Each week we assemble a collection – a bouquet, if you will – of books you can read for yourself, or use to build into a display in your library. As always, the books we link to have info from Amazon.com. If you click a link and then buy anything at all from Amazon, we get a small percent of their profits from your sale. Thanks!! We really appreciate the assistance!
We’re looking for ways to stay warm and cozy this winter, and soup is a great solution! So our bouquet this week is about soup: fiction stories and of course, nonfiction cookbooks!
Kallaloo: A Caribbean Tale by Phillis and David Gershator
“Can a shell really make soup? It might, if it s a brown-and-white West Indian shell, fresh from the sea. All it needs is a master soup-maker, like Granny, to stir the pot – and a little help from the folks in Market Square. Who wouldn t be willing to lend a hand to cook up some kallaloo, a soup famous from Jamaica to Trinidad? But there’s one final ingredient missing and even the magic shell forgot to mention it!”
Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper
“Deep in the woods in an old white cabin, three friends make their pumpkin soup the same way every day. The Cat slices up the pumpkin, the Squirrel stirs in the water, and the Duck tips in just enough salt. But one day the Duck wants to stir instead, and then there is a horrible squabble, and he leaves the cabin in a huff. It isn’t long before the Cat and the Squirrel start to worry about him and begin a search for their friend. Rendered in pictures richly evoking autumn, Helen Cooper’s delightful story will resonate for an child who has known the difficulties that come with friendship. Included at the end is a recipe for delicious pumpkin soup.”
Mean Soup by Betsy Everitt
“It has been a bad day for Horace. A very bad day. He’s come home feeling mean. But his mother knows just what to do! “For the book Mean Soup, the recipe is as follows: (1) clever text spiced with one or two outrageous bits; (2) a grand message about getting out anger instead of locking it inside; and (3) exciting artwork as full of life as the story.”
Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran
“Beneath the holy mountain Croagh Patrick, in damp and lovely County Mayo, sits the small, sheltered village of Ballinacroagh. To the exotic Aminpour sisters, Ireland looks like a much-needed safe haven. It has been seven years since Marjan Aminpour fled Iran with her younger sisters, Bahar and Layla, and she hopes that in Ballinacroagh, a land of “crazed sheep and dizzying roads,” they might finally find a home.
From the kitchen of an old pastry shop on Main Mall, the sisters set about creating a Persian oasis. Soon sensuous wafts of cardamom, cinnamon, and saffron float through the streets–an exotic aroma that announces the opening of the Babylon Café, and a shock to a town that generally subsists on boiled cabbage and Guinness served at the local tavern. And it is an affront to the senses of Ballinacroagh’s uncrowned king, Thomas McGuire. After trying to buy the old pastry shop for years and failing, Thomas is enraged to find it occupied–and by foreigners, no less. But the mysterious, spicy fragrances work their magic on the townsfolk, and soon, business is booming. Marjan is thrilled with the demand for her red lentil soup, abgusht stew, and rosewater baklava–and with the transformation in her sisters. Young Layla finds first love, and even tense, haunted Bahar seems to be less nervous. And in the stand-up-comedian-turned-priest Father Fergal Mahoney, the gentle, lonely widow Estelle Delmonico, and the headstrong hairdresser Fiona Athey, the sisters find a merry band of supporters against the close-minded opposition of less welcoming villagers stuck in their ways. But the idyll is soon broken when the past rushes back to threaten the Amnipours once more, and the lives they left behind in revolution-era Iran bleed into the present.”
The Healing Soup Cookbook by Cara Harbstreet and Julie Harrington
“Move over apples―it’s a bowl of soup a day that can really keep the doctor away. The Healing Soup Cookbook is your complete guide to discovering the health (and flavor) benefits that a bowl of hearty, nourishing soup can bring to your life. Don’t wait until you’ve got a cold to stir up some delicious chicken noodle soup. The more than 90 recipes in this soup cookbook run the gamut from traditional classics to more exotic fare. Not only do these soups make perfect meals all on their own, they are also packed with healthy ingredients that combat inflammation, boost your immune system, warm you up, and help keep away colds.”
Twelve Months of Monastery Soups: A Cookbook by Victor D’Avila-Latourrette
“”Of soup and love, the first is best.” Brother Victor-Antoine makes a passionate case for this Spanish proverb in Twelve Months of Monastery Soups, bringing easy, delicious, soul-satisfying soup recipes from the monastery to your kitchen. From simple, clear broths to thick, hearty soups, there’s a recipe to appeal to every taste. Arranged by month with an eye toward seasonal variety and at least one recipe for every vegetable native to North America, the 175 soups include classic favorites such as Cream of Corn and Tomato and more unique recipes such as Jerusalem Artichoke, Provenþal Rainbow, and Danish Onion-Champagne. With inspirational quotes proclaiming the goodness of soup sprinkled throughout and beautiful period block prints, Twelve Months of Monastery Soups is a celebration of the art of soup-making.”