Book + Recipe Pairings To Put On Your List

📚🥘 I read a lot of books. And I make a lot of recipes. Here's my book and recipe pairings roundup with 10 books + 10 recipes to put on your reading AND cooking lists!

• Before we get into it, if the book isn’t at least a 4/5 stars, it didn’t make this cut. And the recipes are ALL 5/5 stars because I made them 😊 and not only that, they’re reader favorites year after year with glowing reviews.

• The books are listed in the order of what I have most recently read and move back in time. And as I went back and looked at my digital bookshelf, these are ones that really stood out for me and 6-12 months later, are still memorable.

• Here is nearly every book I’ve read in the last 18-24 months. I didn’t include a few that were just too awful and wouldn’t recommend anyone waste their time on. So let’s say 95% of all the books I’ve read are on the list. I read about 50-100 books a year, depending on the year.

Books and Recipes To Pair Them With

Yesteryear - Follows the story of an influencer who longs for a tradwife existence (honestly, why? I don’t get this!) and in the meantime is popping out kids, doing as her husband says, and making bread on her ranch. Until everything changes.

How to Make Sourdough Bread (without a starter!) 🍞 This easy sourdough bread recipe uses yogurt and sour cream in place of a traditional sourdough starter, which makes it possible to prep a loaf in less than a day!

The Measure - If you knew how long your life would be, would you want to know? Would it change how you live the life you have? Would you do anything differently? A wonderful book for book club discussions.

The Best Homemade Chocolate Ganache Cake 🍫🤎🎉 is truly is the BEST homemade chocolate cake, EVER! And we should all eat more cake in the life we’re living. Moist, rich, just one bowl, and no mixer required, for this cake that has 500+ 5-star reviews! ⭐️ The cake is topped with a smooth chocolate ganache frosting for the ultimate in decadence! A scratch chocolate cake that requires just 10 minutes of hands-on prep is always a great thing!

Buckeye - Set in a post-WWII era, this book has it all with midwesterners having affairs, illegitimate children, gay secrets, the role of women, keeping secrets, a 5 star experience!

Easy Fruit Salad 🍓🍊🫐🥝 in a trifle dish gives me 1940-50s vibes and it matches with the book cover a little bit - or just make it in a big bowl, no fancy dish required! Fresh fruit is tossed in a light dressing made with orange juice, honey, and lime juice for the perfect balance of citrus meets sweet and tangy. Works with most any fruit and can be assembled the night before your next picnic, potluck, party, or event!

Strangers - True story, biography, and wait for it… This woman’s husband decided to leave her and their 3 children in the early days of the pandemic and basically just up and leaves, no warning. You’ll really wonder if you know anyone after you read this. And you’ll champion for her.

Healthy Ground Turkey Stir-Fry 🥕🥦🧡 gives me pandemic vibes because I vividly remember only being able to obtain these ingredients at my local grocery store. A pound of ground turkey and some very common veggies no one else seemed to want. But it’s an EASY, flavorful, FLEXIBLE stir fry that takes advantage of lean protein and your favorite veggies that you have in your produce drawer! Ready in 25 minutes and perfect for meal-prepping!

Anatomy of an Alibi is a twisty thriller and another one that makes you wonder if you can trust what your signifiant other is telling you or if you know them at all. Fast paced but won’t keep you up at night. I loved the narration because I love Saskia Maarelevald’s throaty, raspy voice for thrillers. I adored First Lie Wins and this followup book for Ashley Elston was also a win for me (the books aren’t connected or series’ed in any way).

Baked Ham and Cheese Sliders 🍔 feel like something these characters would’ve eaten. They were a lot of car scenes and driving and what’s better than homemade sliders on a road trip. These are made with juicy ham and Swiss cheese nestled in soft Hawaiian rolls and are brushed with a buttery Dijon, onion, and poppy seed topping! Fast, EASY, and a party and family FAVORITE, everyone is going to want this recipe!

The Correspondent - Incredible book, listen to the audiobook because it makes it even better. We follow the story of a woman’s life, as told through the correspondence and letters she has written over the course of her life, and we learn about her, her relationships, her character, and her interactions with those around her as we “eavesdrop” into her life through these letters. Phenomenal.

Sheet Pan Lemon Garlic Butter Salmon 🍣 is a classy yet no frills meal that feels like the main character in the book, Sybil, would eat. Juicy salmon at home in 30 minutes that’s EASY and tastes BETTER than from a restaurant! The butter is infused with lemon and garlic and adds so much FLAVOR!

The Briar Club is a book I’ve discussed before and it really stands out for me because of the power of female friendships. A group of women who don’t know each other all come to live at The Briar House in post war 1950 Washington, D.C. This book is currently free on Kindle Unlimited and I would run to download it!

Waldorf Salad 🥗 is a a classic, timeless crowd favorite ! It makes a great holiday side dish - or summer side dish - that your guests will devour thanks to a sweet and creamy dressing that coats a mixture of apples, grapes, celery, walnuts, and more!

Broken Country is another book that I’ve mentioned before and won all kinds of awards for best book of… in 2025. We’ve got past-and-present, toggling back and forth with a love triangle, loss, decisions to make, secrets and jealousy. This is a love and human relationships book with the pacing of a thriller. You won’t be able to put it down!

These Oven-Baked Pork Chops 🐷 are rustic, simple yet satisfying, and would be perfect for our cast of characters in their setting - or for you! Use either bone-in or boneless pork chops and they’ll turn out PERFECTLY every time! Juicy, tender, ready in 20 minutes and great for busy weeknights! A simple dry rub gives these pork chops the perfect amount of balanced flavor!

Look Closer is a tense thriller, following a couple with a seemingly very upscale life and predictable (boring) marriage in Chicago, yet nothing was as it seemed. Complex plot, lots of characters, and if you want a full cast of narration, you’ve got it with this audiobook version. If you read other David Ellis books, grab this one. It’s fantastic! And if you’re not familiar with him, this is a great place to start.

Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Bread 🍁 is very fitting for this book because there’s a Halloween time of year element that’s very central to the plot. And there’s also running (or a vivid running scene I really remember) - and as a runner, I can attest to there being nothin’ better than some sweet carbs going down pre or post run. No mixer, so simple, make it all year long!

American Dirt is free on Kindle Unlimited! We follow the story of a woman willing to do anything to give her young son a better life after her world as she knew it was shattered by cartel violence in Mexico. They ride trains - not as traditional passengers - but they try to jump onto moving trains - to escape their old life and be transported to a new life in America, all while risking their life riding trains. This book showed me a whole world that I had no idea existed, a whole underbelly, the drive of the human spirit, that mothers will risk and do anything to give our children a better life, or a life at all. Two years later, I still think about this book.

Easy 20-Minute Chicken Tinga Tacos 🌮 with super juicy chicken has AUTHENTIC smoky chipotle FLAVOR! When you’re craving tacos, these are the tacos to make!