Top 5 Books to Read with Chocolate

Today is a good day to be a writer. How often in other professions do you get invited to participate in a Chocolate Book Blog Tour? The challenge was to pick 5-6 books and pair them with matching chocolates. With dozens of wonderful authors and bloggers involved, the results are highly varied, creative and simply mouth-watering.

I've put an international spin on my picks: Authors, book subjects and/or chocolates are in one way or another linked to travel. Grab your favorite chocolate and enjoy the read!



The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly + Laudree Chocolate Macarons

This is a haunting story of a Parisian man at the peak of his life who tragically suffers a rare stroke that leaves him fully capable of the mind, but unable to move anything except his left eye. This incredible memoir was written through an ingenious system of reading through the alphabet (in order of most common letters in the French alphabet) and blinking to indicate the appropriate letter.

I paired this book with a Chocolate Macaron from the world-renowned French patisserie, Laudree, because if I could offer Jean-Dominique Bauby one thing, it would be a taste of the absolute best chocolate creation in the world.

P.S. Go ahead and try to make them yourself with Laudree's Macaron Cookbook …and then invite me over to taste test them for you!



dutch + Maggie Beer's Chocolate Salted Caramel Ice Cream

This fantastic novella from U.K. born author, Jamie Christian Desplaces is a dark, psychological read taking readers between warm, cozy memories of a beloved childhood home, Hong Kong's back alley nightlife, and a therapist's office. I can't say much more without ruining the plot, but it's so good that I was torn between racing through pages to see how it ended and putting it down so I didn't finish it too quickly.

I'd recommend an entire pint of Australian food icon, Maggie Beer's, Chocolate and Salted Caramel Ice Cream so you can stay up all night to read this book because both are impossible to put down.



Martina Finds a Shiny Coin + Guittard Extra Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

My son and I armchair travel to Puerto Rico quite often while reading a delightful children's book, Martina Finds a Shiny Coin by Yadhira Gonzalez-Taylor. With wonderful descriptions of a small village and a cast of memorable animal (and insect) characters, we can experience life in Puerto Rico with the flip of a page.

We enjoy chocolate chip cookies with any children's story, but mine are made with Guittard's Extra Dark Chocolate Chips in an absolutely fantastic, highly addictive version of this classic cookie.



Looking for La La + Vosges Haut Chocolates Coconut Ash & Banana Super Dark Chocolate Bar

If you are looking for a laugh, look no further than Looking for La La, a whacky adventure mostly set in Seattle (very near my hometown) revolving around a trip to Antarctica (the home country of the main character from my children's book, Wally the Warm-Weather Penguin). Anyway, the author of La La is a former Arrested Development writer so you know the story is going to be kooky, hilarious and outrageous.

This one calls for a creative chocolate and that immediately makes me think of Vosges Haut Chocolates. How about the Coconut Ash & Banana Super Dark Chocolate Bar?



Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting + Sachertorte from Hotel Sacher

As a new mom, I enjoyed reading about the French way of raising children in Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting. Not only did I find my all-time favorite Yogurt Cake recipe in this book, but I learned that three year olds should be able to make it...by themselves!

Since this book reminds me of living in Paris, I'd choose something just slightly more sophisticated to pair with this book, such as a slice of Sacher Torte, and imagine you're sitting at a French cafe overlooking the Seine.

A big thanks to the lovely author of Lorenzo the Bear: Encounter at Jellyfish Cove, Carmela Dutra, who invited me join this blog hop. Here's her take on books + chocolate, posted, appropriately, on National Chocolate Eclair Day https://www.goodreads.com/author/show....

I'm tapping some wonderful children's book authors to continue the hop:
Yadhira Gonzalez-Taylor, author of Martina Finds a Shiny Coin and Sharon Powers author of Barney and Barry, The Hitchhikers.

Grab some chocolate and check out some of the other great posts in the fun blog hop:
Nelson Suit writes about chocolate and Indie books: http://www.inkspokes.com/.
K. Lamb combines chocolate with children's books http://authorklamb.blogspot.com.au/20....
Lovable Lobo's Picture Books and Chocolate post http://lovablelobo.wordpress.com/2014....
Karen Emma Hall has a very creative chocolate blog post http://peachyemma.blogspot.co.uk/.
And there are many more...just follow links from other posts in the hop.