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readerbookclub · 2 years

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Foodie - September Book List

This month’s list is all about food! In all of these novels, food plays a central role in the story or character’s lives. As a foodie myself, I’m really excited about these books! I hope you like them too :)

As always, please vote for which of these books we should read. Link is at the bottom of this post.

And on to the books...

Cinnamon and Gunpowder, by Eli Brown

The year is 1819, and the renowned chef Owen Wedgwood has been kidnapped by the ruthless pirate Mad Hannah Mabbot. He will be spared, she tells him, as long as he puts exquisite food in front of her every Sunday without fail. To appease the red-haired captain, Wedgwood gets cracking with the meager supplies on board. His first triumph at sea is actual bread, made from a sourdough starter that he leavens in a tin under his shirt throughout a roaring battle, as men are cutlassed all around him. Soon he’s making tea-smoked eel and brewing pineapple-banana cider. But Mabbot—who exerts a curious draw on the chef—is under siege. Hunted by a deadly privateer and plagued by a saboteur hidden on her ship, she pushes her crew past exhaustion in her search for the notorious Brass Fox. As Wedgwood begins to sense a method to Mabbot’s madness, he must rely on the bizarre crewmembers he once feared: Mr. Apples, the fearsome giant who loves to knit; Feng and Bai, martial arts masters sworn to defend their captain; and Joshua, the deaf cabin boy who becomes the son Wedgwood never had.

Quentins, by Maeve Binchy

Is it possible to tell the story of a generation and a city through the history of a restaurant? Ella Brady thinks so. She wants to film a documentary about Quentins that will capture the spirit of Dublin from the 1970s to the present day. And Quentins has a thousand stories to tell: tales of love, of betrayal, of revenge; of times when it looked ready for success and times when it seemed as if it must close in failure. But as Ella uncovers more of what has gone on at Quentins, she begins to wonder whether some secrets should be kept that way...

Sourdough, by Robin Sloan

Lois Clary is a software engineer at General Dexterity, a San Francisco robotics company with world-changing ambitions. She codes all day and collapses at night, her human contact limited to the two brothers who run the neighborhood hole-in-the-wall from which she orders dinner every evening. Then, disaster! Visa issues. The brothers close up shop, and fast. But they have one last delivery for Lois: their culture, the sourdough starter used to bake their bread. She must keep it alive, they tell her—feed it daily, play it music, and learn to bake with it. Lois is no baker, but she could use a roommate, even if it is a needy colony of microorganisms. Soon, not only is she eating her own homemade bread, she’s providing loaves daily to the General Dexterity cafeteria. The company chef urges her to take her product to the farmer’s market, and a whole new world opens up. When Lois comes before the jury that decides who sells what at Bay Area markets, she encounters a close-knit club with no appetite for new members. But then, an alternative emerges: a secret market that aims to fuse food and technology. But who are these people, exactly?

The Kitchen Daughter, by Jael McHenry

After the unexpected death of her parents, painfully shy and sheltered 26-year-old Ginny Selvaggio seeks comfort in cooking from family recipes. But the rich, peppery scent of her Nonna’s soup draws an unexpected visitor into the kitchen: the ghost of Nonna herself, dead for twenty years, who appears with a cryptic warning (“do no let her…”) before vanishing like steam from a cooling dish. A haunted kitchen isn’t Ginny’s only challenge. Her domineering sister, Amanda, (aka “Demanda”) insists on selling their parents’ house, the only home Ginny has ever known. As she packs up her parents’ belongings, Ginny finds evidence of family secrets she isn’t sure how to unravel. She knows how to turn milk into cheese and cream into butter, but she doesn’t know why her mother hid a letter in the bedroom chimney, or the identity of the woman in her father’s photographs. The more she learns, the more she realizes the keys to these riddles lie with the dead, and there’s only one way to get answers: cook from dead people’s recipes, raise their ghosts, and ask them.

Five Quarters of the Orange, by Joanne Harris

When Framboise Simon returns to a small village on the banks of the Loire, the locals do not recognize her as the daughter of the infamous Mirabelle Dartigen - the woman they still hold responsible for a terrible tragedy that took place during the German occupation decades before. Although Framboise hopes for a new beginning she quickly discovers that past and present are inextricably intertwined. Nowhere is this truth more apparent than in the scrapbook of recipes she has inherited from her dead mother. With this book, Framboise re-creates her mother's dishes, which she serves in her small creperie. And yet as she studies the scrapbook - searching for clues to unlock the contradiction between her mother's sensuous love of food and often cruel demeanor - she begins to recognize a deeper meaning behind Mirabelle's cryptic scribbles. Within the journal's tattered pages lies the key to what actually transpired the summer Framboise was nine years old.

