Cheers! Drink and book pairings to celebrate national cocktail day
National Cocktail Day is March 24 — also coincidentally my birthday, so double cheers! I’ll be cozying up with one of these drink + book combos to celebrate!
Summer Club by Katherine Dean Mazerov
Normally, politics, parent drama, drunken soirees, snarkiness and sex-capades reign at Meadow Glen Swim and Tennis club where Lydia Phillips presides as president. Now, a strange car following the club manager, a break-in at Lydia’s home and a shocking discovery on the club grounds have this stay-at-home mom dusting off her newspaper-reporting skills to unravel the mystery. When a body surfaces in the river, Lydia’s life gets a whole lot more complicated — and dangerous.
Pairing: A frozen margarita, perfect for a hot summer day
Viral BS by Dr. Seema Yasmin
In Viral BS, journalist, doctor, professor, and CDC-trained disease detective Seema Yasmin, driven by a need to set the record straight, dissects some of the most widely circulating medical myths and pseudoscience. Exploring how epidemics of misinformation can spread faster than microbes, Dr. Yasmin asks why bad science is sometimes more believable and contagious than the facts.
Pairing: A gin and tonic, once used for medicinal purposes
The Authors of This Dream by Seth Mullins
Brandon Chane’s life is spinning out of control. After an altercation outside a performance venue nearly proves fatal, he’s feeling at the mercy of dark forces threatening to tear his life apart. Even as a gifted poet and musician, his efforts to channel pain, frustration, and thwarted love into his music may not be enough to save him.
Pairing: The Rock ‘n’ Rolla is self-explanatory.
Rethink God by Nadiez Bahi
Sherif and Christian are two strangers whose paths cross by nothing more than serendipity. For their different reasons, they become companions on a journey trying to find an answer for the big question “Does God Exist?”
Pairing: Nectar of the Gods will help you ponder the big questions in life.
Murmuration by Sid Balman Jr.
Charlie Christmas, Ademar Zarkan, and Prometheus Stone are the best of America—united by war, scarred by displacement, and resolute in the face of the troubles that rip the nation apart over three decades. Christmas, a Somali translator with a split personality, and Zarkan, a Muslim sharpshooter who defies gender and religious constraints to graduate from West Point, are first brought together by Stone, a lapsed Jew and an Army captain, amidst war and famine in East Africa. Their ensuing journey — which takes them from the mean streets of Mogadishu to the high desert of West Texas, from the barren plains of Indian country to the rolling hills of Minnesota — is at turns tragic and uplifting.
Pairing: A Texas Sunrise mocktail (alcohol is illegal in Somalia) that hails back to Sid’s home
Sing Me Forgotten by Jessica S. Olson
In this gender-swapped, feminist version of “The Phantom of the Opera,” Isda does not exist. At least not beyond the opulent walls of the opera house.
Cast into a well at birth for being one of the magical few who can manipulate memories when people sing, she was saved by Cyril, the opera house’s owner. Since that day, he has given her sanctuary from the murderous world outside. All he asks in return is that she use her power to keep ticket sales high — and that she stay out of sight. For if anyone discovers she survived, Isda and Cyril would pay with their lives.
Pairing: A Death in the Afternoon — an unforgettable cocktail for this unforgettable tale
Wings of Ebony by J. Elle
“Wonder Woman” meets “The Hate U Give” in a “Black Panther” world in this New York Times-bestselling YA fantasy about a Black teen from Houston who discovers she has magic powers — and learns how powerfully strong and resilient she truly is. Savor this moving story of Black girl magic with a glass of Black Magic Sangria–this cocktail even matches Wings of Ebony’s gorgeous cover!
Pairing: A Black Magic Sangria matches the the enchanting cover perfectly.
The Magician by Kathleen Shoop
It begins when narrator Patryk Rusek’s great-grandson Owen pulls up to Patryk’s nursing home, and discovers Patryk reading from his chronicle of the town of Donora to half the nursing home’s employees and residents. Flashback to Donora, 1920: Mary Musial is expecting again, and she and Lukasz Musial are hoping for a boy after four daughters. When Stanislaw Franciszek Musial is born, Mary hopes it will bring Lukasz joy, whose American Dream is rapidly fading. The story of Stan inspires Owen’s lifelong dream of being a pro baseball player despite his family’s wishes for his future. Everyone close to Stan has different goals in mind for him, but are they what Stan wants? Will insecurities and the people close to them lead them both to make choices too late, and decades apart from each other, or will they choose to follow their dreams after all?
