd some familiar parallels between the Great Depression and our present-day reality.”

She adds, “Within the turpentine camps, there was disparity among the workers, bosses and owners. The bosses wielded absolute power and kept laborers in line with savage punishments, while the debt [servitude] system meant [workers] were always at a financial disadvantage as owners’ profits continued to grow.

“Extreme hardships and disparities tend to bring out not just the worst, but also the best, in people. I hope the experiences of Rae Lynn, Del and Cornelia illustrate how ... human kindness and generosity are what win in the end.”

The Saints of Swallow Hill (Item 1618630) is available now in most Costco warehouses.

Also at Costco.com The Fantastically Great Women series, for readers ages 6 to 8, is the perfect introduction to just a few of the brave, bold and ambitious women who have helped shape the world.

Ask questions with the curious physicist Marie Curie, reach for the stars with NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson and lead the way with mountaineer Junko Tabei. Discover their stories—and many more—and use the Big Ideas Notebook to dream up adventures of your own.

The Fantastically Great Women box set (Item 1614219) is available now.—AK

Grace Olson, Buyer, Books

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Book Review: The Joy of Costco

THE JOY OF COSTCO by David & Susan Schwartz is beautifully illustrated and just bizarre enough to adorn your coffee table. Check out what Samantha Hui has to say in her book review of this Costco book.

The Joy of Costco

by David & Susan Schwartz

Genre: Nonfiction / Coffee Table Book

ISBN: 9781959505006

Print Length: 272 pages

Reviewed by Samantha Hui

Beautifully illustrated and just bizarre enough to adorn your coffee table

The Joy of Costco won’t just sit pretty in your living room. It will have you enraptured with fun facts and inspire you to leave right now to buy a wholesale box of cashews.

From Fedco to Price Club to Costco Wholesale Industries, The Joy of Costco takes us through the history of the enterprise that now has 849 warehouses spanning 46 states and 13 foreign countries. Costco enthusiasts David and Susan Schwartz, sparked by their love for the versatile superstore, spent seven years researching the history and fun facts of Costco. They did this by traveling to at least one Costco in each of the 46 states that housed a facility and multiple Costcos outside of the U.S. 

The book is in a fun A to Z format, but the alphabetization of the topics is playfully organized, ultimately giving readers the experience of the structured chaos that Costco attendees often feel when roaming the store themselves. The Joy of Costco is engaging for Costco fans and intriguing for those who have never stepped foot in the store.

“Costco was able to bring high-quality products to the Icelandic consumer at significantly lower prices than those offered by Iceland’s own supermarket chains, which drove down their prices – a phenomenon dubbed the ‘Costco Effect.’”

The Joy of Costco sings the praises of Costco’s ethics and their commitment to providing quality products and services at an affordable price. Costco cuts prices without cutting corners. 

The history marks successes and failures with the business but suggests that Costco ultimately became the thriving enterprise it is today through patience, perseverance, and commitment to quality assurance. After the history portion, the book takes readers through the ABCs of Costco from “Alaska” to “Books” to “Cashews” and beyond.

“Costco pays its employees better than most other comparable retailers, but not in an altruistic way. Rather, a highly paid workforce is not only happy, but stays on the job.”

The book is filled with eye-catching illustrations that range from the geoduck that can be found in Chinese Costcos to a 53-inch teddy bear that is sold in French Costcos. Each paragraph is separated into easily digestible rectangles on the page. It is filled to the brim with information but remains easy to read and enjoy. Throughout, there are small illustrations of key figures in the creation and maintenance of Costco as well as a blurb that describes their importance to the company. 

“Treasure Hunt: The shopping experience at Costco, which often involves looking for ‘Wow’ items – seasonal or unique merchandise that may prompt an impulse purchase.”

I quite love how the authors wanted this book to resemble the “treasure hunt” experiences when walking through a Costco. I’ve always been drawn to the Halloween fixtures and the foreign candies when making my way around the store. While reading the book, I felt a pang of jealousy toward other countries for having such tasty snacks and meals that are special to their store, such as sushi in Japan or the extended collection of cheeses in France. 

But what I loved most was the feeling that Costco cares about its customers regardless of region. The price of the food court hot dog has not changed from its original price of $1.50 since 1984. With other companies ready to raise prices any moment they get, the consistency of Costco’s hot dogs is a testament to the establishment’s commitment to its customers. 

“In 2008, Craig Jelinek approached Jim about possibly increasing the price, and Jim reportedly replied: ‘If you raise the effing hot dog [price], I will kill you. Go figure it out!’”

I entered this book with no preconceptions and no idea what to expect. I didn’t know much about Costco except for the fact that I’d go in every few weeks to buy fruit in bulk for my children. This book has made me a Costco fan, and I’m sure anyone else who picks up this book will be excited to withstand the treacherous obstacle that is the parking lot just to experience Costco the way that David and Susan Schwartz do. 

