Books and Bites

Book Notes

Michael recommends:

• The Lesser Dead by Christopher Buehlman
• The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward

Adam recommends:

• Dragon Goes House Hunting, written by Kawo Tankui and art by Coco Aya

Carrie recommends:

• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Bite Notes

• Saddle up to the bar with a Vampire’s Kiss Martini while vampire Joey Peacock regales you with his tales. 
• Pair Dragon Goes House Hunting with a hot bowl of Arkhan the Cruel’s Flame-Roasted Halfling Chili from Heroes' Feast: The Official D&D Cookbook.
• In The Little Library Cookbook: 100 Recipes from Your Favorite Stories, Kate Young suggests Potato & Leek Soup with Rye Bread as the perfect meal to comfort you when reading The Book Thief.

Book Notes

Michael recommends:

• The Everything Ghost Hunting Book: Tips, Tools, and Techniques for Exploring the Supernatural World by Melissa Ellis
• Narconomics: How to Run a Drug Cartel by Tom Wainwright
• How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them by Jason Stanley

Carrie recommends:

• How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell
• Playing with Image Transfers: Exploring Creative Imagery for Use in Art, Mixed Media, and Design by Courtney Cerruti
• Can I Recycle This? A Guide to Better Recycling and How to Reduce Single-Use Plastics by Jennie Romer
• Beyond Beautiful: A Practical Guide to Being Happy, Confident, and You in a Looks-obsessed World by Anuschka Rees

Adam recommends:

• You Call This Democracy? How to Fix Our Government and Deliver Power to the People by Elizabeth Rusch
• Period Power: A Manifesto for the Menstrual Movement by Nadya Okamoto
• Girls Garage: How to Use Any Tool, Tackle Any Project, and Build the World You Want to See by Emily Pilloton

Bite Notes

• The Conjuring will offer a chilling cap to a night of investigating the paranormal with The Everything Ghost Hunting Book.
• Enjoy How to Do Nothing with a cup of matcha tea, a type of Japanese green tea powder known for its ability to help you focus.
• Add some fiber to your non-fic dessert pairing with Corn & Blackberry pops. For the full recipe, see People’s Pops, available from JCPL in hard copy.

Book Notes

Adam recommends:

• Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky
• The Ballad of Yaya, Book 1: Fugue by Jeanne-Marie Omont, Charlotte Girard, and Golo Zhao

Michael recommends:

• Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare
• Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones

Carrie recommends:

• The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon
• I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

Bite Notes

• Accompany the uncomfortable juxtaposition of creativity & anxiety in Imaginary Friend with a dessert which satisfyingly mixes sweet, tart, and savory flavors: a plum-thyme sundae available in The Forest Feast: Simple Vegetarian Recipes from My Cabin in the Woods.
• Enjoy a refreshing Clowns Cup after a long, hot night of running from killer clowns.
• To take your bonfire from ordinary to extraordinary, check out The Campout Cookbookby Marnie Hanel and Jen Stevenson. It offers a dozen twists on hotdogs and s'mores.
• In her Guardian column Novel Recipes, Kate Young offers two recipes inspired by I Capture the Castle: Bread, Butter, and Honey and Cassandra's Midsummer Cake. For more recipes inspired by books, check out Kate Young's The Little Library Year, available on Hoopla.

Book Notes

Michael recommends:

• In the Valley of the Sun by Andy Davidson
• No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
• The Thicket by Joe R. Landsdale

Carrie recommends:

• Outlawed by Anna North
• True Grit by Charles Portis
• News of the World by Paulette Giles
• Hearts of Horses by Molly Glass
• The Compton Cowboys: The New Generation of Cowboys in America's Urban Heartland by Walter Thompson-Hernandez

Adam recommends:

• The Lone Ranger: The Devil’s Rope written by Mark Russell and illustrated by Bob Q.

Adam does not think Cowboy Ninja Viking (written by A.J. Lieberman and illustrated by Riley Rossmo) has broad appeal.

Bite Notes

• If you have insomnia like the Kid in Outlawed or just find yourself staying up too late reading, try brewing some lemon balm tea.
• To quench your thirst after visiting the desert of West Texas, mix yourself up a Corvette Summer.
• Mosey through Cowboy Ninja Viking with a fresh jar of Pickled Mixed Vegetables from The Cowboy’s Cookbook by Beverly LeBlanc. Like the triplets of CNV, Each bite brings a different flavor to the salty, sweet, sour, and spicy mix.

