We know you've been eagerly waiting for the unveiling of the next four books selected by our virtual book club's co-hosts. As always, a nice variety of title. We hope the reading will delight and inspire you. Ready? Let's go!
Debra (Eliot's Eats) will open the new series: for the April/May edition, she chose the novel Call of the Camino by Suzanne Redfearn (October 2025)
OK. Everyone has seen The Way (2010) with Martin Sheen. (If you haven't, you should.) Everyone who has seen The Way wants to walk the Camino. (Or at least I did.) In 2022, I got to review a travel book, Camino de Santiago: Sacred Sites, Historic Villages, Local Food & Wine by Beebe Bahrami. Again, I wanted to experience this pilgrimage. More recently I read Call of the Camino by Suzanne Redfearn and my longing to hike this historic and sacred route was renewed.
The novel follows two women in two different time frames. Reina, a travel writer, sets off in 2024. She sees the trail as a way to connect with her late father while potentially advancing her burgeoning career. Isabelle's journey takes place in 1997. She is a teenager on the run from a violent family situation. She sees the Camino as a place to hide.
Along the way, they both meet remarkable characters and make lasting connections with other pilgrims. Ultimately, their tales intertwine as one woman discovers her past while the other finds her future.
This is not a food-centric novel but I think you will find enough food and wine along the way to be inspired. Or, you could make some hearty hiking food to take along the trail.
Debra, Eliot's Eats
Deadline for contributing your post is Sunday, May 31, 2026
For the June/July edition Simona (briciole) chose one of the suggested readings: the novel Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal (July 2015)
When I followed up on the suggestion of looking at Stradal's books, I was intrigued by the words on the publisher's page "a novel about a young woman with a once-in-a-generation palate who becomes the iconic chef behind the country’s most coveted dinner reservation." Such an introduction is hard to resist.
The structure of the book also sounds intriguing: "Each chapter in J. Ryan Stradal’s startlingly original debut tells the story of a single dish and character, at once capturing the zeitgeist of the Midwest, the rise of foodie culture, and delving into the ways food creates community and a sense of identity."
I hope the novel will make for an interesting read and a source of inspiration in the kitchen.
Simona, briciole
Deadline for contributing your post is Friday, July 31, 2026
For the August/September edition, Claudia (Honey from Rock) has chosen the novel Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford (January 2024)
Since I especially enjoy novels featuring "older" ladies having adventures, this was a bright spot in my reading stack. Her husband believes that they are past it all, which spurs her on to do something about it.
From Kirkus Reviews:
A septuagenarian with a penchant for baking proves her worth.
After her husband, Bernard, comments that they're no longer going to "embark on any grand adventures," Jenny Quinn, a 77-year-old pensioner living in Kittlesham, England, sneaks into their study to secretly apply for a spot on a televised baking competition. Jenny doesn't truly believe she has a shot at making it onto Britain Bakes--an obvious stand-in for The Great British Bake Off, right down to the jokes about a "soggy bottom"--but nonetheless summons the courage to hit Submit. Much to her surprise, she makes it onto the show. While she's initially plagued with self-doubt and worries that she's only been cast as a cruel joke, Jenny admits her plans to her doting husband, packs up her old-fashioned cast-iron kitchen scales, and takes the competition by storm. Many of Jenny's bakes on the show harken back to significant moments from her childhood and young adulthood, and, sprinkled throughout the book, Ford intersperses the world of 17-year-old Jenny, which includes a secret that not even Bernard knows about. Ford's writing is sentimental without being saccharine, and the scenes from Jenny's youth are, much like Jenny's pastry, deliciously layered... (Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.)
Aloha,
Claudia, Honey From Rock
Deadline for contributing your post: Wednesday, September 30, 2026.
To round up the list of selections, for the October/November 2026 edition, guest host Marg (The Intrepid Reader & Baker) chose the novel The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai, translated by Jesse Kirkwood (February 2024)
I am excited to be able to host a selection for Cook the Books. Over the last couple of years I have been reading a few Japanese series which feature food. This is the first in a series, and I hope that you all enjoy the book and that you are inspired to make something delicious!
What’s the one dish you’d do anything to taste just one more time?
Down a quiet backstreet in Kyoto exists a very special restaurant. Run by Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare, the Kamogawa Diner serves up deliciously extravagant meals. But that’s not the main reason customers stop by...
The father-daughter duo are ‘food detectives’. Through ingenious investigations, they are able to recreate dishes from a person’s treasured memories – dishes that may well hold the keys to their forgotten past and future happiness. The restaurant of lost recipes provides a link to vanished moments, creating a present full of possibility.
Marg, The Intrepid Reader & Baker
Deadline for contributing your post: Monday, November 30, 2026.
Remember that membership in our book club is open to anyone and we hope you will join us by reading these selections and creating inspired recipes. For more information about participating, click here.
As always, specific announcement posts can be found at Cook the Books at the beginning of each two-month period and the current selection is always shown on the right side of the homepage.
And do not hesitate to leave a comment on this post or the specific announcement should you have any questions.
To recap:
April / May 2026: Call of the Camino by Suzanne Redfearn (hosted by Debra at Eliot's Eats)
June / July 2026: Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal (hosted by Simona at briciole)August / September 2026: Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford (hosted by Claudia at Honey from Rock)
October / November 2026: The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwa (hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader & Baker)
Happy reading and cooking!