Thank you for reading Samantha Hui’s book review of The Joy of Costco by David & Susan Schwartz! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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The Joy of Costco Authors Share Top Shopping Tip — What to Know About 'The Death Star'

“The Joy of Costco: A Treasure Hunt From A to Z” is out now

Lisa Pavlova

Some couples share a passion for the movies or even pickleball, but for David and Susan Schwartz, their passion is all things Costco.

“We're like the people who go to baseball stadiums across the country," Susan tells PEOPLE. "Instead, we would go to Costco."

Their love for the membership-only big-box retail store with over 850 locations across the world eventually led the couple to publish  The Joy of Costco: A Treasure Hunt From A to Z .

Their new book covers a litany of topics on all things Costco, ranging from the detailed history of the company to store lingo — and   even highlights about one store in the Japanese city of Hamamatsu.

“We both came from families that used to go to Costco all the time," David says. "We loved going, and we love the quality, the low price, the fact that you never know what you're going to find in the warehouse.”

However, the writing process was a lengthy endeavor that Susan says required the pair, who recently celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary, to travel over 220,000 miles — "three times around the globe" — and visit more than 200 stores.

“It took two years for us to meet Jim Sinegal and Craig Jelinek, the surviving co-founder and the CEO,” Susan recalls. “It took another three years to convince them we weren't going away."

"The company was inherently modest. And after we first met them in 2018, we just kept sending updates to Jim Sinegal, saying, 'This is what we're doing now. This is what's going on now.' And finally, [on] Easter weekend of 2021, we got this email out of the blue from Jim saying, 'Why don't you come for a meeting? We want to make sure the book is accurate,'" she adds.

David & Susan Schwartz

Self-published under the name “Hot Dog Press” — a nod to the concession treasured by many Costco shoppers — the book is a tribute to the 40-year-old company, and David compares its "quirky" style to a trip to one of the company's warehouse stores.

“Just like when you're in a warehouse, you never know what you're going to find when you turn the corner. In our book, you never know what you're going to find when you turn the page,” says David, who had already written several books when the couple began their journey.

And many of the couple’s favorite finds have found their way back to their 450-square-foot apartment in New York City. “Our apartment now looks like a Costco distribution center," jokes Susan, who previously worked in marketing for Nabisco. "Each place we go, we send home a box that usually weighs [over 22 lbs]."

“You never know what you're going to find because there are only 3,800 items,” David adds. “In order for them to put something new in, they have to take something out. So, there's this constant rotation of items throughout the year.” 

And the Costco-fanatics are even sharing one of their top shopping tips to PEOPLE.

“One thing that we discovered is that, if you look, every item has a big price sticker right above it on the shelf,” David says. “If you look in the upper right-hand corner and you see a big asterisk, we call that ‘the death star' because that means that the item is going to either be temporarily or permanently withdrawn from the shelves.”

He notes, “If you see that 'death star' and you want to buy it... buy it, 'cause it might not be there next week.”

Never miss a story — sign up for  PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

One item that the couple is hoping never receives that sticker is their book, which the couple says will soon be in stores. And though the pair is now focusing on promoting their book, David says they will still make time to stop at Costcos along the way.

For the Schwartzs, the adventure of working together is nothing new — in 2005, they both started their own headhunting firm — yet the ability to travel thousands of miles together has been extremely rewarding.

“ This has been a great adventure, a lot of fun and we've learned a lot,” says David. 

But if all doesn’t work out, Susan jokes that her husband could get a job at Costco. “David's pretty friendly," Susan quips. "I think he could get a job as a greeter."

Related Articles

The Joy of Costco: A Treasure Hunt from A to Z

$ 35.00

Chances are you probably already know about Costco’s legendary dollar-fifty hot dog combo, which hasn’t changed since 1984. Same goes for their incredibly inexpensive rotisserie chickens, priced to get people in the door and shopping. But did you know that Alaskan Costco shoppers sometimes have to guard their purchases from gangs of thieving ravens as they head for their vehicles? Or that Costco sells half the world’s cashews? Or what about the fact that seventy-five percent of Iceland’s population are Costco shoppers?

All these facts and more — things you’ve likely never thought about but will surely be delighted to know — can be found in The Joy of Costco: A Treasure Hunt from A to Z by David and Susan Schwartz. The enthusiastic authors spent seven years visiting Costcos all over the world and have presented their findings in a dazzling array of text boxes covering pumpkin pies, logistics, gasoline, hearing aids, coffins, and so much more. After a brief history of Costco and its founders, various topics are arranged from A to Z in a way that feels wild and free (“in part to replicate the seemingly random experience of shopping at Costco”), meaning you can read the thing from cover to cover or just open to any random page and dive in.

Even if you don’t share the authors’ somewhat peculiar enthusiasm for the retail wholesaler, even if you’ve never set foot in a Costco store, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more informative, concise, and pleasant crash course in foreign business practices. Tidbits about a Japanese law allowing an existing business to object to a similar business opening nearby, or a South Korean law requiring a portion of construction funds be spent on public art, are fascinating glimpses into how countries around the world operate.

