The Perfect Pairings
Books and Beverages
Some books are best read with a drink in hand. We all know that the right beverage can elevate the entire reading experience. Why do you think the best places to read are in coffee shops?
We love settling in with a cozy mystery and a steaming mug of tea, or cracking open a sharp-witted memoir alongside a chilled glass of wine. There’s just something so satisfying about pairing a drink with a book—a sip and a story that speak the same language.
Here are some memorable reads matched with drinks that echo their mood, setting, or character quirks. Whether it's the bold kick of coffee, the nostalgic taste of Coca-Cola, or the smooth sophistication of a martini, each beverage brings out the flavor of the story in it’s own unique way. So pour yourself a glass, a cup, or a pint, and let the reading (and sipping) begin.
Coffee
The Monk of Mokha
by Dave Eggers
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
When coffee is part of your ancestral heritage, it’s a tradition worth pursuing, resurrecting, and protecting.
Mokhtar Alkhanshali is twenty-four and working as a doorman when he discovers the astonishing history of coffee and Yemen's central place in it. He leaves San Francisco and travels deep into his ancestral homeland to tour terraced farms high in the country's rugged mountains and meet beleaguered but determined farmers. But when war engulfs the country and Saudi bombs rain down, Mokhtar has to find a way out of Yemen without sacrificing his dreams or abandoning his people.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold
by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
*NOW AN LA TIMES BESTSELLER * AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER*
What would you change if you could go back in time, but only until your cup of coffee goes cold?
In a small back alley of Tokyo, there is a café that has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. Local legend says that this shop offers something else besides coffee--the chance to travel back in time.
The Full Moon Coffee Shop
by Mai Mochizuki - Jesse Kirkwood
NATIONAL BESTSELLER - Translated from the Japanese bestseller, a charming and magical novel that reminds us it's never too late to follow our stars.
This coffee shop is not only magical, but run by talking cats. Need I say more?
In Japan, cats are a symbol of good luck. As the myth goes, if you are kind to them, they'll one day return the favor. And if you are kind to the right cat, you might just find yourself invited to a mysterious coffee shop under a glittering Kyoto moon.
This particular coffee shop is like no other. It has no fixed location, no fixed hours, and it seemingly appears at random. It's also run by talking cats.
Wine
Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste
by Bianca Bosker
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND A NEW YORK TIMES CRITICS' PICK
Ever wondered if fancy sommeliers can really tell a difference between expensive and cheap wine?
Professional journalist and amateur drinker Bianca Bosker didn't know much about wine--until she discovered an alternate universe where taste reigns supreme, a world of elite sommeliers who dedicate their lives to the pursuit of flavor. Astounded by their fervor and seemingly superhuman sensory powers, she set out to uncover what drove their obsession, and whether she, too, could become a “cork dork.”
Lush
by Rochelle Dowden-Lord
A Belletrist Book Club Pick
For fans of Sweetbitter and The Bear, an intoxicating debut novel set in the glamorous, exclusive, and unexpectedly raucous world of wine.
Four wine experts, each at a crucial point in their lives, arrive at a French vineyard estate for an unforgettable experience-but not the kind they expected. Avery gave up her hard-won but exploitative sommelier job to come, while wine prodigy Cosmo is trying to disguise that his life is in freefall. The chemistry between the pair is unmistakable, but so are the signs of danger. Millionaire Sonny owns a tacky wine brand and can't help aggravating Cosmo, while caustic magazine writer Maëlys hovers with her pen poised.
Fox
by Joyce Carol Oates
Nothing screams “sit down with a glass of red wine” like reading the latest Joyce Carol Oats novel.
Coca-Cola:
Atmosphere: A GMA Book Club Pick: A Love Story
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
"Thrilling . . . heartbreaking . . . uplifting . . . the fast-paced, emotionally charged story of one ambitious young woman, finding both her voice and her passion."--Kristin Hannah, author of The Women
"NASA? Space missions? The '80s? This is a collection of all the things I love."--Andy Weir, author of Project Hail Mary and The Martian
Takes readers back to the iconic 1980s and throws them head long into the feelings of nostalgia that only something as classic as a Coke can evoke.
Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. Thoughtful and reserved, Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and as aunt to her precocious niece, Frances. That is, until she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA's space shuttle program. Suddenly, Joan burns to be one of the few people to go to space.
Oona Out of Order
by Margarita Montimore
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK
No matter what era of life you jump to, you’ll still be the same person on the inside, no matter the changes on the outside - like a can of Coke..
It's New Year's Eve 1982, and Oona Lockhart has her whole life before her. At the stroke of midnight she will turn nineteen, and the year ahead promises to be one of consequence. Should she go to London to study economics, or remain at home in Brooklyn to pursue her passion for music and be with her boyfriend? As the countdown to the New Year begins, Oona faints and awakens thirty-two years in the future in her fifty-one-year-old body. Greeted by a friendly stranger in a beautiful house she's told is her own, Oona learns that with each passing year she will leap to another age at random. And so begins Oona Out of Order…
Tea:
Funny Story
by Emily Henry
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2024
Named a Must-Read Book of 2024 by TIME ∙ NPR ∙ ELLE ∙ Parade ∙ Woman's World and more!
When the main character finds herself sipping on her favorite drink, a chai latte, it’s hard to not crave one too.
Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it...right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.
The Witches of New York
by Ami McKay
A Buzzfeed Best Gift Book of the Year
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
What better place to hide secret gatherings, whispered confessions, and a bit of magic than a humble tea shop in New York?
New York in the spring of 1880 is a place alive with wonder and curiosity. Determined to learn the truth about the world, its residents enthusiastically engage in both scientific experimentation and spiritualist pursuits. Séances are the entertainment of choice in exclusive social circles, and many enterprising women--some possessed of true intuitive powers, and some gifted with the art of performance--find work as mediums.
Beer:
Hip Hops: Poems about Beer
by Christoph Keller
Finally a collection of poems that speaks to every homebrewer, IPA drinker, and beer connoisseur.
From the ancient "Hymn to Ninkasi" (the Sumerian goddess of beer) to eighth-century Chinese poet Li Bai's "Bring in the Ale" to Robert Graves's "Strong Beer," the poems collected here attest to humankind's long attraction to the foamy and intoxicating product of malted grains.
Martini:
Casino Royale: A James Bond Novel
by Ian Fleming
JAMES BOND PLAYS A DEADLY GAME OF CHANCE IN IAN FLEMING'S LEGENDARY FIRST 007 NOVEL
If a gin and vodka martini, shaken, not stirred, is good enough for James Bond, then it’s the perfect drink to pair with his first mission.
"Le Chiffre" is a ruthless operative and the accountant for a soviet SMERSH cell in France, but he's on the verge of disaster after gambling away his client's money. Taking the last of his stash, he lures a dozen wealthy players to a high-stakes baccarat game, hoping to hustle his way whole.
Peril at End House: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition
by Agatha Christie
In this official authorized edition from the Queen of Mystery, a young woman who has recently survived a series of very close calls appears to be the target of a dedicated killer--and it's up to Hercule Poirot to save her life. Now with a beautiful new series look.
If there has recently been a murder, then it probably isn’t a good idea to accept a martini from even the least of suspects.
On holiday on the Cornish Riviera, Hercule Poirot is alarmed to hear pretty Nick Buckley describe her recent "accidental brushes with death." First, on a treacherous Cornish hillside, the brakes on her car failed. Then, on a coastal path, a falling boulder missed her by inches. Later, an oil painting fell and almost crushed her in bed.