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On this episode, we discuss the eleventh prompt in the Books and Bites 2021 Reading Challenge, comfort reads. We share what “comfort read” means to us and offer some of our own suggestions.
Books and Bites
JCPL librarians bring you book recommendations and discuss the bites and beverages to pair with them.
Nov 21_2 Books and Bites
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Carrie: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Books and Bites podcast. Each month we bring you book recommendations and discuss the bites and beverages to pair with them. I'm Carrie Green and I'm here with my cohosts, Michael Cunningham and Adam Wheeler. Hello. Hello today, we're talking about the 11th prompt in the Books and Bites Challenge,
comfort reads. This is one of those highly subjective challenges. I'm sure Michael's comfort read is probably different than mine. So Adam and Michael, what are your ideas of comfort reads?
Adam: Well, honestly I have a few ideas of it. Some are just stories that are really nice and cozy. Like the one that I chose for this month and other ones are just like nostalgic.
Like I almost did the Hocus Pocus book, which I read a while back and I loved it. It was just [00:01:00] basically the screenplay put into a book. And I knew everything that was coming and it felt so nice. However, the second half was kind of like some Disney garbage and, um, I won't get into that cause that's not comforting.
I don't know. What about, what about you, Michael?
So
Michael: for comfort reads, my kind of idea of that is, you know, something that maybe gets you in the mood for something, you know, maybe a particular season or maybe a book that you revisit that kind of, you know, feels nostalgic that maybe you read when you were younger.
And also, you know, something that just kind of is cozier. That kind of thing
Carrie: Okay. So, so less gore in your
comfort
reads?
Michael: I wouldn't say
that,
but, well, yeah, well, okay. Yeah, probably less gore.
Adam: I wouldn't judge you, if not, I found myself re-watching The [00:02:00] Nun over and over as a comfort thing for a while. So you know, some, it can be gory. It can be. But sometimes a nice children's book is also good. Yeah.
Michael: Little picture book, like, you know, like maybe a comfort read for me, for example, it might be The Shining, you know, that takes place in the mountains and during, you know, in the middle of winter and there's this there's snowing outside and you know, and you're locked in this old hotel.
Carrie: I do. I agree with both of you on that nostalgic aspect. And like, maybe for me rereading something like Anne of Green Gables or, you know, a book that I read a lot in childhood or even just something that feels very familiar. I do think there's, you know, since the pandemic started, we've been watching a lot of, rewatching, a lot of TV shows.
So I think there is something to be said about watching or reading something that you know, what you're [00:03:00] going to get.
Adam: Absolutely. Yeah. Sometimes that's just what you need. Your brain needs to know that things are going to be the same about something and it feels good. Yeah.
Carrie: Yeah. Yeah. We look forward to hearing your comfort reads.
We just have this month and next month for the Books and Bites challenge for this year.
Adam: Yeah. We're up in the last month. So of course this month is comfort reads and next month is a book set in your home state, which, you know, for us is Kentucky because that's where we are right now, but it might be different for you.
Um, and so that means you have two more chances to enter for our monthly prize drawing of a $25 gift card to Joseph Beth, as well as two more opportunities to enter for our grand prize drawing. You know, same entry goes for both for a a hundred dollar gift card to Joseph-Beth. So they're going to be a lucky winner for that.
If you need to enter your [00:04:00] forms you can do that online at jesspublib.org/books-bites. So be sure to do that. We look forward to hearing from you.
Carrie: That's right. And thank you to all of you who've been listening along with us this year and who've been participating in our challenge. Yes. Yes.
So my first book is Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny. When I read the reviews of this book back in April, the first thing I thought was this is the book I need to read right now. And although it took me a little while to get to--thanks Books and Bites challenge--I can now unequivocally say that I was right.
It was the perfect coming out of a pandemic and back into society, comfort read, [00:05:00] although I'm not quite sure where we're totally there yet, but at the time we thought we were.
