Monday, April 4, 2011

Foodie Book Review #1

I just finished a short, quick, melancholy yet beautiful read: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender. It's sort of the opposite premise to Like Water for Chocolate: a young girl suddenly gains the ability to taste the people and places linked to the food she eats. So she tastes the health or lack thereof in the animals, the factories behind processed food, and the emotions and personal situations of the people who cook her food. At first I was ready to write it off as just another junkfood for the mind kind of book, but when I finished, I was awash with feelings of bittersweet melancholy that were absolutely...delicious. A sad, yet hopeful book. Worth the read for anyone in love with foodie novels.

Hey readers! Anyone have any foodie book recommendations? I will start compiling a list of others that I like and I'll share soon!

3 comments:

  1. I love foodie books! Currently reading "My Life in France" by Julia Child. Love it. Other favourites are: "Comfort Me With Apples" by Ruth Reichl; "Kitchen Confidential", by Anthony Bourdain, of course. "Julie & Julia" by Julie Powell, and "A Natural History of the Senses", by Diane Ackerman.

    The book you write about sounds right up my alley. Will read it after I'm done with Julia Child!

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  2. I haven't yet read "My Life in France", or "A Natural History of the Senses", but they're on my list. I love Anthony Bourdain and Ruth Reichl, and have read "A Cook's Tour" and "The Nasty Bits" as well as "Kitchen Confidential", and also "Garlic and Sapphires" and "Tender at the Bone" by Ruth Reichl. Another foodie novel I recommend is "Stanley Park" by Timothy Taylor. Also excellent. I've also read Julie Powell's sequel to "Julie and Julia". It was a little unnerving because I related so much to her in her first book, and then her marriage collapses in "Cleaving". Still a good read though, just a little uncomfortable.

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  3. I LOVE "Stanley Park" too! Was thinking about it the other day and wish I owned a copy. Funny I was also talking about "Cleaving" today with a friend and want to read it...wonder what Julie is up to now? Good luck with your renos....I'm sure you'll have a fabulous kitchen in the end!

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