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Looking for a recipe for the perfect book club night? Take one bestselling Nantucket novel, multiply it by five courses of incredible food, and add a room full of your favorite people ready to debate every single plot twist.
This week, our book club gathered to discuss The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand. Because the main character, Hollis Shaw, is a famous food blogger who curates an elaborate weekend for her friends, we knew we couldn’t just settle for standard wine and cheese. We decided to match Hollis’s energy by throwing our very own five-star culinary potluck! 🥂✨
Here is a recap of our discussion, our incredible menu, and why this book is an absolute must-read for your next group gathering.
🍇 The “Five-Star” Menu Recap
Since Hollis assigns her friends to different eras of her life—her youth, her twenties, her thirties, and midlife—we used that as inspiration. Everyone brought a dish that either matched a chapter of the book or channeled the coastal Nantucket vibe:
- The Welcome Drink: We started the night with a bottle of Sancerre, a French Sauvignon Blanc, which frequently pops up in Elin Hilderbrand’s famous Nantucket novels and at her author events.
- The Appetizers: One member brought rosemary-roasted nuts and I brought a watermelon feta salad with mint that was divine!
- The Main Event: To fully transport ourselves to the beach, we feasted on shrimp cocktail and halibut ceviche served alongside a decadent dip that Hollis would definitely approve of.
- The Sweet Finale: We wrapped up the night with delicious paloma cookies.
Safe to say, nobody left hungry!
💬 Our Juicy Discussion Highlights
Once we cleared the plates, the real fun began. The Five-Star Weekend is packed with complex female friendships, grief, and long-buried secrets, giving us endless material to talk about:
- The “Friendship Tiers” Concept: We spent at least thirty minutes debating Hollis’s strategy of organizing her friends by life stages. We asked ourselves: If we hosted our own weekend getaway, who would make our four slots? (It is much harder to choose than you think!)
- Grief vs. Aesthetics: We loved how Hilderbrand balanced the heavy, raw emotions of Hollis losing her husband with the light, beautiful, sun-drenched backdrop of Nantucket. It felt incredibly human.
- That Reveal: No spoilers here for anyone who hasn’t finished, but we had a discussion about whether forgiveness would really be possible for us after the truth was revealed.
📖 The Verdict: 5/5 Stars for Book Clubs
If your book club is looking for a novel that is fast-paced and sparks immediate conversation about family dynamics, social media, and evolving friendships, this is it. Plus, the built-in food theme makes planning your meeting a total breeze.
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