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Megan

The One + Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

I recently heard about John Marrs’ novel The One on the Currently Reading podcast, in an episode about “Books to Blow Your Socks Off.” (The episode was also amazing because it included an interview with Delia Owens, who wrote a wonderful recent favorite of mine, Where the Crawdads Sing.) The description was brief but intriguing, and I immediately rushed to get a copy from the library.

It takes place in a “near future,” one in which it has been discovered that people can be matched to their soulmates through their DNA. It’s 10 years after that discovery, and those who have been lucky enough to find “the one” are considered Matched and those who are still waiting are Unmatched. Because you can be matched to literally anyone, racism, homophobia, and religious and other prejudices no longer exist.

January 19, 2019 by Megan

book review, recipe

Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously + Julia Child’s Beouf Bourguignon

Ever since Julie & Julia hit theaters 10 years ago, it has been one of my favorite movies. Until recently, I had never read the book it was based on. Julie Powell’s memoir Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously is based on the year she spent cooking all of the recipes in Julia Child’s legendary cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking and blogging about it. Perhaps you can see why I love the story so.

Not much over the course of Julie’s memoir was surprising to me, though certainly elements of it had been left out of the more streamlined movie (also paired with Julia’s life story, where Meryl Streep plays the iconic chef). I have to say, though, the book lacked the charm with which the movie nestled into my heart.

January 15, 2019 by Megan

book review, of interest

Show Us Your Books – January 2019

Apparently 2019 is the year where I get my days discombobulated and totally miss the first Show Us Your Books of the year. Oops! But my post is here — better late than never — and it’s my first time participating in Quick Lit from Modern Mrs. Darcy as well. I’m definitely looking forward to sharing my mini reviews with more readers 🙂

As always, here’s a look at what I read over the last month and what I’m reading right now.

January 12, 2019 by Megan

of interest

Top Ten Tuesday — Most Anticipated Releases of the First Half of 2019

It’s time for the first Top Ten Tuesday of 2019, and I’m super pumped about this week’s topic, which lets me gush about all the brand new books that are being released in the first half of the year. Spoiler alert: I couldn’t pick just 10, so check out my honorable mentions at the bottom.

January 8, 2019 by Megan

book review, recipe

Jell-O Girls + Layered Strawberry Jello Cups

When I went to the library recently, the brightly colored cover of Allie Rowbottom’s Jell-O Girls caught my eye. I took it down to flip through it, and the blurbs proclaiming it as “an artfully crafted feminist excavation of an American legacy” and “an important and honest feminist history for right now” sealed the deal.

Jell-O Girls: A Family History by Allie Rowbottom

The book is part family memoir and part nonfiction. In turns, it focuses on Allie’s family history and the so-called “curse” that plagued their men — the family’s fortune earned when her great-great-great-uncle bought the patent for Jell-O for just $450 in 1899 — as well as Jell-O’s history through a feminist lense.

January 5, 2019 by Megan

of interest

TBR Mix ‘n’ Mingle – What I’m Reading in January

A new year means new books! And, though I had a great bookish 2018, I couldn’t be more excited to start fresh. Together with the ladies over at Literary Quicksand, I set a couple of bookish goals for 2019, and a few of the books on my TBR list this month are sure to help me get off to the right start.

January 2, 2019 by Megan

book review, recipe

The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living + Double-Crust Apple Pie

Though Louise Miller wrote The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living first, it is the second of her novels that I’ve read. Earlier this year, I picked up The Late Bloomer’s Club and adored it, falling in love with the town of Guthrie (Stars Hollow flashbacks!) as well as her food-filled writing. The paperback cover makes it look perfect for winter reading, so I waited until my holiday break to get it from the library. It wasn’t super winter-y, but it was a lovely read nonetheless!

The City Baker's Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller

Olivia Rawlings, Livvy to a privileged few, is a talented pastry chef working at an exclusive dinner club in Boston. When her life there goes up in flames, she flees to the nearest haven — a truck stop filled with delicious pies — and onto Guthrie, Vermont, where her best friend Hannah convinces her to put down roots, even temporarily.

December 30, 2018 by Megan

book review, recipe

Delicious! + Gingerbread

The time of year has come where I’m choosing to settle in with cozy books, and Ruth Reichl’s food-centric novel Delicious! fit that bill perfectly. Reichl is a well-known food writer, and her past certainly helped her craft the core of this novel, since the main character Billie Breslin works at the prominent (but fictional) food magazine, Delicious.

Billie has a phenomenal palate and can detect even the slightest amount of ingredients in a recipe with just a bite. It’s this gift — along with her appreciation of and curiosity about food — that earns her a job as assistant to Jake, the editor of Delicious. Billie fits in instantly, at home among people who are equally passionate about food, and her future is looking bright. But, when the magazine suddenly shuts down, her work family disperses, and she’s left alone in the office (housed in a 19th century mansion) to make good on the Delicious Guarantee.

December 22, 2018 by Megan

book review, of interest

Best in Books – 2018 Edition

With the holidays just around the corner and 2019 a mere two weeks away, it’s the perfect time to look back at the year behind as well as look forward to the year ahead. I came across this survey via Never Enough Novels and couldn’t wait to get in on the fun! I also want to give a shoutout to The Perpetual Page Turner, who has been doing this annual year-end survey for 9 years now! Without further ado, my 2018 in review:

2018 READING STATS

Number Of Books You Read: 103 (as of 12/18)

Number of Re-Reads: None. I almost never re-read books, but I’m hoping to fix that next year by doing my best to re-read at least one book per month.

Genre You Read The Most From: Literary Fiction

December 18, 2018 by Megan

book review, recipe

Becoming + Sweet Potatoes in a Hurry (An Obama Family Favorite)

Like much of America, I’ve been looking forward to Michelle Obama’s book Becoming since the moment it was announced. As much as I’ve admired her from afar, I honestly never knew much about Michelle and was excited for the opportunity to learn more — from her, in her own voice.

Michelle’s writing is as engaging as expected. From the beginning of the memoir — a section entitled “Becoming Me,” in which she describes her life growing up on the South Side of Chicago — to the end of “Becoming More” — the final section in which she discusses her and her family’s life in the spotlight while Barack held office — it was a joy to get to know her better.

December 15, 2018 by Megan

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