It doesn’t hurt that the book is also well designed. In fact, it’s a work of art, sporting a pleasing color scheme and more than 200 delightful illustrations from artist Martin Hargreaves. Even the most mundane facts about Costco’s Auto Program are fun to read when they’re accompanied by hatched pencil drawings of gift wrapped sedans. The book covers everything from foreign food courts, to pet services, to road trips, and ties it all together with a fun, cohesive style. It is a joy to behold.

The Joy of Costco deserves a spot on your coffee table. Houseguests may initially scoff, but give them five minutes with the book and they probably won’t want to give it back.

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They have visited at least one warehouse in 46 US states and 13 other countries, including Australia, Canada, China, France, Iceland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, South Korea, Taiwan, and the UK. They have also completed a cross-country Costco-themed road trip from Yonkers, New York to Yorba Linda, California, stopping to visit their favorite retailer along the way.

Topics are covered in a whimsical A to Z format, using Q & A to cover topics ranging from Cashews and Chicken to Hot Dogs and Hawaii, targeted to delight the more than 120 million Costco members and over 300,000 dedicated Costco employees. There is a Prologue that describes how the authors came to write the book and an introduction that provides a narrative history of Costco and its predecessor companies.

Sample Fun Facts:

• Costco sells more than half of the world's cashews and seven times more hotdogs than all MLB stadiums combined.
• When Costco changed its source of salmon from Chile to Norway it impacted the economies of both countries.
• Costco sells six million pumpkin pies each year, but only between September and December.

Product Details

About the author, table of contents.

Susan Schwartz worked in marketing at Nabisco and General Foods in the 1980s when mass merchandising was still considered an “alternate channel” of distribution. She grew up in Philadelphia where she delighted in shopping at Costco with her parents. Susan and David are proud grandparents and avid birdwatchers.

A Brief History - page 14

Alaska - page 38

Australia - page 42

Bakery - page 46

Books - page 49

Business Centers - page 52

Buyers - page 55

Canada - page 58

Carts - page 62

Cashews - page 65

Caskets & Coffins - page 68

Chicken - page 70

China - page 73

Code of Ethics - page 77

Coffee - page 79

Costco Connection - page 82

Costco Services - page 85

Costco Wholesale Industries (CWI) - page 88

Credit Cards - page 92

Deli - page 95

E-commerce - page 99

Eggs - page 103

Emergencies - page 106

Employees - page 109

Fish - page 113

Food Court - page 116

France - page 120

Gasoline & Car Washes - page 125

Good Works - page 127

Halal - page 130

Hawaii - page 132

Hearing Aids - page 137

Hot Dogs - page 140

Iceland - page 145

Japan - page 149

Jewelry - page 154

Kirkland Signature - page 157

Kosher - page 160

Lingo - page 162

Logistics - page 167

Majors - page 172

Meat - page 174

Members - page 177

Merchandising - page 181

Mexico - page 185

New Zealand - page 189

Openings - page 193

Optical - page 197

Parking Lots - page 201

Pet Supplies - page 204

Pharmacy - page 206

Produce - page 209

Pumpkin Pie - page 211

Quality - page 213

Regions - page 216

South Korea - page 219

Spain - page 223

Sustainability - page 227

Sweden - page 231

Taiwan - page 235

Tire Center - page 239

United Kingdom - page 241

Vendors - page 246

Wall Street - page 250

Warehouses - page 253

Wine & Spirits - page 257

Xalapa - page 260

Yonkers to Yorba Linda - page 262

Zama - page 266

Acknowledgments - page 270

Credits and Bibliography - page 272

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If you’re a Costco Executive Member —and the Primary Member of your account—the Costco Connection magazine is mailed to you. If you’re not an Executive Member, you can still access the magazine online by going to Costco.com and entering Connection in the search box.

You can also obtain a copy of the latest Costco Connection magazine when you stop in at any Costco location. You’ll usually find fresh copies set out at the beginning of each month near the warehouse exit. Additionally, you may view a digital copy of the Costco Connection by visiting https://www.costcoconnection. com/ .

If you’d like to opt-out of your Costco Connection subscription, you may do so by going to the Preferences section of your Account Details . If you’re an Executive Member but haven’t received your copy in the mail, please stop by the membership counter at any Costco location or select Contact Us on this page.

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Costco Photo Center review

Quality is middle of the road; but with bigger sizes, more pages, and much lower prices, costco photo center's print products are a great deal.

Tom's Guide Verdict

Costco Photo Center may not have the pizazz or refinement of other photo services, but the company knows how to deliver value. Its books, while not the best, are attractive looking and very attractively priced. And its calendar is a great bargain. If you're on a tight budget or are buying multiple items, Costco will please without breaking the bank.

Best value among books and calendars we reviewed

Calendar has above-average overall image quality

Attractive skin tones in the hardcover book option

High quality cover on large calendar

Attractive clip art with best detail and dimensionality

Not very attractive text fonts

Chemical smell to hardcover book pages

Stitching shows in hardcover binding

Flimsiest packaging

Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.