When the novel opens, Jane, 26, has just moved to Boyne City, Michigan to take a job as a second grade teacher. She locks herself out of the house and calls a locksmith who turns out to be Duncan, an easygoing 42 year old woodworker, who works as a locksmith on the side. Jane invites him to stay for dinner and they quickly fall into bed together on Friday night
and don't leave the house for the entire weekend. Jane soon learns that not only does Duncan have an ex-wife he's still friendly with he's also had a lot of girlfriends. As her best friend Frieda says, "I think he's had enough girlfriends for like a lot of 42 year olds, maybe even a lot of 84 year olds."
Nevertheless, Jane [00:06:00] is smitten and Early Morning Riser chronicles her on and off and on again, romance with him. She learns that being with Duncan means you're also going to be spending a lot of time with his ex-wife and her eccentric husband, as well as with Duncan's coworker, Jimmy, a sweet man with learning difficulties who after a terrible car accident becomes even more a part of Duncan and Jane's lives.
Heiny's witty observations, get all the details, right. This is one of those books that had I not read the library's copy. I would have underlined something on nearly every page. The characters feel like real people with all their charms and faults. The book reminded me that no matter how annoying our friends and families and chosen families may sometimes be they are also ours and we are lucky to have them and to love them and to be loved by them.
It also made me laugh out loud so [00:07:00] often that I began to wonder if it was the best book to read at bedtime, which is when I do most of my reading. Jane, Duncan and friends meet weekly for Taco Tuesday. And though they don't always eat tacos on Taco Tuesday, come next Tuesday, you should definitely try tacos with roasted winter vegetables and red cabbage.
It's the perfect fall meal to share with your friends. Season whatever mixed fall or winter vegetables you have on hand with cumin, chili powder and oregano. Winter squashes, beets, potatoes, and carrots all work great. Top with a simple slaw dressed with lime, olive oil, and cilantro for the best fresh corn tortillas.
I highly recommend making a trip to Taqueria Ramirez in Lexington.
Adam: That sounds really tasty. I'm not totally convinced about the squash, but [00:08:00] the red slaw is always good on tacos when I have them. There's that Girls, Girls, Girls burritos in Lexington always does use a, a red slaw and it's delicious.
Carrie: Oh yeah, no roasted roasted winter squash. I eat those a lot on tacos in the winter. Sometimes you can add like black beans with it too, if you prefer like more of a bean recipe. But yeah, and there's something about also, it's just so much better if you have the tortillas from Tortilleria Ramirez and.
there's just something about that really corny taste of their tortillas with the vegetables. Oh, it's just so good
Adam: going well. Yeah. It's sort of like a fall winter chowder, but in a taco form.
Carrie: Yeah. And there's a recipe that I make too. That's winter squash, um, and black bean [00:09:00] stew, and I serve that a lot with the tortillas from
Tortilleria Ramirez. I mean, we live not far from there, so it's easy for us to go grab them.
Adam: The book sounds fun too. Like, I don't know why it makes me think of this. It just kind of makes me think of like, you know, the beginning of a Hallmark romance, but at the same time, it's much more realistic.
Carrie: Yeah, no, I I'm afraid, like for my description, I did give it more of an impression of being a romance, but it really it's more like an ensemble, um, it's more like an ensemble cast comedy than a romance. That romantic relationship does form the basis of the book and the plot, but it's really, it's really her relationships with her, her chosen family.
Adam: Okay. All right. I got, gotcha. So like the comedy usually comes from the way they interact with each other and God, this is so [00:10:00] awkward. So annoying. Yeah. Okay. I got gotcha.
Carrie: From her, her point of view as well, just because I don't know, she just like, can give a description and, you know, you know that person, you know, it's just really, really well done.
I have recommended this book to several people. One of my friends read it and she was also, she said, I kept reading it aloud to my husband and laughing out loud. And she said, you're right. It's not the best book for bedtime because I'm cracking up. My mom liked it too. So, um, yes, if you're looking for a comfort read Early Morning Riser.
Michael: So you probably know where this is going.[00:11:00] But for my comfort read, there are a couple that I revisited over the past couple of years around September, October time to get in the mood for fall and Halloween. One that we have in our collection is Haunted Nights, an anthology edited by the great Ellen Datlow
and Lisa Morton. This book has 16 atmospheric tales to explore the many faces of Halloween and its related holidays idea, de Los Muertos, and devil's night from some of the best and up and coming and established horror writers today. There are several standouts here in this collection, but I'll touch on a few of my favorites.
