Creating a Reading List

I have so many research questions, and I’d love to keep track of what I’m thinking, what resources I’ve found and might read and explore. I’ll be updating this as often as I can with my questions, and resources to explore

April 2026 - Close-reading, of sorts and Pattern Recognition

I recently re-read Things Fall Apart (1959) by Chinua Achebe. As expected, I observed a number of things I hadn’t previously. Three in particular

1. Close Reading | Okonkwo likely had sleep apnea. “He breathed heavily, and it was said that, when he slept, his wives and children in their houses could hear him breathe.” And while not all snorers have sleep apnea (and not all who have sleep apnea snore), I’m pretty sure he did. I’m thinking about how that may have made him irritable, in addition to the emotional aspects of his relationship with his father. He also had a slight stammer, which may have compounded things. Things? Yes, things, like constant annoyance, male chauvinism, and more. There are many studies that connect neurological and behavioural concerns with sleep apnea.

2. Pattern Recognition | Snuff was cured and treated with saltpetre. “That was always the trouble with Okeke's snuff. It very quickly went damp, and there was too much saltpetre in it.” A pattern I recognize from researching culinary ashes is that saltpetre and baking soda have similar properties and alkalizing functions, and in many cases can be substituted for one another. So, my first thought was, if saltpetre was used to cure snuff, it’s likely that ashes were used historically. And I found several examples of ashes ground with tobacco.

3. Close Reading Potential | The description of yams versus coco-yams as male versus female crops is wild. “His mother and sisters worked hard enough, but they grew women's crops, like coco-yams, beans and cassava. Yam, the king of crops, was a man's crop.” I’m curious to explore this more.

March 2026 - Inside the Cookbooks, Beyond Recipes

What we can learn from cookbooks - about all aspects of life including history, culture, ingredients, and more. I think of Cookbooks and what they share, beyond cooking - what they reveal about attitudes about ingredients, methods and techniques, and so much more

• Course outline, Reading Historic Cookbooks, University of Dublin

• No Mere Culinary Curiosities: Using Historical Cookbooks in the Library Classroom, Kathryn G. Matheny (2020)

• Today’s Cookbooks Serve as Narratives of Identity—and Potentially as Recipes for Dialogue and Understanding

• Cookbooks Are So Much More Than Recipes and Photographs ‹ Literary Hub

  https://www.stainedpagenews.com/p/inside-the-world-of-art-cookbooks

February 2026 | Deities connected to agriculture and beer

• Where they the earliest deities to exist? Do they exist across the world? Are there gender preferences - are there more women or men deities connected to these

• Books to read

  • A History of the World in 6 Glasses (2006 )Book by Tom Standage

  • Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol (2021) by Mallory O'Meara

  • A Woman's Place Is in the Brewhouse: A Forgotten History of Alewives, Brewsters, Witches, and Ceos (2021) by Tara Nurin