UK Book Club discussion

Karen started some very amusing suggestions under our genre discussion as to the food and drink best suited to certain genres or even individual books - please feel free to share your ideas on this thread...

Aww, Mom! Dalia started it!

She wanted margaritas to accompany some Chemical Fiction!!!

So Karen, are you blaming Dalia for starting this?

I do believe you're all as bad as each other and equally to blame, along with Liz who joined in and encouraged everyone else!!

FYI I think a cold bottle of beer would be the ideal beverage for One for the Money with pizza to eat out of boxes in front of the TV.

Oooh I'm always finding myself matching sweets/food to the book I'm reading; some books are Werthers/Murray Mints sort of books; others red wine reads, and others may need a cigarette (even though I don't smoke) and a brandy ......I don't necessarily partake in said food/beverage it's more a sensory/cerebral thing with me

what book are you reading Fiona?

Jem and Scout seem to drink alot of Calpurnia's homemade lemonade in To Kill a Mockingbird. I do have a few lemons in the fridge at the moment - perhaps I'll have a go and make some on Sunday...

I don't unfortunately need encouragement to eat or drink! What should I drink with Far from the Madding Crowd? Some sort of ale I guess?
Am still slugging through As Meat Loves Salt, liked it a lot at first but am liking it less, unusual for me :-( (and its about soldiers during English civil war book so food choice would be moldy hard bread....)

@ Fiona ....loved Hotel Iris, one of the best books I read last year:). The next one of her's I want to read is The Housekeeper.

I have read The Stand by Stephen King loads and loads of times and always wanted to know what 'payday' sweets were so when my friend went to US I got here to look out for them. She could only find the peanut ones not chocolate ones mentioned but they were really lovely! I ate them while I read the book.....again!

Lynne - The Book Squirrel wrote: "I have read The Stand by Stephen King loads and loads of times and always wanted to know what 'payday' sweets were so when my friend went to US I got here to look out fo..."

I find Stephen King not to be a particularly good author to eat to :) but that idea to get the sweets from the US was really nice :)
I find myself snacking usually on biscuits when I'm reading :)

Liz wrote: "Jem and Scout seem to drink alot of Calpurnia's homemade lemonade in To Kill a Mockingbird. I do have a few lemons in the fridge at the moment - perhaps I'll have a go and make some on..."

Sod that, after the day I've had I need something stronger!

Margarita?

Em wrote: "Margarita?"

Moscow Mule?

I think reading is the only time I'm not eating! However, having just started The Moonstone I found myself looking for my Moonstone necklace!

Which comes first the food or the book? If any excuse is needed to eat chocolate, "Chocolat" is the obvious choice but too much chocolate in there for my liking. Just a cup of Hot Chocolate and Croissant would do me fine.

Close to finishing Room......might fancy cold beans out of the tin pretty soon.

I'm reading Dry Season , so I have a large jug of iced water beside me.

OMG, I knew this would be a fun topic!

LOL! Adrienne wrote, "some books are Werthers/Murray Mints sort of books; others red wine reads, and others may need a cigarette (even though I don't smoke) and a brandy ......I don't necessarily partake in said food/beverage it's more a sensory/cerebral thing with me"

This is just your category then!

I've just started The Custom of the Country so while I suppose tea would be appropriate, I'll do with a sherry.

Although since it's set in Society here in NYC, perhaps I could opt for champagne instead!!!

I know I'm heading 'off piste' here, but....

My husband always HAS to have a glass of whisky while watching 'Mad Men' (perhaps I should mix myself a Roger-Stirling-Martini next time too, to stay in period?)

Last night we watched 'Master & Commander' (great stuff, Russell Crowe as a 18thC naval captain chasing the French around Cape Horn) and my husband dug out our dusty bottle of rum!

I must add that if my other half matched Mad Men's Don Draper, drink-for-drink, he wouldn't make it through the show.... It's a bit like drinking along to 'Withnail and I'!

Liz said "My husband always HAS to have a glass of whiskey while watching 'Mad Men' (perhaps I should mix myself a Roger-Stirling-Martini next time too, to stay in period?)"

LOL.
On Fridays one of the local PBS stations shows an hour of "As Time Goes By" and while they drink a good deal of tea (of which I'm not particularly fond), they frequently are in need of a Gin & Tonic, so I have 2! (One for each episode!!!)

Having got about halfway through Silas Marner, I think lardy cake and a jug of ale, might be the right thing. Where to get lardy cake in Singapore....?

Liz wrote: "Having got about halfway through Silas Marner, I think lardy cake and a jug of ale, might be the right thing. Where to get lardy cake in Singapore....?"

Recipe herewith:

http://www.uk-food-drink-travel.com/l...

Allan wrote: "Liz wrote: "Having got about halfway through Silas Marner, I think lardy cake and a jug of ale, might be the right thing. Where to get lardy cake in Singapore....?"

Recipe herewith:
..."

Fantastic, just the thing for the tropics, thanks!

Reading The Singapore Grip, so perhaps time for a singapore sling? I've tried it before and cherry brandy is one of the many ingredients, making it too sweet for me.....ugh!

