Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

April 3rd is Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's locations, so if you are lucky enough to have one near you, check it out. For the rest of us, we'll just have to pick up a pint of our favorite flavor and enjoy it with a book. Fun Fact: Ben and Jerry's ice cream is sold in 43 different countries!

Links to the flavor lists:
Current Flavors: https://list.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_...
Discontinued Flavors: https://list.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_...

ATY Listopia https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

What are you reading and what flavor did you connect it to?

The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy: The Shocking Inside Story a controversial pick. He was born in Vermont and he was a monster so the Vermonster flavour provides a link

Ben & Jerry's products do not have a high profile in Australia, so I have never tasted any of their offerings. However, after checking out the current & discontinued flavours, my mouth salivated.
So I have gone for a combo of Black Russian, Cherry Garcia & Bluesberry to select a book on my TBR by James Lee Burke, "Black
Cherry Blues"

As soon as this prompt came up in the voting process, i thought of my favorite Ben & Jerry’s flavor (now discontinued) - Fossil Fuel. Delicious … and perfect for a cli-fi novel, yet to decided.

My first thought is to go with Berry Revolutionary Sundae and read a book set during a revolution. Maybe something challenging like A Tale of Two Cities which is set during the French Revolution. Lots of revolutions and books to choose from! I also am considering Mint Chocolate Chance since I loved Chance the Rapper on The Voice last year. I’d like to read Less by Andrew Sean Greer. It has a mint-colored cover and it sounds like a story that might involve taking chances. Also, these are the 2 flavors I wish I could try!

It was so weird around the time we voted this prompt in my husband was like I really want Ben and Jerry’s. We got some and I selected Gimme S’more so that will be my the flavor I use.

I am going with Vermonty Python flavor and reading Monty Python's Flying Circus: Hidden Treasures.

I'm also going with Vermonty Python (it was my favorite, and once it was discontinued I stopped buying Ben & Jerry's) but I have no clue what I'm going to read. I've got The History of Sketch Comedy: A Journey through the Art and Craft of Humor on my TBR, so it might be that one. Or Serpent & Dove. I borrowed that from my sister almost 2 years ago and at some point, she's going to want it back.🙃

I don't often buy Ben & Jerry's, and I don't think we have as many flavours available in the UK as in the States. I had to research this through their website and I'm reading 'Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel García Márquez for the obvious Cherry Garcia , and also The Secret Life of Bees for what seems to be a new flavour, at least here, Happy Honey Home .

I’m also going with Cherry Garcia but reading Tom Lake for its cherry orchard setting.

Kendra wrote: "I'm also going with Vermonty Python (it was my favorite, and once it was discontinued I stopped buying Ben & Jerry's) but I have no clue what I'm going to read..."

I really loved Serpent and Dove, and I don't read much fantasy/witches. I thought Lou was hilarious and wonderfully snarky.

I haven't put much thought into what book I'm going to read (too distracted by yummy sounding ice cream!), but the first thought is also to go with Cherry Garcia and read Sexing the Cherry

For Cool Britannia (retired) or Phish Food - seems appropriate for either and have been wanting to read:

Utopia Avenue

I'll be reading Just For One Day: Adventures in Britpop by Louise Wener, for the Cool Britannia flavour, because Britpop was part of the whole Cool Britannia culture in the 90s.

I'm tempted to tackle the Stephen Colbert-related flavor "Americone Dream" (a "caramel-swirled concoction" with "fudge-covered waffle cones")

Perhaps Revolutionary Road, Death of a Salesman, or American Rust.

I'm so happy to see everyone having fun with this and finding unusual connections!

My main choice, because it's been on my TBR or a few years and I now have a beautiful embossed hard cover (no paper cover) is The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers for the flavor Coffee, Coffee, Coffee, Buzz, Buzz, Buzz


My other main option is The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra for White Russian.

They are both great writers that I've read before, so it's hard to decide. I'll probably go with Eggers since I own the book.

Phil wrote: "Ben & Jerry's products do not have a high profile in Australia, so I have never tasted any of their offerings. However, after checking out the current & discontinued flavours, my mouth salivated.
S..."

Triple Scoop!

I feel like this should be obvious but I can't figure it out - could anyone tell me what the connection is between To Kill a Mockingbird and the flavor Lights, Caramel, Action? It's on the Listopia and even though I've read TKAM, I can't figure out what the pun/connection is. Is it that there's a movie adaptation of the book?

