my reading list

In the interest of making blogging easier on myself I've decided that I need to make a reading list.
I love reading guides, I love books that give you lists of books based on a theme to read. I love the descriptions and then the trawling the net for reviews to see if I'll actually like it myself.
The guide I ended up turning to was, A year of reading by Elisabeth Ellington and Jane Fremiller. The book is arranged into chapters based on the months of the year and theres a different theme for each month.
For each month you the get a book selection from a selection of either crowd pleaser, classic, challenge, memoir or potluck. For each selection the book has reading questions, authors bios and loads of other info along with other recommended reading to help you get the most out of the book.In the month of November the theme is comfort food, comfort reading. the crowd pleaser is She flew the coop by Michael Lee West. This is a novel set in the south with recipes interspaced throughout which have meaning for the story. I've also bought the authors memoir Consuming passions a food obsessed life, I,m going to start with this as I noticed that West has recipes in the memoir for things that she mentions in she flew the coop but doesn't have a recipe for. The plan is that I'm going to Cross reference the two works so that when she mentions a meal that there isn't a recipe for in She flew the coop but there is in Consuming passions that I'll cook the meal based mainly on authors own recipe. Any ways I feel that I've talked enough, so heres my reading list from the book for a little while-

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  Consuming Passions a food obsessed life by Michael Lee West
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  She flew the coop by Michael Lee West
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  Crazy in Alabama by Mark Childress
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  Home cooking and
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  More home cooking from Laurie Colwin
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  Like water for chocolate by Laura Esquivel
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  Fried green tomatoes at the Whistle stop cafe by Fannie Flagg
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  and lastly My Mothers southern kitchen: recipes and reminiscences by James Villas

If anyone's read any of these and wants to tell me what they think, please do! I'd love to hear how other people got on with any of these books.

the bookclub cookbook challenge

This is the book that started the idea for this blog, a whole book dedicated to book recommendations and recipes inspired by them. It also has a awesome website with more book recommendation and recipe ideas that I thoroughly recommend. My only problem is that it recommends the DaVinci code but hell I may cook the recipe anyway as it does sound tasty. Here's the books in the list and the recipes.

• The Age of Innocence


• roman punch lemonade


• The age of innocence inspired cupcakes




• Ahabs wife


• Jan Keshens seafood chowder




• The amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay


• cocoa-cinnamon babka




• Angelas ashes


• Irish brown soda bread




• Angle of repose


• Mexican chocolate torte




• Anna Karenina


• wild mushrooms on toast




• Atonement


• bread and butter pudding




• Balzac and the little Chinese seamstress


• spicy pork with hoisin sauce in wonton cups




• Bee season


• chocolate chip shortbread cookies




• Bel Canto


• eggplant caponata




• The Bonesetter's Daughter


• eggplant sauted with fresh basil


• lion's head clay pot of meatballs and rice vermicelli


• Cane river


• peach cobbler


• Chocolate


• hot chocolate


• chocolate fondue


• The Coldest Winter Ever


• spicy buffalo wings


• blue cheese dressing


• blue cheese dipping sauce


• The Color of Water; a Black mans Tribute to his White Mother


• peanut butter pie


• Captain Corelli's Mandolin


• spanakopita


• The Da Vinci code


• rosemary spaghetti


• death by chocolate


• Daughter of Fortune


• spiced turkey empanadas


• The Devil wears Prada


• sun-dried tomato and goat cheese pizza


• The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America


• lobster bisque


• wild turkey Manhattan


• Disgrace


• sweet potatoes


• The Dive from Clausen's Pier


• sour cherry pie


• basic pie crust


• Douglass' Women


• banana cream pie


• The Emperor of Ocean Park


• crab cakes with spicy remoulade


• Empire Falls


• shrimp flautas


• Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage


• oatmeal biscuits




• Fair and Tender Ladies


• pimento cheese


• A Fine Balance


• chicken biryani


• Galilelo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love


• lemony ricotta- goats cheese cake


• Getting mother's body


• greens


• Girl with a Pearl Earring


• vegetable soup


• The God of Small Things


• potato cutlets with green chutney


• The Good Earth


• scallion- ginger fried rice


• The Grapes of Wrath


• artichoke jalapeno spread tomato bruschetta topping


• The Great Gatsby


• mint julep


• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone


• treacle tart


• Having our say, The Delany Sister's first 100 Years


• pound cake with fresh coconut frosting


• A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from Inner City to the Ivy League


