One Book, One Wine, Every Month
Let's kick off the year with a gripping thriller: The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware, a suspenseful mystery set at sea.
And of course, we can't have a January without something bubbly, so let's drink sparkling wine (champagne, prosecco, cava, whatever you like!).
For December's pick, I'd like to get back to our roots and select a read that has two of the characteristics that I strive to maintain since our club's beginning: New York City + women writers. So let's try The Clancy's of Queens by Tara Clancy. The memoir describes the author's life as a New Yorker, with her three different perspectives: Queens, Brooklyn, and the Hamptons.
For wine, I think we should stick to red for the winter, but let's all bring and taste a red wine blend. That could mean wine created from two or more different types of grapes. It's common to see blends like Cabernet + Merlot, Grenache + Syrah, Tempranillo + Malbec, but there are a ton of options.
This month's pick: Get in Trouble by Kelly Link, a Pulitzer prize finalist and a collection of short stories in which a writer with a crazy imagination explores inner lies and odd corners of reality. I think this will be a fun way to mix it up (and I'll certainly need some fantasy in my life with the holidays coming up).
Let's mix it up in the wine selection, too. Instead of bringing wine this month, bring your favorite hard cider. There's been a huge surge of new and funky ciders, especially in New York State. To avoid that sickly sweet stuff, select something that's on the dry side. Wolffer Estate makes a fantastic one in adorable little bottles. I also love Bad Seed and Farnum Hill has well.
I want to read one of book club's favorite authors: Marla Semple who wrote Where'd You Go Bernadette? Her new read is called Today Will Be Different, about one woman's reinvention of herself.
Since we're getting into the thick of fall, I'd like to switch to red. Let's drink Malbec, a wine that's typically found in Argentina or France, and which each region produces a very different flavor. Most likely, you've had Argentinian Malbec, which tends to be fruit forward with flavors of blackberry, plum, and black cherry. The French Malbec is more leathery and tart, and a little more tannic. Lucky for us, this wine goes great with cheese.
I can't believe it's been three years since we started reading and drinking wine together.
Let's read Tuesday Nights in 1980 by Molly Prentiss. It follows our NYC connection/ female writer theme, so I think it will be a great choice for our celebratory meeting.
As for wine, three years in a row, we're sticking with one of my all-time favorites, Gruner Veltliner, a medium-bodied, dry white wine that's peppery with notes of stone fruit and citrus.
I selected a new memoir from Jessi Klein called "You'll Grow Out of It." I've heard it's really funny, so should be a nice end of the summer read for August. How is the end of summer here already?
To pair with that, let's go to Greece! Or at least drink Greek wine. Food & Wine came out with a great beginners guide to some Greek varieties. Check it out, here.
This July, let's read My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. It's a story about two friends growing up in Naples, Italy. The book is actually book one in a series, in case you like it so much and want to continue on.
We'll pair that with a loose wine recommendation: natural/organic/sustainable/biodynamic wines. I drink natural wines a ton, not because they are made without chemicals (although that sounds good), but because they are often super earthy/unfiltered/funky, which I love. I also realize they aren't for everyone, so bringing an organic/sustainable/biodynmic wine, too.
You're probably like, what's the difference? Wine Spectator is here to help.
This June, I've selected Wendy Lawless's new memoir, Heart of Glass. It takes place in the gritty 1980's New York City, and details the writer's path to becoming an actress, as well as her unstable childhood.
For wine, since we're getting into Hamptons/North Fork season, let's sip on any wine from Long Island. Channing Daughters and Wolffer Estate are two of my favorites.
I'm excited to announce our May Book, Ways to Disappear by Idra Novey, which has been said to be the next Where'd You Go Bernadette, a book club favorite. Let's see if it can live up to our high expectations!
As for wine, I'm feeling like we're on the verge of spring (hopefully), so I won't go completely light and refreshing yet, but a light-bodied, fruity Gamay feels like a good fit.
For April, let's read Jaime's pick, Padma Lakshmi's memoir, Love Loss and What We Ate, which focuses a lot on her career, South Indian childhood, and relationship with Salman Rushdie.
And it's finally spring, so obviously we need to get our rose game on as much as possible.
