Let Your Galentine’s Day Tradition Determine Your Next Read

Courtney Smith
February 13 2020
Share Let Your Galentine’s Day Tradition Determine Your Next Read

Life can get busy, and while social media helps to assure us that our gal pals are still killing it, the reality is, we often go weeks, if not months, without seeing our go-to ladies in person. If only there were a day solely dedicated to getting together with and showing a little extra love to our besties. Enter Galentine’s Day, the brainchild of Leslie Knope in the beloved comedy series Parks and Recreation that’s become a real-life tradition for many.

On February 13, forget about romantic relationships—whether you’re in one or not. For those 24 hours, you’re encouraged to take a step back and cherish the first loves of your life: your besties. The best part is, each Galentine’s Day celebration is unique to the group of friends getting together. Will you tipsy-watch a bad (but in the best way) rom-com? Are you planning to whip out the credit card for a mini shopping spree? Maybe you’ll end up dancing the night away, ordering pizza, and enjoying an impromptu sleepover. No matter what you and your friends do to celebrate each other, you’ll want to bask in the glow of a successful Galentine’s Day long after the party is over. Keep those warm fuzzy feelings alive by curling up with a good book, a selection inspired by your favorite Galentine’s Day activity.

This post was originally published on GetLiterary.com.

F*ck Your Diet
by Chloé Hilliard

Brunching

If you’re anything like me, you love to kick off Galentine’s Day with brunch. Not only does it leave the rest of the day open to possibilities, it allows you to showcase your love for your besties through food. And the best Galentine’s food? Carbs. I’m talking waffles, French toast, cinnamon rolls, donuts, scones, and apple fritters. I want a dessert bar piled high with cupcakes, brownies, cookies, and cake pops. Don’t even look at me unless there’s a fresh squeezed juice (with or without champagne) in your hand. If you’re on board for going all-in and not labeling this a “cheat day” or bemoaning the number of calories you just consumed, Chloé Hilliard’s F*ck Your Diet will be joining your squad. You’ll be belly-laughing soon enough as you read Chloé’s body-positive essays about embracing who she is. Remind yourself and your besties that you all kick butt…even while stuffing your face with fried dough.

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F*ck Your Diet
Chloé Hilliard

Fans of Issa Rae and Phoebe Robinson will love this collection of laugh-out-loud funny and insightful essays that explore race, feminism, pop culture, and how society reinforces the message that we are nothing without the perfect body.

By the time Chloé Hilliard was 12, she wore a size 12—both shoe and dress—and stood over six feet tall. Fitting in was never an option. That didn’t stop her from trying. Cursed with a “slow metabolism,” “baby weight,” and “big bones,”—the fat trilogy—Chloe turned to fad diets, starvation, pills, and workouts, all of which failed.

Realizing that everything—from government policies to corporate capitalism—directly impacts our relationship with food and our waistlines, Chloé changed her outlook on herself and hopes others will do the same for themselves.

The perfect mix of cultural commentary, conspiracies, and confessions, F*ck Your Diet pokes fun at the all too familiar, misguided quest for better health, permanent weight loss, and a sense of self-worth.

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Rage Baking
by Katherine Alford & Kathy Gunst

Hating on the Patriarchy

Let’s be honest. The real reason you’re all gathered for Galentine’s Day is to reaffirm female friendships, recharge your girl power, and exist in a space that is free of judgment and the male gaze. If you and your fellow female warriors are ready for a break from the patriarchal society we exist in, then I have the book for you: Rage Baking. Not only does this glorious cookbook contain recipes that will make for a delicious meal, but they are designed to allow you to take your rage, fury, and frustration out on the dough. Interspersed with yummy recipes are essays and quotes from some of the best bakers, activists, and outspoken women in our country. Turn baking time into an opportunity to release pent-up emotions so that you and your friends are ready to defend, resist, and protest for yet another day.

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Rage Baking
Katherine Alford & Kathy Gunst

50+ recipes, short essays, and quotes from some of the best bakers, activists, and outspoken women in our country today—this cookbook encourages women to use sugar and sass as a way to defend, resist, and protest.

Since the 2016 election, many women across the country have felt rage, fury, and frustration, wondering how we got here. Some act by calling their senators, some write checks, some join activist groups, march, paint signs, grab their daughters and sons, and raise their voices. But for so many, they also turn to their greatest comfort—their kitchen.

Baking has a new meaning in today’s world. These days, baking can be an outlet for expressing our feelings about the current state of our society. Rage Baking offers more than 50 cookie, cake, tart, and pie recipes as well as inspirational essays, reflections, and interviews with well known bakers and impassioned women and activists including Dorie Greenspan, Ruth Reichl, Carla Hall, Preeti Mistry, Julia Turshen, Pati Jinich, Vallery Lomas, Von Diaz, Genevieve Ko, and writers like Rebecca Traister, Pam Houston, Tess Raffery, Cecile Richards, Ann Friedman, Marti Noxon, and many more.

Timely, fun, and creative, this cookbook speaks to both skilled and beginner bakers who are looking for new ways to use their sweetest skills to combine food and activism. Containing a collection of recipes that are satisfying and delicious, Rage Baking unites like-minded women who are passionate about baking and change.

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Name Drop
by Ross Mathews

Spilling the Tea

We all love sitting down with a mimosa and filling our friends in on our daily goings-on, but after the life updates, it’s time to get into the juicy part of the day: the gossip. If you love hearing about your friend’s neighbor’s wild arguments or her coworker’s scandalous reply-all email mishap, it’s time to pick up Name Drop. In this collection of stories about your favorite celebrities, Ross Mathews (of RuPaul’s Drag Race and Chelsea Lately fame) dishes the hottest tea you’ll be served this month. From Barbara Walters to the Kardashians, it’s all on the table. So fill up your cocktail glass and settle in—this Galentine’s Day will be juicier than ever.