When it comes to the best value photo books and photo calendars, it’s hard to beat Costco Photo Center. The big box retailer offers significantly lower prices than many other services, with not a huge drop off in terms of quality. 

Not only are Costco’s prices lower, but you get more for your money, too. Where most other photo book services offer square hardcover books around 8 x 8 inches, Costco has an 11.25 x 8.75-inch hardcover. And, its larger book also starts with more pages (30 vs 20), yet it's $13 less than the next-cheapest (and just slightly better) rival. The value situation with calendars, and photo cards is similar.

However, you’re much more limited when it comes to the design of your photo book and calendar, and especially photo cards. They’re not as attractive as rivals’ products, either. For our Costco Photo Center review, we awarded it 3.5 stars overall because of the premium we put on top quality. But depending on your budget, you may rate it even higher.

• Best photo books
• Best photo calendars
• Best photo cards

Costco review: Prices

Costco photo books Costco charges $19.99 for a 30-page 11.25 x 8.75-inch hardcover (or a two-pack of 30-page 8 x 8-inch softcover books). Other sizes include layflat versions of 12 x 12 inches (from $39.99 for 30 pages) and 14 x 11 inches (from $79.99).

Costco calendars A Costco calendar costs $9.99 for an 11 x 8.5-inch version. An 11.5 x 14-inch premium calendar costs 19.99.

Costco photo cards Costco sells 5x7 and 7x5 cards in increments of 25 starting at $16.49 (66 cents each). Cards with embossed foil text start at $24.99 for 25 cards (about $1 each). There are no volume discounts if you buy more cards. Costco sells several other sizes, including 4.25 x 5.5 flat cards, also starting at $16.49, and 4.25 x 5.5 folded cards starting at $19.99 for 25.

Costco review: Software

Costco offers just 36 design templates for books and 18 for calendars — a tiny selection compared to rivals. Shutterfly , for instance, has 67 and 80, respectively. (You can also create your own from scratch, as I did.) Its design software has a spare interface with dull-looking icons and text that make it resemble the internet circa 2001, but it packs handy features below the surface. It starts with a spare but helpful optional tour that takes you through main parts of the interface. Tips also appear when you first open menus, such as for adding backgrounds or borders. 

Behind the simple buttons to the left is a plethora of design options. The myriad backgrounds are arranged in many family-friendly collections such as Animals, Baby, Kids, Wedding, and Christmas. I found the small selection of Urban backgrounds (brick walls, rusted metal, etc.) rather fun, too. There's also a large selection of solid-color backgrounds (mainly in muted colors) but no ability to create custom colors. (Given how cumbersome this process is with the services that do offer the capability, it's not a major downside.) 

Clip art comes in 23 categories, such as Baby, Birthday, Flowers, Food, and Sports. The images all have a detailed, three-dimensional appearance (many being actual photographs) that really pop and add depth when placed on photos. Most other photo services offer cartoonish or low-res art that barely stands out.

Costco offers a small assortment of basic straight-line frames for images in a limited selection of colors. It also offers drop shadows and a collection of "fancy" frames that are low-res, muted, and a bit grandma-ish in appearance. You can also access a collection of "Masks" that place your photo inside shapes such as hearts or ovals or surround them in frilly designs such as flowery wreaths. You cannot customize the thickness or color of any frames or masks.

Costco offers the widest array of card templates, with more than 800 covering occasions such as Christmas, New Years, Kwanzaa, generic season's greetings, Easter, weddings, graduation, and the fall season. Costco helps you navigate the selection with filters by criteria such as card size, number of photos, and color schemes. Unlike with photo card services (or with Costco's own photo books), there is no option to create your own card design from scratch, and options for customizing the card templates are quite limited. For instance, text is limited to just two sizes (13 and 18 point) and three font styles.

You can make minor edits to individual photos - via an auto enhance option, red eye removal, and "tints" that convert the photo to sepia or black-and-white tones.

For text, Costco provides an adequate selection of fonts, with a respectable assortment of color options (though again, no customization capability). You have to choose font sizes from a predefined list, which can be a bit limiting. For example, there are no options between 48- and 72-point sizes.

Costco's calendar software has limited design options. You can add one or a number of images to the top page for each month. Only the very basic image editing features (mentioned above) are offered, and there are no customization options or embellishments, such as frames, masks, or clip art. Text is only available in set boxes that are part of the design template you choose (or page template, if you are designing from scratch), with a very limited selection of font styles, sizes, and colors

If you create your calendar from a pre-built template, you can select an alternative background from a subset chosen for that design, but you can't select any backgrounds if you create a calendar from scratch. And you can apply backgrounds only to the top photo pages, not the bottom calendar grid pages; nor can you change the grid style. The calendar comes with set holidays, including some non-Christian and international options such as Ramadan Begins, Yom Kippur, and Cinco de Mayo. You can also create your own calendar events, adding an image and text.

