food books

Audiobook: Food Person

Leave a comment

by Adam Roberts
Read by Mia Hutchinson-Shaw
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs, and drug use. It’s in the Adult Fiction section of the bookstore.

All Isabella wants to be is a food writer. Except in this age of viral stories and influencers, someone who just wants to focus on the food (and not be on camera) is going to have a hard time of it. So when, after she loses her job at a foody-influencer e-zine, she’s offered to ghost write a cookbook for a once-beloved-but-now-down-and-out celebrity, Molly. It’s somewhat of her dream job: she would love to write a cookbook. Just not one where the other person is vastly uninterested in helping.

There are a lot of ups and downs in this one; both Isabell and Molly have big egos and are mostly unwilling to compromise – Molly wanting something that reflects “her” (or at least her public persona); Isabella wanting something that’s actually good, and something she wants to be proud of. There are hilariously awkward and weird situations (the whole deal with Isabella’s mother is a LOT), and the climax is definitely crazy.

I did like this one though. Hutchinson-Shaw is an excellent narrator, and kept me engaged in this. And Roberts isn’t bad when writing women. He was a former food-writer, so those parts were pretty amazing, and I have to admit that’s why I was there. I adore foody books, and this one absolutely hit the spot.

It was a lot of fun.

Audiobook: Food for Thought

Leave a comment

by Alton Brown
Read by the author
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: I don’t think he swears, but if he does it’s mild swearing and not very often. It’s in the Food Reference section of the bookstore.

I have been fond of Alton Brown for years. I use a handful of his recipes and he came and did an event at the store and was entertaining and not a dick to me (he’s kind of persona-non-grata at the store for reasons):

Goodness, we were young.

Anyway, I picked up a galley of his book, but C stole it from me and read it and really enjoyed it. So, when it showed up on audio, with him reading it, of course I had to listen. It’s a series of small essays, “thoughts” if you will, ranging from his childhood to his career as a food host (not a chef, never a chef), to his thoughts on food in movies and Food Network. It’s a slight read/listen, but it’s entertaining, he’s a smart person and a good writer, and a lot of fun. Which, honestly: what more do you want out of a food book?

Nothing, honestly. (And yes, I may, eventually, try his roast chicken “recipe” he includes.)

A Cook’s Tour

Leave a comment

by Anthony Bourdain
First sentence: “Dear Nancy, I’m about as far away from you as I’ve ever been – a hotel (the hotel, actually) in Pailin, a miserable one-horse dunghole in northwest Cambodia, home to those not-so-adorable scamps, the Khmer Rouge.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There’s a lot of swearing, including multiple f-bombs. It’s in the Cooking Reference section of the bookstore (which is where we put all foody books like this.)

C went on an Anthony Bourdain kick last year, reading a number of his books (and we eventually watched the documentary about him as well), and this is the one she ended up talking about the most. It’s his eating tour – a narrative of the year he spent filming for a Food Network show he did – going to places like France, Portugal, Russia, Japan, Vietnam, and Cambodia in search of the “perfect” meal.

My thoughts? Well, this man would eat literally anything. You put it in front of him, told him it was edible, he would eat it. Which is simultaneously terrifying and impressive. (Seriously: some of the stuff he ate is not for the weak to read about!) He does, however, know how to write about food. It comes off the page, and much of it sounds like it’d be amazing to try. His description of the 20-course meal at The French Laundry in Napa Valley, California, had me looking up to see if I could afford the place. (Spoiler: I can’t.) I really liked his descriptions of the food markets in Vietnam, the weirdness of Tokyo, and the whole experience he had in Portugal where they slaughtered the fatted pig for him.

However, Bourdain was an ass, and maybe he mellowed in his later years, but in this one, he’s still very much an ass. He’s a snob, he knows he’s a snob, he doesn’t care that he’s a snob, because you know what? He’s right. If something is bad, he will let you know. If he doesn’t like someone, he will let you know. He has this sense that he’s working class (sure, he was a chef, but working class? No one in working class summers in France!) and he doesn’t like it if you don’t respect that, or if you think you’re like him and you’re not. He still has a lot of anger (not as much as Kitchen Confidential, but still) about the world in this one, and it comes across loud and clear on the page. I think that’s part of what took me so long to read this book (it took 2 weeks for a 274-page book): I just didn’t want to spend the time with him. Or at least not long amounts of time. He’s abrasive and unapologetic about it.

