Welcome to Litsy!

#NewYearNewBooks

#RestaurantCvr The tagged book & its follow-up both have a restaurant on the cover. They are set around Lillian‘s restaurant where she holds cooking classes & are another two of my foodie book favorites. 🍽️🤍

If you haven‘t read them & enjoy foodie novels, you should! Read The School of Essential Ingredients first.

“Lillian had been four years old when her father left them, and her mother, stunned, had slid into books like a seal into water.”
#FirstLineFridays

I kept thinking this story was set in Paris and then I was confused when someone drove to the desert or a 20-year-old wasn‘t allowed to drink… Do you know this problem or is it just me?

I read this after I loved No Two Persons. I loved the food-content in this, but thought the characters‘ stories were less diverse than in NTP. But it was the perfect book to read one chapter before going to sleep.

An all-time favourite. Enjoyed it to the core.. ❤️❤️❤️
#favourite #realistic

#WondrousWednesday
Thanks for the tag @TheRiehlDeal 💕

❄️ I feel like I could hang out with Chef Lillian (tagged book) for long periods of time & be quite happy. Not only would she probably be cooking wonderful meals (a very nice bestie benefit is a friend who throws down in the kitchen🤗), but she was all about good vibes amongst people.

❄️ Rozelle Quinn! It would be impossible to call her friend.

❄️ Friday Eve…the new name for Thursday!😂

#QuotsySep21 @TK-421
#Dessert

Totally a charming and easy listen! It consists of character sketches and lots of food writing that I especially enjoyed. I loved the message that one must care for & respect ingredients to end up with a quality dish. 😋

I‘m going to check to see if this is a series. Definitely has the potential.

Daughter hair day means audio book time for me! Starting the tagged book. She plays on IPad while I listen, unbraid, detangle, and re-braid her hair. Not her favorite activity. 😬

I asked her when she wanted to do her hair today and her response was “never.” 🙃

All the stars! This book made my heart sing. The best book I‘ve read in a long time. Now I must read everything by this author! And there is a sequel! Let the squeezing begin! This should have a higher rating on goodreads but whatever. It‘s sweet and the language is beautiful.

Some reading before bed. I have to work tonight. This book is lovely. Easily the best I‘ve read this year. The language is beautiful and the stories move me. These cooking student‘s stories are eloquent and ordinary. I‘ll keep this and re-reread it. Meanwhile I‘ll make it last - one chapter a day.

3.5⭐️ || Easy and light... a series of character sketches centered around a cooking class with lots of food writing. A bit cliche, but overall a fine escape. This was my #BookSpin pick for May 👩🏻‍🍳

I‘m not sure how best to describe this wonderful book. A series of character studies? A story of relationships? Self-discovery? The importance of food in creating memories, both ordinary and special? I know it‘s a book that made me cry multiple times, and has made me think and reflect as few others have. Just a great read. And a wonderful way to meet my #novelNovember readathon goals.

Thanks for the tag, @Eggs I‘m running late, it seems.

Thankful for beautiful weather and being able to be outside, even if my knee won‘t let me walk yet.

Tagged book is wonderful, though it had me crying today. Just beautiful.

We bought a new mattress and it was delivered Wednesday. I have slept sooo well the past two nights 😄
#thoughtfulThursday

This has been on my Kindle for a couple months, so I thought I‘d give it a try. #nextup

I loved this. I enjoyed the lyrical writing and the story made me want to cook and to eat. Finished it while gardening and immediately downloaded the sequel. I hope it‘s as good. Also started The House We Grew Up In yesterday and both books have a character named Rory. I‘m enjoying that one too. #audiogardening #slumpbuster

I‘m 40% in and I am loving this one! Not like I need any help in this department but it‘s making me hungry. 😊 #audiogardening

I thought the writing style was really neat. It's about a restaurant that teaches a cooking class once a month. The students vary from an old couple, a new mom, a depressed single man, goth chick, etc. We watch them grow to know each other while also getting peeks into their private lives. I rated it a so so because I couldn't finish it despite the neat style. There's just only so much I can read about the passion of kneading dough like a lover.

#BookNLunch! So this has been my regular lunch for awhile now, soup and salad. This afternoon‘s accompaniment: salad of mesculin mix, grape tomatoes, marinated mozzarella balls and mushrooms, cucumber, black olives, shredded carrots, chicken breast strips, bacon bits, and parmesan cheese, with honey dijon dressing; also, chicken spaetzle soup, and mineral water. MMmmm 😋! Happy reads & happy eats! 😎👌🏻

#BookNDinner! Accompaniment this warmer and sunny evening: stir fry of broccoli florets, sliced carrots, green beans, baby bella mushrooms, honey roasted chicken breast strips, all sautéed in extra virgin olive oil and seasonings, topped with shaved parmesan and asiago cheeses. Cherry Diet Coke on the side. MMMMmmm ?! Happy reads & happy eats! ???

My main reading goal for 2019 is to climb as much of my #MountTBR as possible, while bringing in as few new books as possible. I can‘t believe how much I read in Jan! My faves were the tagged book, The Soul of an Octopus, and The Book of Dust.

Finished 19 books!
Bailed on 3.

16 owned TBR, 5 library books (physical and audio)

Thank you so much @Soubhiville!! I am soooo excited to read this book! 💙

I‘ve already had my first 5⭐️ read of 2019!

Bauermeister‘s writing is thick and rich like chocolate, crisp and fresh like just picked lettuce, warming like a good red wine.