Costco review: Print Quality

Costco photo books Our judges were not too impressed with Costco's 8 x 8 softcover book, awarding it the lowest overall quality score, by far. It was below-average in most criteria. The pages were the thinnest and flimsiest we saw. Skin tones were rated one of the lowest (tied with Mimeo). The pale dad in a family photo on the cover appeared a tad pinkish. Photos also show some graininess in skin tones, especially with darker subjects (a problem that Mimeo also has). Costco was middle of the road in terms of contrast. In a photo of two women in the park, the one who appears in slight shadow is still bright enough to see clearly.

The 11.25 x 8.75-inch hardcover book scored far better, about average in overall quality. This makes it a very good deal, considering that it costs considerably less than hardcovers from rivals, is substantially larger, and includes more pages by default (30 vs. 20).

Skin tones were especially strong, trailing only Printique and Shutterfly . The slightly glossier paper allowed colors and contrast to pop more - for instance, in the strands of a woman's jet-black hair. Detail was rated below average, however. In the cover image, for instance, hair, eyes, and forehead wrinkles in a family portrait are less distinct than even on smaller rival books.

The hardcover design appears attractive at first, with a smooth, glossy cover and thick endpapers. (Unfortunately, you cannot place an image on the back cover.) But the stitching shows clearly in the fold between pages. And those pages had a slight "chemical" smell, like photos that have just come out of processing.

Costco's books (and calendar) arrive in minimal packaging — just trifold cardboard with an inside pocket for the book. But the three books and two calendars we ordered arrived without damage.

Costco calendars There's also a quality gap between Costco's budget and deluxe calendars — though not nearly as wide. The 11 x 8.5-inch version has a rough-finished, cheap-feeling cover reminiscent of notecard stock. (Although it's not the worst cover; that distinction goes to Shutterfly.) The dull finish to pages hurts color saturation. Skin tones are also weak; we saw limited tonality in a pale East Asian woman's face, for instance. The printing process also gives her, and other people, a grainy texture. However, that same calendar beats all rivals in terms of sharpness and detail. Wrinkles around people's eyes, for instance, show clearly.

Aside from sharpness (which is a tad below average), the 11.5 x 14-inch premium calendar beats the smaller model in all quality categories. In fact, it beats all rivals in contrast and cover quality. This model features rich, thick, glossy pages that enhance contrast as well as color. And images are smoothly printed, with none of the graininess seen in the smaller model. Skin tones, as in the East Asian woman (and her partner) show greater tonality. As with the larger photo book, Costco's premium calendar is even a better deal. While midpack in overall quality, it's both considerably larger and considerably cheaper than rivals from other brands.

Costco photo cards

If you saw some of Costco's cards on their own, they might look OK. But place them next to the other brands we reviewed, and you see the weakneses. This was especially true with the wedding invitations, which ranked dead last in our review of 10 cards from five vendors. Judges liked the envelop quality (and the free return address printing is a nice touch). But the card rated last or second to last in every other category: paper quality, color, skin tones, contrast, sharpness/detail, and text quality. The overall appearance was dull, and muddy, and skin tones had an unhealthy grayish cast-especially in the main image of an Asian couple on the front of the card.

The holiday card did better, being in about the middle of the pack. Judges liked the paper quality and found the contrast to be pleasing. Text scored relatively well - perhaps thanks to the gold-foil lettering that Costco offers. Although it had less luster than the gold foil from Mixbook and Shutterfly.

Costco review: Verdict

Costco's books and calendars were a pleasant surprise to both me and our panel of judges (who didn't know the identity of any of the products). It's not the top performer in any category. And there are some yellow flags — especially the questionable stitching in the hardcover book. But its products are respectable looking. And they provide much bigger canvases and (in the case of books) more pages to enjoy your memories. Costco's cards, however, were less impressive.

If you value image quality above all else, then it’s worth spending the money on Printique , or (for cards) Mimeo , and Mixbook offers far more flexibility when it comes to designing the best photo books and best photo calendars . 

We're all overflowing with digital images on our phones and computers. With its combination of large size and low price, Costco provides more opportunity for those buried digital mementos to rise to the surface.

Sean Captain is a freelance technology and science writer, editor and photographer. At Tom's Guide, he has reviewed cameras, including most of Sony's Alpha A6000-series mirrorless cameras, as well as other photography-related content. He has also written for Fast Company, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired. 

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Costco’s Newest Prepared Meal Has Customers All Fired Up

And it has nothing to do with its taste.

Now that the weather is warmer, many of us are in grilling mode and ready for burgers and all things slathered in BBQ sauce . But sometimes, we still need dinner quickly, and for those who don't have time to pull out the grill and cook up some burgers, Costco has you covered.

The warehouse store is known for its ready-to-eat meal kits , such as meatloaf and mashed potatoes . Some heating or assembly may be required, but all the food in the kits is fully cooked.

When social media influencers, such as Costco Hot Finds on Instagram, post about these kits, there are always naysayers. They often complain about the ingredients not being 100 percent natural or that you could make the meal from scratch for less money. But in general, people are excited about a meal that's quick to get on the table.

However, the latest Costco meal kit is garnering more than the usual amount of cynics.

