As soon as summer hit, our Book Club was on FIRE...
We celebrated the heart of the season with another spectacular Book Tasting flight, “Meal In A Glass,” with our Book Clubbers this July. Chewing on each character’s complexities was a great way to spend those long summer days!
As you can imagine, this topic sparked endless conversations and connections with our book clubbers…
After diving into The Magical Language of Others by E. J. Koh, “a powerful and aching love story in letters, from mother to daughter” and “a profound tale of hard-won selfhood and deep bonds to family, place, and language”, we were lucky enough to have another virtual cooking class with our OG culinary expert, Jessica.
We chose a traditional family-inspired dish with a twist as the perfect pairing to compliment the book and it’s accompanying discussion. Not only was the Kimchi Mac pasta dish SCRUMPTIOUS, but it was rich with unexpected flavor combinations and very complex on the pallet, just like the book.
Next up was The Maid by Nita Prose, an unconventional, whodunnit murder mystery with a lovable, quirky heroine at its center…
Since Molly Maid spent so much time ensuring everything was spotless, our second group of book clubbers had the opportunity to embark on a new virtual class adventure, “Make, Melt and Pour Soap at Home”, where our Class Bento guide led us through all the steps we needed to create our own bar soap.
The third book of our Book Tasting Flight, The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray, is a remarkable novel about J. P. Morgan’s personal librarian, Belle da Costa Greene, the Black American woman who was forced to hide her true identity and pass as white in order to leave a lasting legacy that enriched our nation…
For our paired reading adventure, we had the opportunity to get an in-person tour of “Chicago’s oldest house, built in 1833.”
The Noble-Seymour-Crippen House was a great event space for our story and book discussion, as it gave a glimpse into the complexities of the past, where most of our title took place.
After getting our history nerd on at the Norwood Park Historical Society, our book clubbers (and friends!) enjoyed beverages from local small businesses. To top-off our theme, we served a rich white wine from In Fine Spirits, cocktail infusions from Aged & Infused, and refreshing Organic Sparkling Botanical Beverages from Petal, our newest obsession for NA drinks!
As another perk to our pop-up events, we always offer some shopping therapy at our Booktique, and this time was no exception…
Book Club attendees were able to treat themselves and / or other loved ones to new and used books, along with thoughtful book pairing *garnishes* from some of our favorite local small businesses: Edgewater Candles, Homebody, Soap Distillery, Aged & Infused and Fly Paper.
What a spectacular way to end our Meal in A Glass Book Tastings Flight!
BOOK PAIRING PACKAGE
To get a glimpse of what our Book Tastings / Pairings are all about without the full commitment to our Book Club, grab one of our Book Pairing Packages from our shop, OR, if you already own the book / want to borrow it from the library, pick up one or all of the paired items individually in the NEW Book Pairing section on our site (links below)!
The Maid by Nita Prose
Paired with…
TeaLula Blood Orange Tea
Soap Distillery Earl Grey Bar Soap
Edgewater Candles Rosemary Grapefruit
Fabdaz Socks She Believed She Could, So She Did
We are looking forward to sharing our next flight, “Marvelous Mixology: Fantastical Tales”, with you, which is taking place this August through October.
We would love for you (or invite someone (or several) you think may be interested) at one of our upcoming Book Tastings flights!
– Mandy G, New Book Joy Founder
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