Please vote for our next read here.

#book list #booklr #food books #cinnamon and gunpowder #eli brown #quentins #Maeve Binchy #sourdough #robin sloan #the kitchen daughter #jael mchenry #five quarters of the orange #joanne harris #readerbookclub

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thatwritererinoriordan · 1 year

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New books have appeared in my tiny street library!

#books #nora roberts #susan mallery #rosamund hodge #maeve binchy

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shortace · 2 years

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I just read Maeve Binchy's Circle of Friends, and I just gotta sit with it for a little bit

#reading #books #maeve binchy #bits of it and bits of characters hit a bit close to home

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intj-greenwords · 4 months

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I didn’t expect to find the phrase “was Maureen being normal about this wedding or was she a bit disturbed” in a book published in 1982.

From Light A Penny Candle by Maeve Binchy.

#light a penny candle #maeve binchy #lx reads light a penny candle

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thestateofardadreaming · 7 months

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Book review

Firefly Summer by Maeve Binchy My rating: 4 of 5 stars At first, the narrative seemed tedious. So many characters to keep track of, so many little details… But as the plot unfolded I started to enjoy the relaxing (vaguely alarming) comings and goings of that village. Until… And then the story got interesting and riveting. Some of the characters are unforgettable, others are a little bit like archetypes… An enjoyable read! View all my reviews

#Firefly Summer #Maeve Binchy #Book club

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kerasies · 1 year

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#there's nothing more satisfying than finishing a good book u got from a used books store for 1.5€#i read 'light a penny candle' by maeve binchy and it was good!!!#picked it up bc of the cover tbh

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autumncottageattic · 3 months

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Circle of Friends is a 1995 film, based on the 1990 novel of the same name written by Maeve Binchy.

Starring Chris O'Donnell, Minnie Driver, Saffron Burrows, Alan Cumming, Colin Firth, Geraldine O'Rawe, Aidan Gillen

Part IV

#Circle of Friends 1995 #book adaptation #teenage romance #teenage love #ireland #ireland 1960s #1960s #1960s ireland #Chris O'Donnell #Minnie Driver #Saffron Burrows #Alan Cumming #Colin Firth #Geraldine O'Rawe #Aidan Gillen #Maeve Binchy

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stairnaheireann · 2 years

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#OTD in 1940 – Birth of Maeve Binchy, an Irish novelist, playwright, short story writer, columnist, and speaker best known for her humorous take on small-town life in Ireland, her descriptive characters, her interest in human nature and her often clever surprise endings.

Her novels, which were translated into 37 languages, sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, and her death, announced by Vincent Browne on Irish television late on 30 July 2012, was mourned as the passing of Ireland’s best-loved and most recognisable writer. In September 2012, a new garden behind the Dalkey Library in Dublin was dedicated in memory of Binchy. In 2014 the University of Dublin…

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#Columnist #Dalkey #Dublin #Ireland #Maeve Binchy #Novelist #playwright #Short story writer #Speaker

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mannbhaavnii · 1 year

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6th March, 2023

Walked along with my friend to a cafe and read some books. Had a great day, and clicked a lot of amazing pictures!

#cafe aesthetic #coffee #cakes #pastry #books #bookblr #cozyvibes #strawberry cake #chestnut street #maeve binchy #the secret history #donna tartt #bookish #cafeteria #cafestagram

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mygeekcorner · 8 months

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Fine I'll give you some more book asks since you acted all pathetic and reblogged it again and begged for more: 18, 25, 30, 42, 43, 50, 51, 55, 61, 67, 68, 80, 86, 99, 100, 102 (lol), 104, 117, 118, 124. Also you must answer them all in one sitting (no drafting) otherwise the curse of the procrastinating tumblrina will fall upon you

Hahahaha omg yes, brilliant, love it, love you

18 your least favorite book ever

I mean there have been a fair few bad choices I've picked up along the way. But that I actually finished?

I really do think it might have been Twilight. Granted I did go in expecting to hate it, but it still managed to be blander and worse than I thought it had any right to be for a series with such devoted following.

25 a book by your favourite author

I said this in another answer but I don't really have favourite authors like that anymore. There are many good authours out there and I will read a series or two but I don't go looking for their names like I used to. But so far I guess Erin Morgenstern is a 2 for 2 author with very beautiful prose in both The Night Circus and The Starless Sea

30 your favourite middle grade book

So I've already talked about Narnia, HP, and my love for Eva Ibbotson but that was pretty much what I read back then. So I'll just mention Which Witch? by Eva Ibbotson as well. I don't remember many details from it, but I do remember that I laughed my way through it, which is never a bad thing.