Costco’s Bacon Cheddar Burger Kits

Laura Lamb, the voice behind Costco Hot Finds, recently posted about the new Bacon Cheddar Burger Kits at Costco. They contain fully cooked burgers loaded with bacon and Cheddar mixed right in, lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese slices, and burger sauce (it looks a lot like Big Mac sauce ). The components come separated inside the kit. You only need to heat the burgers and add your own buns. 

The kit costs $6.39 a pound. Lamb's kit cost $18.30 and included four burger patties plus all the fixings. In her voiceover, Lamb says she was "blown away by how tasty it is" and that the burgers are a "ten out of ten."

In the comments, most people were less than impressed.

One of the biggest complaints comes from a misunderstanding. Lamb doesn't specify that the burgers are precooked in the video, but all Costco's meal kits come fully cooked. There are over 900 comments on the post, and probably half of them are from people who assumed that raw meat was next to fresh vegetables in the kit, but they were wrong.

Some complained that it didn't come with buns. Others complained about the number of ingredients. But there was a large number of commenters who used one judgmental word: lazy.

Costco Fans Are Divided About the New Burger Kit

"That's pure laziness," said one commenter. Others said, "OMG this new generation is so LAZY!!!" and, "Are people that lazy? Nevermind, yes they are…"

Fortunately, many people understand that buying a precooked meal is not lazy. "Lazy, no," one calmer commenter said. "Sometimes things are going on during the day that keep other people busy and unable to stay and man the kitchen the entire day." More commenters made good points: "Meal kits like this are key to my ability to actually eat at home instead of out of the house" and "Older or disabled would find this easier." Another person noted the positive impact of buying portioned food, which prevents overbuying.

There's also the affordability of this. It's a "Good deal!!" as one person commented. The four bacon cheeseburgers with all the fixings (minus the buns) are $18.30. That's $4.58 a burger. If you're paying attention to the price of fast food bacon cheeseburgers recently, they're almost always over $5 each. 

Complainers will always be complainers, and they came out in full force on this post. But in the end, it's the taste that counts. Are they any good? Lamb thinks so. And so does one of her followers who was honest about their looks versus their taste: "I made these Saturday night. Agreed they don't look appetizing in the package, but they are really good!"

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Netflix’s ‘3 Body Problem’ is a solid adaptation of the books. But it could use some religion.

I am one of the nerds who read the books behind the new Netflix series, “3 Body Problem,” before I saw the show itself. I loved Cixin Liu’s “Remembrance of Earth’s Past” trilogy , which was published in English in 2014 ( The Three-Body Problem ), 2015 ( The Dark Forest ) and 2016 ( Death’s End ), when the books first came out, and I read them again in advance of the first season of the highly anticipated series from the creators of “Game of Thrones.” My experience of the books certainly leavened my take on the eight-episode series, and so the reader might be forgiven for expecting the worst . As in: “Worst. Adaptation. Ever!”

“3 Body Problem” has received some negative reviews from folks expecting more aliens and more gore, but that’s always the case with dialogue-heavy dramas. David Chase, the creator of “The Sopranos,” once aptly described this as the “less yakking, more whacking” desire of bloodthirsty viewers. In fact, “3 Body Problem” begins with a scene so violent that even Tony Soprano might be taken aback. But that’s not what this wildly imaginative series (or the preceding trilogy of books) is about.

Some folks in the Chinese government are also not happy. “China Military Online,” a website run by the Chinese military, criticized the decision to change the ethnicity of some of the cast: Cixin Liu’s mostly Chinese characters are now a United Nations of ethnicities, and much of the action is set in the United Kingdom. They further complained that China is shown only as backward and repressive. (Like the books, the Netflix series is vivid in its depictions of the excesses of China’s Cultural Revolution). Though Netflix is blocked in China, many tech-savvy Chinese viewers have also commented negatively on the Netflix show in comparison to an earlier adaptation for Chinese television.

My verdict? “3 Body Problem” is good.

The premise (spoiler alert!): It’s “War of the Worlds,” except the alien invaders won’t arrive for four centuries. In the meantime, humanity is being prepared by the aliens from Trisolaris for the eventual meeting. Known as the “San-Ti,” they are an advanced but luckless civilization trapped in a solar system with three suns whose behavior is mathematically impossible to predict—hence the “three body problem,” history’s least hoped-for menage a trois . Their goal? To turn Earth into a more stable home for themselves. What that means for humanity is sort of what it means for an anthill when a little kid kicks it over: Who cares about the ants?

At the same time, a few enterprising humans start trying to figure out a way to defeat—or at least discourage—the alien fleet as it travels across the galaxy. Some of these characters fall in and out of love and suffer many angsty interpersonal moments that weren’t quite there in Cixin Liu’s books; it’s a plot element not all viewers like but nevertheless gives the characters a depth that some lacked on the page. There’s an Aaron Sorkin vibe to the chat-heavy series at points. Nor are there any action heroes among the protagonists of “3 Body Problem.” Instead of The Rock jumping out of a helicopter to punch Vin Diesel in the face, we get a chain-smoking middle-aged detective and a loose friend group of brooding physicists and mathematicians. It’s hot.

