BookClubSandwich: The Kitchen Daughter

It's that time again! Time for a BookClubSandwich discussion, and this time we're tackling Jael McHenry's The Kitchen Daughter.

My partner in crime--Kim from Sophisticated Dorkiness--e-mailed me last week asking if I would mind kicking off discussion. I didn't mention at the time that this book didn't work out for me in a couple of different ways. Surprise, Kim! I hate to be that discussion leader in the blogosphere who has a reputation for not finishing assigned reading, but sadly, I may just be that person!

I got this book wayyyy ahead of discussion time. I believe I was just wrapping up two of my favorite reads of the year, ROOM and Everything Beautiful Began After. In other words, The Kitchen Daughter had really big shoes to fill--something that is decidedly not the novel's fault. I was initially very attracted to this book because I love foodie fiction. Something I did not realize is that the main character is Asperger's-afflicted--something I have hit and miss luck with in books.

At first the premise was intriguing enough. I like that Ginny could conjure the dead with her cooking and that she fled to the kitchen in times of stress. However, this premise was not enough of a grabber to keep me going. I found Ginny really hard to "be with" in the book. Her nervousness and social anxiety just made me feel nervous and anxious and drew the book out to a point that was almost painful for me to read. It grated on my nerves, got a bit under my skin, and ultimately I did not finish. I intended to! I tried to get it back from the library (and remain #2 on the holds list), and I just couldn't convince myself to buy the e-book version with some pinchy financial stuff going on at my house.

Now, I want to know what I missed! What did you think of the  book? What were the best and worst bits? How do you jive with characters whose personalities overwhelm you? These and a number of other questions are fair game for discussion.

Please post your thoughts on your own blog and leave a link in the Mr. Linky below or the comments section here. I can't wait to read what you all thought, and Kim will wrap things up toward the end of the week. For now, The Kitchen Daughter is my third DNF of the year.

BookClubSandwich: The Kitchen Daughter

It's that time again! Time for a BookClubSandwich discussion, and this time we're tackling Jael McHenry's The Kitchen Daughter.

My partner in crime--Kim from Sophisticated Dorkiness--e-mailed me last week asking if I would mind kicking off discussion. I didn't mention at the time that this book didn't work out for me in a couple of different ways. Surprise, Kim! I hate to be that discussion leader in the blogosphere who has a reputation for not finishing assigned reading, but sadly, I may just be that person!

I got this book wayyyy ahead of discussion time. I believe I was just wrapping up two of my favorite reads of the year, ROOM and Everything Beautiful Began After. In other words, The Kitchen Daughter had really big shoes to fill--something that is decidedly not the novel's fault. I was initially very attracted to this book because I love foodie fiction. Something I did not realize is that the main character is Asperger's-afflicted--something I have hit and miss luck with in books.

At first the premise was intriguing enough. I like that Ginny could conjure the dead with her cooking and that she fled to the kitchen in times of stress. However, this premise was not enough of a grabber to keep me going. I found Ginny really hard to "be with" in the book. Her nervousness and social anxiety just made me feel nervous and anxious and drew the book out to a point that was almost painful for me to read. It grated on my nerves, got a bit under my skin, and ultimately I did not finish. I intended to! I tried to get it back from the library (and remain #2 on the holds list), and I just couldn't convince myself to buy the e-book version with some pinchy financial stuff going on at my house.

Now, I want to know what I missed! What did you think of the  book? What were the best and worst bits? How do you jive with characters whose personalities overwhelm you? These and a number of other questions are fair game for discussion.

Please post your thoughts on your own blog and leave a link in the Mr. Linky below or the comments section here. I can't wait to read what you all thought, and Kim will wrap things up toward the end of the week. For now, The Kitchen Daughter is my third DNF of the year.

BookClubSandwich Reminder: The Kitchen Daughter

A quick reminder: BookClubSandwich will begin discussion of Jael McHenry's The Kitchen Daughter on July 25th. 