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Name Drop
Ross Mathews

From Ross Mathews, the nationally bestselling author of Man Up!, judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race, and alum of Chelsea Lately, a collection of hilarious and irreverent essays about his experience with Hollywood’s most talked-about celebrities.

Pretend it’s happy hour and you and I are sitting at the bar. I look amazing and, I agree with you, much thinner in person. You look good, too. Maybe it’s the candlelight, maybe it’s the booze. Either way, let’s just go with it. Keep this all between you and me, and do me a favor? Don’t judge me if I name drop just a little.

Television personality Ross Mathews likes telling stories. He was always outrageous and hilariously honest, even when the biggest celebrity he knew was his favorite lunch lady in the school cafeteria. Now that he has Hollywood experience—from interning behind the scenes at The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to judging RuPaul’s Drag Race—he has a lot to talk about.

In Name Drop, Ross dishes about being an unlikely insider in the alternate reality that is showbiz, like that time he was invited by Barbara Walters to host The View—only to learn his hero did not suffer fools; his Christmas with the Kardashians, which should be its own holiday special; and his news-making talk with Omarosa on Celebrity Big Brother, which, as it turns out, was just the tip of the iceberg. Holding nothing back, Ross shares the most treasured and surprising moments in his celebrity-filled career, and proves that while exposure may have made him a little bit famous, he is still as much a fanboy as ever.

Filled with tales ranging from the horrifying to the hilarious—and with just the right “Rossipes” and cocktails to go along with them—Name Drop is every pop culture lover’s dream come true.

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The Women in Black
by Madeleine St John

Shopping

The shopping mall: a classic Galentine’s Day location. If you’re planning on spending the day hopping from boutique to boutique, trying on ridiculous outfits, and indulging in your own movie-worthy makeover montage with your besties, then you’ll love The Women in Black. This darling novel takes place in a 1950s department store in Sydney, Australia. The cast of characters ranges from Patty, who wants her husband to get off his butt and give her a baby, to clever Magda, who dreams of opening her own store. There’s also Fay, who wants to find a nice man to marry, and Lisa, a student working at the store for the holidays. The friendship these women form expands beyond any job or department store. Find delight in determining which of the gals in your squad match up with the characters in the book while following their spellbinding stories.

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The Women in Black
Madeleine St John

“The book I most often give as a gift to cheer people up.” —Hilary Mantel

A delightful debut novel set in a department store in Sydney in the 1950s.

The women in black, so named for the black frocks they wear while working at Goode’s department store, are busy selling ladies’ dresses during the holiday rush. But they somehow find time to pursue other goals…

Patty, in her mid-thirties, has been working at Goode’s for years. Her husband, Frank, eats a steak for dinner every night, watches a few minutes of TV, and then turns in. Patty yearns for a baby, but Frank is always too tired for that kind of thing.

Sweet, unlucky Fay wants to settle down with a nice man, but somehow nice men don’t see her as marriage material.

Glamorous Magda runs the high-end gowns department. A Slovenian émigré, Magda is cultured and continental and hopes to open her own boutique one day.

Lisa, a clever and shy teenager, takes a job at Goode’s during her school break. Lisa wants to go to university and dreams of becoming a poet, but her father objects to both notions.

By the time the last marked-down dress is sold, all of their lives will be forever changed.

A pitch-perfect comedy of manners set during a pivotal era, and perfect for fans of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Women in Black conjures the energy of a city on the cusp of change and is a testament to the timeless importance of female friendship.

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What Kind of Quiz Book Are You?
by Rachel McMahon

Reminiscing

Looking to bring some nostalgia to your Galentine’s Day plans? I would highly suggest What Kind of Quiz Book Are You? Don’t we all remember sitting in our rooms, pens at the ready, as we tore through the latest issue of Seventeen? We once put so much faith in those quizzes, convinced they would answer all of life’s questions, such as which character on One Tree Hill would be our bestie IRL. Buzzfeed’s genius quiz creator, Rachael McMahon, has put together a book bursting at the seams with quizzes to take the old-fashioned way. This book will have you and your gal pals laughing for hours as you passionately argue over answers and compare results to determine if you, the bacon on a BLT, can actually stay friends with the tomato.

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What Kind of Quiz Book Are You?
Rachel McMahon

From BuzzFeed’s quiz-making genius—a witty and irresistible collection of whip-smart and pop culture savvy quizzes that reveals secrets and quirks you never knew about yourself.

Who hasn’t clicked on an online quiz that suggests your choice of Pop Tart flavor (or favorite Jonas brother) will reveal your relationship status or hidden personality traits? (Hint: hundreds of millions of people have done this, and counting!) Perfect for all ages and backgrounds, this fun, light-hearted, and thought-provoking collection features both brand new and popular quizzes directly from BuzzFeed’s viral sensation Rachel McMahon. Featuring additional irreverent commentary and breakdowns of quiz outcomes not previously published on such topics as who is your celebrity boyfriend based on what frozen yogurt you like to finding out whether you are more Phineas or Ferb based on your favorite sandwich toppings, What Kind of Quiz Book Are You? is an entertaining and laugh-out-loud collection like no other, destined to become as addictive as coloring books.

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MENTIONED IN:

Let Your Galentine’s Day Tradition Determine Your Next Read

By Courtney Smith | February 13, 2020

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