Several strangers take a cooking class at a special restaurant kitchen. Each wants to learn more than how to cook, and we are lucky enough to look into each of their lives for just a little while.

This is a book that will stay in my heart, and on my bookshelf.

“There was red, certainly, but a painter‘s palette of variations, deep garnet to almost orange, with streaks of green and yellow. It‘s comforting weight filled her hand, the ridges sliding between her fingers.”

Filled with beautiful images like this, this book delights my senses. I can practically smell the garden green and loamy. Taste it! The author makes you feel the characters in the same way.

(I want an emoji of kissing my fingertips!)

Wow @mcipher ! Thank you so much for a wonderful box of goodies! I‘m looking forward to all the books! I‘ll be snacking and trying the teas later today. The socks are incredibly soft and warm, and the candles are perfect, my favorite scents! I even get to self pamper with masks! You are an A+ secret Santa. Thank you! And thank you to @Avanders as well for organizing ❤️

“...every part of the book was magic, but what she delighted in most were the words themselves. Lillian‘s mother collected exquisite phrases and complicated rhythms, descriptions that undulated across a page like cake batter pouring into a pan...”

Interesting🧐 this rather describes the very book it came from

#QuotsyMay18 Day12 #Rhythm

#MarchMunchies #tarts
"They ate in an easy silence, reveling in the creamy lemon tart in front of them. After a while, Isabelle spoke again. 'You know,' she said, holding up a forkful, 'I'm starting to think that maybe memories are like this dessert. I eat it, and it becomes a part of me, whether I remember it later, or not.'"
A quote from a favorite foodie novel.?
The pic is from my blog-I recreated Isabelle's dinner-though I bought the?tarts.

Enjoying my visit with my “old friend” I‘ll be finishing it shortly! Such a delicious book!!

We‘ve all been there!!

It‘s been a little while since I picked this book up! It‘s like having a visit with an old friend!! Love it!!

Revisiting an old favourite with a new friend for our book club! This book is very dear to my heart!!

I adored this book! Beautiful writing - almost poetic at times - "whispers of nutmeg." The Thanksgiving dinner sounds divine! This is a story of so much more than food as 8 individuals come together for cooking classes but come away with so much more as they learn together and from each other.
"Life is beautiful. Some people just remind you of that more than others."

"I'm just not always sure where I am. Memories hold you to the ground, you know?"

If I read books like game of thrones and such, that would probably not be the case!!

A quiet Sunday morning is the perfect time to finish up this book.

I listened to this one on audio. This was a nice little book telling the stories of different people who meet at a cooking class. I often listen to non-fiction which I find easier to follow on audio but had no problem following this one. It was enjoyable but didn't really knock my socks off.

I love this gentle read. It just made me feel so happy to read this!

😋🍞🍐🌶🍇🍦❤ #FoodieFiction #ReadJanuary #FeelGoodReads

This lovely story is a big heaping plate of comfort food. ❤
It follows a group individuals who sign up for a cooking class yet end up learing more about themselves & each other through the magical wonders of food & friendship.
Come to think of it, I could use a re-reading of this fav right about now. Goodness knows we could all use a good dose of feel-good comfort food reading!!

Buddy and I are ready for the impending ice storm. Bring it on. 🌨🌨

On BookBub today. I'm going to buy it.

Snowy weather and I was all set to make pumpkin bread. Slight problem: no pumpkin in the cupboard. And I'm not that interested in going to the grocery store. Applesauce bread ahoy

#BookNLunch! #BookClub edition. Another wonderful meeting of #ThePoconoBookClub which @MrBook and I run in our neck of the woods! Today we all talked about the awesome books we got at last meeting's #bookswap—got some great recommendations! 😁📚 This is how they serve their parfaits at the cafe. Fancy! Organic vanilla yogurt, homemade granola, and fresh fruit. And a cranberry-hibiscus tea. Yum! 😋 Happy reads and happy eats!

It's #Recommendsday! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Brilliant! So heartfelt and tender. This book is poetry. A work of art. Writing is fab, story is told beautifully, author conveys such an artistic love & appreciation of food—it's magic. Must-read for any foodie, chef, anyone who cooks, anyone who eats. Simply delicious. It shows you how cooking can be something more, something from the heart, a work of love and art. Made my heart swell with warmth & joy. ❤

#BookNDinner! #BlueApron edition. This delectable Asian-inspired feast is comprised of sesame chicken on a bed of jasmine rice with scallions and bok choy. Soooo delicious! 😋 This has been another presentation of: #MrBookBookBabeKitchen. Happy reads & happy eats! 🍴Thanks @Crewgurl !

#BookNDinner! Healthy edition. Tonight's feast is seared ahi tuna with teriyaki and soy sauce on a bed of sushi rice. Too bad I didn't have any black & white sesame seeds to sprinkle on it. It was originally supposed to be raw and pink in the center, but I chickened out and cooked it through, lol. 🙈 Anyway, it was delicious! This has been another production of #MrBookBookBabeKitchen. Happy reads & happy eats! 😋

Last night's #BookNDinner! #NewYearsEve & #BlueApron editions. I was so immersed in this succulent feast, I forgot to post this! ? Tender, juicy black angus steak au poivre (drizzled with peppercorn sauce), alongside roasted potatoes and sautéed kale. Perfect meal for a festive occasion! This has been another presentation of: #MrBookBookBabeKitchen. Happy reads & happy eats!? I think I did Lillian (the chef in the book) proud! Thanks @Crewgurl ❤