Kim from Sophisticated Dorkiness was kind enough to share the following links to cool stuff about The Kitchen Daughter on her blog, so I'm passing these red-hot links along to you again in case you forgot to visit the first time.

• The Kitchen Daughter on author Jael McHenry’s website
• Jael McHenry’s blog, the SIMMER blog
• Reviews from bloggers that participated in a TLC Book Tour for the book
• Topics for discussion about the book from Simon & Schuster, along with an interview with the author
• The Kitchen Daughter on Google Books, which has a pretty long excerpt to read

I hope you'll take the time to dive into this book and begin sharing your thoughts on the 25th!!!

BookClubSandwich Reminder: The Kitchen Daughter

A quick reminder: BookClubSandwich will begin discussion of Jael McHenry's The Kitchen Daughter on July 25th. 

Kim from Sophisticated Dorkiness was kind enough to share the following links to cool stuff about The Kitchen Daughter on her blog, so I'm passing these red-hot links along to you again in case you forgot to visit the first time.

• The Kitchen Daughter on author Jael McHenry’s website
• Jael McHenry’s blog, the SIMMER blog
• Reviews from bloggers that participated in a TLC Book Tour for the book
• Topics for discussion about the book from Simon & Schuster, along with an interview with the author
• The Kitchen Daughter on Google Books, which has a pretty long excerpt to read

I hope you'll take the time to dive into this book and begin sharing your thoughts on the 25th!!!

The Kitchen Daughter Meets BookClubSandwich

It's that time again! There's been a'votin' going on. The tally is in, and the readers have chosen Jael McHenry's novel, The Kitchen Daughter, for the next BookClubSandwich discussion.

Watch Sophisticated Dorkiness, Kim's blog, for the announcement of the discussion date.

I'm really excited to be reading this novel. First off, I adore the cover. Is it a nightie? Is it a netsack full of peppers? Whatever--it's pretty! Besides that, the premise is great:

“After the unexpected death of her parents, painfully shy and sheltered 26-year-old Ginny Selvaggio seeks comfort in cooking from family recipes. But the rich, peppery scent of her Nonna’s soup draws an unexpected visitor into the kitchen: the ghost of Nonna herself, dead for twenty years, who appears with a cryptic warning (“do no let her…”) before vanishing like steam from a cooling dish. … The more [Ginny] learns, the more she realizes the keys to these riddles lie with the dead, and there’s only one way to get answers: cook from dead people’s recipes, raise their ghosts, and ask them.”

Ha! Right? So excited. I hope you'll join us for discussion!

The Kitchen Daughter Meets BookClubSandwich

It's that time again! There's been a'votin' going on. The tally is in, and the readers have chosen Jael McHenry's novel, The Kitchen Daughter, for the next BookClubSandwich discussion.

Watch Sophisticated Dorkiness, Kim's blog, for the announcement of the discussion date.

I'm really excited to be reading this novel. First off, I adore the cover. Is it a nightie? Is it a netsack full of peppers? Whatever--it's pretty! Besides that, the premise is great:

“After the unexpected death of her parents, painfully shy and sheltered 26-year-old Ginny Selvaggio seeks comfort in cooking from family recipes. But the rich, peppery scent of her Nonna’s soup draws an unexpected visitor into the kitchen: the ghost of Nonna herself, dead for twenty years, who appears with a cryptic warning (“do no let her…”) before vanishing like steam from a cooling dish. … The more [Ginny] learns, the more she realizes the keys to these riddles lie with the dead, and there’s only one way to get answers: cook from dead people’s recipes, raise their ghosts, and ask them.”

Ha! Right? So excited. I hope you'll join us for discussion!

BookClubSandwich: The United States of Arugula

Whewwww!!! I've put the fire in my hair out for the night, and I'm finally ready to discuss The United States of Arugula, by David Kamp!

