It’s time once again for Connect Five Friday, hosted at Book Date by Kathryn – the meme where we share five book/reading things that connect in some way.
I am participating in a number of reading challenges and one of the monthly challenges is Emilie Richards’ Reading Challenge. The theme for this month is “a novel with recipes”. As I checked online, I found dozens of possible books. I had at least 5 on my shelves and more that I wanted to read that are at the library.
So, here are Books on my TBR shelves (with descriptions from Goodreads , except first from Amazon):
The Love Goddess’ Cooking School by Melissa Senate
“Holly Maguire’s grandmother Camilla was the Love Goddess of Blue Crab Island, Maine–a Milanese fortune-teller who could predict the right man for you, and whose Italian cooking was rumored to save marriages. Holly has been waiting years for her unlikely fortune: her true love will like sa cordula, an unappetizing old-world delicacy. But Holly can’t make a decent marinara sauce, let alone sa cordula. Maybe that’s why the man she hopes to marry breaks her heart. So when Holly inherits Camilla’s Cucinotta, she’s determined to forget about fortunes and love and become an Italian cooking teacher worthy of her grandmother’s legacy.” (from Amazon)
The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais
“That skinny Indian teenager has that mysterious something that comes along once a generation. He is one of those rare chefs who is simply born. He is an artist.”
And so begins the rise of Hassan Haji, the unlikely gourmand who recounts his life’s journey in Richard Morais’s charming novel, The Hundred-Foot Journey. Lively and brimming with the colors, flavors, and scents of the kitchen, The Hundred-Foot Journey is a succulent treat about family, nationality, and the mysteries of good taste.”
Chocolat by Joanne Harris
” Chocolat is a timeless novel of a straitlaced village’s awakening to joy and sensuality. In tiny Lansquenet, where nothing much has changed in a hundred years, beautiful newcomer Vianne Rocher and her exquisite chocolate shop arrive and instantly begin to play havoc with Lenten vows.”
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
“Four mothers, four daughters, four families, whose histories shift with the four winds depending on who’s telling the stories. In 1949, four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, meet weekly to play mahjong and tell stories of what they left behind in China. United in loss and new hope for their daughters’ futures, they call themselves the Joy Luck Club. Their daughters, who have never heard these stories, think their mothers’ advice is irrelevant to their modern American lives – until their own inner crises reveal how much they’ve unknowingly inherited of their mothers’ pasts.”
When in Doubt, Add Butter by Beth Harbison
“As far as Gemma is concerned, her days of dating are over. In fact, it’s her job to cater other peoples’ dates, and that’s just fine by her. At thirty-seven, she has her own business, working as a private chef, and her life feels full and secure. She’s got six steady clients that keep her hands full.
For Gemma, cooking is predictable. Recipes are certain. Use good ingredients, follow the directions, and you are assured success. Life, on the other hand, is full of variables.”
Have you read any of these?
Which would you recommend I read first?
Beverley A Baird 
I only read the last one, didn’t absolutely love it but was okay. I need a book for the challenge, just looking on my shelf and Union Street Bakery has recipes so guess that will be it for me!
I find that with her books too. When I need a really light read she’s an author I turn to. Happy reading this week!