One of the first stories in the collection is Dirt Mouth by Stephen Graham Jones. It's about a grieving man recounting his story to two police detectives of the night. He went to a cabin in the mountains with his children on Halloween trying to remember the good times with his wife and the mother
when something comes knocking at their cabin door.
A Small Taste of the Old Country [00:12:00] by Jonathan Mayberry. This sharp little tale that takes place in Argentina shortly after World War Two, where two men hiding out in the country are prepared a dish best served cold. Wick’s End by Joanna Parypinski concerns two men in a tavern who are having a competition to see who can tell the scariest story with extraordinarily high stakes.
A flicker of light on Devil's Night by Kate Jones tells the pitch black story of a single mother who's at her breaking point on devil's night with her out of control children. We're Never Inviting Amber Again by SP MIskowski is a story about a man who regrets inviting his weird sister-in-law to his Halloween party, especially after she breaks out her Ouija board. Lost in the Dark by Jonathan Langan is probably the gem of the collection.
This house of mirrors tale concerns a professor interviewing a former student who wrote and directed a popular horror film that was turned into a franchise, which might be based on true events. But the professor is particularly interested in the fact that the film [00:13:00] was initially a documentary. That's probably more than a few.
There's also a story about a spooky hunter house, a trippy romp through Dia de Los Muertos and a folk horror story. There's so many good stories here, no real filler in this collection. So if you're looking for something to get you in the mood for fall or the Halloween season, I highly recommend this anthology collection.
I checked out the book on CD and listened to it on the way home from work. To get in the fall mood try pairing this book with an apple cider mimosa found on delish.com. It calls for two tablespoons of sugar, one tablespoon of cinnamon, one cup of apple cider, any bottle of Prosecco or champagne, super easy to make.
I used brown sugar in mine and it turned out really good. You know,
Adam: I, I honestly, I appreciate a really good anthology. 'cause like, I can pick it up and I can choose the stories I want to read. And if I don't like any of them, it's like, I know I'm onto the next one. They make for a good bathroom read.
Michael: Yeah. I know.
They're usually pretty quick and easy to, you know, I mean, it's a [00:14:00] good way to find new authors. Yeah, especially the same ones. If you're especially trying to get in the mood for something or like a particular, you know, what do you call it? Sub genre.
Carrie: Yeah. And if you don't have a lot of time to read, it's a good thing that you can just pick up and put down.
Yeah. If you could
Michael: find
Adam: it backwards and stuff too. Yeah. Yeah. You know, one of those stories the one about the two people who were in a cabin and trying to out-compete each other on, on scary story. I don't remember the title of the movie, but I saw one. I think it was like an independent film on like Netflix or Hulu, maybe even on Amazon prime a while back that sounded remarkably
like it could be that. So they, they start telling each other scary stories. This woman just kind of shows up at this dude's cabin. And like, as they're telling the stories they're sort of [00:15:00] acting it out. And a lot of it kind of is portrayed as actually happening. So you kind of have this play of like, is someone actually dying right now?
Or are they just telling a story? Is there actually like a werewolf in the house or, you know what, after a while a pizza guy comes and he joins in on it, but yeah, I don't know if it's the same thing or if it's completely different, it's fun though
Michael: But that sounds good. That sounds fun.
Adam: Okay. So I'm actually really ready for comfort reads. So I have selected a cozy story of magic with an undercurrent of danger, the Eisner award winning series, Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama. Shirahama’s illustration is lush with [00:16:00] expressive characters, graceful linework and inviting backgrounds, all styled somewhere between art deco and fairytale illustration, just like captivating stuff, man.
Our main character, Coco is a plucky seamstress, his daughter with a lifelong dream of being a witch. I'm going to go through a little bit of this, but like, it's so hard for me to talk about the story without giving away big details and big twists and important stuff. So it's going to be more about the characters and the writing and stuff than the story itself.