While this book started strong, either because of its subject matter or because of the timing, I seem to have stalled at 3/4s of the way through. I mentioned in my previous post about this book that I thought it would be more about the evolution of food itself, while to the point I've read in the book about 3/4s, it's really a chronicle of the people behind the American food revolution. I probably should've known given the cover of the book as a "Last Supper" of chef portraits, but in my defense, I have the Nook version and didn't see the cover up close.

The "big three" in American cooking, as Kamp would describe them, are James Beard, Julia Child, and Craig Claiborne. Everyone is familiar with Julia Child, but I was far less acquainted with James Beard (having heard of the Award, but that's it), and not at all familiar with Craig Claiborne. It was really interested to read how these three sort of sprouted a food culture in America. French food was a heavy hitter in those first years of American foodiness, and it sprouted slowly from these three and spread to others such as Alice Waters.

Speaking of Waters, I first heard of her and her influential restaurant, Chez Panisse, on an episode of Iconoclasts years ago. I was swept away and totally rooting for Waters' when I saw that show. She was everything I believed in: slow, local food proponent. Quality food. Quality dining. Now, though, after reading Arugula it strikes me that Waters is the face of a restaurant made great by other chefs. Waters herself hadn't done much of the cooking, though Kamp does point out that she's a gifted salad craftswoman. I feel a little robbed now that I "know" Waters better. Hmmphf!

While this book is undoubtedly well-researched and well-written, I actually find myself getting a little lost and bogged down at times. Maybe the minutiae of these food-gods' lives are just a little too much for me right now, but I'm left wishing for something a little more...sweeping? Cohesive?

Now that I've rambled, I'm really curious what you thought if you got around to it. Don't forget to visit Kim to learn more about her take on the book.

Don't forget to leave a link to your thoughts below.

BookClubSandwich: The United States of Arugula

Whewwww!!! I've put the fire in my hair out for the night, and I'm finally ready to discuss The United States of Arugula, by David Kamp!

While this book started strong, either because of its subject matter or because of the timing, I seem to have stalled at 3/4s of the way through. I mentioned in my previous post about this book that I thought it would be more about the evolution of food itself, while to the point I've read in the book about 3/4s, it's really a chronicle of the people behind the American food revolution. I probably should've known given the cover of the book as a "Last Supper" of chef portraits, but in my defense, I have the Nook version and didn't see the cover up close.

The "big three" in American cooking, as Kamp would describe them, are James Beard, Julia Child, and Craig Claiborne. Everyone is familiar with Julia Child, but I was far less acquainted with James Beard (having heard of the Award, but that's it), and not at all familiar with Craig Claiborne. It was really interested to read how these three sort of sprouted a food culture in America. French food was a heavy hitter in those first years of American foodiness, and it sprouted slowly from these three and spread to others such as Alice Waters.

Speaking of Waters, I first heard of her and her influential restaurant, Chez Panisse, on an episode of Iconoclasts years ago. I was swept away and totally rooting for Waters' when I saw that show. She was everything I believed in: slow, local food proponent. Quality food. Quality dining. Now, though, after reading Arugula it strikes me that Waters is the face of a restaurant made great by other chefs. Waters herself hadn't done much of the cooking, though Kamp does point out that she's a gifted salad craftswoman. I feel a little robbed now that I "know" Waters better. Hmmphf!

While this book is undoubtedly well-researched and well-written, I actually find myself getting a little lost and bogged down at times. Maybe the minutiae of these food-gods' lives are just a little too much for me right now, but I'm left wishing for something a little more...sweeping? Cohesive?

Now that I've rambled, I'm really curious what you thought if you got around to it. Don't forget to visit Kim to learn more about her take on the book.

Don't forget to leave a link to your thoughts below.

I'm late! I'm late!

Running a little behind on posting discussion for The United States of Arugula. Blame it on work! I'll be back tomorrow, bright and early, with that discussion.

I'm late! I'm late!