I was intrigued by what the connection could be. So, B&J's site says that it is Ava DuVernay's Light, Caramel, Action . I hadn't heard of her, but she is a film maker who has founded ARRAY, which promotes social justice through art , so there is the connection.

Irene wrote: "I feel like this should be obvious but I can't figure it out - could anyone tell me what the connection is between To Kill a Mockingbird and the flavor Lights, Caramel, Action? It's on the Listopia..."

"Lights, Caramel, Action" is a play on words of "Lights, Camera, Action," which is a Hollywood phrase. To Kill a Mockingbird was made into a movie. That's my guess.

A few options I'm considering:

Aloha Macadamia - Captive Paradise: A History of Hawaii

Cool Britannia - Phonogram, Vol. 1: Rue Britannia

Dublin Mudslide - The Likeness, Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Berry Revolutionary - A Tale of Two Cities, Mademoiselle Revolution, Ribbons of Scarlet

Jamaican Me Crazy - The Book of Night Women, A Brief History of Seven Killings

Americone Dream - Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic

Thanks Leah and Dalex! The social justice connection makes a lot of sense because so many books have movie adaptations that I was confused as to why multiple people were adding TKAM specifically to the Listopia with that flavor in mind (and not mentioning it for other books on the list, like Harry Potter).

So, in my grocery shopping on the weekend I happened to check out the ice cream aisle and spotted a new to me Ben and Jerry's flavour, An Eclair Affair: https://www.benandjerrys.ca/en/flavou....

I'm not sure whether I just never saw it before, but I think it might be relatively new since it's not in the current flavours list at the top of the thread.

I had to try it so I got a pint - it's delicious! But also, I thought "Affair" might open up a lot of reading options so it was worth a mention here.

I had planned to read Turtles All the Way Down for this, but now I'm tempted to find something to match this one so I can do an ice cream pairing while I read!

Joanna wrote: "So, in my grocery shopping on the weekend I happened to check out the ice cream aisle and spotted a new to me Ben and Jerry's flavour, An Eclair Affair: https://www.benandjerrys.ca/en/flavou......"

Two titles that instantly came to mind that would fit are

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Thanks for the suggestions! I've read and loved The Eyre Affair, so would definitely recommend that for others. The End of the Affair is definitely a possibility.

This is such a fun prompt! I think my favourite flavour is Phish Food or Caramel Choo-Choo. But my possibilities from my physical books are:

- Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson (Cherry Garcia)
- Tales from the Café by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (Coffee Coffee BuzzBuzzBuzz)
- The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald (New York Super Fudge Chunk)
- My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (Neapolitan Dynamite)

I love Ben & Jerry's but my favorite flavors don't really lend themselves to books I want to read. So I kind of feel like I'm cheating here, or not using this prompt to its fullest.

My plan is to read either Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (for chocolate chip cookie dough) or Fake It Till You Bake It (for Chocolate Fudge Brownie - since brownies are baked)

@Nadine in NY — you aren’t actually REQUIRED to pick a book based on your favorite flavor, although I can see why that might make it more fun.

I voted against this prompt because it was left open to ANY flavour, and there's just too many. So I used my favourite because that was the only way I could narrow it down so it wasn't just 'read a book'.

I was kind of stuck on this prompt but the listopia helped me out. I'm planning to read A Girl Called Samson because the main character is a revolutionary (Berry Revolutionary) and the book has good ratings. I haven't heard anything about this book. Has anyone read it that would recommend it?

I decided to go easy, and read either
Dreaming in Chocolate by Susan Bishop Crispell
The Chocolate Maker's Wife by Karen Brooks
The Assassin Nuns of Pistachio by Manisha Anand

I looked at the Listopia and found several books that are on my TBR but I’m not sure how they connect to the flavors. If anyone wants to clue me in, I’d appreciate it!

Normal People
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone
A Spark of Light
Black Cake
One of Us is Lying
The Body Keeps the Score

Kelly wrote: "I looked at the Listopia and found several books that are on my TBR but I’m not sure how they connect to the flavors. If anyone wants to clue me in, I’d appreciate it!

Normal People
Everyone in ..."

Several of their flaovrs deal with dough, brownies, etc., which would seem to be a connection with Black Cake, especially since the flavor is chocolate.

Kelly wrote: "I looked at the Listopia and found several books that are on my TBR but I’m not sure how they connect to the flavors. If anyone wants to clue me in, I’d appreciate it!

Normal People
Everyone in ..."