This month, we're going to read a new/old book. Back in 2007, The Red Parts by Maggie Nelson was published: a memoir about her aunt's 35-year-old murder that was reopened when new DNA evidence was uncovered. This month, the much-talked-about book was reprinted. If you like Making of a Murderer, you'll probably like this one, too.
As for wine, let's go with Muscadet, a light-bodied, mineral-y wine from the Loire Valley in France. If there's one thing that Muscadet pairs really well with, it's oysters!
Since February is a short month, I want to give everyone a chance to catch up on their reading, so I selected a collection of short stories called Fortune Smiles, by Adam Johnson. It's won TONS of awards, including one of the best books of the year from the Washington Post. The collection focuses on giving voices to characters with major life obstacles or tragedies.
As for wine: To mimic the dry, crisp winter weather, let's taste any variety of dry-tasting wine of your choosing. Dry meaning, there's little residual sugar in the wine, but understandably what is dry to one person, may not taste as dry to another. When in doubt, ask someone at your wine store for a recommendation!
Our reading and tasting for January. We're going to read Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal. It's a novel that paints the picture of the food revolution from the last 25 years, in the point of view of a Midwest chef-- centering on themes of class, family, and culture.
As for wine, I'm going to get a little abstract but bear with me. Rather than choosing a region or a varietal, I'm going to go on tasting notes. In honor of our country-midwest theme, bring something earthy, grassy, funky, or reminiscent of the countryside.
I was a big fan of Sloane Crosley's I Was Told There'd Be Cake, so I decided to go with her latest book, The Clasp. It seems a lot different than her first, but with her same funny and conversational style.
As for wine, let's all travel through our glasses to the islands! I mean any island: Corsica, Sardinia, Santorini, the Canaries, Sicily, etc.
This November, we're going to read a book called Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins. This is an interesting one because it's set in the future-- the future of what California could be like with a major drought. My Southern California girls will probably have some interesting thoughts on this.
As for wine, let's continue with that theme and drink wines from California. Any wine of your choosing!
Dream scenario: Can we do our next meeting out West at a vineyard? Book Club Takes Sonoma, perhaps.
Any Mindy Kaling fans? I decided to go with her new book Why Not Me? that came out just a couple weeks ago. I expect it to be like her last book, Is Everyone Hanging Out With Me?, a collection of personal (and incredibly funny) essays. I also suggest following her on Instagram (and having regular marathons of The Office).
As for wine, I've been hitting up a lot of wines from Oregon lately. I think it's because some of my favorite Pinot Noirs are from the Willamette Valley, and now that it's Fall, I'm getting back into reds. Whatever the reason, let's sip on some wines from Oregon this month!
We've read many books, drank LOTS of glasses (ahem, bottles) of wine, and have individually gone through so many changes over the last 24 months (new jobs, new boyfriends, weddings, breakups, moving, new sunglasses...) and having you all at my home each month has been a bright spot no matter what crazy stuff is going on.
To celebrate, we're going to drink our very first book club wine pick Gruner Veltliner, and read an Emily Feinberg pick, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.
I think we should make this one a book club birthday blowout, so please bring your favorite bottle of Gruner (treats optional) and come ready to chat and drink.
The summer is winding down, and I've selected a book that comes out this Tuesday-- Woman With a Secret by Sophie Hannah. From what I've heard so far, it's supposed to be one of those can't-put-it-down suspenseful thrillers. I feel like we need one of those right now.
Let's pair that with a wine region we haven't gotten to yet, South African wines. I find that most of the region's wines taste of very ripe fruit, because of the warm temps down there, and sometimes a little earthy. Some of the varieties you'll probably see: Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Syrah, and Pinot Noir.
And July's book is... Euphoria by Lily King. The book is about three anthropologists in a love triangle, and as you can see by its Amazon page, it has won a ton of awards.
Last night, we were talking about Lambrusco,and I think we should go for it. It's a sparkling red Italian wine that's light, low in alcohol, and usually sweet. Perfect for summer drinking!
This June, I selected a book that comes out on June 2, Sunlit Night by Rebecca Dinerstein. It takes place on the very top of the world, where the sun never sets (the author actually went there to experience it and write this), and follows Frances and Yasha, two people there for very different reasons.
As for wine, I'd love to sip on Vihno Verde, a Portuguese wine that's light, fresh, and semi-sparkling. I'm hoping that this month we can hold our meeting on my building's terrace-- so fingers crossed for warm weather.