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Years ago I read Ruth Reichl's "Comfort Me With Apples" for my bookclub and absolutely loved it. I immediately sought out her other book "Tender at the Bone", read it and waited anxiously to get my hands on "Garlic & Sapphires."  Her books were poignant and hilarious and they had recipes too.  They were my first introduction to what I call literary cookbooks.  A couple of years ago I stumbed upon Laura Schenone's book "The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken" and I was hooked once again on a book that was part autobiography, cookbook and travel book.  I could not put it down! As soon as I finished it I ordered her other book "A Thousand Years Over a Hot Stove" from Amazon.  Recently I received a copy of "American Pie - Slices of American Life" by Pacale Le Draoulec.  Just like the others this book drew me in with a combination of a good story and interesting recipes.   I know there must be other cookbook fans here at EYB who also love books with a great story and a some recipes as a bonus.  I would love some suggestions for my next literary cookbook read.

I'm currently reading Knives at Dawn by Andrew Friedman, which is the story of the American team's contest at the Bocuse d'Or.  Amazing what they put themselves through!

I recently read and loved Provence, 1970 - mainly about M.F.K. Fisher (who Lindsay just wrote about in her final blog post) but also Julia Child, James Beard, Richard Olney, Simone Beck, Judith Jones and Elizabeth David.  Lindsay's other recommendation, Laurie Colwin, is an essential read - Home Cooking and More Home Cooking are both wonderful books.

I really enjoyed Life, On the Line by Grant Achatz.  Fascinating to see the journey and struggles a talented chef has to get to the top.  Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton was another great read, on the same themes. Toast, Nigel Slater's biography (at least up to the point where he starts cooking professionally) is a really good read.

For anyone who loves cookbooks (and don't all EYB members?) I highly recommend The Pedant in the Kitchen by Julian Barnes.  It's beautifully written of course, coming from a very talented writer but also so much of it resonates with anyone who likes following recipes rather than take a "throw it all together and hope it works" approach to cooking.  The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz is a fun read - the deliciousness and frustrations of life in Paris, in David's witty style. Another witty writer is Jay Rayner, a British restaurant critic - his The Man Who Ate the World is laugh-out-loud funny.  He has a new book out in March, A Greedy Man in a Hungry World which I'm really looking forward to.

Our own Susie Chang's anthology A Spoonful of Promises is a lovely read, with the bonus of some great recipes.  With the same format, short vignettes with an associated recipe, Molly Wizenberg's A Homemade Life is a delightful read.

And if that's not enough, then check out EYB members picks for Food writing and Autobiography, biography and memoirs.  

If anyone does decide to buy any of these books, and is buying from Amazon or The Book Depository, please use the Buy Book link from EYB.  The more affiliate fees we earn, the more books we can index!

The Opinionated Palate, Passions and Peeves on Eating and Food, by Barbara Kafka.  A charming and delightful little book full of the writer's thoughts on food which I re-read every so often.  I like her style of wit, joy & passions & peevishness melded with her deep knowledge of food.  The book makes me smile and her food ideas/recipes are still appealing and fresh.

Mine is a 1992 first edition although not in pristine condition, well-thumbed and festooned with post-it tabs.

I love reading books on food and food memoirs and while I've read some of the books named here, I was able to add others to my list. Right now I'm reading Kate Christensen's Blue Plate Special: An autobiography of my appetites.    I most recently enjoyed My Berlin Kitchen: A Love Story (with Recipes) by Luisa Weiss.  Holly Hughes edits a book on the best food writing every year and those editions are worth checking out, too, if you like to read food essays.

My favorite food-related reads have been memoirs -- I particularly enjoyed Marcus Samuelsson's Yes, Chef, novelist Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, and The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Love, and Food, by Kristin Kimball. (Of the three, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is the only one that also has some recipes.) There are many more on my Want-to-Read list which is only growing longer after reading everyone else's recommendations!

I've  been listening to audiobooks while doing housework, painting (our new house needed a fresh coat of paint in every room), and yardwork in nicer weather. I find non-fiction and memoirs to be excellent genres in this format and a great way to help squeeze in a little extra reading time!

I loved Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and Yes, Chef is on my TBR list.  I also have From Scratch: Inside the Food Network, The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge, and the World's Greatest Piece of Cheese, and The Drunken Botanist, 52 Loaves: A Half-Baked Adventure, to name a few.

Great to find this thread - one of my favourite topics.  Anything by Elisabeth Luard - she is a wonderful writer.  I'd particularly recommend Family Life.  Her books definitely fit the 'literary' description.  Only a few books are autobiographical, they are more about food history and tradition.  If you want to celebrate a particular religious festival with food, her books are the ones to turn to.  I'd also recommend Recipes and Remembrances from an Eastern Mediterranean Kitchen by Sonia Uvezian.  If you're utterly saddened by the pictures on the news of the war-torn Middle East, this book is a great way to learn about the true culture of countries like the Lebanon and Syria.

I agree Elisabeth Luard is a good writer but she bugged me in Family Life. I think it was the bit where she and her husband turned up at an evening party with 4 children in tow, having been told it was a child-free party. Her attitude was "What are they going to do, ask us to leave?".

I enjoyed very much Julian Barne´s "A pedant in the kitchen", found Anthony Bourdain´s "Kitchen Confidential" funny and cheeky and I consider M.F.K. Fisher, Richard Olney and Elizabeth David as classics.

Other classics worth reading (although I don´t know if they all have been translated into English):

• Jean François Revel "Un festin en paroles"


• Julio Camba "La casa de Lúculo o el arte de comer"


• Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin "Physiologie du Gout"


• Josep Pla "Lo que hemos comido"

I am currently reading a memoir, Jacques Pepin "The apprentice: my life in the kitchen" and plan to read Bill Buford´s "Heat".

I will check on Jay Rayner and David Lebovitz, they have caught my attention.

I find "Smart Tart  - Observations from my cooking life" by Tamasin Day-Lewis interesting.
https://www.eatyourbooks...art-observations-from-my

It has 14 autobiographical sketches, and several recipes for pies and tarts interlaced throughout the book.

I was one of the subscribers when it was published through Unbound in the UK so I had to wait for it to be writtten before I could get my hands on it. Now you can get it much faster from Amazon.