Book Notes

Adam Recommends

• Flamer by Mike Curato
• Ever After by Olivia Vieweg

Michael Recommends

• The Troop by Nick Cutter
• The Night Will Find Us by Matthew Lyons

Carrie Recommends

• The Wangs vs. the World by Jade Chang
• Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss by Rajeev Balasubramanyam

Bite Notes

• Tasty Campfire Apples in Tinfoil contain the best parts of a flame. Find the recipe in Camp Cooking by the National Museum of Forest Service History.
• Next time you're in the backyard around a campfire, enjoy a twist on an all-time favorite, a S’more’s Milk Shake, a recipe from tasteofhome.com.
• If, like Andrew Wang, eating fried rice is one of your favorite pastimes, try the recipe in Chinese Soul Food by Hsiao-Ching Chou.

Book Notes

• Carrie recommends the first issue of DC Comics' digital series, Represent!: It's a Bird by Christian Cooper and Alitha Martinez. 
  • Carrie also recommends The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary.
• Michael sleuthed out American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century by Maureen Callahan. 
  • Michael also recommends Ring Shout by P. Djeli Clark.
• Adam shares YA nonfiction, Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians but Were Afraid to Ask by Anton Treuer. 
  • Adam also recommends JCPL's Story Phone. Dial up a story anytime with the JCPL Story Phone. Simply call the Story Phone line, 859-885-7234, and choose from a selection of stories to listen to. New stories are added each week.

Bite Notes

• The next time you go birdwatching, pack an easy travel snack to keep you fortified. Jenné Claiborne, author of the cookbook Sweet Potato Soul, offers several vegan travel snacks on her website.
• Get cozy with a warm bowl of wild rice pudding from The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen by Sean Sherman and Beth Dooley.
• Pair American Predator with Maudite, a beer brewed by Unibroue.

Michael Recommends

• The Apocalyptic Mannequin by Stephanie M. Wytovitch
• WWJD and Other Poems by Savannah Sipple
• Light for the World to See: A Thousand Words of Race and Hope by Kwame Alexander

Carrie Recommends

• Monument by Natasha Trethewey
• Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay
• Fanny Says by Nickole Brown

Adam Recommends

• The Mermaid’s Voice Returns in this One by Amanda Lovelace
• Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
• Cast Away by Naomi Shihab Nye

Book Notes

• Adam enjoyed the novel-in-verse Black Flamingo by Dean Atta.
• Carrie recommends the award-winning parable-in-poems Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky.
• Michael suggests The Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded: Poemsby Molly McCully Brown.

Bite Notes

• Accompany Black Flamingo with Mahalepi, a cool, firm Cyprian pudding. Find the recipe on AtoZ World Foods, a library database.
• Pair Deaf Republic with orange-flavored vodka from The New Ukrainian Cookbook.
• A book of poetry set in Appalachia had Michael reaching for a favorite cookbook, Ronni Lundy's Victuals. This time, he chose  the Chili Bun Chili recipe.

Michael Recommends:

• The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White
• Alice by Christina Henry
• Usher’s Passing by Robert R. McCammon

Carrie Recommends:

• Egg & Spoon by Gregory Maguire
• Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
• The Beekeeper's Apprenticeby Laurie R. King
• Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal
• Longbourn by Jo Baker

Adam Recommends:

• The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace
• Nubia: Real One by L.L. McKinney and Robyn Smith
• Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Rey Terciero and Bre Indigo

 We're changing the Books and Bites format up a little bit with this episode and dividing this month's discussion into two separate episodes. Today we'll each give a detailed review of one book, and then in a couple weeks we'll air another episode with some brief recommendations from each of us.

Book Notes

• Carrie enjoyed The Mere Wife by Maria Dhavana Headley, a feminist retelling of Beowulf.
• Unless you're a fan of realistic fiction that focuses on social drama, Adam advises staying away from Anna K: A Love Story by Jenny Lee, an adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina.
• Michael recommends Victor LaValle’s Destroyer written by Victor LaValle and illustrated by Dietrich Smith.  This graphic novel reimagines Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Bite Notes

• An Aquafaba Whiskey Sour will help you ride out the ups and downs in The Mere Wife.
• For some sweet to go with his probably-too-sour review, Adam suggests indulging in a traditional Korean Valentine’s treat, pepero cake. For pepero cake and other Korean recipes, check out Korean Cooking Simplified by Lori Yun.
• Pair Victor Lavalle’s Destroyer with the pre-prohibition cocktail, Corpse Reviver, No.2.