Paring: The Sidecar is a perfect fit for the 1920s aesthetic.
Among the Beautiful Beasts by Lori McMullen
Set in 1920s Miami, Lori McMullen’s historical fiction novel reveals the remarkable untold story of Marjory Stoneman Douglas– the woman who saved the Everglades. After running away from her husband – a swindler thirty years her senior – and entering into an all-consuming affair, Marjory finds herself drained by the demanding men seeking control over her life. She finds solace in the natural world – wild and free as she longs to be. So, when the Everglades are threatened with irreparable damage, Marjory knows she must speak up, or one of the greatest wonders of the world will be lost.
Pairing: A Matcha Mint Julep has a very earthy vibe.
Closer to Fine by Jodi S. Rosenfeld
One of the warmest, most relatable new adult novels of the year, Jodi S. Rosenfeld’s “Closer to Fine” follows Rachel, a 20-something psych student who knows the human brain but struggles to understand her own anxiety. When a progressive female rabbi shakes up her community — and a new love interest, Liz, shakes up Rachel’s world — Rachel finds herself caught between the person she is and the woman she wants to be.
Pairing: The Sazerac has evolved and changed over time.
Denied by Mary Keliikoa
The second book in the gripping, award-nominated PI Kelly Pruett mystery series, “Denied” follows Kelly as a seemingly straightforward missing persons case quickly leads to hidden gambling debts, a severed finger, and an explosive message from the mafia. With a strong and relatable female lead, off-the-charts tension, and breathtaking twists, Mary Keliikoa’s action-packed story is one you won’t want to miss!
Pairing: A Reposado Old Fashioned is a feminine twist on a noir classic.
Rea and the Blood of the Nectar by Payal Doshi
It all begins on the night Rea turns twelve. After a big fight with her twin brother Rohan on their birthday, Rea’s life in the small village of Darjeeling, India, gets turned on its head. It’s four in the morning and Rohan is nowhere to be found. Unwilling to give up on her brother, Rea and her friend Leela meet Mishti Daadi, a wrinkly old fortune-teller whose powers of divination set them off on a thrilling and secret quest. In the shade of night, they portal to an otherworldly realm and travel to Astranthia, a land full of magic and whimsy. Rea must solve clues that lead to Rohan, find a way to rescue him and save Astranthia from a potentially deadly fate.
Pairing: A mango fizz mocktail will be fun for the kids and make them feel adventurous.
The Reincarnationist Papers by D. Eric Maikranz
After an arson job gone wrong, Evan is confronted by a mysterious woman, Poppy, who recognizes him for what he is because she also remembers multiple lives — except that she is much older, remembering seven complete lives. But there is something else Poppy must share with Evan — she is a member of a secret society of similar individuals who remember sequential past lives and reincarnate life after life. These 28 people created a secret society called the Cognomina centuries ago so that they could associate with each other from one lifetime to another. They are, in effect, near immortals — compiling experiences and skills over diverse lifetimes into near superhuman abilities that they have used to drive human history toward their own agenda on a longer timeline.
Pairing: You should be able to find a good negroni no matter where your lives take you.
One Must Tell the Bees by J. Lawrence Matthews
It begins in 1918 in the English countryside where the world’s greatest detective has retired to tend his bees and write his memoirs — memoirs that reveal the full story of his journey to America, first as a junior chemist at the DuPont gunpowder works in Wilmington, then as a companion for young Tad Lincoln on what turns out to be the evening of President Lincoln’s assassination — and finally as an unsung participant in the electrifying manhunt for the assassin, John Wilkes Booth.
Pairing: The Bee’s Knees is a prohibition-inspired cocktail incorporating honey.
Tools of A Thief by D. Hale Rambo
How do you stop being a thief? Zizy assumed quitting her job, stealing from her boss, and flitting magically across the continent was one way to give it a go. Getting in and out of sticky situations is typically Zizy’s specialty. A little spellwork here, a pinch of deception there, and she’s home free. Quick-fingered, fast-talking, and charming the gnome knows traveling across a shattered continent won’t be easy. Still, she has the skills to keep herself from getting killed.
Pairing: Pink champagne punch is fizzy and fun, with a rosy hue.
Ellen Whitfield is senior publicist at Books Forward, an author publicity and book marketing firm committed to promoting voices from a diverse variety of communities. From book reviews and author events, to social media and digital marketing, we help authors find success and connect with readers.
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