Book Reviews

As some of you already know, my favorite hobbies (besides enjoying good food) are music, traveling, hanging out with my family, and READING. When I get into a good book, I can devour it in just a few days. So I thought I'd do a quick review of some foodie books.


Already Read

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
I love Barbara Kingsolver's novels, but this nonfiction book just didn't do it for me. It received rave reviews and, I must admit, it contains a lot of valuable information. I especially liked the chapters on cheese-making and the "vegitannual." But the tone was so preachy and condescending that I had a hard time finishing it - and apparently I'm not the only one.







Currently Reading

The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais
This novel was a recommendation from NPR Books, and their description of it was so delicious - "wonderful literary food porn with mouthwatering descriptions of pork roasts basted in lemon juice and cognac and cucumber-and-sour-cream salad dashed with lingonberries" - that I just had to read it.

It's the fictional story of a boy who grows up the son of middle-class restauranteurs in Indian, moves to London then rural France with his family, and eventually starts his own restaurant. NPR was right - the food writing is amazing! - and parts of the book read like a travelogue, which I like. The protagonist (and narrator) is a little underdeveloped as a character, but I'm still enjoying the story.




Want to Read

97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement by Jane Ziegelman
I can't remember where I first heard about this book, but not too long afterwards, an NPR review brought it to my attention again. Then the NYTimes reviewed it (favorably, I might add). So I want to give it a shot.

From Amazon.com: "From census data, newspaper accounts, sociological studies, and cookbooks of the time, Ziegelman vividly renders a proud, diverse community learning to be American. ... Beyond the foodstuffs and recipes of the time, however, are the mores, histories, and identities that food evokes. Through food, the author records the immigrants struggle to reinterpret themselves in an American context and their reciprocal impact on American culture at large."