Reading Groups

Cooking Up a Plot: Food in Fiction with Donna Raskin

5 Sessions Mondays, 7:00 pm EDT - 8:30 pm EDT January 27 to May 19, 2025

Online via Zoom

featured-images.reading-groups.2025-winter9

The ‘With Books’ option includes the titles required for this group at a 10% discount from our Bookstore.

Meeting Dates:
1/27, 2/24, 3/24, 4/21, 5/19
Online via Zoom

Food is the focus of these five delectable novels. From a Chinese American rewrite of The Brothers Karamazov to the destruction of a literary and political American marriage with stops through other cultures, these books feature food as character, symbol, and means of expression. Through noodles and casseroles, restaurants and home kitchens, we will dig into fictional and memorable feasts together.

What to read before the first meeting: Heartburn by Nora Ephron.

What to expect from this reading group: I always start with some history about the book and author, then ask the participants for their opinion of the book. I want to center their thoughts and questions in the discussion. I also talk about writing style and authorial choices.

Reading List:

Heartburn by Nora Ephron
The Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang
The Cook by Maylis de Kerangal; translated from the French by Sam Taylor
Love and Saffron by Kim Fay
Honey and Spice by Bolu Babalola

Capacity: 20

Please note: All virtual classes are recorded. Please click here for information about our recording policy.

Led by

Donna Raskin

Donna Raskin

Donna Raskin is the senior health and fitness editor of Runner’s World and Bicycling magazine. She is also an adjunct professor of writing at The College of New Jersey, where she encourages her students to put down their phones and pick up novels.

About this series

Reading Groups

Whether you’re looking to catch up on great novels or you’re interested in exploring a new writer or literary period, our reading groups offer high-level literary discussion led by experts in the field.

Groups+Workshops

More Groups+Workshops

Groups+Workshops