Book pairings: Jungle Red gift ideas

HALLIE EPHRON: One of the most fun events I did for my book launch was book talk paired with a wine, chocolate, and cheese tasting, hosted by Adventures by the Book in San Diego. They do such a great job pairing experiences with books--just for instance, coming up next fall they have a New England Foliage Adventures (Oct 12-20), a four-state journey featuring New England authors.

Their approach got me thinking about how pairing a book with a food, an experience, or another book makes a great gift.

So as we all look toward the Christmas shopping season, we Reds are here to help you with some creative gift giving, pairing our books with… 

I’d recommend pairing CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR with a copy of Marie Kondo’s THE LIFE-CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP, and a bottle of Prosecco (just don't drink too much).

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I’d recommend pairing A BITTER FEAST with a bottle of Cotswold Dry Gin (or best substitute available,) a cheese board with artisan British cheeses, and a book on Cotswold Secret Gardens. A plane ticket would be nice, too, for those very special friends!

LUCY BURDETTE: If the person you’re gifting is going to make it to Key West this winter, a perfect gift would be A DEADLY FEAST, plus tickets to the Key West seafood and walking tour that’s featured in the book. Or you could meet the real chef Martha Hubbard at one of her tasting events: http://www.islecookkeywest.com/schedule-of-events.htm

If all else fails, a key lime pie goes with any of the books!

JENN McKINLAY: Well, for the romantics in your life, you could give a copy of THE CHRISTMAS KEEPER with an ugly Christmas sweater, it’s a thing in the book. Or for the mystery lover, a copy of WORD TO THE WISE with a nice charcuterie board or some roses, although they might send a mixed message, so be careful with that.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Ooh, a copy of THE MURDER LIST feels like it might come with a bit of baggage. So I’d make it fun, and include a gorgeous indulgent notebook--ostensibly for keeping track of the books your recipient reads, or maybe journaling, but maybe for a list of something else….   And a beautiful pen, or a box of those wonderful Blackwing #2 pencils.

RHYS BOWEN: I’m not sure what I could pair with LOVE AND DEATH AMONG THE CHEETAHS, my most recent book. Certainly not a book on how to host a wife-swapping party! Or a bag of cocaine. Or even a pair of tickets to a safari. 

So I think I’ll stick with the safer THE VICTORY GARDEN, my stand-alone from earlier this year. It’s about a garden in Devonshire, herbs, healing, so I think I could pair it with a book on the uses of herbs, plus a jar of Devon clotted cream to have with scones and jam. And I’d throw in a copy of my THE TWELVE CLUES OF CHRISTMAS to make it festive, as that is all about celebrating Christmas in Devonshire.

HALLIE: So wishing everyone a happy Saturday-after-Thanksgiving and JUST THREE WEEKENDS BEFORFE CHRISTMAS!

Jungle Reds books under your tree?

HALLIE EPHRON: Just in case Santa brought you a gift card and you're wondering what to get, here's a few of the latest books from the Jungle Reds to fill your now empty stocking.

Jenn McKinlay

HITTING THE BOOKS

It's murder by the book in the latest hit Library Lover's mystery. When a stack of library materials is found at the scene of a hit and run, library director Lindsey Norris finds herself dragged into the investigation as the police try to link the driver of the stolen car to the person who borrowed the books.

Rhys Bowen

THE VICTORY GARDEN

As the Great War continues to take its toll, headstrong twenty-one-year-old Emily Bryce is determined to contribute to the war effort. She is convinced by a cheeky and handsome Australian pilot that she can do more, and it is not long before she falls in love with him and accepts his proposal of marriage. When he is sent back to the front, Emily volunteers as a “land girl,” tending to the neglected grounds of a large Devonshire estate. It’s here that Emily discovers the long-forgotten journals of a medicine woman…

Deborah Crombie

GARDEN OF LAMENTATIONS

On a beautiful morning in mid-May, the body of a young woman is found in one of Notting Hill’s private gardens. To passersby, the pretty girl in the white dress looks as if she’s sleeping. But Reagan Keating has been murdered... #17 Duncan Kincaid & Jemma James mystery

Hank Phillippi Ryan

TRUST ME

Hank’s first standalone. An accused killer insists she's innocent of a heinous murder. A grieving journalist surfaces from the wreckage of her shattered life. Their unlikely alliance leads to a dangerous cat and mouse game that will leave you breathless.

Julia Spencer Fleming

THROUGH THE EVIL DAYS
Friday, January 9th. A middle-of-the-night call wakes Episcopal priest Clare Fergusson and her husband, Police Chief Russ van Alstyne: a farmhouse has erupted in flames, killing the couple sleeping indoors. A tragedy for the Adirondack mountain town of Millers Kill.
But a darker, more evil current quickly emerges…

Lucy Burdette

DEATH ON THE MENU

The latest Key West Food Critic mystery. Food critic Hayley Snow is thrilled to be working at a three-day international conference at the Harry S. Truman Little White House. But things get off to a bad start when Hemingway’s Nobel prize gold medal (which belongs to Cuba and is on display for this weekend only) disappears. And they only get worse when a body is discovered in the storeroom. Hayley must spring into action before the killer adds another victim to his menu.

Hallie Ephron

YOU’LL NEVER KNOW, DEAR

Lissie Woodham was only seven years old when her little sister Janey disappeared. They had been in the front yard, playing with their dolls, custom creations made for them by their mother Miss Sorrel, a famous dollmaker. Lissie wandered off for a moment. When she returned to the yard, Janey was gone, and so was her doll. Forty years later, the doll comes back.

Happy Day After Christmas!! AKA Enjoy Leftovers Day.

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In Flanders Field, Thoughts for Veteran's Day

RHYS BOWEN: Today we salute all veterans, those still living and those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. This year the day is especially significant as it marks the hundred year anniversary of the end of WWI.


Also known as the Great War, and for many years as THE WAR TO END ALL WARS, it was the deadliest war in human history. It killed nine million military combatants and an estimated seven million civilians. It also weakened the world population with hunger and deprivation so that when the flu struck in 1918 with a particularly virulent strain it became a worldwide pandemic that killed between 50 and 100 million people worldwide.

It was particularly brutal for those who had to fight as it was run by generals used to cavalry charges, who instead sent their troops against tanks and mustard gas. Imagine living in a trench, wet, cold, often knee deep in mud, then being sent "over the top" while bullets and grenades fell around you. And all to gain maybe five yards of territory, before losing it again the next day. Each assault resulted in thousands of lives lost per yard gained. It was insane. Apart from the physical wounds, the blinding and damaged lungs of mustard gas, there were the psychological wounds. To be sitting on the lawn in England, eating strawberries and cream one minute and the next day being sent back to that hell was too much for many young minds. And PTSD was not understood in those days. When they cracked and simply couldn't join an assault they were shot for cowardice.  The men who made it home were horribly damaged.

And all of this started because an anarchist assassinated an obscure archduke in a small Balkans town! I hope it makes us all think how little it takes to light the flames of ambition and conquest and how devastating the effects of the smallest act can be.

I've actually just been immersed in this topic as my next novel, that comes out in February, takes place in the Great War, and it deals with what happens when the men in a village are not coming home and women are called to do things they did not think possible. It's called The Victory Garden.

So let us all pause for a moment of silence this morning and think of all the men and women, in all of the wars, who did what they were called upon to do, with bravery and stoicism. Who died far from home in foreign fields, or came home broken. We salute them all.
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