Comedy Archives : TRAVEL/FOOD

St. Louis Jewish Book Festival

Book events, Book signings, Books, Comedy, Design, Humor, Jewish Cookery

This November, the St. Louis County Library and the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival are hosting SLCL Authors @ the J – a joint event series for readers throughout the St. Louis metro area. Additional information about St. Louis County Library’s author series is available online. Unless otherwise noted, all events are free and open to the public. All events are held at the J’s Staenberg Family Complex (2 Millstone Campus Drive).

The St. Louis Jewish Book Festival is an annual celebration of authors, books, and ideas during early November, with additional author events year-round. The range of author topics is vast: business, cooking, economics, family, fiction, history, music, religion, sports, and more.

Now in its 44th year, the Festival is nationally recognized for both its excellence and its size – it is one of the largest in the country with more than 10,000 audience members annually. People from all backgrounds and religions come to Festival events to hear premier speakers, share their thoughts, and ask questions.

Bookend Event: Saturday, November 5

7:30pm: Phil Rosenthal, Somebody Feed Phil the Book

Keynote Author: Sunday, November 6

7pm: Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, Lessons from the Edge

Monday, November 7

1pm: Historical Fiction Panel: Lisa Barr & Rachel Barenbaum

7pm: Charles Bosworth & Joel Schwartz, Bone Deep: Untangling the Betsy Faria Murder Case

Tuesday, November 8

10:30am: Julian E. Zelizer, Abraham Joshua Heschel

1pm: Jen Maxfield, More After the Break

7pm: Cookbook Panel: Cathy Barrow & Molly Yeh

Wednesday, November 9

10:30am: Romance Fiction Panel: Amanda Elliot & Lynda Cohen Loigman

7pm: Kristallnacht Program: Scott Lenga, The Watchmakers

Thursday, November 10

10:30am: Wellness Panel: Rina Raphael & Jason Levin

1pm: Gregory Zuckerman, A Shot to Save the World

7pm: Women’s Night with Julia Haart, Brazen (Boutique Bazaar opens at 5pm)

Friday, November 11

10:30am: Andy Dunn, Burn Rate

1pm: Barry Nalebuff, Split the Pie

Saturday, November 12

7pm: Paul Ford, Lord Knows, at Least I was There, Working with Stephen Sondheim

Sunday, November 13

1pm: Rabbi Benjamin Spratt, Awakenings

7pm: Sports Night: Dan Grunfeld & Barry Weinberg

Bookend Event: Wednesday, November 16

7pm: Missouri’s Own Authors

SLCL Authors @ The J

St. Louis County Library and the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival are pleased to announce SLCL Authors @ the J – a joint event series for readers throughout the St. Louis metro area. Additional information about St. Louis County Library’s author series is available online. Unless otherwise noted, all events are free and open to the public. All events are held at the J’s Staenberg Family Complex (2 Millstone Campus Drive).

The St. Louis Jewish Book Festival thanks the Novel Neighbor for providing books by our presenting authors. The festival receives a percentage of sales for every book sold. Please support the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival and the Novel Neighbor by purchasing your books at the festival.

How to Purchase Books at the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival

In-person during the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival. Call 314-442-3299 for more info.
In-person or online at the Novel Neighbor.

Mindy’s Book Studio: A New Publishing Venture with Amazon

Comedy, Film, Humor, Movies, Television

Mindy Kaling, Amazon Publishing, and Amazon Studios just announced the launch of Mindy’s Book Studio, a boutique story studio that will publish books selected by Kaling from emerging and established diverse voices.

Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson in Late Night.

“I had the best time working on Nothing Like I Imagined, and I am so excited to continue my relationship with Amazon,” said Kaling, about her last book, a collection of essays in which she reflected upon her new role as single mom, the perks of not having a husband, and her struggle with social anxiety. While dealing with all this, Kaling gets Kanye West’d (or should we now say Ye’d) at her best friend’s birthday, thwarts an “only in LA” crime, and learns what it means to have it all.

Starting later this year, Mindy’s Book Studio will be publishing books across genres, from fresh romantic comedies and poignant coming-of-age stories designed to make readers laugh—and cringe—to gripping dramas with unforgettable female protagonists.

Kaling, a multi-talented actress, comedienne, writer, and Hollywood-bruncher, is known for her insightful and hilarious books including Why Not Me and the delightful and upfront personal Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (And Other Concerns). She currently has 11.6 million Twitter followers.

The partnership between Amazon Studios and Kaling will adapt material published under Mindy’s Book Studio as feature motion pictures which will exclusively stream on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. Kaling holds first-producer option on adaptations. Kaling has also signed her debut novel and new essay collection for publication with Amazon Publishing.

“I’m passionate about bringing unique stories to readers and viewers, and I can’t wait to help discover and support talented new voices through Mindy’s Book Studio,” she says.

From best-selling memoirs to some of television’s most beloved shows and characters, Kaling has entertained readers, viewers, and listeners alike for nearly two decades. Building on her relatable and hilarious take on love and relationships—as seen in her Amazon Charts best-selling essay collection Nothing Like I Imagined (Except for Sometimes) and Amazon Studios’ hit film Late Night (which she co-wrote, produced, and starred in)—Mindy’s Book Studio will expand Kaling’s beloved storytelling sensibilities to a new slate of juicy, unforgettable books that readers can access through subscription programs such as Kindle Unlimited, and in print and audio.