Still, the man knew how to write about food. And that’s worth something.

What I Ate In One Year

Leave a comment

by Stanley Tucci
First sentence: “I never dream about food.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: October 15, 2024
ARC pilfered from the shelves at work.
Content: There is some swearing, including quite a few f-bombs, though he often censors himself. It’s in the Biography section of the bookstore.

This one has a simple enough premise: every single day (mostly) of 2023, Tucci wrote about what he ate. He missed a few days, he summed up a few days, but for the most part, he did it. He also writes about the things connected to food: shopping, cooking, and interacting with friends and family. He also writes about the pleasure he has with eating and cooking and sitting down with people he cares about to have a meal.

And the book is glorious. Truly.

In something so mundane as recording what he ate, Tucci finds something interesting to say, about food, about life and living, about companionship and friendship, and about how food connects us and makes the world grander. It’s truly a delight to sit with the actor over the course of the year. I adored the book. I’m glad he includes recipes, I’m glad he decided to do something so simple as this. And honestly: Tucci has become one of my all-time favorite food writers. (Reading it often made me want to go cook and eat.)

I adored this one.

Witch Hat Atelier: Kitchen, Volume 1

Leave a comment

by Hiromi Sato
Created by Kmome Shirahama
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: It’s got short stories and recipes! It’s in the Graphic Novel section with the rest of the Witch Hat Atelier manga.

The basic “plot” of this is the Atelier master, Quifey and Olruggio both love to cook, but they don’t have time during the day. So when the students are all in bed, they take to the kitchen. Sometimes alone and sometimes together, they create scrumptious meals for one another and their students.

It’s a silly book – there’s a chapter about them cooking, followed by a recipe with the magical ingredients (and footnotes in the back with our world equivalents). That’s it. It’s cute and sweet and fluffy, but not much else. It looks like there’s a bunch of these, which I guess superfans would love, but while I thought this one was charming, I have no inclination to keep reading them.

I may try out one of the recipes, though. Just to see.

The Seven Year Slip

Leave a comment

by Ashley Poston
First sentence: “‘This apartment is magical,’ Aunt Analea once said, sitting in her wingback chair the color of robin’s eggs, her hair twisted up with a silver dagger hairpin.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: June 27, 2023
Review copy sent to me by the publisher rep who has definitely got a bead on what I like to read.
Content: There is some swearing, including multiple f-bombs, and a couple of on-screen sex scenes. It will be in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Celemtine’s favorite aunt has just died and left Clementine her apartment. She’s having a hard time with her aunt’s death, and it’s difficult to go home to a place where her aunt had filled with so much life. That is until she opened the door one day to seven years in the past when Iwan was staying in the apartment. (Poston tells you in the first sentence, that the apartment is magical. She meant it!) Iwan is an up-and-coming chef, someone who wants to make it big in the culinary world. But Clementine’s aunt had two rules about the apartment: 1) always take off your shoes. And 2) never fall in love. When you’re in love with someone seven years in the past, finding them in the present is an impossibility. Isn’t it?

Oh, I adored this. I sat down to read just a bit one day and when I came up for air, I was nearly done with the book. Clementine and Iwan are fantastic characters, and I liked how, while this was a romance, it didn’t follow your typical romance book tropes. When you’re playing with time like Poston is here, you open up a whole lot more possibilities and I enjoyed that.

It just was a perfect book to sit and read on a lazy day. And I’m so glad I did.

Measuring Up

Leave a comment

by Lily LaMotte and Ann Xu
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is some pressure on a character by a parent, which may be triggering for some. It’s in the Middle Grade Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

Cici and her family live in Taiwan. She’s happy; she has her A-ma there to keep her company while her parents work and to teach her how to cook. So when Cici’s parents take jobs in America, Cici is heartbroken. Especially since A-Ma isn’t coming. Life in America is strange, and Cici wants to find a way to help A-Ma visit, so she enters a cooking competition for kids. The only problem is that Cici only knows how to cook Taiwanese dishes, and not “American”. She learns about Julia Child (yay!) and practices and practices to become better. And yet, she doesn’t want to lose her own identity and heritage.

