Read-a-Thon Feb 2022: Book Menu

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Tell us a book you recommend that is

1. An appetizer - a short book
2. A soup - something where all the elements blend together well
3. A stew - something with very different elements and still good
4. A main course - a long book
5. A vegetable - a book that taught you something (info or personal insight)
6. A fruit - a book that was hard to get into, but worth it
7. A dessert - a sweet book or a light, fluffy book
8. International cuisine - a book from a country whose food you enjoy

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

My answers

1. An appetizer - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
2. A soup - something where all the elements blend together well - What Angels Fear and the rest of the series - combines history, mystery, family drama and romance
3. A stew - something with very different elements and still good - Moby-Dick or, the Whale - has been called a "chowder" with lots of different parts floating around
4. A main course - a long book - Cloud Cuckoo Land
5. A vegetable - a book that taught you something (info or personal insight) - Alexander Hamilton
6. A fruit - a book that was hard to get into, but worth it - A Place of Greater Safety
7. A dessert - a sweet book or a light, fluffy book - Heidi's Guide to Four Letter Words
8. International cuisine - a book from a country whose food you enjoy - Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China

[Elizabeth]

1. An appetizer - a short book - Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire (lots of magical elements, very fun)
2. A soup - something where all the elements blend together well - The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (magical realism, but very sad and hopeful, so very good)
3. A stew - something with very different elements and still good - Earthlings by Sayaka Murata (So dark, with a lot of commentary on society. It's a very mixed bag, but I loved it.)
4. A main course - a long book - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (Such a sad, romantic tale.)
5. A vegetable - a book that taught you something (info or personal insight) - Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica (very gruesome, but eye opening)
6. A fruit - a book that was hard to get into, but worth it - Parasite by Mira Grant (a sci-fi that is a little slow to start, but really hits hard at this point in history)
7. A dessert - a sweet book or a light, fluffy book - This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens (very fluffy and unrealistic, but so so sweet - Enemies to lovers)
8. International cuisine - a book from a country whose food you enjoy - I have to admit I don't read a lot of books from other countries besides manga and I don't like Japanese food, haha, so I guess I'll go with Heartstopper by Alice Oseman with is a book from England. It's so sweet and an absolute beautiful graphic novel.

[°~Amy~°]

1. An appetizer - a short book - Finna (92 pgs)

2. A soup - something where all the elements blend together well - The Black Flamingo (poetry/lgbtq/poc)

3. A stew - something with very different elements and still good - Kindred (historical fiction/time travel/sci-fi)

4. A main course - a long book - The Wise Man's Fear (1107 pgs)

5. A vegetable - a book that taught you something (info or personal insight) - In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse - History of Crazy Horse

6. A fruit - a book that was hard to get into, but worth it - Children of Time

7. A dessert - a sweet book or a light, fluffy book - Letters from Father Christmas

8. International cuisine - a book from a country whose food you enjoy - My Brother's Husband, Volume 1 (Japanese)

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

1. An appetizer - a short book A House at the Bottom of a Lake
2. A soup - something where all the elements blend together well - Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
3. A stew - something with very different elements and still good - My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Vol. 1
4. A main course - a long book - The Count of Monte Cristo
5. A vegetable - a book that taught you something (info or personal insight) - Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer
6. A fruit - a book that was hard to get into, but worth it - House of Leaves
7. A dessert - a sweet book or a light, fluffy book - Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
8. International cuisine - a book from a country whose food you enjoy - The Hole

[Laurel]

1. An appetizer - a short book: We Should All Be Feminists (65 pages)
2. A soup - something where all the elements blend together well: Stardust
3. A stew - something with very different elements and still good: The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
4. A main course - a long book: David Copperfield (729 pages)
5. A vegetable - a book that taught you something (info or personal insight): Stubborn Twig: Three Generations in the Life of a Japanese Family
6. A fruit - a book that was hard to get into, but worth it: White Teeth
7. A dessert - a sweet book or a light, fluffy book: The Wee Free Men
8. International cuisine - a book from a country whose food you enjoy: Circe (Greece/Mediterranean)

[Kristina]

1. An appetizer - a short book
The Call of the Wild

2. A soup - something where all the elements blend together well
Lilith's Brood

3. A stew - something with very different elements and still good
Jitterbug Perfume

4. A main course - a long book
The Golem and the Jinni

5. A vegetable - a book that taught you something (info or personal insight)
Fruit Of Knowledge: The Vulva vs. The Patriarchy

