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Celebrate National Ice Cream Month with These Sweet Reads

by  | July 15

Nothing beats the summer heat like a good read and a sweet treat. But if you can only get your hands on some words rather than some frozen goodness, why not pick up a book with a cover that leaves you drooling? July is National Ice Cream Month and, to celebrate, here are five reads that will make you crave a mouthful of dairy goodness.

Love & Gelato

Love & Gelato

by Jenna Evans Welch

Nothing says summer like a short and sweet romance, which is what Lina finds on her journey of discovery in Tuscany both by reading her mother’s journal (and honoring her mom’s dying wish) and coming to know her long absent father. If you’re getting some Mamma Mia vibes, I’m right there with you. While this book is definitely aimed at a YA audience, the plotline has a lot of heart, both in Lina’s discovery of her mother’s past and her own desires. Jenna Evans Welch’s characters are complex and thoughtful, and her descriptions of Florence alone will make you fall in love with the book, and make it a real treat to read too.

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The Ice Creamery Cookbook

The Ice Creamery Cookbook

by Shelly Kaldunski

Sometimes it’s just fun to look at cookbooks for how beautiful the food is on the inside. If you’re dying for pretty pictures that make you want to live inside an ice cream parlor, The Ice Creamery Cookbook is here for you. There are tons of recipes, and gorgeous pictures of the yummy dessert, to be found within. And if you’re looking for recipes that are dairy-free, or that use yogurt, or how to make your own cones and toppings, it’s got all that included as well. Everything you need to do up National Ice Cream Month right…and right at home too.

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Ice Cream: A Global History

Ice Cream: A Global History

by Laura B. Weiss

Have you ever wondered who ever created something as delicious and amazing as ice cream? And how we’ve gotten the flavors that we know and love today? Prepare to learn a lot about summer’s go-to dessert in Ice Cream: A Global History. The book, which is part of a larger series that examines the history of food, explores the emergence of ice cream in medieval Italy, tying it back to the invention of sherbet by the Arabs, to the development of the ice cream cone, and to the selling of the icy confection in supermarkets. Even if you’ve never wondered where the frosty, frozen treat came from, this engaging history book will make you appreciate it just the same.

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Play Me Backwards

Play Me Backwards

by Adam Selzer

Ice cream can be so delicious that it borders on sinful. That’s not really a problem for Leon Harris, high school senior and slacker supreme, who works at a sub-par ice cream shop in Des Moines. But he does have a great best friend named Stan, whose only odd quirk is that he thinks he’s actually the Lord of Darkness himself, Satan. Leon finds out that his crush, Anna, is coming back to town, and agrees to give Stan his soul in exchange for help courting her. As Stan’s random assignments (like listening to the audiobook version of Moby Dick) start to work in bringing Leon and Anna together, Leon can’t help but wonder if his immortal soul is now damned. A darkly funny book about Satan and the roads we take to get to where—or who—we want to be, Play Me Backwards will make you hungry for more…better pick up two tubs of ice cream, just to be safe.

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The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street

The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street

by Susan Jane Gilman

If you’re in the mood for historical fiction this summer, travel back over 100 years to when Russian immigrant Malka Treynovsky first came to America, and where, after a terrible accident, she uses her intellect to climb to the top. Top of what, you may ask? The ice cream business, of course. Malka rebrands herself as Lillian Dunkle, a.k.a. "The Ice Cream Queen" and builds an empire that lasts for decades—but which is poised to collapse when the past comes calling. Susan Jane Gilman builds a complex, dark central protagonist, one who has known poverty and suffering in a time when women had little agency in any facet of their lives. At the same time, though, the story’s biting wit will keep you constantly in stitches, so try not to drop your ice cream while reading it.

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A reporter by trade, Sara Roncero-Menendez is a lover of horror, sci-fi, and all things pop culture. From indies to classics to even the strangest genre pieces, all movies, TV shows, and books are fair game for a binge-fest. Follow her on Twitter @sararomenen or at her website, www.sara-roncero-menendez.com