8 Books That Make Great Party Themes

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
IUnless your name is Gates or Zuckerberg, you can’t afford to throw a Gatsby party—but you can approximate one. Roaring ’20s-inspired fashion, copious amounts of champagne, and lively jazz music is all you’ll need, really. You can also dress for fake success with white tie and flapper garb, if you’re feeling fancy, and don’t forget a buffet table full of delicacies—the guiding principle for a Gatsby party is excess, after all. It doesn’t matter what you serve as long as it’s expensive, and there’s a ton of it. Really, if everyone wears their best cocktail attire, drinks recklessly, and dances wildly, it’s a success!

The Secret History of Twin Peaks, by Mark Frost
You might think of Twin Peaks as a TV show, but there’s a surprisingly large library of books associated with it, and that means you can throw a Peaks-themed party using the TV series’ style and still claim literary snob points. Black single-breasted suits, donuts, coffee, and pie, creamed corn (we must all suffer for our art), and iconic imagery from the Lodge, and you’re ready to go. Put the various soundtrack albums on and stream all 20 hours of the third season on mute in the background, and you’ll practically be able to taste the garmonbozia (which we assume tastes terrible).

A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin
Want a feast? Go “Full Thrones.” Martin describes the various murdery feasts and weddings receptions in his books with an eye towards the food, so you can actually construct a pretty reasonable menu from the novels. Throw in some wine in goblets and you can wield a joint of meat like a scepter and plot against all of your guests. While we would recommend not planning any mass murders at your home, we’ll admit that such a move is the only way to get a perfect score on the authenticity scale.

The Shining, by Stephen King
This is a bit of a cheat, as it’ll be impossible not to draw most of your inspiration from the Kubrick film, but still—this is a rockin’ party just waiting to happen. Your ingredients include tuxedos and Gatsby-esque dress for all (extra points for animal masks), canned foods including tomato soup, eggs in the form of omelets, and Jack Daniels and Advocaat, which is a disgusting liqueur made from eggs.We know Jack Torrance specifies bourbon but gets served Jack Daniels, but we assume that’s part of the evil of the Overlook Hotel, so just roll with it.

Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling
Potter-themed parties are fairly common, in part because it’s so much fun to dress up like a student at Hogwart’s and run about with a wand, and in part because there’s a lot of fun food in the books, beginning with Butterbeer and ending with literally anything you can make into a “potion.” The good news is that there’s a thriving industry producing many of the foods you read about in Potter, so your main chore will be deciding what your potions contain. We suggest alcohol.

Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie
In other words, not just a murder mystery-themed dinner party, but a classy murder mystery-themed dinner party, with 1930s and 1940s fashions, music, and decor. Staging one of those mystery parties during which everyone is assigned a role, one of you is the murderer, and everyone else must try to figure it out—or die trying—is even better with a Christie theme. This is especially true because Christie’s books are absolutely peppered with references to meals, making it easy to construct a menu that features anything from boiled beef to kippers to scones. If you want to keep it simple, just pilfer the menu described in Murder on the Orient Express: omelets, soup (unspecified), cream cheese, chicken cooked without sauce, boiled fish, cereal, and biscuits.

I, Claudius, by Robert Graves
Who’s up for a toga party? The answer is everyone. While Graves’ novels are short on food specifics, you can assume a few things: Wine, grapes, and the poisoned mushroom dish that ultimately kills Emperor Claudius. Of course, you don’t have to make the mushrooms poisonous, and honestly it probably doesn’t matter much what you serve, as long as there’s wine and everyone is wearing togas. Just don’t be the only one wearing a toga, or you’ll wish for poisoned mushrooms.

Casino Royale, by Ian Fleming
Finally, it’s easy to forget that Fleming wasn’t just a skilled writer of spy thrillers, he was an inveterate snob who loved good wine, good food, and high living—all of which made it into his books in the details. Naturally, you’ll be serving Martinis at this party, but you can also craft a spectacular menu simply by taking notes while you read: crabs on buttered toast, smoked salmon and Brizzola—and of course, scrambled eggs, which Bond refers to so often in the books, they are quite clearly his favorite food.