BEAUTIFUL RUINS

Next month's book discussion will take place on Tuesday, February 21st.  We will be discussing Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter.  Beautiful Ruins takes place in 1962 and follows Dee Moray, an American starlet who has just left the set of the movie Cleopatra.  She finds herself at Pasquale Tursi's hotel.  Then, move forward fifty years and meet Claire, the assistant to movie producer Michael Deane.  A screenwriter desperate to sell his script and an older Italian man both show up at Claire's office.  Jess Walter traces the lines between these characters to show just how catastrophic and wonderful life can be.

Jess Walter is the author of six novels, one book of short stories, and one nonfiction book.  His work has been translated into multiple languages.  A list of his work is below.

Jess Walter's Books:
Beautiful Ruins
The Financial Lives of the Poets
The Zero
Citizen Vince
Land of the Blind
Over Tumbled Graves
Every Knee Shall Bow
We Live in Water

If you liked Beautiful Ruins, you may like one of these too.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
All the Stars in the Heavens by Adriana Trigiani
Movie Star by Lizzie Pepper by Hilary Liftin
Funny Girl by Nick Hornby
The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures by Emma Straub
One Day by David Nicholls
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
The Bridge by Karen Kingsbury
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Fowler
Acts of Love by Judith Michael

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SOUP MONTH

January is soup month!  When the dark, gloomy days of winter start getting to you, there is nothing better than a warm bowl of soup to lift your spirits.

Even though it is soup month, I am including cookbooks on soup, stews, and comfort food.  They all warm you up from the inside out and are perfect for winter meals.  Get cooking today!

The Soup Mix Gourmet by Diane Phillilps - These recipes use dry soup mix or canned condensed soup as a key flavor ingredient. 


The Soup Club Cookbook by Courtney Allison - Make some new soup recipes while learning how you can get a soup club going with your friends and family.
 
Carla's Comfort Food by Carla Hall - This books features recipes with variations on favorites to help you cover the world and try international flavors of comfort.


A Modern Way to Eat by Anna Jones - Try this one if you are looking for some vegetarian recipes.

The Everything Soup, Stew, and Chili Cookbook by Belinda Hulin - The title tells it all.  This book also includes cooking tips along with recipes.


Old-School Comfort Food by Alex Guarnaschelli - Written by a well known chef and daughter of a cookbook editor, this book is the result of Alex's lifelong love affair with food.
 
Soup Night by Maggie Stuckey - Soup nights are a quick and easy way to bring your friends together.  This cookbook and guide will help you start your own soup group.


Real Stew by Clifford A. Wright - Recipes for cassoulet, gumbo, chili, curry, minestrone, chowder, and more!

Comfort Food Fix by Ellie Krieger - Krieger has put together a book full of healthier takes on classic comfort foods.

The Big Book of Soups and Stews by Maryana Vollstedt - A cookbook full of recipes for soups, chowders, and stews along with some quick bread recipes, tips, and hints.


Back Home With the Neely's by Patrick Neely - This cookbook takes a look at the classic Southern recipes that have been passed down through generations.

The Complete Allergy Free Comfort Food Cookbook by Elizabeth Gordon - Need to worry about allergies when cooking?  This cookbook brings favorite foods and flavors into the lives of those with the most common food allergies and sensitivities.


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WITCHES AND WIZARADS

With the movie release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, witches and wizards are in the mainstream again. Harry Potter is not the only book or series that involves witches and wizards, and this blog entry provides you with some new books as well as some classics.  Witches practice witchcraft and have magical skills and abilities.  Wizards also practice magic and are often found in works of fantasy and role-playing games.


Whether you have always loved magic, witches, and wizards or are brand new to the club, there are plenty of choices out there for you to try.

Check out one of these books today!

Children's Fiction:
The Witches by Roald Dahl
Bed-Knob and Broomstick by Mary Norton

The Forbidden Library by Django Wexler

Young Adult Fiction:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens
The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare
Jinx by Meg Cabot
So You Want to be a Wizard by Diane Duane
Witch and Wizard by James Patterson
Sabriel by Garth Nix
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

Adult Fiction: 
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien



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BOOKS ABOUT BOOKS

Nothing beats reading a good book on a cold winter day.  And, what could be better than reading a book about books?  This week's entry contains a list of books that are about books, take place in libraries or bookstores, involve characters coming to life, and/or focus on the importance of reading and books in one's life.  Pick one up today!


Adult Fiction
Public Library and Other Stories by Ali Smith
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
The Inner Circle by Brad Meltzer
The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald


Young Adult Fiction
Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine
The Archived by Victoria Schwab
The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman
Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult
The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Children's Fiction
The Forbidden Library by Django Wexler
The Library Card by Jerry Spinelli
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Finding Serendipity by Angelica Banks
The Book of Story Beginnings by Kristin Kladstrup

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AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: JOHN BOYNE

Book to Movie Club is back!  We will be meeting on January 17th at 10:30 a.m. to discuss The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne.  This novel follows a young boy named Bruno.  One day, he comes home from school to discover that his father has been promoted and the family will be moving.  Bruno sets off to explore his new home and arrives at a fence.  On the other side, is a boy whose life and circumstances are very different than his own.   The Boy in the Striped Pajamas was made into a movie in 2008.

John Boyne was born in Dublin.  He is the author of nine novels for adults and five for young adults. His new novel, The Heart's Invisible Furies will be published in 2017.  For more information on John Boyne and his work, visit http://johnboyne.com/





John Boyne's Novels:

The Thief of Time

The Congress of Rough Riders

Crippen

Next of Kin

Mutiny on the Bounty

The House of Special Purpose

The Absolutist

This House is Haunted

A History of Loneliness

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Noah Barleywater Runs Away

The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket

Stay Where You Are and Then Leave

The Boy at the Top of the Mountain

More books like The Boy in the Striped Pajamas:

Once by Morris Gleitzman

Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli

Daniel's Story by Carol Matas

Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse

Mischling by Affinity Konar

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

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