Hi readers and writerly friends!

Have you ever been forcefully induced into a craving because some character in a book you were reading happened to be eating something and suddenly you just HAD to have it? Have you ever come to associate certain flavors or smells with books because the characters in them frequently imbibed them and now it’s ingrained in your memory? Yeah, same here. This week in Reader Life, I’m giving you a list of the top ten times I was made hungry by books. I was inspired by C.G. Drews over at paperfury.com who wrote a fantastic list of ten books that made her really hungry and talked about what she calls “foodie fiction.” I’ll have her article linked at the end of this blog post but you can also find it here! Fair warning, this list might make you hungry. Proceeding on an empty stomach is ill-advised.

The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

This one made it first in the list because this goes right back to my early years of childhood when I first read C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, and was wholly and completely consumed with a gnawing hunger for Turkish delight. Why? I dunno. I’ve never had a bite of the dish in my entire life, but the way Edmund was obsessed with the sweet treat so much so that he felt compelled to trust the White Witch just to get his hands on some was the main takeaway of that story for me. I still think about Turkish delight from time to time—especially when I hear anything to do with Narnia—and wonder, why haven’t I tried it yet?

The White Witch?" said Edmund; "who's she?"
"She is a perfectly terrible person," said Lucy. "She calls herself the Queen of Narnia thought she has no right to be queen at all, and all the Fauns and Dryands and Naiads and Dwarfs and Animals—at least all the good ones—simply hate her. And she can turn people into stone and do all kinds of horrible things. And she has made a magic so that it is always winter in Narnia—always winter, but it never gets to Christmas. And she drives about on a sledge, drawn by reindeer, with her wand in her hand and a crown on her head."
Edmund was already feeling uncomfortable from having eaten too many sweets, and when he heard that the Lady he had made friends with was a dangerous witch he felt even more uncomfortable. But he still wanted to taste that Turkish Delight more than he wanted anything else.
—C.S. Lewis, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

While he was eating the Queen kept asking him questions. At first Edmund tried to remember that it is rude to speak with one’s mouth full, but soon he forgot about this and thought only of trying to shovel down as much Turkish Delight as he could, and the more he ate the more he wanted to eat, and he never asked himself why the Queen should be so inquisitive. She got him to tell her that he had one brother and two sisters, and that one of his sisters had already been in Narnia and had met a Faun there, and that no one except himself and his brother and his sisters knew anything about Narnia. She seemed especially interested in the fact that there were four of them and kept on coming back to it.
“You are sure there are just four of you?” she asked. “‘Two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve, neither more nor less?” and Edmund, with his mouth full of Turkish Delight, kept on saying, “Yes, I told you that before,” and forgetting to call her “Your Majesty” but she didn’t seem to mind now.
—C.S. Lewis, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

Did you read C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia? Did you get this same bone-deep craving for Turkish delight as I did? Here’s a fantastic article by Leah Schnelbach that explains why Turkish Delight was the ultimate temptation for Edmund in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.

And here is a fantastic recipe for Turkish Delight, by Kate Young of The Little Library Café, that she took great care in getting as authentic and close to the story as possible: Turkish Delight. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Bagged caramel corn in a wire basket. Photo by Hung Diesel.

2. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

There are just so many spectacular confections and marvelous midnight meals mentioned in this book, but what stuck out to me the most was the caramel corn and the flavors that were common to the circus itself.

“There are vendors traversing the crowd around you, selling refreshments and oddities, creations flavored with vanilla and honey, chocolate and cinnamon.” —Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus.

This book made me absolutely ravenous for circus-style kettle-cooked caramel corn. Try saying that five times fast! But seriously, I was so desperate to find this treat while I was reading this novel back in January of 2019, and unfortunately Crunch N’ Munch and Cracker Jack weren’t going to cut it. One day I went into my local Sam’s Club and lo and behold, there was a vendor selling freshly cooked caramel corn and it was delightful. Suffice to say, I bought the big bag.

Read my review here.

3. The Mooncallers by Leda C. Muir

This book series made me hungry more times than I could bother to keep track of—whether it was for marbled cheese and tuma bread or hot tea and roseleaf cigarettes (I know it’s not technically food, but it counts!) didn’t matter. It seemed like everything consumed in this high-fantasy series had me drooling and wishing the fictional characters would share.

4. Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Elven Lembas bread comes to mind immediately when I think of food and Tolkien’s Middle-Earth in the same breath. That and potatoes and second breakfast. Let’s just say, there’s a lot to make you hungry in Middle-Earth, especially if you’re reading about these dishes instead of watching them for mere seconds on the screen. One thing is clear—if meat’s back on the menu, I’ll pass, and same for the fish a la Gollum.

Here’s an awesome article called, “There and Snack Again: How to eat everything in Lord of the Rings” by Nate Crowley of Nate-crowley.com that, as the name suggests, goes into detail about how to make each and every one of the Middle-Earth dishes, complete with background information and full-blown recipes.

Abundant autumn cheeseboard. Photo by Brooke Lark.

5. Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Don’t even get me started on this food-filled high-fantasy series. In the first book alone, there more than 62 different foods mentioned from suckling pig to sweetbreads and apricot tarts. Next time you’re planning a feast, take a page from Martin’s books—you’ll be sure to turn heads with the delicious and extravagant dishes you find in Westeros.

6. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Cappuccinos. Need I say more? No? Okay, good.

Just kidding. You probably need context.

In Station Eleven, there’s a scene where one of the characters—a paparazzo—is interviewing a famous actor and he mentally resents the fact that the actor’s publicist gives his interviewee a steaming cappuccino but fails to offer him one as well. Sharing is caring, you know. I couldn’t help but feel for him and realized I wanted one too. I promptly closed the book and rushed to the nearest coffee shop to grab myself a mocha cappuccino to sip while I read.

Read my review here.

7. Charlie and The Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Taking it back to my childhood once again, I present to you Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I’d be surprised if you’re reading this post and have never read or at least watched the movie (yes, the one with Gene Wilder!) If you have, then you know full well how drool-worthy all the sweets and snacks are in this story. I found myself wishing I could swim in the chocolate river, chew Wonka’s 3-Course Dinner Gum, or one of the edible daffodil teacups.

8. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

While I haven’t yet read the Harry Potter series, (I know, I know! This year is the year!) I would be remiss if I left out the infamous Butterbeer—a beverage I saw in the movies and still makes my mouth water to this day. I recently heard that a bar in Toronto makes a drink called “Betterbeer” that is theoretically similar to the fictional beverage and I’ve never been so ready to travel north to icy Canada in my life.

9. Tell Me One Thing, by Deena Goldstone

Although I did read this book, you technically don’t have to read it for it to make you hungry—one glance at the cover will have you craving an orange in seconds. This staggeringly honest portrait of people reaching for the courage to connect is much like an orange—a little sour, a little sweet, with a stinging flavor that lingers.

10. Angel trilogy by L.A. Weatherly

While this book series didn’t make me particularly hungry for any specific foods (mostly because they were all scavenged for and eaten straight out of a can) I felt a pang for the characters who either often starved as they holed up, hiding from the angels, or celebrated when they could find untouched canned goods in abandoned homes. I remember vividly, Willow and Seb eating kidney beans straight out of a can and could only empathize with their feelings of hunger even though the sound of canned, uncooked beans didn’t sound particularly appetizing.

Read my review here.

And that’s it for my top ten books that made me hungry! Have you been made hungry by any of the books I mentioned here? What book made you the hungriest? Have you ever cooked a fictional dish before? How’d it go? Let me know in the comments below!

Thumbnail photo by Анна Галашева.

10 Times A Book Made Me Hungry

Further reading:

—Payton