\u201cWhen you pair wines, you\u2019re typically pairing to an occasion or food, or to specific flavor markings. But this very much has a storytelling-meets-storytelling component.\u201d<\/h4>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/BooksTakeFlightDB-7-400x267.webp\")
Books Take Flight is the sole boozy book club in Salt Lake City. Photo: Derek Brad<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHamilton draws upon her background and professional sommelier training to pair a flight of three wines with the month\u2019s chosen novel. She says that because the books are usually fiction, and recently often lean in a feminist and even dystopian direction, the connections she draws are highly literary. \u201cWhen you pair wines, you\u2019re typically pairing to an occasion or food, or to specific flavor markings,\u201d Hamilton explains. \u201cBut this very much has a storytelling-meets-storytelling component.\u201d<\/p>\n
The club\u2019s recent read was Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow <\/em>by Gabrielle Zevin<\/strong><\/a>. In it, Hamilton says, the protagonist experiences a few self-imposed obstacles. For this reason she paired it with a zinfandel, a dark red wine varietal that has a hard time ripening evenly. \u201cIt has some grapes that get ripe and some grapes that don\u2019t ripen on time,\u201d Hamilton explains. \u201cIt can be an interesting challenge to make wine from it because there\u2019s growth and then there\u2019s setbacks.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cI try to procure wine that is intentionally different from the Utah market. We have a really unique global selection that isn\u2019t just the day-to-day wines you find all the time.\u201d<\/h4>\n
The book club attendees positively drank it up \u2013 both the facts about the wine, as well as the parallels and metaphors she helps to draw between the wine and the characters and themes in the books. It helps to have a pro sommelier at the helm of the monthly events, someone who literally travels the world in search of new and distinctive varietals. \u201cI try to procure wine that is intentionally different from the Utah market,\u201d Hamilton says. \u201cWe have a really unique global selection that isn\u2019t just the day-to-day wines you find all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Attendees get to peruse facts about the three wines and why they were chosen, using that as a launching pad for discussion at each meeting. They also have an appointed discussion leader, Becca Rettenberger<\/strong>, who was once one of the club\u2019s first attendees. Now, she comes each time equipped with notes and questions to grease the wheels of conversation (the wine helps with greasing the social wheels).<\/p>\n\u201cWe do have regulars,\u201d Hamilton says, \u201cand what I\u2019ve noticed from book clubs in my life is it\u2019s often hard to get you and all your friends on the same page, or it falls apart and someone doesn\u2019t read. But this is an opportunity to have a club there for you, and there will always be other people there who want to discuss the books.\u201d With Rettenberger\u2019s leadership and Hamilton\u2019s wine curation, Books Take Flight is not only the sole public, \u201cboozy\u201d book club in Salt Lake City, but also probably one of the highest functioning book clubs in existence. It\u2019s even taken a life of its own, with members often suggesting the books they read.<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/BooksTakeFlightDB-5-400x267.webp\")
The group\u2019s chosen book for April is The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. Photo: Derek Brad<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe group\u2019s chosen book for April is The Only Good Indians <\/em>by Stephen Graham Jones<\/strong><\/a>. Sign-up is available at melancholyslc.com<\/em>. It sells out every month, so Hamilton recommends watching for the \u201cbook drops\u201d on their Instagram @melancholyslc<\/em><\/a> near the beginning of the month and signing up as soon as you can.<\/p>\nWith national reading levels in decline, there seems to be no better motivator to read books and make new friends than Books Take Flight.<\/p>\n
Read other features by Kyle Forbush:<\/strong>
\nStyle Your Home for Generations: Design within Reach<\/a><\/strong><\/em>
\nIn the Stu’ with a Tru Music Guru: Spy Hop’s Nick Allred<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hamilton draws upon her background and professional sommelier training to pair a flight of three wines with the month\u2019s chosen novel. She says that because the books are usually fiction, and recently often lean in a feminist and even dystopian direction, the connections she draws are highly literary. \u201cWhen you pair wines, you\u2019re typically pairing to an occasion or food, or to specific flavor markings,\u201d Hamilton explains. \u201cBut this very much has a storytelling-meets-storytelling component.\u201d<\/p>\n
The club\u2019s recent read was Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow <\/em>by Gabrielle Zevin<\/strong><\/a>. In it, Hamilton says, the protagonist experiences a few self-imposed obstacles. For this reason she paired it with a zinfandel, a dark red wine varietal that has a hard time ripening evenly. \u201cIt has some grapes that get ripe and some grapes that don\u2019t ripen on time,\u201d Hamilton explains. \u201cIt can be an interesting challenge to make wine from it because there\u2019s growth and then there\u2019s setbacks.\u201d<\/p>\n The book club attendees positively drank it up \u2013 both the facts about the wine, as well as the parallels and metaphors she helps to draw between the wine and the characters and themes in the books. It helps to have a pro sommelier at the helm of the monthly events, someone who literally travels the world in search of new and distinctive varietals. \u201cI try to procure wine that is intentionally different from the Utah market,\u201d Hamilton says. \u201cWe have a really unique global selection that isn\u2019t just the day-to-day wines you find all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n Attendees get to peruse facts about the three wines and why they were chosen, using that as a launching pad for discussion at each meeting. They also have an appointed discussion leader, Becca Rettenberger<\/strong>, who was once one of the club\u2019s first attendees. Now, she comes each time equipped with notes and questions to grease the wheels of conversation (the wine helps with greasing the social wheels).<\/p>\n \u201cWe do have regulars,\u201d Hamilton says, \u201cand what I\u2019ve noticed from book clubs in my life is it\u2019s often hard to get you and all your friends on the same page, or it falls apart and someone doesn\u2019t read. But this is an opportunity to have a club there for you, and there will always be other people there who want to discuss the books.\u201d With Rettenberger\u2019s leadership and Hamilton\u2019s wine curation, Books Take Flight is not only the sole public, \u201cboozy\u201d book club in Salt Lake City, but also probably one of the highest functioning book clubs in existence. It\u2019s even taken a life of its own, with members often suggesting the books they read.<\/p>\n The group\u2019s chosen book for April is The Only Good Indians <\/em>by Stephen Graham Jones<\/strong><\/a>. Sign-up is available at melancholyslc.com<\/em>. It sells out every month, so Hamilton recommends watching for the \u201cbook drops\u201d on their Instagram @melancholyslc<\/em><\/a> near the beginning of the month and signing up as soon as you can.<\/p>\n With national reading levels in decline, there seems to be no better motivator to read books and make new friends than Books Take Flight.<\/p>\n Read other features by Kyle Forbush:<\/strong>\u201cI try to procure wine that is intentionally different from the Utah market. We have a really unique global selection that isn\u2019t just the day-to-day wines you find all the time.\u201d<\/h4>\n
\nStyle Your Home for Generations: Design within Reach<\/a><\/strong><\/em>
\nIn the Stu’ with a Tru Music Guru: Spy Hop’s Nick Allred<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"