This first season (fingers crossed for more; Netflix says yes, but “3 Body Problem” was reportedly hugely expensive to make) takes us more or less a third of the way through the “Remembrance of Earth’s Past” storyline, so almost all of the action takes place on Earth. The three creators of the series, David Benioff, D. B. Weiss and Alexander Woo, use C.G.I. liberally to depict some of the more fantastical scenes that take place in virtual reality. The science and math are simplified enough for the casual viewer to understand, but you’ll have to pay attention. “Quantum entanglement” and similar concepts are central to the plot.

Little details confirm that Benioff et al. did their homework with both special effects and script. For example, when St. Thomas More appears in a scene set in virtual reality, he is wearing the clothes of an English noble, but around his neck hangs the heavy chain of S-shaped links that he also wears in Hans Holbein’s famous painting of the Lord Chancellor of England and future martyr. The show offers a wry but accurate take on scientists as well. A character who wants to be part of an ambitious plan to build spaceships on the Moon to fight the aliens can’t figure out how to open a window. It adds to the verisimilitude, a necessary element in any artistic endeavor that requires a significant suspension of disbelief.

What’s missing? One notable absence is religion, which plays little role in “3 Body Problem” other than among the deluded humans who decide to worship their alien conquerors. Not even characters who are dying of cancer or who witness history-changing events reflect on them with anything resembling a religious imagination. The best “3 Body Problem” can offer in that regard is a Chinese character paying respect to her ancestors. The series is true to the books in this respect, but the absence is more notable in a medium that cannot make use of internal monologues as an expository device.

Another warning: While “3 Body Problem” is overall not particularly violent (fans of “Game of Thrones” might be disappointed that there’s nothing like a “ Red Wedding ” to be found), there are some moments that can shock and potentially stay with the viewer. In addition to the graphic opening scene of the first episode, another includes a scene not for the faint of heart where invisible nano-fibers slice a ship and its human inhabitants to bits. The cameras don’t always look away.

I am looking forward to another season, even if it does not closely follow the plot of The Dark Forest , the second novel in Liu’s trilogy. The scope of this series can only grow as the inventive storyline proceeds, and even sci-fi fans looking for a bit more “Star Wars” and a bit less Sorkin should find much to enjoy.

James T. Keane is a senior editor at America .

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How Exactly Did the American Civil War Start?

In The Demon of Unrest , Erik Larson ’78JRN painstakingly reconstructs an unfortunate series of events.

Exactly how did the American Civil War begin? This was the question Erik Larson was pondering when he began working on a new book in the first weeks of the COVID pandemic. After writing three histories of wartime Europe, most recently The Splendid and the Vile , which detailed the first year Winston Churchill ’46HON served as Britain’s prime minister, Larson set out to research a subject closer to home. Of course, everybody knows how this bloody chapter in American history ends, but Larson’s account of the political crisis that led to the first shots being fired in Charleston Harbor reads like a thriller and positively drips with tension. 

The Demon of Unrest gives us a front-row seat to the five months of drama that unfolded between Lincoln’s election and the attack on Fort Sumter. Larson is known for his exhaustive research, and here he draws on hundreds of historical documents, including letters, telegrams, military reports, personal diaries, and plantation ledgers. From these he painstakingly reconstructs the unfortunate series of events that led “Americans on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line to the point where they could actually imagine the wholesale killing of one another.”

What his research reveals is sobering. Yes, the issues of slavery and states’ rights were certainly the chief sources of political tension, but the march toward war was propelled not just by principles but also by a string of misunderstandings, hurt feelings, misplaced codes of honor, and naked narcissism. Indeed, the “unsatisfiable craving on the part of certain key actors for personal attention and affirmation” was a key driver of civil unrest. 

We learn about the role of Edmund Ruffin, a puffed-up Virginia planter who was afforded the dubious honor of firing the first shot in the attack on Fort Sumter. Ruffin, a vocal instigator of secession, was vain but terribly insecure. He desperately chased the spotlight, embraced his role as a rabble-rouser, and sought praise and flattery constantly. 

Pride was also a distinguishing characteristic of the three envoys of the Confederate States who, in the days leading up to the war, traveled to Washington in the hopes of meeting with President Lincoln. “Proficient in the art of taking offense, they needed the unalloyed respect of all around them,” writes Larson. When the trio were summarily rebuffed, they angrily threatened “blood and mourning” and said they would “accept the gage of battle thus thrown down to them.”

While male ego played an outsized role in this tragedy, heroism also drove the action. Fort Sumter was manned by the courageous Major Robert Anderson, who despite dwindling supplies and insufficient arms, bravely defended his position even as the fort was surrounded by the enemy. Cleaving to the most revered principles of military etiquette (yes, another sort of pride), he kept the American flag flying under the greatest duress. 

