Reading Copy Book Blog

An illuminated manuscript is any manuscript whose text is accompanied by decoration. It originally referred only to silver or gilt adornments, but came to be acceptable terminology for any manuscript with drawings, paintings or decorations such as ornate initials, borders, floral accoutrements and the like. Often the illuminations would depict a historical or rural/pastoral scene. [...]

We’ve explored the weird, weird world of A.J. Jacobs before. He decided to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica in The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World, decided to spend a year living as faithfully to the bible as he could in The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s [...]

The lickable wallpaper from Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” has become a reality for some lucky London engineers.

One of my favourite, televised guilty pleasures is the BBC’s The Supersizers Go…, which was rebroadcast on The Food Network in Canada. The show combines my love of cooking, history, and humour into several episodes of gastronomical adventure and hilarity. In the spirit of Morgan Spurlock’s ‘Supersize Me’, the two hosts immerse themselves in the spirit [...]

Louisa May Alcott’s Apple Pal Dowdy or Apple Slump Recipe, and other delicious literary culinary concoctions. Books and food – what could be better?

An interesting story from the UK, burger chain McDonald’s is giving away nine million copies of Michael Morpurgo’s Mudpuddle Farm books with Happy Meals for children in a deal with HarperCollins, reports the Bookseller. It’s a move out of the blue as the only book associated with McDonald’s in recent years has been Fast Food [...]

Literary Feasts: Recipes from the Classics of Literature by Barbara Scrafford discusses delicious food scenes from famous books, and provides accompanying recipes. Reading and cooking!

There’s an Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook. Apparently, the recipes include French Bread from the Mellark family bakery, Katniss’s lamb stew with dried plums, Rue’s roasted parsnips, Gale’s game soup and Capitol-grade dark chocolate cake. It features more than 150 recipes from the meals in the trilogy written by Suzanne Collins.

Salami by Hans Gissinger and Gerard Oberle is a monograph all about salami, with gorgeous photos and accompanying essays. Perfect for the meat-loving artist.

Toast: The Story of a Boy’s Hunger by Nigel Slater is the latest food memoir that I have read. I’m a fan of Heat by Bill Buford, Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain and The Hungry Years by William Leith. This memoir is a little softer than those three but that’s part of its appeal. Slater [...]