about the author
Judy Gelman
Co-author of The Book Club Cookbook and The Kids' Book Club Book
A book enthusiast, avid cook, and former public relations professional, Judy Gelman collaborated with friend Vicki Levy Krupp to co-author The Book Club Cookbook: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club’s Favorite Books and Authors, featuring recipes and discussion ideas for adult book clubs.
Judy and Vicki were motviated to write The Kids’ Book Club Book: Reading Ideas, Recipes, Activities, and Smart Tips for Organizing Terrific Kids’ Book Clubs after librarians, parents, and teachers who attended their talks asked for a similar book for the growing number of youth book clubs across the country. During eighteen months of research and writing on this trend, the pair was inspired by the enthusiasm and ideas of youth book club members, and by the insights of notable children’s authors whom they contacted.
The authors continue to participate in many book clubs, both with adults and with children. They enjoy speaking about book clubs, and relish their ongoing conversations with book and food enthusiasts across the country.
They both live with their families in the Boston area.
Visit Vicki Levy Krupp’s website here.
Press Links
"Six cookbooks that inspire a hunger for life"
USA Today
"For book clubs, food provides a plot twist"
The Boston Globe
"Telling tales out of school"
The Boston Globe
Julie Gelman Interview
The Washington Post
Featured Book
The Book Club Cook Book
“Part cookbook, part celebration of the written word, [The Book Club Cookbook] illustrates how books and ideas can bring people together.”
—Publishers Weekly
"We are what we eat, they say. We can eat what we read, too. The Book Club Cookbook by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp, first published in 2004 and now newly updated and revised, offers up dozens of new recipes inspired by book clubs’ favorite books, their characters and authors."
—USA Today
Speaking Topics
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Book Clubs for Kids
Judy discusses what she and Vicki learned in conversations with hundreds of youth book club facilitators and members across the country and shares the secrets of creating and sustaining a vital, exciting youth book club, including the nuts and bolts of organizing meetings, selecting books, running discussions, and the creative ways that youth book clubs around the country are integrating food and and activities into their meetings. Judy speaks on the evolutionary process of writing The Kids’ Book Club Book: finding the titles that make book clubs tick; pairing recipes and activities with literature; and hearing from best-selling children’s book authors about their challenges, inspirations, and creative processes. -
Book Clubs (and Food) for Adults
What book clubs across America are reading and eating, how successful groups create exciting meetings, and how food can add a unique and delicious dimension to discussions of literature. Generally, a sampling of foods from the book is made available to the audience after the talk—always a welcome aspect of the event!
Please contact us for booking requirements and availability.