In the book’s introduction, Larson says that during his research, he couldn’t help but have “the eerie feeling that present and past had merged.” Then as now, the nation was deeply divided, with one member of the cabinet declaring, “The people in the South are mad; the people in the North are asleep.” In February 1861, the certification of the Electoral College vote was under threat, as crowds of irate Southerners gathered in Washington and converged on the Capitol, clamoring to get inside. Polarization was fueled by men with deep passions, massive insecurities, huge egos, and conflicting economic interests. Thus, with flag-waving, cheers, and an overdeveloped sense of indignation, the nation blundered into a civil war that would result in the loss of some 750,000 American lives. This terrifying conclusion, one might argue, makes Larson’s latest tome not just a saga of hubris, heartbreak, and heroism, as the subtitle suggests, but a sobering and timely cautionary tale. 

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Why Nike's new Olympic track uniform for women is stirring controversy

Juliana Kim

Elite athletes from around the world joined Nike to unveil the latest Nike Air footwear and team kits at the "Nike On Air" event at the Palais Brongniart in Paris earlier this month. Nike hide caption

Elite athletes from around the world joined Nike to unveil the latest Nike Air footwear and team kits at the "Nike On Air" event at the Palais Brongniart in Paris earlier this month.

Nike revealed a range of new styles and silhouettes for elite athletes last week ahead of the 2024 Olympics, but one article of clothing has raised controversy.

The Sexualization Of Women In Sports Extends Even To What They Wear

A bodysuit that appears to be cut high on the hips is one of the options for Team USA's track and field. Athletes and fans have criticized the design, saying that the outfit looks uncomfortable and revealing.

Complaints further mounted after Citius Mag , an online magazine that covers track and field, released a side-by-side comparison of the men's and women's uniform — with critics finding the vast differences deeply problematic.

BREAKING: Here's your first look at the new @Nike kits that will be worn by the U.S. track and field team at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. pic.twitter.com/XPWOnBrwsv — CITIUS MAG (@CitiusMag) April 11, 2024

In response to the criticism, Nike said female runners are not limited to the leotard and that the new line offers nearly 50 styles to choose from, including shorts.

"We showcased some of the new Olympic uniforms at the Nike On Air experience in Paris — but, as we are a few months from the Games and working with limited samples in a limited format presentation, not all looks and styles were featured," a Nike spokesperson said in an email.

The company added that it took female athletes' comfort especially seriously, which is why it raised the neckline for tops.

USA Track and Field said its athletes were consulted throughout the design process. "Athlete options and choices were the driving force for USATF in the planning process with Nike," the USATF said in a statement.

Sarah Hirshland, CEO of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said she supports athletes having options. "I think that's important. We want to make sure athletes have choices that they're comfortable in," she told reporters.

Why MLB's new uniforms are getting mixed reviews

The backlash comes less than two months after Nike was scrutinized over its new uniforms for Major League Baseball players, which some said looked see-through and of poor quality.

This time, Nike's designs were caught in the long-running discourse over sexism in women's sports attire.

U.S. national champion distance runner Lauren Fleshman said the track and field kit specifically displayed on the mannequin lacked the professionalism that top women athletes deserve.

"Women's kits should be in service to performance, mentally and physically. If this outfit was truly beneficial to physical performance, men would wear it," she wrote on Instagram .

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The sports world is still built for men. this elite runner wants to change that.

On social media, some fans asked if the mannequin outfit was for swimming events. Others expressed concern that the fit will sexualize sportswomen, given the uniforms' lack of coverage.

Pole vaulting Olympic gold medalist Katie Moon said while the uniform was troubling, she is in favor of female athletes having more options rather than less when it comes to attire.

"Even if its with best of intentions, you're ultimately attacking our decision as women to wear it," Moon wrote on Instagram . "The point is we DO have the choice of what to wear, and whether we feel the best in a potato sack or a bathing suit during competitions, we should support the autonomy.

Before the backlash, Nike said the uniforms were the "most athlete-informed, data-driven and visually unified the company has ever produced." The clothes were tailored to support a range of body types and sports disciplines while maximizing breathability, Nike Chief Innovation Officer John Hoke said in a press release Thursday.

Nike also plans to provide custom tailoring at the games.

• 2024 olympics
• track and field

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Book review | the war that wasn’t, mukund padmanabhan’s 'the great flap of 1942' spotlights an interesting moment in colonial indian history when the possibility of a japanese invasion seemed very real.

T he Great Flap of 1942 ends with the summary execution of the “lions, tigers, panthers, bears and venomous snakes” of Madras Zoo by the Malabar Special Police on April 14, 1942. The killings were the culmination of a widespread hysteria occasioned by the prospect of a Japanese invasion of South India in 1942, an invasion that never materialised. Mukund Padmanabhan’s book then tells us the story of an event that never took place, chronicling the panic that swept much of India as Japanese forces rampaged through Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean in the first few months of Asia’s Second World War. Japan’s many victories excited fears about bombing throughout the Raj, causing coastal cities such as Calcutta, Cochin, Madras and Bombay to empty of civilians. Government offices relocated to sleepy provincial towns, where rents promptly shot up even as hastily abandoned properties were burgled.