18. From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home, by Tembi Locke
Does this count if I didn't finish it?
17. The Comfort Food Diaries: My Quest for the Perfect Dish to Mend a Broken Heart, by Emily Nunn
I love the title, but found the book disappointing. I wrote more about this in my October 2023 Reading Recap.
16. Notes from a Young Black Chef, by Kwame Onwuachi
I don't remember anything from this book except the fact that Kwame Onwuachi was a drug dealer before he became a chef. I also have a lingering impression of his arrogant attitude, reminiscent of cooking show chefs. Actually, he was on a cooking show, come to think of it.
15. The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South, by Michael W. Twitty
I love the idea of this book, and it was definitely interesting in parts, but I found it to be somewhat scattered and disorganized. My mom read it too, and she also found it hard to follow.
14. Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India, by Madhur Jaffrey
Again, this was rather disorganized, but I enjoyed it! More about this book in my January 2024 Reading Recap.
13. Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef, by Gabrielle Hamilton
This book was just sad, from Gabrielle's degenerate childhood to her dysfunctional marriage. I talked about it more in my October 2023 Reading Recap.
12. A Homemade Life, by Molly Wizenberg
I enjoyed the book and Molly Wizenberg's writing, but looking her up on Instagram made me lose some of my liking for this book. I wrote a whole review on A Homemade Life here!
11. The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love, by Kristin Kimball
I originally had this book higher up on my list, but as I tried to come up with something to say about it, I really couldn't remember anything about it except that the author moved to upstate New York to live on a defunct farm with her boyfriend (whose name was Mark, I believe, and he liked to cook). So maybe it's a little unfair to put it eleventh, but if nothing stuck, I must conclude it wasn't as good as I originally thought.
10. Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen, by Laurie Colwin
Funny and charming, but not super deep. I wrote more about this book in my June 2023 Reading Recap.
9. Stir: My Broken Brain and the Meals That Brought Me Home, by Jessica Fechtor
I liked this, but disagreed with Jessica Fechtor's worldview (which doesn't necessarily impact my enjoyment of a book, but can bump it down a couple ranks if the competition is high). More thoughts on this in my November 2023 Reading Recap.
8. Yes, Chef, by Marcus Samuelsson
Marcus Samuelsson has an amazing story! I wrote about this book in my September 2023 Reading Recap.
7. The Language of Baklava, by Diana Abu-Jaber
Looking back, I liked this book more than I thought I did at the time of reading it. I was surprised to see that I only gave it three stars in my December 2023 Reading Recap, but I loved getting a tiny glimpse into Jordanian food and culture!
6. Life From Scratch: A Memoir of Food, Family, and Forgiveness, by Sasha Martin
Sasha Martin is another food memoir writer who had a somewhat difficult childhood (when I say "another", I'm thinking of Gabrielle Hamilton), but the impression I was left with after finishing the book was one of healing, bringing it up (or down, in this case) on the list.
5. Orchard House: How a Neglected Garden Taught One Family to Grow, by Tara Austen Weaver
I felt like I was outside almost the entire time I was reading this, even though I wasn't. More about this book in my August 2023 Reading Recap.
4. Save Me the Plums, by Ruth Reichl
3. My Berlin Kitchen, by Luisa Weiss
This is the book that made me want to visit Berlin. Turns out, I didn't like Berlin all that much when I got there, but I still like this book.
2. Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise, by Ruth Reichl
Ruth Reichl again, of course. Actually, this was the first Ruth Reichl book I ever read! My mom and sister were reading it for book club, and it sounded interesting, so I read it too, even though I was too young to participate in book club at the time. Thoroughly enjoyable!
1. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver
Barbara Kingsolver is one of my favorite authors, so of course I had read this well before I saw Modern Mrs. Darcy's fabulous list. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle may be seen as gimmicky by some readers, but I highly recommend it despite that potential critique!
Whew! That was a lot of food memoirs! I finally finished the list in January 2024 ... and my best friend gave me another food memoir for Christmas, so now I'm reading that one! But I don't mind. Because I love food memoirs.
Excited to try reading some of these, all the titles were new to me!
ReplyDeleteYay, I hope you enjoy! Thanks for commenting!
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