Guest post by Henry Young.
New year wishes and new year resolutions are just around the corner! In 2024, we hope you will read more books, read better books, or just read books you prefer (and abandon books you don’t).
This new year is a foodie new year because in January we have a smorgasbord of gastronomy writers visiting East Sussex Libraries!
Top audio
Food of the Cods by Daniel Gray
The story of Britain’s fish and chips obsession ‘A lyrical, amiable and educational celebration of what may be our greatest achievement: the chippy.’ Stuart Maconie
Step inside and unwrap this deliciously entertaining look at Britain’s national dish. There is a corner of every town and city in Britain where the air is tangy with vinegar and the scent of frying. Following the irresistible lure, Daniel Gray ponders the magic of chippies and the delights they have sprinkled among us for the last 150 years as he investigates the social – and sociable – history of fish and chips.
Travelling to chippies from Dundee to Devon via South Shields, Oldham, Bradford, Bethnal Green, the Rhondda Valley and more – Daniel Gray explores our fish-and-chip nation to show how chippies have helped emancipate women, promote equality for immigrants and shape local and national identity. Whether you were raised eating scraps of Wolverhampton’s orange chips, London’s ‘wallies’ or Hull’s chip spice – even if you think you know whether tea, Vimto or dandelion and burdock is the best accompaniment – this mouth-watering book is as much about who we are as what we eat.
Daniel is visiting Hastings library Thursday 11 January 7-8pm – book your ticket soon so you don’t miss out.
Reserve the pBook of ‘Food of the Cods’
Listen to the eAudio of ‘Food of the Cods’
Read the ebook of ‘Food of the Cods’
Top non-fiction
Anything You Can Cook, I Can Cook Vegan by Richard Makin
Richard Makin is a vegan cook and creator of the popular food blog, School Night Vegan. He began his foodie journey in 2017, when he switched from life-long vegetarian to a completely vegan diet. He is a dedicated, self-proclaimed, experimental vegan food scientist.
Imagine a world with limitless vegan options; a place where anything and everything can be made vegan. Mac ‘n cheese? Proper English fry up? Decadent ice cream sundae? Imagine no more – you can find them all here!
‘Anything You Can Cook, I Can Cook Vegan’ is a guide to truly creative plant-based cooking with zero sacrifices. With over 100 innovative recipes, along with tips, techniques and ingredient guides, this book will teach you how to feel more confident than ever in a plant-based kitchen. With cleverly marked difficulty levels, recipes range from quick school-night classics to fun weekend baking projects. You’ll learn to make delicious, versatile meat alternatives and proper, grate-able vegan cheeses, and find out just how versatile tofu can be. Richard Makin packs each recipe with simple tricks for maximising flavour and genius vegan ‘hacks’ you’ll wonder how you ever coped without.
Richard is visiting Crowborough and Hastings library on 27 January – booking required.
Reserve the pBook of ‘Anything You Can Cook, I Can Cook Vegan’
Top fiction
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
‘The Buried Giant’ begins as a couple set off across a troubled land of mist and rain in the hope of finding a son they have not seen in years. Sometimes savage, often intensely moving, Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel is about lost memories, love, revenge and war.
This is a brilliant entry point for people who would never dream of reading a fantasy novel. But that is exactly what it is! King Arthur, Ogres and mention of dragons. This feels so realistic, set in pre 1066 mythical times where the Saxons and the Britons hold an uneasy peace.
Read the eAudio of ‘The Buried Giant’
Reserve the pBook of ‘The Buried Giant’
Read the eBook of ‘The Buried Giant’
Top children’s fiction
Coyote’s Wild Home
by Barbara Kingsolver, Lily Kingsolver and Paul Mirocha
Pulitzer Prize winner Barbara Kingsolver and environmental educator Lily Kingsolver collaborate on their first children’s book, Coyote’s Wild Home.
The book takes us into the woods, meadows, and streams of an Appalachian forest where a girl and a coyote pup each have their first woodland adventures. On their separate journeys into the wilderness with a beloved family member, the intertwined paths of child and coyote will surprise and enchant young readers. With its richly detailed illustrations and gentle biology lessons, this story of two young explorers invites readers to imagine wilderness as a place to be protected, loved, and shared.
Reserve the pBook of Coyote’s Wild Home
Children’s fiction
Dictionary of Dinosaurs by Dieter Braun
From aardonyx to zuniceratops, read about where they lived, what they ate and much more. Featuring firm favourites such as the t-rex, ankylosaurus and triceratops, as well as lesser-known beasts like the baryonyx, rugops and shanag, there’s no dino left behind in this A-Z. Each entry includes a fact file, scale diagram, Latin name and pronunciation. Best of all, each page is filled with a colourful, eye-popping illustration of the dinosaur, in conjunction with the Natural History Museum.
Reserve the pBook of ‘Dictionary of Dinosaurs’
There are many reasons to visit your local library this winter! Just one of them being the amazing upcoming events. Visit the libraries events page for all the details! And if you missed it, check out December’s Get in our Good Books!