6. A fruit - a book that was hard to get into, but worth it
Piranesi

7. A dessert - a sweet book or a light, fluffy book
Adulthood Is a Myth

8. International cuisine - a book from a country whose food you enjoy
The Great Passage

[Samantha]

1. An appetizer - a short book Inside Out & Back Again - beautifully written quick read
2. A soup - something where all the elements blend together well - Daisy Jones & The Six - I listened to the audiobook and the casting was perfect, they brought the characters to life form me.
3. A stew - something with very different elements and still good - The House in the Cerulean Sea - a strange mix of characters and plot but so good
4. A main course - a long book - 11/22/63 - I don't read a lot of long books but this was good and kept my attention throughout.
5. A vegetable - a book that taught you something (info or personal insight) - Homegoing - I feel like there was a lot of history and even though it was fictional I feel like I learned something from it.
6. A fruit - a book that was hard to get into, but worth it - The Historian - I read this when it first came out before I was much of a reader and recall struggling to get into it. I ended up really enjoying it and kind of wonder what I would think now.
7. A dessert - a sweet book or a light, fluffy book - The Love Hypothesis I just read this and it was really adorable.
8. International cuisine - a book from a country whose food you enjoy - Like Water for Chocolate I love Mexican food and this book is filled with it.

[Roxana]

1. An appetizer - a short book: A Psalm for the Wild-Built

2. A soup - something where all the elements blend together well: The Kingdoms

3. A stew - something with very different elements and still good: Witchmark

4. A main course - a long book: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

5. A vegetable - a book that taught you something: Eating Animals

6. A fruit - a book that was hard to get into, but worth it: War and Peace

7. A dessert - a sweet book or a light, fluffy book: Shipped

8. International cuisine - a book from a country whose food you enjoy: Another Birth: Selected Poems of Forough Farrokhzad (Iran)

[Hannah]

I never do the readathons, but I love sorting my books into categories SO MUCH.

1. An appetizer
The Borrowers by Mary Norton. It's an old one, but so, so charming. I could read 1,000 pages just about the Borrower's tiny house and how they make use of potatoes and hat pins. This would be great for a book about a non-human main character (also the main character's name is Arriety)!

2. A soup
Ship Fever: Stories by Andrea Barrett. Short story collections can easily be either all over the place or too much of the same thing. In this one, not a single story seemed out of place, but they were more diverse in terms of content, setting, and theme than I was expecting. This would be great for one of the nature themed prompts this year!

3. A stew
Possession by A. S. Byatt. This book is trying to do A LOT. It's got romance, it's got poetry, it's got academic satire, it's got history, it's got mythology, it's got mystery. And it totally works. It would be great for the mythology prompt or the academic setting.

4. A main course
It has to be my love, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. Don't be intimidated! It's long and it's a Russian classic, but Tolstoy's writing is smooth and sweet as butter. A great book to savor slowly. Also a good one for main character starting with A.

5. A vegetable
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert. Not only did this book teach me a lot about the history of the study of extinction, the history of the human race, and the state of the environmental crisis today, it also taught me I could love nonfiction. This book is so readable and compelling! It would be perfect for the Earth Day prompt.

6. A fruit
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin. The first time I read this, I thought it was so dry, so cold, so hard to penetrate. But I pushed through and it became one of my favorite books of all time. This would be great for the inclement weather prompt or non-human as a main character.

7. A dessert
Wise Child by Monica Furlong. My comfort read, the sweetest book I know. Found family, historical witchiness, it always renews my love of life and living in the moment. It would be perfect for the small town or rural area prompt.

8. International cuisine
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, from Japan. I think most people have already read this one, but I really was captivated by it. I think it could work for the food or drink prompt, or less than 220 pages.

[L Y N N]

1. An appetizer - a short book
Lionboy (Lionboy #1) by Zizou Corder

2. A soup - something where all the elements blend together well
The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister

3. A stew - something with very different elements and still good
Murder on Black Swan Lane (Wrexford & Sloane #1) by Andrea Penrose

4. A main course - a long book
The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson

5. A vegetable - a book that taught you something (info or personal insight)
Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

6. A fruit - a book that was hard to get into, but worth it
There There by Tommy Orange

7. A dessert - a sweet book or a light, fluffy book
The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide

8. International cuisine - a book from a country whose food you enjoy
Ties by Domenico Starnone, translated by Jhumpa Lahiri
Italy

[Edie]

Hannah wrote: "I never do the readathons, but I love sorting my books into categories SO MUCH.

1. An appetizer
The Borrowers by Mary Norton. It's an old one, but so, so charming. I could read 1,00..."

Thanks Hannah. I loved reading your thoughts here.