Margot at Joyfully Retired is hosting a challenge for 2011 that I am very excited about: The Foodie's Reading Challenge!
I love reading books about food. I often read cookbooks cover-to-cover, like a narrative book. And there are several books sitting on my TBR shelves that focus on food. This is going to be a lot of fun.
Definition of a Food Book
Participants do not have to chose their books in advance, but here is a little guidance from Margot:
A food book is a book which is centered around food and/or drinks. That could be a cookbook, a food biography or memoir, a non-fiction book focused around a specific food, wine, chef or restaurant. Also allowed is a fictional story in which food plays a major role.
My Reviews
The Food of France by Waverley Root (reviewed here)
American Terroir: Savoring the Flavors of Our Woods, Waters, and Fields, Rowan Jacobsen (reviewed here)
Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal: War Stories From the Local Food Front by Joel Salatin (reviewed here)
The Onmivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan (which I didn't review, but discussed here)
With a Jug of Wine: An Unusual Collection of Cooking Recipes by Morrison Wood (reviewed here, with a recipe)
I also read French Spirits: A House, a Village, and a Love Affair in Burgundy by Jeffrey Green, which I thought would be about food, but wasn't at all, so doesn't count as my sixth book. Drats.
Possibilities
I signed up at the "Bon Vivant" level to read four to six books. My plan is to read books that are already on my TBR shelves. Some of those in the running include (in no particular order):
The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America's Emerging Battle Over Food Rights by David E. Gumpert
James Beard on Food Delights and Prejudices by James Beard (I started this one on December 1)
On the Town in New York by Michael Batterberry
Stuffed: Adventures of a Restaurant Family by Patricia Volk
The Tuscan Year: Life and Food in an Italian Valley by Elizabeth Romer
Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table by Ruth Reichl
Alice Waters and Chez Panisse by Thomas McNamee
Epicurean Delight: The Life and Times of James Beard by Evan Jones
Vie De France: Sharing Food, Friendship and a Kitchen in the Lorie Valle by James Haller
A Cordiall Water by M. F. K. Fisher
The Feasting Season by Nancy Coons
Dumas on Food: Selections from Le Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine by Alexandre Dumas
And it might be a good idea to include this one:
French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating For Pleasure by Mireille Guiliano
Other Ideas
This challenge reminds me of the Spice of Life Challenge, which was a favorite of mine in 2009. For that challenge, I read and reviewed these four books, three of which I loved. Can you guess which one I didn't?
- Au Revoir to All That by Michael Steinberger (my non-fiction choice; reviewed here)
- The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones (my fiction choice; reviewed here)
- The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso (my cookbook choice; reviewed here)
- Julie & Julia by Julie Powell (my memoir/essay choice; reviewed here)
