Blonder, Ellen Leong

Dim Sum: the Art of Chinese Tea Lunch

C. 2002

As more and more Americans become familiar with the Chinese breakfast/brunch tradition of dim sum, they are eager to make these little delicacies at home. Ellen Leong Blonder does a remarkably good job of explaining dim sum technique in Dim Sum. Each of these dainty, tasty morsels has its own traditional method of filling and forming before steaming, baking, boiling, or frying.

Bonfiglioli, Kyril

All the Tea in China

C. 2008

The novel opens with Karli Van Cleef, a young Dutch Jew of prodigious alimentary and sexual appetites, fleeing the consequences of his unscrupulous romantic life. Karli lands in mid-19th-century London with nothing but his wits and a chest of his mother's fine china, and makes an immediate and considerable success as a porcelain dealer. Lured by the promises of adventure and rich profit offered by the opium trade, however, he quickly closes shop to go east.

Childs, Laura

The Teaberry Strangler

C. 2010

A body in the alley ends Theodosia's Dickensian-themed event to promote nearby shops and her teahouse in Childs's 11th entry in the best-selling series.

Childs, Laura

Oolong Dead

C. 2009

While riding her horse in a race through the South Carolina Lowcountry, Theodosia Browning finds her arch nemesis, Abby Davis, dead. What's more, the victim's brother is Theodosia's old flame. Who'd have guessed they'd be reunited through cold-blooded murder?

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Christie, Agatha

The Harlequin Tea Set and other Stories

C. 1997

This welcome collection contains nine stories, most of which were published only in British newspapers and magazines during the 1920s. Hercule Poirot and Harley Quin make appearances, as do more "normal" people dealing with murder.

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D'Erasmo, Stacey

Tea: a Novel

C. 2000

Isabel Gold is a typical 70s suburban teenager: hung up on Joni Mitchell, smoking dope, and desperately trying to escape her middle-classness. As the story opens, Isabel and her mother are inspecting houses in the Philadelphia area; it s clear that the mother, Cassie, is a bit what they used to call ``high strung,'' and it will soon be revealed that this is the last house in which she'll live before committing suicide.

Engelbreit, Mary

Time for Tea with Mary Engelbreit!

C. 1997

Ephron, Amy

A Cup of Tea: a Novel of 1917

C. 1997

The setting is New York during the first year of U.S. involvement in World War I. Rosemary Fell is a pampered and protected young lady, engaged to marry the ever-so-suitable Philip Alsop. One day, Rosemary comes upon a young woman who has obviously fallen on hard times. Out of a sense of noblesse oblige, Rosemary invites this person--Eleanor Smith--home for a cup of tea.

Foose, Martha Hall

Screen Doors and Sweet Tea: Recipes and Tales from a Southern Cook

C. 2008

The warm, languid air of the South filters through this engaging book, in which Foose shares the traditional recipes that she ate while growing up on the Mississippi Delta and has returned to after training as a pastry chef in France and traveling the world. Gently humorous stories about family and friends form a seamless part of her instructions for community recipes like Strawberry Missionary Society Salad, as well as pleasant surprises like Tabbouleh, Curried Sweet Potato Soup, and Chinese Grocery Roast Pork that take Southern food beyond stereotypes.

Haft, Jeremy

All the Tea in China: How to Buy, Sell, and Make Money on the Mainland

C. 2007

Hall, Bruce Edward

Tea that Burns: a Family Memoir of Chinatown

C. 1998

The history of New York's Chinatown as told through the author's personal history. Hall is the son of a second-generation Chinese American and a Yankee of Scottish descent. In his introduction, he writes, "I guess I'm searching for continuity," and thus begins a backwards journey to discover his "roots.'' The book, however, is not strictly a family memoir, but a history of the genesis and rapid growth of Manhattan's Chinatown with the stories of the author's predecessors woven into it.

Heiss, Mary Lou

The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide

C. 2007

Coffee fuels the Western world, while tea defines the East and is the second-most consumed beverage in the world, outgunned only by water itself. In this everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-tea-but-were-afraid-to-ask volume, a husband-and-wife tea-merchant team covers all aspects of tea-its growth, cultivation, and curing and how it's sold as well as its vast cultural and historical significance in China, Japan, Korea, and beyond (including the Colonial United States).