42 a book that made you want to scream by the time you got to the end

I remember A Storm of Swords by George RR Martin made me call you and scream at your answering machine lol

It was bad enough that the Red Wedding happened, but then right after we've seen the massacre the next chapter is from Aryas point of view again and it's her and Sandor reaching Riverrun and she is So Close to being with her family again, to being safe. But he is mean and harsh and won't let her run off and if I remember correctly he takes out his fucking axe and hits her in the head with it. And that's how the chapter ends???

I mean obviosuly he hit her with the blunt side and only enough to knock her out, but we have Just Seen how you can't trust anyone, and then she's with this big mean killing machine who she doesn't get along with, and he hits her with an axe??? Fuck man! Rude-ass bitch is what Martin is. But what else is new, you know?

43 a book that you have read more than three times

Harry Potter. And yes, I am well aware about how much we're all hating on Rowling now, please don't misunderstand me. But I had read the first 3 books over 30 times before the series finished. I used to re-read them about once a year. There is not a single book that even comes close to the amount of times I've read them. No, not even Narnia.

50 a book that made you cry a LOT

The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy fucking wrecked me when I read it in high school. Like it is off to a pretty grim start with a mother leaving her family and them thinking she killed herself as is, but then it gets even More emotional. I remember this one chapter that just left me sitting there shellshocked for the better part of an hour, those of you who have read it will know when.

51 a book that you found underwhelming

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I know! I'm sorry! I love the movie and bbc miniseries as much as the next hopeless romantic but the book just kind of... didn't live up to it? Reading it you can kind of tell that it is her first novel and certain things are a bit rushed and clumsy. I still enjoyed it, but I was expecting to love it, you know?

55 a book with a satisfying ending

Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle. Them dying just felt right to me. Not that I wanted them to die-die of course, but the way that it happens? Yes. It all came full circle and I always found a certain comfort in the way he let them die and stay dead (to our world).

None of this rising from the dead bullshit. Just tell a good story and wrap it up like a neat little bodybag. Only cowards let protagonists rise from the dead. Looking at you JK, yes even when I first read the book.

61 your favourite horror novel

Ok so reminiscing on books I read as a kid has me thinking, one of the books that really had me Scared for real when reading was probably The Witches by Roald Dahl. And like yes, I know, it's a childrens book. But it's a Scary childrens book. And I was a Child. I just remember the horror as he found out he was stuck in a hotel infested with child-eating witches *shudder*

67 your favourite historical fiction novel

Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig, I really enjoyed Gone With The Wind, but this published fanfic/spinoff/prequel to that is just so good. It made me care for the characters in a whole new light all over again. And he always was my favourite out of all the original cast so it was nice to have some more ideas about what he had done before Scarlet threw that first vase at him.

68 your favourite piece of classic literature

Can I say Shakespeare here or did it have to be written as books-books? I'm deciding books-books is the premise so I guess I'm putting down Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. I don't like the ending, but after the book mentioned in #86 a bit further down it is better now. And I think it's the classic I've come back to the most so...

80 a book that reminds you of a loved one

The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan that @hobbitsus lent me in high school was just a blast to read and I remember it fondly. And the whole story is just so very Her from when we were growing up which adds to the love.

86 a book with an insane plot twist

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. Yes again with me bringing in published fanfic of classic works but the whole premise is so good! There are people who can jump into books? There is someone who manages to jump into an original manuscript, thus changing all the copies of the book? There are detectives working on putting the original Jeyen Eyre back into order when this happens to her? And that is the reason the book ends the way it does??? Amazing.

I never quite liked the ending in Jane Eyre, there is this bit that just seems to come out of nowhere to me. In this book? It's because Detective Thursday was there doing whatever she wanted. This fanfic makes the original work better. But the way it twists to do so? 11/10

99 a book with a strong female protagonist

The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon gives us all that Girl power Asexuality Forge your own path representation and I am here for it. Does the last book feel like the same series as the first book? Not even slightly. But the books are still a fun ride and I recommend anyone wanting to read about a farmer's daughter running away to join the army and then being actually good at her job give it a try.

100 your favourite gothic novel

ok so in like my mind Gothic should be Old. Old as balls. But I will also admit to Wanting to read books that old more than I Actually read them. So I will be cringe enough to just go with Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice cause that's the book I loved in high school and the internet lets me classify it as goth even if it doesn't feel right

102 your favourite dark academia read

What even counts as Dark Academia though??? I feel like it should be an ancient and heavy-ass tome but most things I read are quite modern? Can I say The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley? Like the book took up a good part of my backpack when I read it in school, that should count for something right?

I liked the way it spanned three generations' worth of stories and all the mysticism going on. It was my first Arthurian fiction as well which felt very Big and Impressive at the time.

