Around the World in 80 Books discussion

I'm a confirmed chocaholic and have already read a few books that feature chocolate so as I embark on Chocolate Nations: Living and Dying for Cocoa in West Africa I thought I would keep track of them in my own chocolate challenge. I'm also concerned about the exploitation involved in the cocoa trade and this book seems a timely read as it's Fairtrade Fortnight in the UK. In my little town we usually host a meeting with a Fairtrade producer during the two weeks. In the past we've had cocoa producers from Ghana and Peru. My reading will be enhanced by a supply of chocolate to nibble as I read!

Here area few chocolate related books I've got lined up to read or re-read: -
Como agua para chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Sabor a chocolate by José Carlos Carmona
Pieces of Happiness: A Novel of Friendship, Hope and Chocolate by Anne Østby
The Discovery of Chocolate by James Runcie
Chocolate Wars: The 150-Year Rivalry Between the World's Greatest Chocolate
Makers by Deborah Cadbury

Love this!

This is a great idea for a challenge! I can't say I've read many books on chocolate beyond Chocolate Fever, and that was so long ago I've never even added it to my Goodreads list!

The Discovery of Chocolate is a fascinating book.

What a fabulous challenge idea! I'll look forward to following your mouth-watering reads!!

Chocolate Nations: Living and Dying for Cocoa in West Africa Órla Ryan's 2011 investigation into the importance of cocoa for Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, the two biggest producers of cocoa in the world shows how important this is not just for the producers but for government income, democracy, development and sustainability. A complex issue.

I think I'll try and alternate the fiction and the non-fiction. Thanks for the suggestions and encouragement!

The Mars family is one of the richest in the United States, and since they live nearby, my local paper has occasionally written about their rivalry with the Hershey company in Pennsylvania. They also reviewed and recommended a book about the companies a while back, which I think might have been The Emperors of Chocolate: Inside the Secret World of Hershey and Mars, if you're looking for books on American chocolatiers. Good luck on your challenge!

Sabor a chocolate by José Carlos Carmona

A so-so read, the story seemed very superficial and the characters lacked depth and development. The chocolate which became a substitute for love for two of the female characters invited a greater role in the story. So for me this was a bit like that chocolate that gets left until last in the box and turns out to be a disappointment.

Pieces of Happiness: A Novel of Friendship, Hope and Chocolate

A novel that felt a bit like a frothy chocolate milkshake - rather too sweet for me. This could have been written for the Sunday evening TV slot, it could do for Fiji what ITV's the Durrells has done for Corfu or BBC's Death in Paradise for Guadaloupe.

Como agua para chocolate

Laura Esquivel's inclusion of recipes (most not chocolate based!) made this a really mouthwatering read and took me back to the first time I tasted chocolate in a savoury dish cooked by a Mexican friend.

This sure looks interesting .
I have read Charlie and the chocolate factory as well as Pieces of happiness. Loved them both.
You might also like to try
Chocolat by Joanna Harris for your fiction read. Its a simple yet beautiful tale .

The Discovery of Chocolate

A drink like no other in Mexico, chocolates made with the Marquis De Sade in the Bastille, Sachertorte in Vienna, a trip to England with Fry, the Quaker chocolatier and then to Pennsylvania with Hershey. A quick romp with an ageless Spanish conquistador through some chocolatey moments of history.

This may be a sideways reference to chocolate, but Bernard Shaw's play Arms and the Man has a musical version called The Chocolate Soldier. It's a fun play.

Rats every title looks delicious. Make sure to post how terrible they are. I do not need to add to my Mt. TBR.

and they are all going to be terrible right?

Actual chocolate, seems I never have much of a Mt. TBR... to be eaten.

"Chocolate War" by Robert Cornie, I think if you could remember it from mine childhood!

So it's been a year since I read anything chocolate related so it was time to get my teeth into a new book. I've just finished Desire for Chocolate by Care Santos, a Catalan author. The book traces the story of a chocolate pot (as in coffee or tea pot) back from 21st century Barcelona to its origin in the Sevres porcelain factory in 18th century France via three separate stories each with a different style and set in a different century. Initially I was very drawn but the three separate parts didn't hold together. I did learn something about chocolate making in Barcelona over the years and of course the reading needed a bit of chocolate consumption to help it along!