Despite being focused on food, the Foodies Read Challenge provided quite a bit of diversity. I read books that included cannibalism, a book that was a thinly disguised memoir, and stories that hinged around death. Some of these books made me hungry. Others, not at all (pickled wolf’s heart anyone?). Continue reading
It’s that time of year when the reading challenge wrap-up posts begin. I’m starting with the What’s in a Name challenge.
The challenge was simple – read one book that fits each of the six ‘categories’ – Continue reading
Why did it take me so long to discover the (written) wisdom of Nora Ephron? Who knows but I loved Heartburn when I read it earlier this year. Linda Yellin must also love Nora Ephron because she’s based her latest book, What Nora Knew, around all the romantic advice that can be gleaned from Ephron’s romantic comedies – sort of like what Julie and Julia was to cooking.
Although it’s not released until January 2014, I’ve managed to get my hands on an ARC and thought it would be a good one to share for Bibliophile by the Sea’s First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday. It begins – Continue reading
I’m not sure how Nora Ephron’s Heartburn escaped my attention until now. In fact, it’s ludicrous that it did! It’s everything I love in one neat volume – it’s funny, there’s recipes and it gets to the nitty-gritty of relationships.
I had penciled Heartburn in for the Foodies reading challenge and then realised that it also qualified for the What’s in a Name challenge under the ‘Fire’ category. This was particularly satisfying as I’d ear-marked The Flame Alphabet by Ben Marcus for this category but after reading Rory’s review I got the distinct impression that it wouldn’t be my cup of tea.
So, to the book. It’s the story of Rachel Samstat who, seven months into her pregnancy, discovers that her husband, Mark, is in love with another woman. The fact that the other woman has “a neck as long as an arm and a nose as long as a thumb…” is no consolation. Food sometimes is though, since Rachel writes cookbooks for a living. And in between trying to win Mark back and loudly wishing him dead, Rachel shares recipes.
The story reads like a confession from an acquaintance – an acquaintance as opposed to a long-time friend, as with an acquaintance you can afford to be glib about gruesome details (true friends see through your humour). Continue reading
Is ‘Foodie Literature’ a genre? Well it is now.
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created and hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week a new ‘top ten’ challenge is posted – anyone can join in. This week’s topic is Top Ten Authors from X Genre. I mostly read books classed as ‘contemporary literature’ but regular readers of my blog also know that whatever the book, whatever the genre, I match it with a dish. Yes, some people pair food and wine, I pair food and books (but won’t say no to wine as well!).
I love cooking, I love reading and I really love reading about cooking! So, here’s my top ten Foodie Literature picks (or perhaps Edible Fiction? Or Fiction with Flavour? Or Fiction in the Kitchen? Or Delicious Reads?… okay, stopping now, especially as there’s a couple of non-fiction titles in the mix). Continue reading