May Book Club News

IN THIS ISSUE

*New Titles, Menus, Recipes, and Giveaways

*Novel Noshes

*GalleyMatch Book Clubs Preview

*Book, TV, and Song Blends
May reading offers up a variety of tasty literary-inspired pairings: Coq au Champagne, Pasta Bolognese, No-Knead Bread, Bloody Mary Marinated Tomatoes, and French 75s. Top it off with a dessert bar including beignets, lemon bars, orange pound cake, peach pie, and gulab jamun.

You'll also find book-inspired menus for book club favorites from the authors of Signal Fires and Carmen and Grace.

What are you reading and cooking? Please let us know!

Judy Gelman
Book-inspired menus and giveaways featured on social media
Book Club Buzz
Authors' book-inspired recipes, menus, notes, and giveaways
NO TWO PERSONS
Erica Bauermeister
(St. Martin's Press)
Fiction
One book, nine readers, and ten changed lives—a gloriously original celebration of fiction, and the ways it deepens our lives.
THE HOMEWRECKERS
Mary Kay Andrews
(St. Martin's Press)
Fiction
A delightful summer read about flipping houses, and finding true love.    
BEYOND HAPPINESS:
The 6 Secrets of Lifetime Satisfaction  
Dr. Jennifer Guttman  
(Post Hill Press)
Nonfiction / Psychology / Family
A groundbreaking plan for achieving a full and rewarding life even amidst adversity.
THE PARIS DECEPTION  
Bryn Turnbull    
(Harlequin)
Historical Fiction
A novel about two brave women who risk their lives rescuing looted masterpieces of modern art from Nazi destruction.
Book Club Daily Feature Titles
Authors's book-inspired menu and giveaway
begins on the date below for one week
.THE HALF OF IT
Juliette Fay
(Wiliam Morrow)
Fiction
A novel about settling the past, rekindling lost friendships, and discovering love when you least expect it.      
YA Reads
Author's book-inspired menu, note, and giveaway
YOUR PLANTATION PROM IS NOT OKAY
Kelly McWilliams
(Little Brown Young Readers )
Young Adult Fiction
A teenager living with her historian father on a plantation turned enslaved people's museum, must handle her overwhelming feelings of anger when an actress plans to turn the plantation next door into an event venue.
Novel Noshes: Ask the Author
Authors Share Book-Inspired Fare
Thanks to authors Dani Shapiro and Melissa Coss Aquino who responded to our requests for book club menus.
Dani Shapiro's novel Signal Fires examines how lives in one neighborhood change following a car accident in 1985.

From Dani Shapiro: "One of my favorite characters in Signal Fires is Theo Wilf, who grows up to become a famous chef, though that was never Theo’s goal. Food is love and nurturance for him. He spends his childhood cooking with his beloved mother Mimi. Feeding people delicious meals is the only way he knows how to connect. And the novel itself is about the ways in which we are all interconnected and interdependent. Theo goes off to Buenos Aires (running away from his family and from himself) to train as a chef. So perhaps a good culinary choice would be Asado —otherwise known as barbecue— accompanied by a bottle of good Argentinian Malbec. What is most important is to gather, in the way that book clubs allow us to do, and talk about the contents of our hearts." 
Melissa Coss Aquino's novel Carmen and Grace tells the story of two inseparable cousins lured into the underground drug trade at a young age and the inextricable ties that bind them.

From Melissa Coss Aquino: "The idea of women eating a meal together and talking about this book makes me emotional. The eating together is a centerpiece in the story— the way they build bonds and work on seeing themselves as whole and complete, with or without approval from the outside world. It is also what they do communally—from shopping to cleaning up to learning how to cook. Literally, it is the opposite of women cooking and serving food behind the scenes. The group that forms in the novel, The DOD, frequently has dinner together in a semi-self-created family dinner style. Bistec encebollado with tostones (Puerto Rican-style thin steak with fried green plantains) is both the first meal they eat together and a symbol of having some money —beef is not cheap and they are not a small group. It is also a classic Puerto Rican dish not tied to a holiday, but to a little extra cash." Read more
Have a question for an author about a recipe, book club food pairing, or food reference? Contact us. Also, see Novel Noshes menu ideas from authors and book club, and Featured Author Recipes.
GalleyMatch Book Clubs Suggest
Click images for meeting highlights for these titles previewed through GalleyMatch.
THE STORIES WE TELL
Joanna Gaines
*Get Lit Book Club, Coto de Caza, California
*April's Book Chat, Frisco, Texas
Mother's Day, Father's Day and graduation gifts are here! Give Book, TV, and Song Blends— spices, herbs, and blends inspired by literary, television, and music favorites. Blends are perfect gifts for the literature, television, and music fans in your life, guaranteed to make them smile and spice up their cooking.


"Are You There, God? It’s Me, Marjoram"(Chicken Rub) Shepherds Pie; "A Gentleblend in Moscow” Dill Dip; "Late Show with Stephen Clove-bert" (Yucatan Recado Rojo Rub) Tacos; "Game of Scones” (Black Onyx Cocoa Powder) Swirled Banana Muffins. Find delicious Blends recipes on our Blends Bash page!