Book Review: The Book Club Cookbook

I don’t want to gush…but I’m going to gush. The Book Club Cookbook: Recipes for Thought from Your Book Club’s Favorite Books and Authors (and the associated website) is a GOLD MINE for anyone that likes to read, eat, do both at the same time, or do both with others.

The idea for the book came from two women who love to read and who love to cook and who wanted to “match books with foods highlighted in literature.” So they set off on a search for recipes which led them to book clubs which led them directly to some authors which led them to create this book: a collection of recipes inspired by books that are popular in book clubs.

Some recipes are obvious (a Hot Chocolate recipe for the book Chocolat) while others are more subtle (a Rosemary Spaghetti for The Da Vinci Code because rosemary symbolizes an incarnation of the divine feminine). Some of the recipes can be complicated with exotic ingredients, but most are simple and fun to explore.

In some cases, the authors themselves contributed recipes and share some of their thoughts on the books. For example, Markus Zusak shares his own recipe for Vanilla Kipferls (crescent cookies) and explains why those cookies were in The Book Thief: “it hopefully added just one more small ingredient to make the world of my book both authentic and recognizable.”

(To learn more about what your favorite writers are eating, you might enjoy Table of Contents: From Breakfast with Anita Diamant to Dessert with James Patterson–A Generous Helping of Recipes, Writings, and Insights from Today’s Bestselling Authors collected by the same authors as this book.)

There’s a lot more included for each book than just recipes, so even if no one in your book club is an adventurous chef, this book is still a great resource–you’ll get ideas for books your book club might want to select, creative names for your book club, suggestions on places to meet, questions to ask, and other tips for making your book club unique and successful.

Indexes are available to search based on Food, Authors, Genres, Themes, and Prize Winners to make it easy.

If your group also enjoys beverages (a Lord of the Mai-Tai, perhaps?), you might want to pair this book with Tequila Mockingbird, a collection of drink recipes inspired by books (see our Tequila Mockingbird book review for more).

I also highly recommend The Kids’ Book Club Book: Reading Ideas, Recipes, Activities, and Smart Tips for Organizing Terrific Kids’ Book Clubs as a great resource for getting kids involved in reading, discussing, cooking, and eating.

Happy Eating and Happy Reading!