The lovely K is off to France and so for the next few book clubs we have the fabulous A joining us. S has picked the theme - a book from 1900 section of the 1001 must reads list released by the publisher Penguin (Australian website). S has indicated she will do Great Apes by Will Self; A has already indicated she will do Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford. Hmmm, what to do.. what to do... Initial thoughts are: What do you think? And what would be on your list of must read books?
An Update 2/7/2011: When I wrote the blog we didn't have a date for book club but guess what??? It's tonight! Stay tuned for an update on the evenings festivities. Here's a teaser -
What's more perfect on a wintery weekend then to sit and chat with friends, eat some good food and drink some great wine! Well maybe an open fireplace would have "sealed the deal" but still...
- Cheeses chosen were:
- Note - cheeses were purchased from the Smelly Cheese Co in the Central Markets who were very helpful and made some great suggestions.
- Le Delice des Cremier - an absolutely divine creamy white mould cheese which was a bit on the salty side but went fabulousy with the bread selection. The Smelly Cheese Co promised that the cheese would get softer with age - must learn how to do this.
- Mature hard cheese - cheddar with blue vein edge. Didn't catch the name of the product but was a very nice cheese that unfortunately paled in comparison to the white mould and the blue vein selections. It did not taste like a blue cheese at all!
- Domain Bress? - a mild blue brie, salty but fabulous with the three seeds bread (strong carroway seed flavour).
- Other Condiments:
- Willabrand Saffron Vanilla Pears - yum! Went fabulously with all cheeses.
- Striezel sweet bread
- Three Seeds bread
- Waffers
- Wine was Jacobs Creek 2005 Johan Shiraz Cabernet ($75AUD).
- Very nice. Excellent legs. Initially the flavour was a bit light but developed in body. Very smooth. Numbered bottle - 28983.
- Chocolate:
- Rum and Raisen Slice: mmmm. S does it again. Lindt, cream, Bundaberg rum, flour, eggs, raisens. Despite this, not too heavy and not too sweet.
- Book theme discussed:
- Something containing the letter "F" (K). Interpreted by S and T as "F" needed to be in the authors name. Completely disregarded by K, unless one speaks with a lisp.
- Bring the Monkey, Miles Franklin (S): A great read. A spoof on all the "Agatha Christie" like murder mysteries of the time. The first half was a bit difficult but the second half of the book - a page turner.
- The White Company, Arthur Conan Doyle (K): DON'T READ! At first K enjoyed the book but found the second half very disappointing, lacked focus and plot and ended abruptly.
- The Trial, Franz Kafka (T): Interesting. Wouldn't class as a must read book but did finish it. The discussion about how the book came to be published is almost more intriguing then the book itself. Will blog soon about the virtue of formatting!
