I'm Buzzed on Books

When I first heard about Buzzed on Books it was because of the episode on Kitchen Confidential. I loved reading this book for many reasons and one of them was that it constantly reminded me of my best friend Cristina that moved away. When I saw this book was the book of choice, I was ecstatic! What really reeled me in was the addition of the sandwich by Anthony Bourdain that they implore the reader to pair with the book. I finished the book a little later, but seeing the photos of the meet ups with of course a little drink as one converses about the book just sounds so fun!

Well this is a bit more on Kimberly (Kim) and Andrielle (Andie) who are your lovely hosts and co-founders of Buzzed On Books. I'd recommed a refreshing H-E=B Zero Original Cola to pair with this blog post~

https://www.instagram.com/_buzzedonbooks_/

Kim and Andie share a few of their favorite books

• Kim’s Favorite books: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, Almond by Sohn Won-Pyung, and These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant.

• Andie’s Favorite books: The Ministry of Time by Kailiane Bradley, How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix, Wolfsong by T.J. Klune

It's funny that Kim mentions Murakami because one christmas I got gifted one of his novels that has the short story Drive My Car. She did more research on the author and apologized for gifted me such a "thing". I think about that every time I look at the book on my bookshelf. Then I won another Murakami book at a book exchange! I have to dig into these eventually.

They both add in a few shout outs they'd like to share

• Kim: Shout out to Ante Books!!!

• Andie: Shout out to Roosevelt’s at 7 for giving us space for our first book club events. We appreciate it!

  
  

  Onto the interview with Kim and Andie

  

  How did Buzzed On Books come to be? What transpired to make this club happen? Especially when it comes to pairing them with drinks to make at home/food?

  1. Kim: It started as a two person bookclub between Andie and I, when we read the Silent Patient. We met up at Bodega early in the day and had some drinks while discussing the book. After a couple of drinks, the secret bartender joined us and it ended with a lot of yapping and venting about the book and booktok (the TikTok book community). We decided to make a podcast about it. To be honest, the idea is a little fuzzy because we were buzzed.

     That's buzzed on books! I haven't joined a book club, but I've read books my friends have read then we share or we recommend each other books then discuss later. When I was taking philosophy courses at UTRGV our professor would host discussion sessions at roosevelts because "that's how philosophy starts! With a drink in your hand!" as he would say. I haven't had this sort of group meeting before to talk about certain topics/lectures/assignments/books since then I would say. I will keep my eye out for the next one to have this experience once again.

  

  How do you decide on the books? From Kitchen Confidential, Frankenstein and The Shining for example. All touching various topics especially with the characters/authors behind these books

  1. Kim: We have a bad habit of picking books for the podcast while we are drinking. We’re both avidly on booktok, and I work with books so we constantly see different titles we want to read and talk about. I tend to pick a lot of the podcast books because I’m picky about what I read. I try to be conscious of the literature I’m consuming, but also try to pick books that are fun and trendy.

  2. Andie: Actually, all three of the books you mentioned were picked by the guests! Generally Kim does the choosing since her ear is to the ground in the book world, but I think letting guests pick books challenges us as readers and keeps our episodes from staying stagnant in the same genres.

     
     

     As Kim mentions "I'm picky about what I read. I try to be conscious of the literature I'm consuming." I didn't start to seriously consider what I read until last year. 2024 I began to actually read and this led to me building the small collection/collection of books to read as soon I finish the others. A book is another level of commitment so it has to be GOOD to ME y'know?

Oh! Those were guest chosen books? Ahh. Now I'm wondering what would I recommend if given the opportunity or even if I could name 4 books - now I'm thinking. For sure I'd say hmmm - Okay so I rolled my chair over to my bookshelf and this was way harder than I thought...,maybe I over thought it lol

• What is it about reading that you enjoy the most? Was there a particular book that kicked it off for you?

  1. Kim: I love that reading allows me to check out, especially from social media and screen time in general. The book that really got me into reading was Looking for Alaska by John Green. 

  2. Andie: I love the escapism books give me, and honestly feeling every emotion I can. I enjoy learning about myself too as I read. I think we are forever growing, so why not live in someone else’s life for a bit? Most of my books lean more into thriller, romance, and fantasy. It’s about the journey, but not where I’m going. The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly really

     kicked off my love for reading again as an adult.

     Hmmm what kicked off reading for me again as an adult. I remember reading The Bell Jar because it kept appearing in my book gram part of well instagram. From there I went on to reading Kitchen Confidential. Since then reading has been really fun! So so good especially when I get to recommend a book to my friends who read and they actually read it! ahhh! I can't really pin point what genre of books I like but I can share authors such Sayaka Murata (Earthlings was so good), Elizabeth Wurtzel, Maud Ventura (her novel debut called My Husband AMAZING) - If you look them and see the books then you can see what I like.