Running a little behind on posting discussion for The United States of Arugula. Blame it on work! I'll be back tomorrow, bright and early, with that discussion.

The Sunday Salon - I'm a Reading Tart

Happy lazzzyyy Sunday, y'all. Greyson has had a little bit of a cold, he's kindly passed it along to me, and I've spent the majority of my morning watching Food Network and dozing. I would really prefer to read, but staying awake has been a challenge.

I'm in the midst of several books (as I've mentioned recently). I'm wrapping up The United States of Arugula for the March 14th BookClubSandwich discussion. I had a preconceived notion that this book would be about FOOD, and it certainly is, to some extent. But it's much more about PEOPLE. Likewise, it examines food movements in the U.S. I won't give away too much since the discussion is coming up soon, but I think I could've gotten a really good feel for this book if I'd read this blurb from Powells.com first:

One day we woke up and realized that our macaroni had become pasta, that our Wonder Bread had been replaced by organic whole wheat, that sushi was fast food, and that our tomatoes were heirlooms. How did all this happen, and who made it happen? The United States of Arugula is the rollicking, revealing chronicle of how gourmet eating in America went from obscure to pervasive, thanks to the contributions of some outsized, opinionated iconoclasts who couldn't abide the status quo.

 It's taking me a bit to read this roughly 400-pager. Non-fiction always moves a little slower than fiction for me. Given that I've been reading it for a little over a week, I'm feeling a little unfaithful and tarty.  It's taking ALL I HAVE not to read Affinity until I'm done with The United States of Arugula. I'm also bound and determined to read Room before it has to go back to the library. I was on hold so long, I'd feel like an arse if I didn't read it.

Looking forward a bit more, I need to start working on my 2011 challenges. So far I'm doing the best on the E-Book Challenge. When I finish Affinity and The United States of Arugula, I'll be 1/3 of the way through the challenge on my way to 12 e-books for the year. I don't think I'll have any problem surpassing that number.

The Chunkster Challenge will likely be my biggest hurdle for the year. Given the limited free time, Chunksters make me a bit antsy. I'm gonna try, though! I have lots of chunkies on the shelves that get avoided, so I shouldn't have any shortage of material to work with.

Finally, What's in a Name 4 will take some focus!!! I need to see if I own any books that meet the requirements.

How's your Sunday? Your challenges for the year?

The Sunday Salon - I'm a Reading Tart

Happy lazzzyyy Sunday, y'all. Greyson has had a little bit of a cold, he's kindly passed it along to me, and I've spent the majority of my morning watching Food Network and dozing. I would really prefer to read, but staying awake has been a challenge.

I'm in the midst of several books (as I've mentioned recently). I'm wrapping up The United States of Arugula for the March 14th BookClubSandwich discussion. I had a preconceived notion that this book would be about FOOD, and it certainly is, to some extent. But it's much more about PEOPLE. Likewise, it examines food movements in the U.S. I won't give away too much since the discussion is coming up soon, but I think I could've gotten a really good feel for this book if I'd read this blurb from Powells.com first:

One day we woke up and realized that our macaroni had become pasta, that our Wonder Bread had been replaced by organic whole wheat, that sushi was fast food, and that our tomatoes were heirlooms. How did all this happen, and who made it happen? The United States of Arugula is the rollicking, revealing chronicle of how gourmet eating in America went from obscure to pervasive, thanks to the contributions of some outsized, opinionated iconoclasts who couldn't abide the status quo.

 It's taking me a bit to read this roughly 400-pager. Non-fiction always moves a little slower than fiction for me. Given that I've been reading it for a little over a week, I'm feeling a little unfaithful and tarty.  It's taking ALL I HAVE not to read Affinity until I'm done with The United States of Arugula. I'm also bound and determined to read Room before it has to go back to the library. I was on hold so long, I'd feel like an arse if I didn't read it.

