Books to Inspire Your Next Gathering

I’ve been making my Thanksgiving turkey the same exact way for over 20 years. As a young mom in my 20s, I had no idea how to even start a turkey, so I went to the only expert I knew: Martha Stewart. Martha’s Perfect Roast Turkey recipe, from brine to cheesecloth, is one of the few food traditions in my house. Even as I write this from the desk in my small office at the bookshop, I can smell the turkey roasting under a wine and butter-soaked cheesecloth and savor the first taste of juicy meat that falls off the carving knife right into the drippings pooling on the platter. This month, Clarkson Potter has reissued Martha’s first ever book: “Entertaining,” which was first published in 1982, for a whole new generation of readers.

Today I browsed through my recently purchased copy of “Entertaining,” and was immediately struck by the recipe titles: “Cocktails for Twenty-five,” “Midnight Omelette Supper for Thirty,” “A Country Buffet Breakfast for Forty,” “Thanksgiving Medley for Twenty-four.” As if most of us just casually host a couple dozen people every other week or so. But it got me thinking about gatherings, especially this time of the year, not just the best way to prepare and organize for a busy season of entertainment, but also how our gatherings have changed over the years.

For comparison, I picked up one of the most widely popular entertaining books this season: “Having People Over: A Modern Guide to Planning, Throwing, and Attending Every Type of Party” by Chelsea Fagan. I like this little book for several reasons. It gives us an updated primer on etiquette that feels more practical and intuitive to today’s lifestyle than the Emily Post-era norms of another generation. Fagan also discusses the shifts in social gatherings we see today as our current culture of insulated convenience certainly does not perpetuate social relationships. The era of solidifying friendships through networks of small favors like a ride in a pinch or a meal when you’re sick is fading and has been easily replaced by uber and grocery delivery services. Likewise, we often don’t feel the need to catch up with people when we see a constant stream of their lives on social media. And because wages haven’t kept pace with inflation for decades, people work longer hours to make ends meet, and dinner parties and other social commitments are usually first on the chopping block. Even gatherings of the people we live with, like a traditional daily family dinner, have experienced a sharp decline in the past decades.

Fagan addresses all this and more in chapter topics like “What Happened to Hosting?,” “The Best Things in Life are Free,” “Back Pocket Recipes,” “Just Dropping By,” “The Lost Art of Being a Good Guest,” and “Creating Grown-Up Communities.”

As an introvert reader, I loathe small talk and often avoid parties and large gatherings for the sole purpose of avoiding forced pleasantries and unmeaningful conversations with too many people, but I realize that it’s not a very healthy approach to social engagement. There is a chapter in “The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters” by Priya Parker called “Keep Your Best Self Out of My Gathering” that connects this idea of building realness into meaningful gatherings. Even today, re-reading this chapter, I get tears in my eyes at the vulnerability and personal stories shared at her business dinner gathering. Fifteen strangers were moved and connected by a host who displayed a little bravery and asked the right questions. It reminds me of how important it is to step outside of our comfort zones to foster these moments of connection and create meaningful gatherings in life.

So, this holiday season, I invite you to take risks, maybe even throw yourself a little dinner party and invite the neighbors you never see, or the work friends you don’t spend social time with, or maybe even really give it a go and try Martha’s Midnight Supper for Thirty. Whatever you do, consider Parker’s advice: “Gatherings crackle and flourish when real thought goes into them, when (often invisible) structure is baked into them, and when a host has the curiosity, willingness, and generosity of spirit to try.”

Here are a few more book recommendations to get you started:

“Cookies: The Best Recipes for the Perfect Anytime Treat” by Vaugn Vreeland, NY Times Cooking. Our staff is obsessed with this book (mostly because of the Table of Cookies in the front of the book) but also because holiday baking and cookie parties are our favorite.

“Party People: A Cookbook for Creative Celebrations” by Brie Larson and Courtney McBroom. This book is full of really fun-themed ideas and menus to take your gatherings to the next level, including one for the messiest finger foods imaginable.

Bend local, Patricia Smith’s cookbook, “Feeding my Friends,” is a popular go-to resource full of elegant dishes to build the perfect dinner party. She even includes a chapter on local restaurant history and the Pine Tavern.

The star cookbook of the season probably goes to Samin Nosrat for her new book, “Good Things: Recipes and Rituals to Share with People You Love.” It contains 125 meticulously tested, flavor-forward, soul-nourishing recipes that bring joy and a sense of communion.

And finally, be a good guest and don’t forget the perfect hostess gift for your next dinner party. A small cookbook, a recipe deck like “The New York Times Cooking Appetizer Deck: 50 Cards for Starters and Snacks,” or a cocktail book like “Tequila Mockingbird: Cocktails with a Literary Twist” by Tim Federle will bring a smile to your next host.

WHAT CASSIE’S READING:

“Beasts of the Sea” by Lida Turpeinen, Translated by David Hackston

Gorgeous writing about human encounters with nature.

A sweeping and intimate tale about a fateful encounter between man and nature spanning three centuries and linked by a long-extinct denizen of the northern oceans. Beasts of the Sea is a tale of grand ambition, the quest for knowledge, and the urge to resurrect what humankind has, in its ignorance, destroyed.

This article appears in Source Weekly November 27, 2025.