Mallory

I’m Mallory Barnes, a fiction writer living in West Texas. My hope here is to encourage reading and discussion. In the digital age, we often live together so separately. Community and intellectual discussion are harder and harder to come by. I hope that Book Club Bites can help alleviate that by encouraging the birth and growth of book clubs.

British Scones with cream and jam

British Scones Recipe

3 Comments / Breakfast, Desserts, Recipes / By

The Invincible Miss Cust follows Aleen Cust as she grows up in Britain and ultimately becomes Britain’s first woman veterinary surgeon.
Aleen Cust defied seemingly insurmountable odds from both society and her own family in order to study in the field, practice, and finally become the first licensed woman veterinary surgeon in Britain. Set in the late 1800s in England and Ireland, the book demands a recipe for British scones served with tea. On your finest china of course.

The Invincible Miss Cust Book Club Questions and Recipe

The Invincible Miss Cust Book Club Questions and Recipe

1 Comment / Book Club Guides, Literary and Upmarket, Readers, Women's Fiction / By

The Invincible Miss Cust is Penny Haw’s first historical women’s fiction novel, but I hope it isn’t her last. The novel follows Aleen Cust as she grows up in Britain and ultimately becomes Britain’s first woman veterinary surgeon.
Aleen Cust defied seemingly insurmountable odds from both society and her own family in order to study in the field, practice, and finally become the first licensed woman veterinary surgeon in Britain.

Easy Chicken and Dumplings

Chicken and Dumplings

Leave a Comment / Main Dishes, Recipes / By

I’ve tried a lot of chicken and dumplings and, let me tell you, these rank at the top. The chicken, long-simmered, creates a flavorful, rich broth that makes a huge difference in this dish. The result is a hearty soup, layered with flavors, and topped by cooked-to-perfection dumplings.

Borscht

Borscht

Leave a Comment / Main Dishes, Recipes / By

You’ll love this soup chock full of potatoes, beets, and beef! This recipe for Borscht was kindly provided by Erin Litteken and is her great-grandmother’s recipe for the Ukrainian dish! Given the devastating current events in Ukraine, you might be wishing to read more about the country and its people. If so, The Memory Keeper of Kyiv is the perfect choice.
The Memory Keeper of Kyiv is a dual-timeline novel. It follows a young woman and her family as they deal with Stalin’s invasion and the resulting famine in the 1930s and her granddaughter as she comes to term with her own losses and seeks to reconnect with her family heritage in the early 2000s.

Borani Banjan

Borani Banjan

2 Comments / Main Dishes, Recipes / By

Borani Banjan is a traditional Afghan dish made with fried eggplant, spicy onions, and stewed tomatoes. Topped with creamy yogurt, it’s a real treat!
This recipe was provided by Jeannee Sacken, author of Double Exposure, a novel about Afghanistan.