If you click on the link "2 people voted" or whatever, it will show any notes people included. Members have been really good about including notes for this listopia and each of these had an explanation included:

Normal People - set in Dublin (for the Dublin Mudslide)
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone - creme brulee, because of a burned body in first chapter
A Spark of Light - for Lights Caramel Action
Black Cake - Jamaican me Crazy
One of Us is Lying - for One Cheesecake Brownie
The Body Keeps the Score - the note says "Keep Caramel & Cookie On" but I don't get the connection

@Nadine and @Kelly, the connection to The Body Keeps the Score is likely the fact that "Keep Caramel & Cookie On" is a reference to the popular slogan "Keep Calm and Carry On," which means staying level-headed in times of stress and being able to carry on. I didn't get it until I realized that the subtitle of the book is "Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma"!

I think I'll go for Fossil Fuel and read The Dinosaur Hunters.

I think I'll read " everyone in the my family has killed someone" b/c it's on my tbr (I think)

@Mary - what ice cream flavor is THAT connected to?

I'm planning to read Winter by Ali Smith in reference to Minter Wonderland.
Other options are Children of the Revolution for Berry Revolutionary Sundae, My Brilliant Friend for Neapolitan Dynamite.

Off topic observation:
Looking on the website, the US version of Minter Wonderland seems rather different to the UK flavour. They get dark chocolate mint ice cream with marshmallow and chocolate cookie swirls, we get mint ice cream with dark chocolate pieces. Am now curious about how many other flavours vary, as well as really wanting to try the US version of Minter Wonderland.

@Rosalind - how funny about the different versions of Minter Wonderland - and I’d be more interested in trying the UK version! Also, the song this references is my favorite winter song :)

@Tracy - the UK Minter Wonderland is very tasty (and provides a pleasant ear worm).

I found one flavor outside of North America named "Barenaked Ladies if I had 1,000,000 Flavours." Therefore, I plan to read The Lady Matador's Hotel by Christina Garcia. I believe the cover speaks for itself!

One of the flavors in the Ben & Jerry’s graveyard is called Cow Power and I wanted to read the book by Kim Riley by that same title but I couldn’t get ahold of that book so instead I read Moo Moo in a Tutu by Tim Miller.

This picture book series tells the story of a cow who always has new ideas about what they want to be in life, and in this book she decides to be a ballerina. Her friend Mr. Quackers is a duck who supports her and her crazy ideas.

I think the lesson of this book is to always try new things and always support your friend’s dreams.

I'm reading Consider the Fork: History of How We Cook and Eat. It has a chapter on ground spices such as cinnamon, found in many flavors, and a chapter on "ice" including how technology evolved to be able to have ice cream

John wrote: "I found one flavor outside of North America named "Barenaked Ladies if I had 1,000,000 Flavours." Therefore, I plan to read The Lady Matador's Hotel by Christina Garcia. I believe th..."

I love this!!

I just finished The Beautiful Ones by Prince, a unique memoir of the life and career of the late celebrated artist published posthumously. Unique because it includes many original photos, songwriting and other bits and bobs found at Paisley Park, Prince's last home and studio in Minnesota.

While I enjoyed the book, I was hoping to learn more about Prince's early music career and how he was discovered. The B&J discontinued flavor, Purple Passionfruit Sorbet is most befitting to honor The Purple One. I miss him.

I read Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel García Márquez [ Cherry Garcia ] and Bournville [Chocolately Love A-Fair ].

The first is set in eighteenth? century Cartagena in Colombia. The style very much reminded me of One Hundred Years of Solitude -lush descriptions, strangeness, magical realism. In the end, I thought the fact that everyone was in some way strange rather diminished the central story line.

In contrast, Bournville was set in the very English setting of a planned village, now suburb of Birmingham, established by the Cadbury chocolate makers. The book followed two interlinked families, revisiting them at times of national importance, e.g. VE Day and the coronation of the late Queen. It was pleasant enough and made some good points, but I thought that in the later chapters, the writing was best when it focused on the families, not the events. And, given that this is a book with a background of industry, I would have like to see the 70s around the Silver Jubilee, dealt with in more detail, rather than the death of Princess Diana.

The Sugar Queen (2008) - Sarah Addison Allen

I read Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and connected it to the flavour "Half Baked", because that's how Daisy spends most of the book!

I read by Banana Yoshimoto.

In looking at the lists of flavors I immediately thought of They're Going to Love You when I saw Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. The proceeds went to the Elton John AIDS Foundation. I am glad this book came to mind because I really enjoyed it and think it was a good fit.