This past year was a good one for cheese literacy. Publishers released a terrific new lineup of books for us enquiring cheese minds, each one an engaging way to tap into the wonders of the dairy world.

They range from easy guides for the novice who wants to advance their basic cheese understanding, to page-turners that bring the reader behind the scenes at creameries and farmsteads around the world. Other new publications serve as a virtual cheese school, detailing how to make a wide variety of simple or sophisticated styles of cheese at home. We all had our favorites among these literary debutants of 2012, including:

For the past 10 months, Laurel Miller (culture contributing editor) and I have been working on the "Cheese For Dummies" book for Culture. Yes, THAT For Dummies title. You know, the yellow & black series that attempts to distill all kinds of topics down to their most basic, most understandable form. It was quite the experience, I can assure you, even with the Culture crew supporting us. And although it may not be how other books or cheese experts classify cheese, we decided on very simple designations for a pretty confusing subject that we feel speaks to those of us who aren't experts nor care to be. Because we just want you to love cheese even more without having to feel like you're tackling a science project. I can't let the cat outta the bag yet (sorry!) but if you're interested, the book will be out in June. Or you can contact me directly for more info: lassa@culturecheesemag.com.