Food is a universal pleasure and necessity, so it should be no surprise that it has been at the center of plenty of books. While few works exclude the subject entirely — it would be a challenge not to include the daily bread — there are a few genres that focus on it centrally. Here are a few titles and what I thought of them.
Rachel is a food writer and expectant mother who discovers that her husband, Mark, is cheating on her. While her life is upending, the story weaves back and forth in time depicting their courtship and eventual estrangement. Periodically we get recipes, too: for bread pudding, potatoes, and a pie she smashes in her cheating husband’s face.
Another book about a food writer that was turned into a film starring Meryl Streep, this memoir is about Julie Powell’s year-long project to make every recipe in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Both the book and the movie inspired me to briefly try my hand in the kitchen.
Another book about a food writer’s love of her subject, Ruth Reichl is a restaurant reviewer who crafted a delicious memoir about her relationship with food, starting in her childhood. I could not put it down.
Books Smitten 