• potato salad


• The Hours


• crab casserole


• The House of Sand and Fog


• eggplant and tomato stew with beef


• I Capture the Castle


• Singapore sling


• Interpreter of Maladies


• egg curry in mustard sauce


• mango lassi


• Jane Eyre


• walnut tea sandwiches


• The Killer Angels


• cherry-apple cobbler with sweet vanilla custard


• The Kite Runner
• spinach and rice with lamb
• Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life
• lentils and rice with cucumber yogurt
• spinach pastry
• A Lesson Before Dying
• tea cakes
• Life of Pi
• tandoori shrimp
• Love in a Time of Cholera
• mojitos
• mango, jicama and corn salad
• Mama Day
• peaches and cream pie with streusal topping
• Memoirs of a Geisha
• teriyaki beef skewers
• Middlemarch
• apple puffs
• Middlesex
• Greek rice pudding
• tzatziki
• Milk in my Coffee
• lemon cheesecake
• Motherless Brooklyn
• chicken shwarma
• My Antonia
• plum kolaches
• My soul to Keep
• chicken stew with flat bread
• Mystic River
• Italian sausage and peppers
• marinara sauce
• Swedish meatballs
• Nickel and Dimed: on (not) Getting by in America
• mozzarella sticks
• Nine Parts of Desire: the Hidden World of Islamic Women
• tomato, cucumber salad
• No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Elanor Roosevelt- the Home front in world war 2
• angel food cake with lemon cream
• The No1 Ladies Detective Agency
• pumpkin soup
• October Suite
• devilled eggs
• pink lady
• One Thousand White Women: The Journals of Mary Dodd
• Indian fry bread
• The Optimists Daughter
• cheese straws
• Palace Walk
• green soup
• spinach soup with yogurt
• Peace Like a River
• cinnamon rolls with coffee frosting
• The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea
• swordfish kabobs
• Personal History
• caviar pie
• Plainsong
• chewy oatmeal cookies
• The Poisionwood Bible
• tropical fruit salad
• Pope Joan
• roast pork with coriander, caraway sauce
• A Prayer for Owen Meany
• banana- pineapple smoothie
• Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books
• cake
• The Red Tent
• fig spread and goats cheese toasts
• A River Sutra
• lentils
• The Road From Coorain
• anzac cookies
• The Samurais Garden
• udon noodles with dipping sauce
• Seabiscuit: An American Legend
• pumpkin biscuits
• The Secret History
• grilled portabello mushrooms
• The Secret Life of Bees
• honey cake
• Snow Falling on Cedars
• fresh strawberry pie
• The Sparrow
• coconut pudding
• The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, H er American Doctors and the Collision of Two Cultures
• hmong egg rolls
• hot dipping sauce
• Stones From the River
• bee sting cake
• Sugar
• sweet potato pie
• Their Eyes Were Watching God
• black eyed pea cakes with jalapeno- avocado salsa
• A Thousand Acres
• baked corn casserole
• Three Junes
• white chocolate mousse
• frozen lime souffle
• raspberry sauce
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• ambrosia
• The Tortilla Curtain
• tostadas with green Chile salsa
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
• Charlotte russe
• Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man , and Life's Greatest Lesson
• egg salad
• Undaunted Courage: Meiwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West
• macedoine of red fruits
• Waiting
• spicy shrimp in black bean sauce
• A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian trail
• very yellow lemon meringue pie
• The Weight of Water
• Swedish pancakes
• Where the Heart is
• banana bread
• Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China
• stir fried carrots
• Winter Wheat
• beet soup