Looking forward a bit more, I need to start working on my 2011 challenges. So far I'm doing the best on the E-Book Challenge. When I finish Affinity and The United States of Arugula, I'll be 1/3 of the way through the challenge on my way to 12 e-books for the year. I don't think I'll have any problem surpassing that number.

The Chunkster Challenge will likely be my biggest hurdle for the year. Given the limited free time, Chunksters make me a bit antsy. I'm gonna try, though! I have lots of chunkies on the shelves that get avoided, so I shouldn't have any shortage of material to work with.

Finally, What's in a Name 4 will take some focus!!! I need to see if I own any books that meet the requirements.

How's your Sunday? Your challenges for the year?

Hatin' on Wang Lung

Today begins our next-to-last week of discussion of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth over at The Classic Reads Book Club! If you want to join us for some Wang Lung hatin', come on over and join the partay! :D

I have to say, I've had SUCH a good time leading this discussion! It makes me all the more excited for

• The March 14th BookClubSandwich discussion of The United States of Arugula  by David Kamp.
• The Affinity Readalong coming up on March 28th!

Hatin' on Wang Lung

Today begins our next-to-last week of discussion of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth over at The Classic Reads Book Club! If you want to join us for some Wang Lung hatin', come on over and join the partay! :D

I have to say, I've had SUCH a good time leading this discussion! It makes me all the more excited for

• The March 14th BookClubSandwich discussion of The United States of Arugula  by David Kamp.
• The Affinity Readalong coming up on March 28th!

BookClubSandwich #3: The United States of Arugula!

It's here! The third reading choice for BookClubSandwich--a book club for foodies and wannabes--is David Kamp's The United States of Arugula: The Sun-Dried, Cold-Pressed, Dark-Roasted, Extra Virgin Story of the American Food Revolution. How's THAT for a title??!!

Discussion of The United States of Arugula will begin on Monday, March 14th. Just stop on by my blog or Kim's place to join the discussion.

For a little info about The United States of Arugula, straight from David Kamp's website, see the blurb below:

The United States of Arugula is a book about one of the happiest developments of our time: the quantum leap forward in food choice, food quality, and culinary sophistication in America in the last sixty years or so. I was born in 1966, when American adults were in thrall to convenience foods and NASA chic (you know, Tang orange-drink powder and those Pillsbury food sticks that looked like Slim Jims and tasted like Tootsie Rolls), and I’ve been fortunate to witness, over the course of my lifetime, a radical refurbishment of my family’s larder and just about everyone else’s. We have a greater variety of ingredients and products available to us, representing a wider-than-ever range of ethnic influences (it’s shocking how literally white-bread American cookery was in the midcentury), and if we care to, we can eat better, healthier, and more flavorful food than our ancestors could have dreamed.

Previous BookClubSandwich picks:

• Coop by Michael Perry
• The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

BookClubSandwich #3: The United States of Arugula!

It's here! The third reading choice for BookClubSandwich--a book club for foodies and wannabes--is David Kamp's The United States of Arugula: The Sun-Dried, Cold-Pressed, Dark-Roasted, Extra Virgin Story of the American Food Revolution. How's THAT for a title??!!

Discussion of The United States of Arugula will begin on Monday, March 14th. Just stop on by my blog or Kim's place to join the discussion.

For a little info about The United States of Arugula, straight from David Kamp's website, see the blurb below:

The United States of Arugula is a book about one of the happiest developments of our time: the quantum leap forward in food choice, food quality, and culinary sophistication in America in the last sixty years or so. I was born in 1966, when American adults were in thrall to convenience foods and NASA chic (you know, Tang orange-drink powder and those Pillsbury food sticks that looked like Slim Jims and tasted like Tootsie Rolls), and I’ve been fortunate to witness, over the course of my lifetime, a radical refurbishment of my family’s larder and just about everyone else’s. We have a greater variety of ingredients and products available to us, representing a wider-than-ever range of ethnic influences (it’s shocking how literally white-bread American cookery was in the midcentury), and if we care to, we can eat better, healthier, and more flavorful food than our ancestors could have dreamed.

