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The Hungry Bookworm

The Hungry Bookworm

reading + eating

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The Pull of the Stars + Irish Barmbrack

January 26, 2021 by Megan Leave a Comment

Emma Donoghue’s latest novel, The Pull of the Stars, includes a couple of elements that would normally turn me off of a novel — and, in many cases, DNF one: no quotation marks and extremely long chapters. Luckily, it also is made of things I often look for in a new read: a female-centric story, a strong sense of place, and an utterly gripping storyline. In the end, the good far outweighed the bad. I loved it.

The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donaghue
Available on Bookshop.org and Amazon

The story takes place over just a few days in an Irish maternity/flu ward during the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918. Nurse Julia Power is tasked with taking care of flu-ridden laboring mothers and their babies until they're able to go home. The ward is really nothing more than a room, three beds cramped together without much support aside from Nurse Julia and an inexperienced volunteer. As you would expect with early 20th century childbirth on top of a devastating pandemic, the story is emotional. In it, Donoghue touches on such timely (or, in some ways, timeless) themes as healthcare, pregnancy/motherhood, societal expectations and abuses of power.  

[Read more...] about The Pull of the Stars + Irish Barmbrack

Filed Under: book review, recipe Tagged With: baking, bread, favorites, historical fiction, quick read

Kids Edition: Hey! Wake Up! + Broccoli Stew

January 23, 2021 by Megan Leave a Comment

Bedtime stories get all the love. But, one of our favorite books in this house is actually a morning story: Hey! Wake Up! by Sandra Boynton. I’m not even sure where we got our copy, which is pretty battered, but from the very first read, the rhymes were stuck in our heads and we find ourselves saying lines from the book all the time.

Hey! Wake Up! by Sandra Boynton
Available at Bookshop.org and Amazon

The book follows a morning routine, from waking up to breakfast and getting dressed, playing and morning snack. At both breakfast and morning snack, the bunny in the story gets "broccoli stew" (which no one seems to like except for the bunny). 

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Filed Under: book review, recipe Tagged With: baking, easy prep, kid friendly, kids edition, vegetarian

Kids Edition: The Snowy Day + Snowball Cookies

December 19, 2020 by Megan 1 Comment

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When we brought my son home last December, we read to him constantly — mostly black and white books at first but we quickly moved to longer stories. One of my favorites was The Snowy Day, which I read to him to commemorate his first snowfall. I put it away in the spring and recently dug it out to add back to the bookshelf. Again, it was just in time for the first snowfall.

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
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Filed Under: book review, recipe Tagged With: baking, cookies, easy prep, kids edition, seasonal

A Gentleman in Moscow + Dill Bread

December 15, 2020 by Megan Leave a Comment

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I have had A Gentleman in Moscow sitting on my shelf for what feels like forever. I recognized it at a used book sale and scooped it up for a dollar. But then it sat there. The size really intimidated me. When I was presented with an opportunity to partner with the Book Club Cookbook for their Book Blends Bash, I knew now was the time to push myself to read it!

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Well, I’m mostly just disappointed I waited so long to pick Amor Towles’ novel up! It was really quite lovely — almost a 5-star read. In it, we follow Count Alexander Rostov, who is sentenced to house arrest by the Bolsheviks in the early 1920s. The rest of the story takes place in the Metropol, where the Count will be staying; to step out onto the street would mean being shot dead on the spot. 

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Filed Under: book review, recipe Tagged With: baking, bread, favorites, historical fiction

Anxious People + Pizza Capricciosa

December 1, 2020 by Megan 4 Comments

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As I have said time and time again, I really love Fredrik Backman’s storytelling. In the case of Anxious People, his latest novel, not that much happens but you get so caught up in the story that you fall in love with it anyway. Anxious People takes place during a hostage situation in Sweden, and though we have a few flashbacks and several interrogation scenes at the police station afterward, the majority of it takes place in a single apartment. 

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

It is not dissimilar to Bel Canto, which also takes place during a hostage situation (this one in a large mansion in South America) and which I also loved. The key here is that Backman really builds the characters — and they’re mesmerizing. With some, you meet them thinking one thing and leave them realizing you were completely wrong; with others, your initial judgements were apt from the start.

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Filed Under: book review, recipe Tagged With: baking, contemporary, dinner, favorites, fiction, lunch

Magic Lessons + Courage Tea Cookies

November 24, 2020 by Megan 3 Comments

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Have you had a piece of technology totally crap out on you lately? It makes you feel so helpless. My laptop completely lost its mind yesterday. First of all, it took forever to finally get it to come on in the morning, and then, it wouldn’t hold a charge. Despite being plugged in constantly (I was afraid to unplug it), it remained at a 1% charge. Oh, and the fan wouldn’t stop blowing — it blew the entire day. Yikes.

All that is to say, sorry this post is late. I had the best intentions of getting it up according to my normal schedule. And now onto the book!

When I found out yet another Practical Magic prequel was on the way, I didn’t hesitate to get my hands on it. Obviously I loved The Rules of Magic when I read and reviewed that a few years ago. (It remains my most popular post… probably because of the recipe, but regardless.) Thankfully, Magic Lessons lived up to my expectations — it was exactly the story I wanted.

Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman
[Read more...] about Magic Lessons + Courage Tea Cookies

Filed Under: book review, recipe Tagged With: baking, cookies, favorites, historical fiction, magical realism

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The Hungry Bookworm brings together literature and food. Megan has an insatiable appetite for both.

As C.S. Lewis said, “Eating and reading are two pleasures that combine admirably.” Enjoy!

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Recent Posts

  • The Pull of the Stars + Irish Barmbrack
  • Kids Edition: Hey! Wake Up! + Broccoli Stew
  • Devolution + Blueberry Lavender Lemonade Popsicles
  • Big Lies in a Small Town + Collard Greens
  • Show Us Your Books Reading Recap — What I Read in December

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