Macfarlane, Aland

The Empire of Tea: the Remarkable History of the Plant that Took over the World

C. 2004

The beneficial nature of a nice cup of tea is no small matter in the Macfarlanes' telling. Alan Macfarlane, a Cambridge U. anthropologist, was born on an Assam tea plantation; he and his mother attribute the rise of great civilizations in China, Japan, and elsewhere and even the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in England to the vivifying effects of cultivated tea leaves. Their interesting and personal narrative history tours the world's great tea cultures and explores the complex medical, psychological, and economic effects not all of them positive of the widely consumed beverage.

McCall Smith, Alexander

Tea Time for the Traditionally Built

C. 2009

Precious Ramotswe uses her formidable detection talents to track down her tiny white van--sold by her estimable husband Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni and stolen from its new owner--while simultaneously helping to explain the dreadful losing streak of a local football team and smoothing out a snag in Mma Makutsi's engagement to Mr Phuti Radiphut.

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Book on CD

Martin, Laura C.

Tea: the Drink that Changed the World

C. 2007

Matlock, Curtiss Ann

Cold Tea on a Hot Day

C. 2001

Matlock revisits the gentle town of Valentine, Okla. Everything's pretty much the same in the tiny berg, except the local newspaper. Muriel Porter, publisher of the Valentine Voice, has run off to tour the world with her new husband, and she has left the newspaper in the capable hands of her cousin, Tate Holloway, a big-city editor who intends to stir things up with his controversial editorials. 

Michaud, Ellen

The Healing Kitchen: from tea tin to fruit basket, breadbox to veggie bin--how to unlock the curative powers of foods that heal!

C. 2005

Mortenson, Greg

Three Cups of Tea

C. 2006

Three Cups of Tea traces Mortenson's decade-long odyssey to build school (especially for girls), throughout the region that gave birth to the Taliban and sanctuary to Al Qaeda. While he wages war with the root causes of terrorism - poverty and ignorance - Mortenson must survive kidnapping, fatwas issued by enraged mullahs, death threats from Americans who consider him a traitor, and wrenching separations from his family.

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  Book on CD

Owens, Sharon

The Tea House on Mulberry Street

C. 2005

Muldoon's Tea Rooms on Mulberry Street in Belfast is the crossroads for a vibrant cast of characters, each of whom is at a crossroads in his or her own life. From the proprietors, Daniel and Penny Stanley, to the winsome florist across the street, the starving artist next door, the philandering businessman across town, his plump little doormat wife, the spinster sisters down the road, and the pretentious society matron, everyone who enters the tearoom for a scone and some Earl Grey leaves a bit more resolved to make changes in his or her life.

Rose, Sarah

For all the Tea in China

C. 2010

Rose's remarkable account follows the journey of Robert Fortune, a Scottish gardener, who was deployed by the British East India Company to steal China's tea secrets in 1848. This thrilling narrative combines history, geography, and old-fashioned adventure.

Ukra, Mark

The Ultimate Tea Diet

C. 2008

Waller, Kim

The Essential Tea Companion

C. 2009

Tea is the new coffee. Judging from the new and old retail chains now embracing the art of tea, Victoria magazine's how-to-/what-to compendium will be well received. History and equipment come first in this well-photographed brew book; editors stress the European traditions, including must-have blue willow and/or Wedgwood china, complementary space, and the varieties, with oh-so-appropriate sidebars on, for instance, tea with a good book recommendations and its nondrinking benefits.

Wilson, Janet

A Passion for Paper: Tea Bag Folding

C. 2008

Woods, Sherryl

Sweet Tea at Sunrise

C. 2010

Emotionally wounded single mom Sarah Price has come home to Serenity, South Carolina, for a fresh start. With support from her two best friends -- the newest generation of the Sweet Magnolias -- she can face any crisis. But sometimes a woman needs more than treasured friends can provide. Sexy Travis McDonald may be exactly what Sarah's battered self-confidence requires. 

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