October Book Club News
IN THIS ISSUE

*Ken Follett: Costco Book Club Feature

*New Titles, Menus, and Giveaways

*GalleyMatch Book Clubs Preview

*Dogs and Books

*New Book, TV & Song Blends Shop!

*Blends Bash: New Recipes!
From mojitos to homemade chai to Baked Alaska, authors of our October feature titles offer distinctive book-inspired fare.

We'll share their book club menus, book events, and more on social media throughout the month.

Enjoy fall reading and cooking!

Judy Gelman
Ken Follett's The Evening and the Morning
Our book club feature in The Costco Connection
It was a pleasure to work with author Ken Follett on October's Costco Connection book club feature for The Evening and the Morning, Follett's prequel to his historical epic, The Pillars of the Earth.

Follett shared his ideas on food and drink of the Middle Ages to accompany a book club discussion of his new novel, and you'll find our recipe for Medieval spiced wine— hippocras— adapted from historic cookbooks.

In The Evening and the Morning, Follett revisits the fictional town of Kingsbridge, at the dawn of the Middle Ages, 997, when England is under attack by Vikings and will soon be conquered by Normans. Against this backdrop, a boat builder, a Norman noblewoman, and a monk come into conflict with a ruthless bishop, in an epic tale of ambition and rivalry, death and birth, and love and hate.
The Evening and the Morning: novel-inspired recipe for Hippocras (spiced wine) adapted from Le Viandier de Taillevent and The Forme of Cury, recipe collections of the Middle Ages.

Also see The Evening and the Morning book club menu images and descriptions on our social media this week, along with a book giveaway .
Book-inspired menus and giveaways featured on social media
Book Club Daily Feature Titles
Authors' book-inspired menus, and giveaways
THE EVENING AND THE MORNING
Ken Follett
(Viking)
Historical Fiction
A prequel to The Pillars of the Earth, Follett's thrilling and addictive new novel is set in England at the dawn of a new era: the Middle Ages.


MILLICENT GLENN'S LAST WISH
Tori Whitaker
(Lake Union)
Fiction
A novel about three generations of women—and the love, loss, sacrifice, and secrets that can bind them forever or tear them apart.

POPPY IN THE WILD
Teresa Rhyne
(Pegasus)
Nonfiction / Memoir

From the author of The Dog Lived (And So Will I) comes a tale of love and devotion, and defying all the odds.

BLUE SKY KINGDOM
Bruce Kirkby
(Pegasus)
Nonfiction / Memoir
A portrait of a family that lets go of their known world to encounter an unfamiliar one filled with new possibilities and understandings—and a father's journey to experience the world as his neuro-diverse son does.
ABSOLUTION
Regina Buttner
(Spark Press)
Fiction
In this gripping debut novel, a married couple's dark secrets and hidden motivations unravel with devastating consequences.
CATCHING DAWN
Melissa Armstrong
(Lantern)
Nonfiction / Memoir
A gritty exposé of the consequences of animal overpopulation in the rural south, and the story of how a homeless dog helps a woman rediscover the meaning of family.
THE LAST RAFT
John H. Cunningham
(Greene Street)
Historical Fiction
Five desperate people flee Cuba aboard a homemade raft following an exodus of a hundred thousand countrymen.
SOUL SEEKER
Kaylin McFarren
(Creative Edge )
Fiction / Thriller
A pulse-pounding supernatural thriller with an epic battle between good and evil.
GalleyMatch Book Clubs Suggest
Book clubs share discussion and menu highlights of titles previewed through our GalleyMatch program. Click the images below for reviews, and see all GalleyMatch book club recommendations here.
THE WIFE UPSTAIRS
by Rachel Hawkins
The Jane Austen Book Club
Lexington, Kentucky
THE EDUCATION OF DELHOMME: CHOPIN, SAND, & LA FRANCE
by Nancy Burkhalter
Beth El Synagogue Book Club
Omaha, Nebraska
Yappy Hour
Join Weekly Discussions with Dogs & Books!
Three "dog book" authors have launched “Dogs & Books,” an online community where canine lovers gather. Their weekly online “Yappy Hours,” feature discussions with authors, photographers, artists, behaviorists, and others who share the joy of dogs. Dogs & Books is the brainstorm of author Teresa Rhyne, along with Cara Sue Achterberg and Peter Zheutlin.

Upcoming Yappy Hour guests include professional dog trainer Marjie Alonso (10/8), W. Bruce Cameron, author of A Dog’s Purpose (10/29), and Teresa Rhyne on her new book, Poppy in the Wild: A Lost Dog, Fifteen Hundred Acres of Wilderness, and the Dogged Determination that Brought Her Home (10/1) (see our book giveaway this month).

The group will involve independent bookstores with their online book events.“There’s such a connection between independent book retail and dogs," notes Rhyne.

Join Yappy Hours each Thursday at 8 pm EST/ 5 pm PT on Zoom and Facebook live and follow the group on Facebook and Instagram. 

Every few weeks Yappy Hour will convene as a book club. Peter Zheutlin’s Rescue Road: One Man, Thirty Thousand Dogs, and a Million Miles on the Lost Hope Highway is their first book club selection on October 15th.
New Blends Shop and Blends Recipes!
Book, TV, and Song Blends
Visit the new Blends Shop!

It's easier to shop for Blends online in the new Book, TV, and Song Blends shop.

Looking a gift for literature, television, or music fans guaranteed to make them smile, and spice up their cooking?

New Blends, including Lord of the Fries (Brewpub Garlic Fries Seasoning)
The Secret Life of Teas (Smoked Tea Rub) and Game of Scones (Black Onyx Cocoa Powder) join our popular classics, including Where the Crawdads Zing (Gulf Coast Bay Seasoning) Schitt's Greek (Greek Seasoning), Better Call Salt (Chipotle Salt), and Brined, Sealed, Delivered (Cajun Turkey Rub).

You can customize 3, 4, 6, or 12-spice gifts boxes for your favorite foodies and entertainment fans, and have gift boxes shipped directly to them.

Quantities are limited! Order early to reserve your favorite Book, Song, and TV Blends.

Pair Book, TV, and Song Blends with books! Visit our BookShop Blends reading list!
New Blends Gift Boxes
New Book Blends
Blends Bash chefs are dishing up recipes with Book, TV, and Song Blends! You'll find recipes for "Schitt's Greek" Lentil Soup, "Dukkah Earl" Eggplant Toasts, "The Lord of the Wings" Chicken Wings, Drumsticks (and Chickpeas!), a variety of "Game of Scones" desserts, and more on our Blends Bash page, and on social media (follow#BlendsBash)