Orange you glad! Books with "orange" in the title
As we have promised, we eventually want to cover all the colors of the rainbow in our book lists. Since it is fall (here in the northern hemisphere), and I happen to be seeing orange everywhere, it was a good time to talk about books with the word "orange" in the title. In literature, orange is usually used to symbolize energy, excitement, or flamboyancy; all emotional states you can experience while reading any of the books in the list below.
📗 Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris
We have talked about this book before in our twelfth podcast episode when we did an end of the year countdown using book titles. In the book, a woman called Framboise returns to her native town in France where she spent her childhood during German occupation. She comes back carrying the load of her mother's inheritance: one tragic past and heirloom recipes. Her mother's tragic past causes Framboise to conceal her identity; but, the heirloom recipes she serves at the new restaurant she opens in town. Narrated in timelines that alternate between German occupied France and the present, this book tells us about the emotional weight food and cooking have in our lives.
This book will have you craving French cuisine as you read, and to satisfy those cravings, we have found a forum with recipes inspired by the book with references to the pages that inspire them. Find a recipe you like and cook it while you sip Cointreau and read Five Quarters of the Orange.
📗 Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeannette Winterson
This book is an easy read but with an orange incandescent topic, making it perfect bibliotherapy for adolescent angst. This humorous and provocative autobiographical story tells us of a girl adopted by a zealous family. The protagonist then falls in love, but her family and her church will deem her love sinful, eliciting drastic responses from her.
The book has inspired many in the culinary department. Lee, in her blog Lee and the Sweet Life, has shared a recipe for a decadent Poke Chocolate Brownie with Caramelized Blood Oranges and Runny Caramel that looks like the perfect pairing for the book. And for those who live in Singapore and have dogs, there is a company called In Good Thyme that makes special doggie treats and cakes, one of which shares the name with this book.
📗 The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
This book was all over #bookstagram a while ago. In this YA fantasy title there are dragons roaming the world, an impending doom for which East and West are preparing, a Queen who must conceive a daughter to maintain and protect her kingdom, and a member of a secret order of mages.
For the fans of the book, it will be great news to hear that there is a sequel coming in 2023 titled A Day of Fallen Night. As you wait for the sequel, how about reading an artful copy of the book from The Painted Paige Shop and setting the ambiance with The Priory candle from Plot Twist Wicks?
📗 Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller
The story crafted by Claire Fuller tells us of a woman and a married couple that have been hired in 1969 to stay at an English manor while they apprise the items and grounds of the property. Each has their own role in the appraisal, and each has a past or a secret they don't want to disclose. The trio becomes acquainted and enjoy a lavish summer in the English countryside; but their stay will be punctuated by a terrible crime.
The Grange Estate and the Stowe House served as inspiration for the fictional mansion in the novel. These days, it is possible to stay at the Grange Estate, and I do not know of any other location more perfect to read Bitter Oranges than this.
📗 Orange Is the New Black by Piper Kerman
Most likely you have heard this title before, since the Netflix TV series based on the book was very popular. In the story, the author narrates her own experience as an inmate in a women's prison in Connecticut for 15 months. Through Kerman's journey we get a glimpse at this world with its own sets of rules and unique cast of characters. Piper Kerman was a consultant for the series and even appeared in a cameo in the finale, which suggest the series would be a great companion piece to the book.
📗 A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Another very successful screen adaptation of a book is that of A Clockwork Orange. In both the book and the movie, a teen gang leader describes his violent crimes in an exploration of concepts like alienation and free will. The American and UK version of the book have different endings, and the famous movie adaptation directed by Stanley Kubrick is based on the American version. The cover for the tie-in edition published by Penguin to go along with the release of the movie is the one we have selected to include in our Cover Gallery.
The story behind the design of this cover is quite interesting. Kubrick had forbidden the use of any elements of the movie poster in the cover of the book. Besides, the original design for the cover was submitted late and to the dislike of David Pelham, Penguin's art director at the time. As a result, Pelham ended up putting together a last-minute cover which ended up being one of the most iconic ones in literature. There is a wearable version of this cover as socks, available at Out of Print.
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| Pelham cover for the movie tie-in edition of A Clockwork Orange |
📗 The Orange Girl by Jostein Gaarder
I happen to enjoy Jostein Gaarder books a lot. They also tend to be difficult to describe or to recommend, given the philosophical components in them. In lieu of a long description at which most likely I won't be successful, I offered you a Six-Word Review instead:
Late father bequests orange-centric riddle.
📗 The Orange Lilies by Nathan Dylan Goodwin
As I was searching for books with "orange" in the title I came upon this book. It is part of The Forensic Genealogist series which I am happy to add to my TBR. The story, which is full of plot twists, develops along two timelines a century apart as a forensic genealogist is investigating his own family tree. There is an audiobook version of this title narrated by Jonathan IP that has received excellent ratings, for you avid listeners.
Today we have two book battles in our Book vs. Book section: a fiction and a nonfiction one.
It seems unavoidable that several of the "oranges" in these titles will be referring to the citrus fruit that shares its name with the color. Therefore, for the nonfiction book battle, we would like to know which one you prefer between two tomes that explore the natural history and other interesting facts associated with the consumption of... you guessed it: oranges.
📗 Oranges by John McPhee
This book started as an article for a magazine. But the information McPhee compliled was so vast he could not squeeze it (pun intended) all in and he ended up writing a book about the topic.
📗 Oranges: A Global History by Clarissa Hyman
This book is part of the Edible series by Reaktion Books. In the text, Hyman covers the trajectory of oranges from their cultivation to the table and the cultural and historical aspects related to the origins of the fruit as a staple of human diet.
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| Photo by Jen Gunter on Unsplash |
📗 Blood Orange by Susan Wittig Albert
In the 24th installment of the China Bayles series, China's tenant is a nurse at a local hospice who ends in a comma after discovering some unusual practices at work. It is up to China to solve this cozy mystery.
📗 Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce
On a darker note, this is the story of Alison, a defense lawyer who seems to have the perfect life. But nothing is quite as it seems. Alison's secrets are brought to the light as she prepares the defense for her client, a woman who pleads guilty to stabbing her husband. Under these pressuring circumstances, Alison will have to fight for her client and herself.
Guesswork:
There is a book set in 1960S London about a difficult romantic relationship given the cultural background of the protagonists. As an extra hint, you know it does contain the word "orange" in the title. Could you guess the book from its first line?
"Dear Sophie, I don’t expect you to forgive me and I don’t expect you to understand.”
As a bonus, there is a short story collection that also features the word "orange" in the title and which first story starts...
"The entire ride would take eleven minutes. That was what the boy had promised us, the boy who never showed.”
Answers:
Ishmael's Oranges by Claire Hajaj
Orange World and Other Stories by Karen Russell
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