104 a fluffy, sweet read

A Hundred Pieces Of Me by Lucy Dillon was a really comforting and nice read that I liked way more than I thought I would when it comes to chick lit. I think of that book whenever I try to pick out a vase now lol

117 your favourite anthology

So do we count fairy tales here or no? Cause I kind of want to say Bland Tomtar Och Troll which is that swedish collection of childrens stories that had the most exquisite art in it and I was especially obsessed with the story about the mermaid Akmea who saved the beautiful sailor, or the one with the kindly white lion who showed up in someones yard.

Sidenote: I went through these old books to find the pictures since google was no help and one has an inscription wishing me a happy 4th birthday, and one has me trying to write my name and it is the most stiltedly awkward penmanship ever and my gosh that's the cutest thing 🥺

118 your favourite short story collection

Hoo.. I don't read a lot of those but when I was in high school they would give out little paperbacks called "Färdlektyr" with assorted short stories and poems and I always looked forward to that semester's edition, does that count?

124 the book you’re currently reading

I started on The Forest Of Stars by Heather Kassner a while back, and realised that the first 5 chapters do not live up to my hopes and so have not read anything since I had to put it down at the end of a lunch break OTL

These were a lot to do in one sitting! I did take a short break for dinner, but otherwise I did do it all in one go, please be happy? :*

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noneedtoamputate · 3 months

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Miscellaneous Tag Game

Thanks for the tag, @ronald-speirs.

Favorite place in the world you’ve visited?: Australia

Something you’re proud of yourself for?: For making it through a difficult time in my life with a greater understanding how hard life it and a greater compassion for people

Favorite books?: Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy, The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, Say Goodnight, Gracie by Julie Reece Deaver

Something that makes your heart happy when thinking about it?: My child's hugs and a night in my 20s when I was in the car with my friend and "Dancing in the Dark" came on when we were at stoplight and we started singing at the top of our lungs with carefree abandon. A car with people in their 50s next to us laughed and cheered us on. Now that I am closer to their age than the age I was when I was in the car, I understand the joy they felt at watching us.

Favorite thing about your culture?: Americans are weird that we consider ourselves from somewhere else. My great-grandparents were from Eastern Europe, and my favorite thing about that is the food. My favorite thing about being American is diversity we have here, and Independence Day. I know it's not poltically correct to say one loves Independence Day, but I do. Parades, baseball, day drinking, cookouts, fireworks - Americana all in one day.

When did you join the HBO War fandom? What was the first show you watched?: I joined the fandom rather recently in the summer of 2023, but I watched BoB when it first aired. I just watched The Pacific over the summer.

Have you read any of Easy Company’s books? If so, which ones were your favorite?: I've read Band of Brothers and bits of pieces of others. My favorite is "Easy Company Solider" by Don Malarkey. I just borrowed "Helmet for My Pillow" on audiobook read by James Badge Dale.

Favorite HBO War character and your favorite moment with them?: I can't pick one favorite, but one of my favorite moments is when Tipper goes along when Luz pretends to be Major Horton. He wants to laugh so much.

Do you make content for any fandoms, if so; what sort of content?: I am in the middle of a series called "Every Beautiful Thing" featuring Chuck and an OFC in postwar San Francisco.

Favorite actor/actress and your favorite film of theirs?: I love Tom Hanks ("A League of Their Own"), Jimmy Stewart ("It's a Wonderful Life"), Ingrid Bergman ("Casablanca") and Jodie Foster ("Silence of the Lambs")

Favorite quote/s that you wish to share with others?: "The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off." -Gloria Steinem

Random fact your mutuals/followers don’t know about you?: You want me on your trivia team.

If you’re a writer, do you need a beta reader (say yes so I can be your beta reader 🤭)?: I've never had a beta and would be happy to let anyone read my WIP.

Three things that make you smile?: Finding money in a coat pocket the first time I wear it in the fall, little kids trying to play baseball or softball, a really cold beer on a hot day

Any nicknames you like?: My dad used to call me Pumpkin when I was little.

List some people you love to see around on tumblr!: There are so many, but some people off the top of my head are @xxluckystrike, @the-cinnamontography-is-amazing, @dcyllom, @latibvles, and @jump-wings.

What would you do during a zombie apocalypse?: Find the best people and do what I can to earn my keep in their group

Favorite movie?: Too hard to pick one but two of my favorites not listed above are "The Sound of Music" and "Hoosiers." I recently watched "1917" and the way the it was filmed like one continuous shot was really innovative.

Do you like horror movies?: I don't like slasher films, but I like psychological horror films. My husband made me watch "The Shining" about ten years ago, and it scared the crap out of me,

#meme game

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