With over 1,000 book club members & 13,000 people now visiting our web site, we realized we needed more help. So we reached out to an active club member & are thrilled to announce that Julie Jacobs is our newest group moderator!
An introduction to Julie
Julie is married with three teenage kids. After over 20 years in Maryland, she now lives in the high desert of Utah. An avid bookworm, she remembers running to tell everyone that she read Dr. Seuss’ Hop on Pop “even the hard parts.” Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1993 forced her reliance on (& appreciation for) audiobooks, but hasn’t stopped her love of reading.
Photo courtesy of Jacqueline T. Moore
The love of books may be genetic as her mother is an author with many books to her name, The Canary (a historical mystery; view on Amazon) being one of them.
Julie joined the book club in its augural year. Now after 3.5 years as an active member, she’ll be an engaging moderator for the club.
JULIE'S FAVORITE GLOBAL READS
She dislikes gratuitous gore, graphic romance, & cowboy-type westerns, but she’ll read nearly anything if there’s a strong storyline to support it as you can see below.
are you also Interested in helping us?
We’re looking for folks to help with a variety of different things in the Facebook group, online, & on the web site so no matter what you’re interested in, we’d be glad of the assistance. You don’t need to have experience, read a lot, or always read our monthly books though of course we encourage you to do so. You just need to love what we do & be willing to regularly devote time to help. Interested or have questions? Reach out via Facebook, comment below, or shoot me an email.
But what country are we reading?
Well, normally, I’d include a fun list of facts & have you guess which country we’re adventuring to, but, instead, I’ll introduce you to my favorite cookbook written by a native from this area.
The author collected “marvelous and diverse recipes from the rich and cosmopolitan islands as well as the extremely poor ones.” For example, the sumptuous Latzania (Cheese-stuffed Pasta from Astypalaia) is celebrated alongside To chaviari tou ftochou (Poor Man’s Caviar from the island of Syros—a delicious tapenade of olives, capers, herbs, & lemon).
Kerasi Glyko (Cherry Spoon-Sweet Preserves)
Island desserts with honey, nuts, fresh cheese, fruit, & preserves are also deliciously featured. But I suppose if I reference the Amygdalota me mandarini (Tangerine-scented Almond Cookies) & note that these are often found in Athens you’ll know which islands I mean.
Yep, our new moderator chose Greece as the country to read next month!
And this the “first extensively researched cookbook in English to record the cooking of the Greek islands. Simple but never plain, the cooking of the islands relies on flavorful ingredients rather than complicated techniques, making extensive use of seasonal vegetables, fresh herbs, grains and beans, olives and olive oil, cheeses and fish. Filled with lush photographs and stories of island life, The Foods of the Greek Islands (view on Amazon) is for all cooks and travelers who want to experience this diverse and deeply rooted cuisine firsthand.
HAVE ANY BOOK SUGGESTIONS?
Just let us know your Greek suggestions by Tues., March 16 11PM ET. (That’s NYC time. See it converted to your time below.)
You can comment with your suggestion below or in our online book club in Facebook.
We'll use 2 suggestions from book club members, 1 suggestion each from Julie & Ivor (the moderators), & 1 suggestion each from Mia & I (the book club co-admins) to compile a list of 6 books on which book club members will provide their thoughts. The book judged as best from the list will then be read.
Please note - We're specific in our books, they must:
Largely occur in the location specified unless the world described is an alternate reality
Be written by an author born there who has spent a good portion of their life there
Exist in paperback & ebook available on both Amazon & Kindle at least in the US & hopefully elsewhere