Previous BookClubSandwich picks:

• Coop by Michael Perry
• The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

BookClubSandwich: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair!

The voters have spoken!!! The newest pick for the BookClubSandwich discussion is The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. It was a very tight race with The United States of Arugala and America the Edible at eight votes, but ultimately The Jungle won out with eleven.

Here's how things are shaping up for discussion:

Kim will post her thoughts on the book to open discussion on November 8th. We invite anyone who has read the book to post their own thoughts during the week and link to them on Kim's blog, and I will post a wrap-up of discussion and commentary on the following Monday, November 15th.

Personally, I've wanted to read this book for a very long time, and I'm thrilled to be able to with a group of my fellow bloggers. I'm especially excited since I've looked a little further into the history of the book and Upton Sinclair's background. Fascinating stuff!

BookClubSandwich: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair!

The voters have spoken!!! The newest pick for the BookClubSandwich discussion is The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. It was a very tight race with The United States of Arugala and America the Edible at eight votes, but ultimately The Jungle won out with eleven.

Here's how things are shaping up for discussion:

Kim will post her thoughts on the book to open discussion on November 8th. We invite anyone who has read the book to post their own thoughts during the week and link to them on Kim's blog, and I will post a wrap-up of discussion and commentary on the following Monday, November 15th.

Personally, I've wanted to read this book for a very long time, and I'm thrilled to be able to with a group of my fellow bloggers. I'm especially excited since I've looked a little further into the history of the book and Upton Sinclair's background. Fascinating stuff!

BookClubSandwich: Picking a New Book

It's time again! Time for another round of BookClubSandwich, an online discussion group for foodies and wannabes. Kim and I have put together a pool of five books, and I've already set up a poll on the right-hand side of the screen where you may vote for up to two choices you're interested in reading. Our first discussion, Coop, was in August, so we'll likely shoot for a discussion date in or around November. We have yet to decide the final discussion date.

Please take the time to read through the publisher blurbs below, and let us know which books you're most interested in reading! Keep in mind, not all of these books are published in paperback just yet, so if you need to take that into consideration when voting, please do. I've noted the hardcover releases, though they may emerge in paperback before discussion time.

America the Edible: Why We Eat, What We Eat, Where We Eat by Adam Richman (hardcover) - In America the Edible, Travel Channel host Adam Richman tackles the ins and outs of American cuisine, demonstrating his own unique brand of culinary anthropology. Believing that regional cuisine reveals far more than just our taste for chicken fried steak or 3-way chili, Richman explores the ethnic, economic, and cultural factors that shape the way we eat—and how food, in turn, reflects who we are as a nation. Richman uses his signature wit and casual charm to take youon a tour around the country,explaining such curiosities as why bagels are shaped like circles, why fried chicken is so popular in the South, and how some of the most iconic American food—hot dogs, fries, and soda—are not really American at all. Writing with passion, curiosity, and a desire to share his knowledge, he includes recipes, secret addresses for fun and tasty finds, and tips on how to eat like a local from coast to coast.

Deeply Rooted: Unconventional Farmers in the Age of Agribusiness by Lisa Hamilton - A century of industrialization has left the food system riddled with problems, yet for solutions people look to nutritionists and government agencies, scientists and chefs. Hamilton asks: Why not look to the people who grow the food?

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair - Upton Sinclair's The Jungle follows the fortunes of Jurgis Rudkus, an immigrant who finds in the stockyards of turn-of-the-century Chicago a ruthless system that degrades and impoverishes him, and an industry whose filthy practices contaminate the meat it processes. From the stench of the killing-beds to the horrors of the fertilizer-works, the appalling conditions in which Jurgis works are described in intense detail by an author bent on social reform. So powerful was the book's message that it caught the eye of President Theodore Roosevelt and led to changes to the food hygiene laws.