Perhaps I should instead stick to the ex-pat's favourite: Gin & tonic (containing quinine to repell the mosquitos...)

Liz wrote: "Reading The Singapore Grip, so perhaps time for a singapore sling? I've tried it before and cherry brandy is one of the many ingredients, making it too sweet for me.....ugh!

Perhaps..."

G & T's are acceptable anywhere, anytime....although I can also recommend a "dark and stormy" - pronounced with a scottish accent.....which is rum and ginger beer.

The Dark and Stormy sounds wonderful! Great sounding name for a cosy night in front of the fire with a tempest going on outside!

Lynne - The Book Squirrel wrote: "The Dark and Stormy sounds wonderful! Great sounding name for a cosy night in front of the fire with a tempest going on outside!"

I once spent a glorious rainy week on a barge with a bunch of newly qualified scottish doctors getting completely ratted on the things.

Not sure it is the right place for this but just come across this article that may be of interest on the 'edibles'. The 10 Best Literary Picnics.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/gal...

That's a really interesting article Lynne...

Oooh, another alcohol thread!

Reading Plain Tales from the Raj, I really need to find out what's in a pink gin....

...Just looked it up:
1 shot gin,
2-3 dashes angostura bitters

No wonder they were sozzled most of the time!

More gin in mine please

Substitute the bitters for sweetened fresh lime juice, and top up with soda water.....nice.....and it takes a bit longer to get sozzled!

One of the reasons I enjoyed Lawrence Sanders, Deadly Sins books was because of the sandwiches that the main character made or ate. And he always chose a perfect beer to go with his sandwiches.. mmmmm

Hi Gang,
long time no see!. I've been a bit busy, re-editing Ro for re-release at the end of the month and the follow up to 'the day the ravens died' at the end of April.
Relevant post being a friend of mine has found a 15 year old bottle of Apricot Brandy and is worried it might have 'gone off' I keep offering to test it but no joy [hic!!]
All the best Paul Rix ldgeezer]

Nice to hear from thee old geez

Good to see you are still with us Paul!

Hi,
nice to know I'm not forgotten! thanks.
If anyone is interested I'll be at Olympia on the 'Authors on Line' stand. 23rd,24th and 25th of feb. with any luck I'll have my new book there.!
Catch you all later, lots of editing to do! talking of which, what happened to the 'o' of old in my previous post! own up, who nicked it!
All the best Paul Rix [oldgeezer]

Time to resurrect the food & drink thread....

I had a meeting in the centre of town today and as it finished early and I was just around the corner from my favourite cafe...

It just so happens to be called the Book Cafe and serves excellent tea & cake to you on comfortable sofas surrounded by books, books, books - *sigh*

Anyway, the point of my ramble; I found myself immersed in The Garden of Evening Mists (set for a large amount of time on a Malaya tea plantation), with a steaming cup of the freshly-brewed stuff, by my side.

Have you considered reviewing my new book Judas Goat - The Kennet Narrow Boat Mystery? It is a story about murder,corruption, arms dealing and money laundering, encompassing half the world and ending up in the Sea of Arabia with the boarding of of a Chinese vessel by the Royal Navy Special Boat Service, who dump twenty containers of small arms destined for the FARC organisation, deep into the depths forever.

You're in the wrong thread!

Liz, the cafe sounds lovely.

Hi Liz and everyone else too. I really dislike eating foods that are cooked with garlic. When I needed a central theme to run thru the novel I'm in the process of writing--you guessed it = garlic. The poor protagonist digs garlic and his life turns upside down. Are there any other books you know of that build on a particular food? I can't mention the working title, or my other titles either--none of them mention garlic however. Bon appetite. Charles Frankhauser

Like Water for Chocolate comes to mind.....

A plate of honey sandwiches and a mug of tea would be nice while reading Winnie The Pooh. A glass of water would be good to feel better off than the prisoner while reading The Count of Monte Cristo. A mug of mead to drink would be fitting while reading Beowulf. When totally absorbed in reading a good book, however, the need to eat and drink is forgotten or at least, not attended to.

I've just started The Silver Linings Playbook for my local book club. As the main characters are taking medication throughout, the accompanying beverage has got to be a cup of water (sadly, and in one of those small, cardboard/plastic, hospital, dosing cups too)...

Although someone might go off the rails, at some point?? (she hopes/wonders....)

It's a good book so far ;)

I enjoyed it Liz....just took my usual pills throughout.

Liz wrote: "I've just started The Silver Linings Playbook for my local book club. As the main characters are taking medication throughout, the accompanying beverage has got to be a cup of water (sadly, and in ..."

The film put me off reading the book!

Lynne - The Book Squirrel wrote: The film put me off reading the book!

The film was terrible. The book was not! The characters are subtler and more interesting, as is the story.

I've just began reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern which is an awesome book imo...

and it's left me in the mood for chocolate covered popcorn. There is some amazing descriptions of the smells, sights and tastes of this circus...

I loved this book Em, it certainly made me hungry while reading it. Also craved chocolate while reading Chocolat, ....strange that!