From Publishers Weekly

Why order pizza while discussing Barbara Ehrenrich’s Nickel and Dimed when you can eat like the characters in the book (Pasta on a Tight Budget)? Gardner, publisher of the bimonthly newsletter The Literary Gathering, plans out a year’s worth of books and menus for book clubs. The books (four per month) range from classic to contemporary, and encompass fiction and nonfiction; the accompanying themed menus are made up of generally uncomplicated fare. Gardner also includes discussion questions for each book. September honors Celebrate Banned Books Week, with suggestions for reading The Color Purple (and eating Southern foods, like Harpo’s Fountain 7 UP Cake). Some book choices are unusual (Geshundeit!, a health book by Patch Adams); others predictable (Angela’s Ashes, by Irishman Frank McCourt, in March; Gone with the Wind for February romance); and a few accompanying meal suggestions are a stretch (The Catcher in the Rye features some peripheral cha (more…)