Medium Raw: A Blood Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook by Anthony Bourdain (hardcover) - In the ten years since his classic Kitchen Confidential first alerted us to the idiosyncrasies and lurking perils of eating out, from Monday fish to the breadbasket conspiracy, much has changed for the subculture of chefs and cooks, for the restaurant business — and for Anthony Bourdain.
Medium Raw explores these changes, moving back and forth from the author's bad old days to the present. Tracking his own strange and unexpected voyage from journeyman cook to globe-traveling professional eater and drinker, and even to fatherhood, Bourdain takes no prisoners as he dissects what he's seen, pausing along the way for a series of confessions, rants, investigations, and interrogations of some of the most controversial figures in food.

The United States of Arugula: The Sun Dried, Cold Pressed, Dark Roasted, Extra Virgin Story of the American Food Revolution by David Kamp - One day we woke up and realized that our macaroni had become pasta, that our Wonder Bread had been replaced by organic whole wheat, that sushi was fast food, and that our tomatoes were heirlooms. How did all this happen, and who made it happen? The United States of Arugula is the rollicking, revealing chronicle of how gourmet eating in America went from obscure to pervasive, thanks to the contributions of some outsized, opinionated iconoclasts who couldn't abide the status quo.

BookClubSandwich: Picking a New Book

It's time again! Time for another round of BookClubSandwich, an online discussion group for foodies and wannabes. Kim and I have put together a pool of five books, and I've already set up a poll on the right-hand side of the screen where you may vote for up to two choices you're interested in reading. Our first discussion, Coop, was in August, so we'll likely shoot for a discussion date in or around November. We have yet to decide the final discussion date.

Please take the time to read through the publisher blurbs below, and let us know which books you're most interested in reading! Keep in mind, not all of these books are published in paperback just yet, so if you need to take that into consideration when voting, please do. I've noted the hardcover releases, though they may emerge in paperback before discussion time.

America the Edible: Why We Eat, What We Eat, Where We Eat by Adam Richman (hardcover) - In America the Edible, Travel Channel host Adam Richman tackles the ins and outs of American cuisine, demonstrating his own unique brand of culinary anthropology. Believing that regional cuisine reveals far more than just our taste for chicken fried steak or 3-way chili, Richman explores the ethnic, economic, and cultural factors that shape the way we eat—and how food, in turn, reflects who we are as a nation. Richman uses his signature wit and casual charm to take youon a tour around the country,explaining such curiosities as why bagels are shaped like circles, why fried chicken is so popular in the South, and how some of the most iconic American food—hot dogs, fries, and soda—are not really American at all. Writing with passion, curiosity, and a desire to share his knowledge, he includes recipes, secret addresses for fun and tasty finds, and tips on how to eat like a local from coast to coast.

Deeply Rooted: Unconventional Farmers in the Age of Agribusiness by Lisa Hamilton - A century of industrialization has left the food system riddled with problems, yet for solutions people look to nutritionists and government agencies, scientists and chefs. Hamilton asks: Why not look to the people who grow the food?

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair - Upton Sinclair's The Jungle follows the fortunes of Jurgis Rudkus, an immigrant who finds in the stockyards of turn-of-the-century Chicago a ruthless system that degrades and impoverishes him, and an industry whose filthy practices contaminate the meat it processes. From the stench of the killing-beds to the horrors of the fertilizer-works, the appalling conditions in which Jurgis works are described in intense detail by an author bent on social reform. So powerful was the book's message that it caught the eye of President Theodore Roosevelt and led to changes to the food hygiene laws.

Medium Raw: A Blood Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook by Anthony Bourdain (hardcover) - In the ten years since his classic Kitchen Confidential first alerted us to the idiosyncrasies and lurking perils of eating out, from Monday fish to the breadbasket conspiracy, much has changed for the subculture of chefs and cooks, for the restaurant business — and for Anthony Bourdain.
Medium Raw explores these changes, moving back and forth from the author's bad old days to the present. