Check Me Out - December 2025

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES AT THE WHISTLE STOP CAFÉ

By Fannie Flagg

The classic novel about two women: Evelyn and Mrs. Threadgoode, who is telling her life story. Her tale includes two more women, the irrepressibly daredevilish tomboy Idgie and her friend Ruth who back in the thirties ran a little place in Whistle Stop, Alabama, where along with coffee, it had the occasional murder.

DELICIOUS!

By Ruth Reichl

Working as a public relations hotline consultant for a once-prestigious culinary magazine, Billie Breslin unexpectedly enters a world of New York restaurateurs and artisanal purveyors while reading World War II letters exchanged between a plucky 12-year-old and James Beard.

KITCHENS OF THE GREAT MIDWEST

By J. Ryan Stradal

When Lars Thorvald is left to raise his daughter alone, he’s determined to pass on his love of food. As Eva grows, she becomes the star chef behind a legendary and secretive pop-up supper club, culminating in an opulent and emotional feast that’s a testament to her spirit and resilience.

THE BRIAR CLUB

By Kate Quinn

Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, but when the lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves in, she draws her oddball collection of neighbors into an unlikely friendship. When a shocking act of violence tears the house apart, the Briar Club women must decide who is the true enemy.

BLACK CAKE

By Charmaine Wilkerson

Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny; a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. The tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about themselves.

FIRST FROST

By Sarah Addison Allen

Autumn has finally arrived in the small town of Bascom, North Carolina, heralded by a strange old man appearing with a beat-up suitcase. He has stories to tell, stories that could change the lives of the Waverley women forever, as if they didn’t have enough on their plates already.

THE KITCHEN FRONT

By Jennifer Ryan

Two years into World War II, and U-boats have cut off the supply of food. In an effort to help housewives with food rationing, a BBC radio program is holding a cooking contest, and the grand prize is a job as the program’s first-ever female cohost. For four very different women, winning the competition would present a crucial chance to change their lives.

CHRISTMAS ON THE ISLAND

By Jenny Colgan

It’s a time for getting cozy in front of whisky barrel wood fires, and enjoying a dram and a treacle pudding with the people you love. Unless, of course, you’ve accidentally gotten pregnant by your ex-boss, and