The holidays are the perfect time to get cozy by a fire (à la YouTube livestream) and crack open a good book. Why not decide your next holiday read based on the food you’re most looking forward to eating this Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving is a holiday centered around joy and gratitude for family and food. Admittedly, it has its stressors, like cooking in a warm kitchen or having to discuss politics with relatives or in-laws. That’s where slipping into a good book can save the day.
If you find yourself clueless about which book to dig into this holiday, this list is for you. All of the books on the list were written by American authors and have been assigneed a classic Thanksgiving dish based on flavor, texture, ingredients, or pure vibes.
If you are itching for a break from the holiday hubbub, why not let your belly decide on your next book!?
Turkey
Thanksgiving is all about loved ones letting go of their differences and expressing gratitude for each other—while carving into a turkey, of course. Whether you love it or hate it, turkey is the most important—and the most central—dish on the table.
Thus, it felt fitting that this first pick would be the thickest book on the list. Once and Future Witches follows three sisters who find their individuality while remaining connected through their mother’s witchcraft.
It’s a slower-paced book that allows you to understand each sister and their opinions on the world. They argue and drift at times but ultimately feel a strong sisterly pull. The book presents a fun exterior of magic and friendship, but the meat of the story contains discussions of misogyny and navigating sisterhood through trauma. In this historical fantasy, Harrow displays the importance of family amidst clashing perspectives, which is essentially the point of Thanksgiving.
Stuffing
Stuffing has arguably gone through the most changes throughout its time as a Thanksgiving classic. It was originally cooked inside the turkey, combining corn or white bread with eggs and butter. Over time, stuffing has gone through many iterations, with each family offering their own take on the dish.
Thus, it has deviated greatly from its original recipe. Its book equivalent must reflect that, reinventing a classic in a way that makes it much more digestible.
Percival Everett’s James perfectly encapsulate this. The Mark Twain story of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn focuses on Huckleberry’s efforts to escape his abusive father with the companionship of Jim, a slave. It’s an American classic; yet it is deeply flawed due to its reductive portrayal of Jim.
Everett’s retelling offers a much more respectful and nuanced take on Jim, now renamed as James, and his story.
In the original, James is one-note, cast as the sidekick to Huckleberry’s journey. This retelling gives James the power of storytelling, revealing facets of him that were disregarded in the original. Like recipes passed down through generations, Everett’s retelling honors the source material while breathing new life into the characters.
Casserole
Casserole is a strange dish in concept. It’s either a savory combination of cream of celery soup and green beans, or it’s a vegetable dessert with mushy sweet potatoes and marshmallows crisped on top. Whatever direction you choose, it’s typically a juxtaposition of ingredients that somehow results in a tasty side dish.
In a similar vein, Hendrix’s 2020 release is a blend of American suburbia criticism and vampire chaos. It’s a book that balances humor, horror, and serious commentary, making for a layered experience.
Upon realizing the new stranger in town is a vampire, members of the titular book club strive to protect each other and their neighborhood. Like sweet potato casserole, the novel represents a potentially confusing combination that coalesces into a unique take on horror.
Mac and cheese
Mac and cheese is the crowd-pleaser of Thanksgiving. Nearly everyone—besides those of us with lactose sensitivities—can agree on the deliciousness of this pasta dish. It’s cheesy and rich and will most certainly leave you craving seconds.
What better way to represent that than Scalzi’s hilarious sci-fi, Starter Villain? The main character, Charlie, lives a quiet life as a substitute teacher until he finds himself inheriting his dead uncle’s supervillain business. Newly wealthy with his own evil lair, Charlie must make the right decisions for the business.
The book is extremely humorous, with a colorful cast of villains and talking spy-cats. An all-around crowd pleaser, it’s fit for anyone in need of a laugh, and it’s guaranteed to keep you wanting more of Scalzi’s cheesy humor.
Cranberry sauce
Cranberry sauce is a strong blend of tart and sweet, which is ideal for a specific palate but certainly not for everyone. Regardless of whether it’s your cup of tea, it still deserves its spot on the dinner table.
Helen Hoang’s The Heart Principle is a romance with similarly multifaceted vibes, fluctuating between cute and heartbreaking.
Paralleling the divisiveness of cranberry sauce, romance is a genre you either love or hate. But however you may have felt about the genre before, The Heart Principle will exceed your expectations by depicting Anna and Quan’s struggles with burnout, insecurity, and grief.
Anna is a violinist who feels immense pressure from her family to overachieve, while Quan is a seemingly confident “bad boy” with the tattoos and motorcycle to match. It’s a sweet story that tackles powerful themes, including parents falling ill and the process of rebuilding confidence after appearance-altering surgery.
For readers who need realism alongside their fluff, The Heart Principle manages to thread the needle perfectly.
Mashed potatoes
If I had to throw my two cents in, I’d argue that mashed potatoes are the real star of the Thanksgiving meal. They’re buttery and creamy, and they pair well with everything on the plate, from turkey to stuffing to gravy.
Mashed potatoes are the kind of side dish that can touch other foods on your plate. They’re the blank canvas of the Thanksgiving food world.
What better way to capture this quality than a short story collection? Throughout the collection, Danielle Evans reflects on being a woman of color and puts a unique spin on each story. Some are heartbreaking; others infuriating; and still others are funny and outlandish.
Yet the anthology remains consistent in both theme and quality, which can be a big ask. It’s certainly worth the read, especially if you’re looking for bite-sized literature that encapsulates much bigger themes.
Vegetables
Vegetables are personal to every household. But whether it’s green beans, brussels sprouts, collard greens, or carrots, we can all agree that veggies are the most underrated.
There are tons of recipes for glazed or roasted vegetables that are just as delicious as the other Thanksgiving dishes!
The literary genre equivalent? Nonfiction. Readers tend to write off nonfiction as boring, even veering into textbook territory. But the genre has exploded in flavor and personality and is more than worth your time.
Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass shows us that nonfiction can be engaging and personal while still being informative. She teaches readers about a variety of foliage, fruits, and vegetation through the lens of her Potawatomi culture.
If you have previously overlooked nonfiction—similarly to the veggies on your plate—I would recommend giving Kimmerer’s book a shot, as it infuses personality and vibrancy into short essays on nature.
Pie
Last but certainly not least is the iconic Thanksgiving pie. Whether it’s pumpkin or apple or berry or pecan, pie is a necessity on Thanksgiving day, second only to turkey.
Pie is not like other desserts, if you will. It has a depth of flavor, not overly sweet but often bready and salty from the crust, with spices like clove and cinnamon to back it up. It’s the perfect dessert to end a Thanksgiving feast on, as it’s just as flavorful as the dinner that led up to it.
Juneau Black’s cozy mystery, Shady Hollow, exudes the same vibe as a pie. The story takes place in a cute woodland town where all the characters are anthropomorphic animals. This coziness is balanced out, of course, by the murder mystery that ends up disrupting the town.
It’s warm and enjoyable, while still maintaining the seriousness of the murder mystery genre. Similar to the classic Thanksgiving pie, it’s far from one note. Black has also expanded the novel into a series, meaning that you will not want to stop reading after one slice of the story.
Have some leftovers and cozy up with a good book!
At the end of the Thanksgiving feast, why not try one of these novels for yourself? And after reading them, you can be the judge of how accurately they represent your favorite Thanksgiving dish.
