a veritable smorgasbord

Something salty:
The Cunning Man – Robertson Davies. An old-fashioned complex novel that will engross you. You already know I love anything Robertson Davies wrote, but this is easily his most accessible work so won’t require much brain work. If you’ve already read this (I know you’ve read some of his stuff), try Fifth Business. I just reread it and it’s brilliant. Once I’ve reread the last novel in the Deptford trilogy, I am going to reread his Cornish trilogy.

East of Eden – I know it was an Oprah book. I don’t care. It’s terrific. Damn Oprah for sullying Steinbeck.
Six of One/ Bingo/Loose Lips – Rita Mae Brown. Laugh-out-loud funny.

Pepperoni roll:
BethGutcheon’s The New Girls.
Miss Pym Disposes – Josephine Tey or The Franchise Affair – also Tey
Hitchhiker’s Guide – Douglas Adams
Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides
Ship Fever – Andrea Barrett
Or reread Stones from the River. (I adore that book, that’s patently obvious…)

Try some nonfiction:
Into Thin Air – Jon Krakauer
Dispatches from a Not-So-Perfect Life, or How I Learned to Love the House, the Man, the Child – Faulkner Fox
The Big Rumpus: A Mother’s Tale from the Trenches – Ayun Halliday
Ambulance Girl – Jane Stern

Nice sharp cheese spread:
Reread Possession, or try Byatt’s Virgin in the Garden trilogy.
The Pirate’s Daughter – Robert Girardi
The Buccaneers – Edith Wharton
The Robber Bride – Margaret Atwood
Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie

Super light lemon cookie that seems to dissolve on the tongue:
Rosamunde Pilcher’s Coming Home, or September. I know her name makes her sound like utter fluff, but her “big” novels (Shell Seekers, September, Coming Home, and Winter Solstice) opposed to her little one-offs are fun and well-written and have great characters. They’re like *summer* comfort food. Does that make any sense?

Five Fortunes – Beth Gutcheon
Anything Elinor Lipman
Jennifer Chiaverini’s Elm Creek Quilt series (any, the order doesn’t *really* matter) – entertaining and sort of on par with Jan Karon but not nearly so sappy
Bestseller – Olivia Goldsmith

Or reread Gone with the Wind. The best beach book I ever read that wasn’t a beach book.

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I LOVE this idea of books as food. I think it’s fabulous. I can just hear me now: “I am in the mood for perhaps a salad as a starter, with a light but sharp vinaigrette dressing, followed by a big plate of fettucine alfredo.” (AS Byatt’s short stories, possibly Elementals or even better, Litle Black Book of Stories, followed by something like Anna Karenina or Doctor Zhivago. I think.) Anyone else have any ideas? This might turn out to be a great party game!