“The more you know, the more you can create. There’s no end to imagination in the kitchen.” – Julia Child

Reading can be a great therapeutic activity that helps one take a break from everyday life. Now imagine, you’re immersed in the world of your favourite book when you come across the description of the most appetizing, tantalizing and mouth-watering cake, chocolate chip cookie, or loaf of bread!

You’re salivating at the very thought of biting into the baked goodie, so you have no choice but to try and recreate it. Luckily, our friends at the Emirates Literature Foundation have some recommendations that you can savour all season!

Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan

autumnal books to read

In a quaint seaside resort, a charming bakery holds the key to another world. Polly Waterford is recovering from a toxic relationship. She moves miles away to a sleepy little seaside resort in Cornwall, where she takes out her frustrations by indulging in her favourite hobby: making bread. But what was previously just a weekend diversion suddenly gains more importance as she pours her energy and her emotions into kneading and pounding the dough, and each loaf becomes better and better. With nuts and seeds, olives and chorizo, with local honey (courtesy of local beekeeper, Huckle), and with reserves of determination and creativity Polly never knew she had, she bakes and bakes and bakes . . . until people start to hear about it.

Little Beach Street Bakery brings drama, heartache, humour, beauty, friendship, food, love, and light romance for a “gentle and relaxing” reading experience. With a bank of recipes for readers to try themselves at home!

Sweet Bean Paste by Tetsuya Akikawa

autumnal books to read

Sweet Bean Paste is a book that checks all the boxes for one’s heart, mind…and appetite! A beautiful warm heartfelt story by Durian Sukegawa about an unlikely friendship between a formerly incarcerated confectionary shop worker, the 78-year-old woman he hires, and a troubled teen girl. The book explores stigmas around identity and health and encourages readers to look at stigma without shame.

A charming tale of friendship, love and loneliness in contemporary Japan that holds one’s heart captive and incites one to order a warm dorayaki (or two).

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke

autumnal books to read

No one cooks up a delectable, suspense-filled mystery quite like Hannah Swensen, Joanne Fluke’s dessert-baking, red-haired heroine whose gingersnaps are as tart as her comebacks, and whose penchant for solving crime definitely stirs things up.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder is the cosiest of cosy murder mysteries. It has all the right ingredients: a bakery, a murder, and some super scandalous chocolate-chip crunchies. This book is sure to have readers coming back for seconds from the Hannah Swensen mystery series.

Matilda by Roald Dahl

autumnal books to read

There is so much amazing food in the books of Roald Dahl (and the films that followed), but none as iconic as the chocolate cake from Matilda.

For those who’re unfamiliar, Matilda is the story of a young girl who ‘longed for a friend, someone like the kind, courageous people in her books.’ Her parents neglect her and are involved in shady dealings, her principal is a force to be reckoned with who dislikes children and loves punishment until Matilda discovers her magic powers and puts them to use to right the wrongs.

Matilda is a beloved children’s classic for a reason and one that still warms the hearts of kids and adults today. If you want to earn brownie points, whip up a giant batch of Matilda cake and share with your friends and family.

If you enjoyed today’s tasty selection of recommendations from Yasameen Firas, the Production and Liaison Officer at the Emirates Literature Foundation, then don’t check out the Foundation’s book-ish content on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. Or sign up for one of their five official book clubs!

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