First of all, this book is a wealth of resources for books to read — either on your own or as part of a book club. This is a book about books; not just a cookbook. At over 500 pages long, there is a diverse selection of about 100 books (and more that are mentioned in passing). Many are books I’ve either actually read, or are currently in my To Be Read Pile, or (especially since re-reading the cookbook) in my to-add-to-the-TBR list. Both fiction and non-fiction books are represented. Some classics are here: for “Anna Karenina”, there is Wild Mushrooms on Toast. Older books, such as “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” (Charlotte Russe) , are here. Many multi-cultural books are included, such as Rohinton Mistry’s “A Fine Balance” (chicken biryani); or Naguib Mahfouz’s “Palace Walk” (Mrs. Mahfouz’s Mulukhiya (Green Soup) ).

Recipes are either submitted by the various book clubs covered in this book, or by the authors themselves (for example, Jhumpa Lahiri provided an recipe for “Mrs. Lahiri’s Hard-Boiled-Egg Curry in Mustard Sauce”). There are also food-related essays written by select authors especially for this cookbook. Recipes range from appetizers to main dishes to drinks (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) to desserts.

I enjoyed also the passages in this book about various featured book clubs across the country — what they read and discussed (and the food they’ve shared), and how different they all are. There are all-male book clubs, African-American book clubs, book clubs that focus on only one type of book (i.e. South Asian books).

There is a list of resources in the back of the cookbook for finding certain ingredients (such as Lyle’s Golden Syrup for ANZAC cookies, based on “The Road from Coorain” by Jill Ker Conway). International readers interested in this cookbook will have to figure out metric measurements themselves — there are no charts or equivalents included. Additionally, there are no photographs — not a detriment for me; especially since this cookbook is already good-sized. I’s say most of these recipes are ideal for potlucks, and yes of course book clubs. It’s not an all-purpose “family” or “home-cooking” cookbook. ( )

Fun, gift from Martha ( )

I wanted more from this one. It was such a great idea in theory. Complete menus would have been nice. Or thematic suggestions for decoration. Less talk about book clubs all over the country and more talk about the actual food. My daughter and I had a Harry Potter theme night, and I tried to use the Harry Potter chapter as a starting point, but since I couldn't actually remember Harry eating Treacle Tart at all in the books, and that was practically the only thing mentioned, we gave it up, and found a lot of great recipes online at Mugglenet. I'd try another recipe/meal, with a different novel, but this book just could have been so much more. ( )