“We are delighted to work with Mindy and Amazon Studios on Amazon’s first-ever book studio,” said Julia Sommerfeld, publisher of Amazon Publishing. “Mindy is brilliant at bringing to life highly entertaining, funny, sharp, and bingeable stories, and we can’t wait to collaborate with her on discovering and championing must-read stories from new and diverse voices.”

“With her visionary voice, trademark wit, and tremendous artistic acumen, Mindy Kaling remains a relentless innovator in the creative community,” said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios. “She is a pioneering artist, remarkable role model, and philanthropist who continues to tap into global and cultural zeitgeists as a source for her refreshingly authentic storytelling. We could not be more thrilled to expand our collaboration with her across Amazon to not only showcase her incredible talents but also introduce new, dynamic storytellers to our global customers.”

Kaling is represented by 3 Arts Entertainment, CAA, The Lede Company, and PJ Shapiro. Sommerfeld, Lauren O’Connor, head of IP & literary acquisitions at Amazon Studios, and Carmen Johnson, editorial director of Mindy’s Book Studio, will work with Kaling to find unputdownable stories with the potential to come to life on the screen.

In 2023, Amazon Publishing will also publish Kaling’s debut novel, a comedic and twisty page-turner under Mindy’s Book Studio. In 2024, Amazon Publishing will publish a new collection of personal essays in print, digital, and audio, offering Kaling’s latest reflections on life, motherhood, friendship, and being a boss. Amazon Studios has acquired firFst-look rights for Kaling’s forthcoming novel and essay collection.

I Regret Nothing by Jen Lancaster with a Recipe

Comedy, Humor

Fans of Jen Lancaster, bestselling author of Bitter is the New Black and Twisted Sister, surely know that when she decides to write her bucket list as a big birthday looms, it isn’t going to entail knitting an afghan or doing an extra set up of push-ups. Indeed, nothing Lancaster tackles—whether it’s emulating Martha Stewart for one disastrous year which involved a need for serious glitter removal in her book The Tao of Martha or, as she discovers in Jeneration X, that a great dinner option does not include Froot Loops—is ever dull.

And so in her latest novel, I Regret Nothing: A Memoir (New American Library 2015; $26.95), Lancaster takes on another set of self-improvement tasks which includes a juice cleanse, learning Italian and even having a tattoo removed at a cost 100 percent higher than she spent getting it and takes us along on the journey.

Lancaster, who lives in the Chicago area, rejoices in humiliating experiences because she knows that’s what makes her readers laugh. She also offers a quote for what it’s like to be a friend or family member when it comes to her writing career and what she is willing to put down on paper.

“It goes something like this–being related to a writer is like having an assassin in the family,” she says. “Where do you draw the line on what you’ll include in a memoir?”

Putting herself out there and seeing the absurdities and humiliations of life as things to be turned into humor is what makes reading her books so much fun. And it’s absolutely who she is as well.

“I love readers to come to my live events,” says Lancaster. “I’m absolutely the same person on the page as I am at an event. And I think it’s good for people to know that.”

Of course, Jen being Jen developed her Martha Monday as part of her The Tao of Martha events. Here’s one of her recipes.

JEN’S BREAKING BAD BARBECUE BINGE

(With apologies to both Pioneer Woman and Thug Kitchen)

Ingredients

4 – 5 pounds of pork shoulder/Boston butt–Stacey could likely tell you the difference between the two cuts, but for my purposes, they are interchangeable

12 oz. (ish) bottle of root beer–good bottled root beer, like the fancy craft-brewed stuff, and not bullshit mass-produced root beer, because it makes a difference

1 bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce–I like the hickory flavored, mass-produced Sweet Baby Ray’s, which neatly makes up for my craft-root-beer-snobbery

Directions

Cut your butt (heh) into four equal portions and place them in a cold slow cooker. Dump root beer over them. Cover and turn on high. Walk away for six hours whilst the magic happens. Maybe you could see a movie or something. If you want, you can flip the pieces at the three hour mark, but if you have better things to do, that’s okay, too.

After six hours, your house will smell freaking amazing, yet your pot will be full of gelatinous lumps of grayish brown meat bobbing merrily along in horrible mystery liquid. Don’t run out of the room to order a pizza – I assure you that this is okay.

With a slotted spoon, fish out the dubious hunks of flaccid pork and set aside. Dump the terrible liquid down the sink ASAFP, ignoring your three dogs’ imploring gazes. They do not need to taste the fatty root beer juice, no matter how hard they beg.

Put the drained meat back into the slow cooker and using two forks, shred the pork. If your pork doesn’t essentially fall apart the second you touch it, then it didn’t cook long enough and you already tossed the liquid, so I’m sorry, but you’re probably going to want to order that pizza now. Perhaps I should have said something sooner.

As you shred the pork, you will think, “Huh. Those gelatinous gray hunks appear no more appetizing in shredded form. Also, this smells a bit like wet dog.” Again, fear not, dear Taylor – this is all part of the process. This is when you squeeze in your entire bottle of delicious sauce and you perpetrate your second miracle of the day.

At this point, you can set your slow cooker to simmer and enjoy your barbecue whenever you’re ready to serve it, or you can stand over it with both of your dirty forks and shovel it directly into your mouth.

Really, either option works.

If you’re feeling fancy, I’d suggest serving the pork on a pretzel roll, topped with red cabbage slaw, but again, the double fork method works equally well. This barbecue will go all Jesus-with-the-fishes-and-loaves on you and no matter how much you eat, you’ll have more leftover because five pounds of pork really is a lot of meat.