  

  For those wanting to dig into a few of these books, but are looking for a drink to pair them with. Gotta be buzzed in books y'know! What would you recommend for a few books from your list? (Example: negroni and oysters for kitchen confidential)

  1. Kim: My pick is definitely Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, paired with Jurassic Water! Especially since there is a new movie coming out and a scene from the book is featured in the new movie!! The book is definitely scarier than the films.

  2. Andie: I’d recommend our latest episode of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. It’s a classic and the drinks were so delicious! We had a shot that looked like brains, a color changing cocktail, and a special Tiger’s Blood drink for our guest.

Just reading this had me giggling - y'know uhh I've never watched Jurassic Park...so I should read the book instead? Yeah I think I'll do that! Y'know what's kinda funny? I was reading Frankenstein because I found an amazing copy of the book at half price books in Austin 2 months ago and after 20 pages - I picked up Earthlings by Sayaka Murata and I finished it. Now I'll go back to Frankenstein...after I finish I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman - I PROMISE!

• 

  Jurassic Water!

  On the topic of pairing drinks and foods with the books included in your posts. Have you received messages or photos of folks making these at home? What has been the feedback on this?

  1. Andie: We haven’t received any just yet but if you read this and do it, please tag us! It would make our secret bartender so happy! We have heard from folks about how much they just enjoy listening and cracking up with our very steady decline into drunkenness. It’s always cool for someone to share that they enjoy what you are creating, especially when it’s so fun for us to do.

     Alright, on one of my day's off - I'll get with my friends and do one of these for sure. I'll make sure we read the book together as well. I know exactly who to ask!

     

  With the Frankenstein episode out, what book could you tease coming up next or even the cocktail by chance just to give the readers a clue 🧩 

  1. Kim: We have one coming up, a book that includes short essays talking about 2000s pop culture, so a lot of fun topics! Maybe we will have a sip of some Ron Ron Juice (ifykyk)

     I feel like just googling what Ron Ron Juice will spoil this for me...I just did AHHH! I'm now thinking about what else these short essays could be about. I'm really interested now haha.

  What would your personal book recommendations be and what would you pair it with?

  1. Kim: My personal recommendation is going to be The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami, it's dark and weird. He is probably my favorite author and this is a short story that I love to recommend or gift to friends. As for what I would pair it with, probably some Japanese whiskey (Suntory) with a single ice cube in it, pretentious af!

  2. Andie: I just finished the Green Creek series by T.J. Klune. Wolfsong is the first book of the four and it’s great. It’s a gay romantasy about relationships, sacrifice, and chosen family.  Never thought I’d get into wolf stories, but here we are. I’d pair it with your favorite beer, ice cold and a shot of whiskey or tequila (whatever your preference is).

     

  How has the experience been running Buzzed On Books? What have you enjoyed the most out of it?

  1. Kim: It’s been fun, even though I feel like Andie does more of the “running”. It has been so much fun meeting people at events and talking to so many of them about our bookish thoughts through our podcast. 

  2. Andie: We thought we would do this for fun, just read and talk about books. I never expected people to listen or even remember us. It’s turned into so many cool opportunities: we hosted book events and attended other people’s book clubs. No matter their interests, it’s honestly been great meeting people and learning about where they are in their reading journey. The best book recs have been from people who attend events.

  I mean that's what it's all about isn't it? The moment, the folks you meet, the memory/experience given onto another. I look forward to sharing a space with y'all - book in hand and a drink in the other!

  

  What are your thoughts on the growth of book clubs being posted online with so many various books 📚 I see it and it's so exciting! Especially when I see it's been a book I've read earlier this year or something I've never heard of

  1. Kim: I love seeing so many bookish things in the Valley. I feel like the past year or so has been popping off a lot! A main goal of ours was to provide something different in the book world here in the RGV, focusing on books that aren’t the same ones trending on booktok.

  2. Andie: Honestly, it’s awesome. People are being so inventive and trying new ways to incorporate reading with other activities. We have seen book clubs who also host a run based on the book, book fairs and markets, and actually just participated in a book club at Ante Books this weekend and made some new friends.

  I see various non-profit orgs doing book clubs and each book is different, the themes, the topics, the curation that ties into their core values I'd say is attached to their selections. With the numerous book clubs I remember Selina the owner of Ante Books telling me she was reading 3 books for 3 different book clubs and I was like...wow especially when she also made the time to read the comic I recommended as well. Every book "club" is unique in its own way - most importantly they're inclusive and allow folks to see which to join. Hell, join more than one! New books, new people!

  

  Any final comments you'd like to make?

  1. Andie: Thank you for taking the time to chat with us. We really appreciate the interview!A big shout out to everyone who has attended an event, listened to an episode, or joined us as a guest. Your kindness and inclusivity mean a lot, and we are so grateful for this community. And of course, thank you to our behind-the-scenes stars (our secret bartender and podcast producer/editor). We love you both and are thankful you (somewhat) enjoy watching us talk and drink for hours on end.