This past month I have been busy creating a new blog over at blogger.com titled The Novel Cook.  It’s my attempt at peeling the layers off a book through it’s references to food.  I first thought about this after reading a piece in the New Yorker by writer, essayist Adam Gopnik.  According to Gopnik there are four kinds of food in a book:

 

food that is served by an author to characters who are not expected to taste it; food that is served by an author to characters in order to show who they are; food that an author cooks for characters in order to eat it with them; and, last (and most recent), food that an author cooks for characters but actually serves to the reader.

Gopnik summarizes by pointing out that

Cooking is to our literature what sex was to the writing of the sixties and seventies, the thing worth stopping the story for to share, so to speak, with the reader.  Read more

I like this idea of an author sharing his characters with the reader through the food they prepare, adore, dispise or long for.  In Kathryn Stockett’s The Help, I got so involved with the character of Minnie Jackson that I found myself yearning for a piece of her famous Caramel Cake.  Since the novel didn’t provide a recipe, I scoured the internet for an authentic southern one.   I started to think that maybe other readers might be doing the same thing.

If you have a favorite novel that inspired you to cook,  I would love to hear your story.  In the meantime, hop on over to The Novel Cook and let me know what you think.

Just six more weeks until William and Kate tie the knot.  For those Anglophiles out there (and you know who you are) that can’t bear the wait,  here are some literary suggestions to help you while away the hours.

READ:

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The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown

Who can resist a quirky family novel set in the mid west about a scholarly English professor who has brought his three daughters up to communicate by spouting Shakespearean dialogue.

Publisher’s Weekly says you don’t have to be a fan of the Bard to enjoy, but it wouldn’t hurt either.

WATCH:

The latest film adaption of Jane Eyre is slowly being rolled out to theaters nationwide.

KNIT:

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Throw on a pair of wellies and knit your own Corgi.  There are 24 other breeds to choose from including English Bulldog, English Bull Terrier and Old English Sheepdog.  This activity alone should bring you right up until wedding eve.

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Algonquin Books online book club is kick starting their 2011 event season with author Julia Alvarez discussing her book In The Time of Butterflies with author Edwidge Danticat (Brother, I’m Dying). This live webcast will be held on March 21st at 7pm EST.   This is not a passive event.  Readers are encouraged to join in the discussion in the weeks leading up to the webcast. Those participating have the chance to score swag bags and other publisher goodies.  If you want to get a group of friends together, the website provides ideas for wine pairings and food suggestions as well as the traditional reading group guide.

Future book club events will feature Sara Gruen (Water For Elephants) interviewed by Kathryn Stockett (The Help) on April 26th;  Heidi Durrow (The Girl Who Fell from the Sky) interviewed by Terry McMillan on August 18th; and Robert Goolrick (A Reliable Wife) interviewed by Patricia Cornwell on October 20th.

The ‘Best of 2010′ book lists are out in force and frankly, I find most of them more confusing than helpful.  Out of the hundreds posted online  (Large Hearted Boy – a music and literature blog keeps a running tally),  I’ve only found four lists  that apply specifically to book clubs  since those are the types of books I like to read.  One book, Emma Donoghue’s Room made three of the lists.  No one book appeared on all four.  If anyone else has seen a good ‘best of 2010′ book club list, let me know.  I would love to include it here.

Misha Stone for Book List’s Book Group Buzz top ten for book clubs

The Women’s National Book Association top ten list for reading groups

Library Journal’s first ever top ten

NPR’s Lynn Neary 2010 top picks;       ‘best of’ 2009 list for book clubs

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In honor of  Halloween week, here is Seattle Times pop critic Mark Rahne’s hilarious video tour of Forks, WA which any Twilighter knows is the setting for the Stephenie Meyer‘s vampire series.  Whaahahahahaa…

Note:  Plan ahead.  Four out of the six titles are books you most likely will NOT find at the airport bookstore.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley -  First time novel for this 70 year old writer and getting rave reviews about a precocious 11 year old girl that discovers someone murdered in a cucumber patch outside her bedroom window.

Beginner’s Greek by James Collins – another first time novel by an author in his late 50′s (lovin’  this trend).   An unexpected delight.  A romantic comedy where everything ends in the best possible way.

The Family Man by Elinor Lipman – a novel by an author that loves her characters.  Much in the vein of a Noel Coward comedy.  Two other Elinor Lipman books that Pearl l-o-v-e-s are The Way Men Act and  The Inn at Lake Devine.

In The Last Analysis by Amanda Cross – a mystery.  The first (and the best) of the Kate Fansler mystery series.  Smart and you will never guess the ending.

Stern Men by Elizabeth Gilbert – novel.  Especially for readers (including Pearl) that were ‘under whelmed’ by Gilbert’s memoir Eat, Pray, Love -  read this one.   Funny and well written about a spunky, eighteen year old girl that returns home to Maine and decides to work the lobster boats.

Silver Linings Play Book by Matthew Quick – novel.  Don’t be put off by the title and think this is a football book about the Philadelphia Eagles and their fans.   In short it is a  funny and uplifting book about a high school history teacher that has just been released (after four years) from a mental hospital and is looking to become the man his estranged wife has always wanted.

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More Nancy Pearl summer reading suggestions:

mystery/spy/thrillers

book clubs

armchair travelers

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Audition by Barbara Walters.  The veteran TV journalist claims she tells it like it was.   Her back story, love affairs and career highlights are many.  Get comfy.  This memoir weighs in at nearly 600 pages.

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The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Riuz Zafron.  This was a book seller favorite when it first came out in 2005.   This mystery/love story (but oh, so much more) set in Barcelona in 1945,  is about a book seller and his son and a rare copy of a mysterious book.   Read it now, then scoop up the second of the series, The Angel’s Game, due out next month.

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REMEMBER: I am giving away a signed copy of Cutting for Stone as part of the BookroomReviews.com Book Giveaway Carnival. Click here for details.

9/12 NIGHTS IN RODANTHE based on the book by Nicholas Sparks

9/19 THE DUCHESS based on the book GEORGIANA: DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE by Amanda Foreman

9/26 BLINDNESS based on the book by Jose Saramago

9/26 CHOKE based on the book by Chuck Palahniuk

9/26 MIRACLE AT ST ANNA based on the book by James McBride

10/3 HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS AND ALIENATE PEOPLE based on the book by Toby Young

10/3 NICK & NORA’S INFINITE PLAYLIST based on the book by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan