EASY READS AND EASY DRINKING WINES

I love to read.  Always have.  I wish I had more time for it, but now with two kids and my Harper’s Hats business I feel that I have less and less.  When it’s 10:30 at night, I need a book that will keep me from nodding off within the first couple pages and we all know that a good story is what keeps those pages turning. 

I have been lucky enough to have landed into the most wonderful book club since moving to Calgary six years ago.  Our love of reading is what brings us together every month, even though we mostly just eat great food, drink good wine and catch-up.  We all have different tastes and I have read some wonderful books because of their suggestions.  In honour of my wonderful friends, I am sharing my favourite books that I found impossible to put down and those easy-drinking glasses of wine to go with them. 

I have included 5 fantastic books and their plots (taken from Chapters of Indigo).  After putting this post together, I have noticed that I evidently really like California wine!  I even included a handy cheat sheet for you so that you can take a photo and save it for your next trip to Chapters or Costco Liquor.

 Whether you are a mom or a working woman or both, grab one of these books and it’s complimentary wine pairing and I guarantee you’ll be staying up well past 10:30.

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 I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak (you’ll be hearing more about him in future book posts, he is my FAVOURITE author)

 “Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He’s pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery.

That’s when the first ace arrives in the mail.

That’s when Ed becomes the messenger.

Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who’s behind Ed’s mission?”

Pair it with…

Saint and Sinner British Columbia Red Wine – so fitting for this book!

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Where’d You Go Bernadette? By Maria Semple

“Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she’s a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she’s a disgrace; to design mavens, she’s a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom.

Then Bernadette disappears. It began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica.To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, secret correspondence—creating a compulsively readable and touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter’s role in an absurd world.”

Pair it with…

Smashberry California White Wine – so fitting for the book’s dispute over some wild blackberry bushes.  I discovered this wine a couple weeks ago and it is amazing!

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The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion  (if you like this one read the sequel, The Rosie Effect)

“An international sensation, this hilarious, feel-good novel is narrated by an oddly charming and socially challenged genetics professor on an unusual quest: to find out if he is capable of true love.”

Pair it with…

Conundrum California White Wine  – a bit of a splurge but hands-down the best white wine I have ever had! It is a blend from the famous Caymus Winery. ______________________________________________

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

“When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family. Orphaned while onboard ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master’s illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin.

Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk.”

Pair it with…

The Dreaming Tree Califronia Red Wine – This is Dave Matthews’ wine.  Give this one a try if you loved the song “Crash” in University.

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The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

 “Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.”

Pair it with…

Rock Rabbit California Red Wine – a bold but smooth wine.  A big hit at one of our book clubs!

Cheers book lovers,

Kiki

www.harpers-hats.com