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10 Amazing Books You Should Read and Exactly What You Should Drink With Them

From Cosmopolitan

Barnes and Noble announced recently that it will start selling beer and wine at four new stores, according to CNN. And while this is might be the best thing to have ever happened at a Barnes and Noble, the first store to serve liquor won't open until October.

To tide you over until then, Cosmopolitan.com asked certified sommelier Diane McMartin which boozy drinks pair best with these 10 new releases. McMartin happens to be an authority, being that she's the author of This Calls For a Drink!, a book about how to pair beverages with what's happening in your life, from being dumped to getting fired.

Now grab one of these books and a bottle and you'll be ready to have a fantastic time.

1. Off-Dry Riesling + Shrill: Notes From a Loud Woman

For an "I am woman, hear me roar" kind of evening, try pairing a fun, light wine with this hilarious memoir from Lindy West. Shrill is a feminist must-read that details West's battles with internet trolls, body image, gender politics, and so much more. "[This wine is] sweet but also sour," McMartin says. "It's kind of sassy too, just like [West]." Look out for one from Peter Lauer: It's McMartin's fave, and costs about $15.

2. Fernet Branca + The Girls: A Novel

This best-selling novel features a coming-of-age story during the summer leading up to the Charles Manson murders of 1969, and it's what everyone seems to be talking about. For this gripping tale, McMartin says, "You want to drink something that the cool kids drink." Her suggestion? Fernet Branca, an Italian bitter liquor that's become ultra popular in recent years. And if you want to be extra hip, McMartin says to drink it as a shot with a ginger ale chaser at the end of the night.

3. Sparkling wine + Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

A new Harry Potter story calls for a very special English drink. According to McMartin, people are starting to make sparkling wine in England since a lot of the soil in the U.K. is similar to what you'd find in northern France, where Champagne is made. She suggests one winery called Ridgeview to find a new, exciting sparkling wine that Harry would approve of.

4. Hoegaarden beer + Calm the Fuck Down coloring book

When your night is chill AF and you want to relax, pull out a coloring book, and just de-stress, this wheat beer is the perfect companion. It's mild, refreshing, and pretty low in alcohol, McMartin says. "[It's a] good thing to drink while you're coloring because you can have a couple and not end up coloring outside the lines."

5. Champagne + Sweetbitter

In Sweetbitter, the main character Tess moves to NYC, falls into a love triangle and works at the best restaurant in the city where she's introduced to the finest Champagnes. So, of course, you're going to need a glass yourself. "Go to a good neighborhood wine shop and ask them for a Champagne that will just blow your mind," McMartin says. She also suggests grabbing some popcorn, aka the best snack to pair with bubbly.

6. Pilsner + Homegoing

Homegoing follows two half-sisters from their birth in 18th century Ghana, all the way up to present day. One sister's descendants live through years of warfare in Ghana while the other sister and her children journey to America and live through slavery, the Civil War, and the Great Migration.

Pair this heavy historical fiction novel with Uinta's Small Batch Pilsner, a session beer you can sip on for a few hours at a time. Pilsner is a traditionally Austrian style of beer and, even in its traditional form, is pretty low in alcohol. "If you're going to sit down and read for a few hours and have two [of these beers], you won't fall asleep in the book," McMartin says.

7. Syrah + Grace

Two stories are woven together in this novel about a mother who escapes slavery to work in a brothel and her daughter who lives through the Emancipation Proclamation and the violence that follows. For something this heavy, McMartin suggests drinking Syrah, a wine that comes from a dark, brooding grape. Since you'll be reading (and probably not eating), McMartin says to try a Syrah from Margerum since it's dark and mysterious but also a little fruitier.

8. Chardonnay + Hamilton: The Revolution

This behind-the-scenes look at the musical phenomenon needs a drink worthy of the show's brilliance. "Hamilton's about the American Revolution but also about pointing out that America has always been about people who want to shake things up," McMartin says. "One winery called Arnot-Roberts makes a chardonnay that's a new way to look at California wine." This particular chardonnay is still bright but not super oaky or buttery. Plus, according to Martin, it's just plain good - much like the musical.

9. Beaujolais + Modern Lovers

This fictional story features a group of friends and former college bandmates approaching their 50s, living in Brooklyn, and trying to sort out the many relationships in their lives. So naturally, you'll want to drink something fresh and calm to go with it. McMartin suggests Beaujolais, a light-bodied red that goes great with summer food. "It's something you would find on a French wine list in a really cool hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Brooklyn where everybody's cooler than you," McMartin says. If you don't feel like trekking to a restaurant, McMartin says you can also head to a decent neighborhood wine shop and ask for Beaujolais that's a little nicer than Beaujolais Nouveau; they'll hook you up.

10. Barolo wine + Tuesday Nights in 1980

Tuesday Nights in 1980 features an artist and a critic living in SoHo in the '80s when a tragedy strikes that affects their relationship to life - and art. Around the same time, McMartin says, one of the big controversies in the wine world took place in Barolo, Italy, between producers who were more into modern styles versus those who were more old school. Have a wine with a nod to the '80s by drinking a Barolo wine from Brovia, one of McMartin's favorite old school wineries.

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