What a delightful book! I loved the meshing of the immigrant story and food. There is a huge metaphor about how immigrants have to balance assimilation and their own heritage. There’s also a theme about finding your own path and not the one that your parents set out for you. I loved the characters, and how Xu drew them. She also met the challenge of drawing food and cooking, which isn’t easy.

I adored this one.

Love & Saffron

Leave a comment

by Kim Fay
First sentence: “Dear Mrs. Fortier, I hope this letter finds you well.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There’s really nothing objectionable. It’s in the adult fiction section of the bookstore.

I haven’t read a good epistolary novel in a long time, and this one fit the bill: short enough to read in an afternoon, and charming enough to keep me entertained.

The correspondence takes place in the early 1960s between two women, Joan – a 27-year-old single woman living in LA, and Imogene, – a 60-something woman living in the Seattle area. They start corresponding because Joan writes a fan letter to Imogene who writes a column for a national magazine. From there, they develop a deep friendship that lasts years, sharing details about their lives and bonding over food.

It really is a charming little novel. I know the title is “Love & Saffron” but it made me hungry for tacos. It’s a love letter to food and friendship and definitely worth a couple hours to enjoy.

The Heartbreak Bakery

Leave a comment

by A. R. Capetta
First sentence: “The splintered crack of my egg of the counter sounds like an ending.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is talk of sex, and a couple of f-bombs with some mild swearing It’s in the YA section (grades 6-8) of the bookstore.

This book hits all my buttons: it’s a book about food and baking — Syd our main character, loves to bake as self-expression; it’s a book about Austin (which I really do love to visit); it’s a book about friendships and finding love; it’s a book that truly embraces the entire rainbow of LGBTQIAP+ life and culture.

The plot is simple: Syd goes through a bad breakup, and bakes heartbreak into brownies, which get sold at the bakery, and which cause everyone who eats them to break up. Syd, feeling guilty and miserable — the owners of the Proud Muffin bakery where Syd works are one of the couples — sets about with Harley, the delivery person at the bakery, setting things right. There are lessons Learned and Love along the way, along with a smattering of magical baked goods.

Syd doesn’t have pronouns, and identifies as agender, which to be honest, has made writing this really difficult. One doesn’t consider how much pronouns are a part of life until one tries to write a review not using them.

But the book is still cute and light and frothy, following the paces of a foody romance, with an LGBT+ spin. I did like that this one felt Queer in incredibly inclusive ways (I think the only cis/het characters were Syd’s parents); I felt like (as an outsider) that the whole rainbow was represented. As a baker, I love the idea of magical baking, and some of the recipes Capetta includes sound amazing.

I don’t think tis is going to be my favorite book this year, but I am so happy that a book like this exists in the world.

Audiobook: Crying in H Mart

1 Comment

by Michelle Zauner
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There are some swear words, including a few F-bombs It’s in the biography section of the bookstore.

This is basically Zauner’s homage to her Korean mother, who passed away from cancer in 2014. She goes through her childhood, how her relationship with her mother developed and struggled, and through her mother’s sickness and her death to the year or so afterward. The thing that ties everything together is Korean food. Her mother’s home cooking, the tastes and smells that accompanied Zauner all through her childhood trips to Seoul to see her mother’s family, and through to watching Mangchi on YouTube after her mother’s death, in order to learn the food traditions that she didn’t want to be lost.

It wasn’t a gad book, and Zauner wasn’t a bad narrator. But, I didn’t quite love it either. At times, Zauner felt like a whiny brat, and I just wanted to shake her. I suppose she was just being honest, and so I can admire her for that. The things I liked best were near the end when she starts learning how to cook Korean food. The chapter where she learns to make kimchee was fascinating. And I understood her pain (sort of? I haven’t lost anyone I was incredibly close to, really) or at the least, I understood that this was how she was processing her pain.

I can respect this book, at least, even if I didn’t love it.