Food and drink inspired by classic and modern literary works.
I remember discovering Angela Carter in my mid-20s and falling instantly in love with her lush, prosaic, luxuriant and very bawdy language. Her writing can instantly evoke palaces filled with plush draperies, languid golden bathrooms, fairylike woods filled with magical creatures.......and also be as basic and raunchy as humorously describing a cat licking his bottom, … Continue reading The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
This is the third Neil Gaiman book I've blogged, loving as I do his writing and the way he so smoothly moves his characters between reality and the shadowy, mythic "other" world where things are never quite what they seem. Gaiman's books are universal no matter your age because he treats childhood with the same … Continue reading The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
I was going to avoid any type of love story for Valentine's Day this year, but I decided that was rather cynical of me, since expressing love for someone is one of the best and bravest things anyone can do in this world. That being said, I loathe and despise mush. I love genuine gestures … Continue reading Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez
This book was previously blogged about by a fellow food blogger, Cara Nicoletti, whose page Yummy Books was one of the inspirations for starting my own food and book blog. The Vacationers is about a family's secrets and dysfunctions that come out over two weeks when they are vacationing in their house in Mallorca. I … Continue reading The Vacationers by Emma Straub
This book, Little Women, has an incredibly special place in my heart, for many reasons. The first is that my edition, shown here, was bought for me by my father David, for my 12th birthday many years ago, in which he wrote me a deeply loving message, which I still read when I am feeling … Continue reading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
There are three celebrity cooks - Anthony Bourdain, Nigella Lawson and Emeril Lagasse - whom I love, but who are as much shrewd self-marketers as they are cooks. Then there are the three honest-to-God gourmet chefs whose writings have heavily influenced my own cooking and writing. Julia Child, the Goddess; Clarissa Dickson Wright, of Two … Continue reading The Apprentice by Jacques Pépin
Written by fellow blogger James J. Cudney, whose awesome blog This Is My Truth Now is among my favorite sites, Watching Glass Shatter was a lengthy and awesome read about family secrets, family dysfunction, and ultimately, family bonds and love that keep people connected, even during some of the worst times. The premise of the … Continue reading Watching Glass Shatter by James J. Cudney
Happy New Year! To start off 2018, I take us back to Venice, dear readers. But it's not the Venice of dreams and watery, lyrical descriptions. This 16th-century Venice, elegantly depicted In The Company of the Courtesan, is a hard, rough place, stinking of rotten canal water and fish, and is as often the deathplace of … Continue reading In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant
Ah Hamlet, the tragic and doomed Prince of Denmark, whose family puts the "fun" in dysfunctional. What I always liked about Hamlet is that his twisted family dynamic makes my own family look rather normal in comparison. Or maybe it goes to show that we all have messed-up family dynamics, and sometimes, as in Hamlet's … Continue reading The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare
I don't normally read a lot of non-fiction, mainly because I read to escape reality......particularly these days, when the world around us seems to be going insane. But having discovered this pop culture gem, Underrated, while waiting at my dentist's office, I changed my mind. Slightly. Josh Abraham takes some of the most classic pundits … Continue reading Underrated by Josh Abraham
The Journey in Every Story...
Celebrating 700 years of delicious British food.
50,000 Monkeys at 50,000 Typewriters Can't Be Wrong
Vampire travels across Europe
a Food & Books Blog
Art, Horror, and Other Obsessions
Researching, investigating, and writing about the paranormal.
Writing and Reading
so many recipes, so little time . . .
Curiosity doesn't retire.
Talking about great books while enjoying tasty libations!
...reincarnation, cats, pop culture and beer...
Good food doesn't have to be difficult...
Myths, legends, folklore and tales from around the world