Now, the witches in Witch Hat Atelier are pretty unique as far as I'm concerned, complete with a magic system that I can't describe much without giving big plot points. But the skinny of it is that witches follow a code to strictly use their power, to bring joy, which is a wonderfully refreshing departure from the combat spells of other series, uh, even drastically different from mainstream staples, like Harry [00:17:00] Potter, which, you know, does a little bit of both, but it definitely tends to go towards the combat stuff at a certain point.
As you progress through the story. You'll encounter characters who all have different perspectives of what it means to be a witch and to bring joy to others, often healing through personal traumas with plenty of tear-jerker moments. Individuals share hard- won friendships, built through mutual understanding and compromise, giving an unusually realistic depth to relationships--like an originally antagonistic rival
failing to break Coco's spirit. And finally recognizing as the source of her negative feelings was actually just her own jealousy the whole time. So, this is a really comforting story with a zest of poignant growth. Witch Hat Atelier will also resonate with tweens, teens, and adults who remember first recognizing that authority is flawed and sometimes worth questioning
even at great [00:18:00] personal risk. Launch into little Coco's journey of personal growth by picking up, Witch Hat Atelier available in hard copy at JCPL. Uh apprentice witches may like a break from their studies with honey and Rosemary cakes, spelled H U N N Y inspired by Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne. These cinnamon and Rosemary cakes are topped with a fluffy cream cheese icing and drizzled with Rosemary infused honey.
Um, quick little quote they had in the, in the cookbook. Uh, that's funny. He thought, I know I had a jar of honey there, a full jar full of honey, right up to the top. And it had honey written on it. H U N N Y again, so that I should know that it was honey. Find this recipe and more in the Little Library, Cookbook: 100 Recipes from Your Favorite Stories by Kate young available in hard copy at JCPL.
Carrie: I think Winnie the Pooh would definitely [00:19:00] qualify as a comfort read for many people.
Adam: A little bumbling friendly, dude just having a good time in the hundred acre woods.
Like what's what's to be stressed about, honestly.
Carrie: It's great. And that recipe sounds really good. I love, kind of, I love sweet desserts combined with the savoriness of Rosemary. So that sounds, that sounds very tasty, tasty treat.
Michael: I wish we could all be more like Winnie the Pooh.
Carrie: Yes. Indeed. Um, right now I do feel a little rumbly in my tumbly.
So,
Adam: ah,
Carrie: So the second book I wanted to talk about is Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen by Laurie Colwin. Home [00:20:00] Cooking has been on my TBR list for ages. And I'm so glad that I finally got to it. Published in 1988, the book collects columns that novelist and food writer, Laurie Colwin wrote for magazines such as Gourmet.
The columns are short, funny, and highly opinionated. Most of the columns include recipes, often for what is typically deemed comfort food, such as extremely easy old fashioned beef stew Shepherd's pie and baked chicken with garlic and apple. Colwin favors, simple home cooked meals that taste good without requiring a lot of fancy expensive ingredients or equipment.
For example, she writes about washing both her dishes and arugula in the bathtub of her first New York City apartment, because she didn't have a kitchen sink. That is definitely roughing, I think, not having a kitchen sink. That's terrible. Her favorite party dish, creamed spinach with [00:21:00] jalapeno peppers, calls for frozen spinach.
Most of her recipes contain dairy, which I'm allergic to, and more meat than I typically eat. The only dish of hers I really want to try is the baguette recipe from the essay Bread Baking without Agony. But then I read most of my favorite food writers, women like MFK Fisher, Tamara Adler, and Ruth Reichl, for reasons other than their recipes.
Like them, Colwin offers a good story, funny moments and the comforting feeling of being in the kitchen with a warm, familiar voice. All of which adds up to a great comfort read.
Thanks for listening to the Books and Bites podcast. To submit your responses for this month's prompts. Visit us at jesspublib.org/books-bites. Our theme song is The Breakers by Scott Whiddon from his album In Close Quarters [00:22:00] with the Enemy. You can learn more about Scott and his music on his website, adoorforadesk.com.