Crystal King’s Feast of Sorrow

I’ve chatted on here before about my interest in ancient Rome. I love me some good historical fiction set in ancient Rome, the worse behaved the Romans are the better. Those of you who know me well know that I even named my dog after a Roman emperor. (Don’t judge.) But I digress.

A couple of years ago fellow book blogger Vanessa (foodinbooks), who has a magnificent blog about books and food, recommended the book Feast of Sorrow to me precisely because of its ancient Roman setting. I just now got around to reading it, and I only regret not reading it sooner. Thanks so much for the fantastic recommendation, Vanessa! (Also thanks so much to my boss Julie for adding this book to the collection at my request.)

Literary Eats

Now, here’s some food for thought. Literally!

Do you plan your cooking around your reading? Do you plan your reading around your eating? Or do they never correlate in your mind?

I must confess, it isn’t something I thought a lot about until I recently was catching up with Elise Bishop, one of my former college professors/bosses. She’s a regular blog reader, and when I told her I was always open to blog post idea suggestions, she told me I ought to write about the connection between literature and food. Thanks for the great suggestion, Mrs. B.!

2016 Library Challenge: A Memoir

Are you a fan of memoirs? They’re one of the categories on the reading challenge we’re doing this year, and one thing I’ve noticed from working in the library is people tend to either really enjoy reading them or they don’t. Personally, I like a good memoir, but I must confess, it’s not usually something I think to pick up on my own. I shared my own book for this challenge last week, but in researching selections for this post, I also found a wide range of memoirs that, hopefully, will appeal to readers who enjoy the genre and read widely in it and those who don’t. If you’re interested in learning more about any of the books mentioned below, please follow the link to our online catalog.

Julie Powell’s Julie and Julia

One of the prompts for the 2016 Library Challenge is to read a memoir. To that end, I’m reviewing the book I read for this challenge—Julie Powell’s Julie and Julia, which chronicles Powell’s year-long project of cooking every single recipe in Julia Child’s classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking. My boss Julie recommended the book to me, and I’m glad she did. (Thanks, Julie!) I had vaguely heard of Powell’s project—due to the buzz surrounding the blog Powell initially recounted her culinary adventures on—and upon reading the book, I realized that several years ago, I actually had read and enjoyed an excerpt of her chapter on cooking (and murdering) lobsters.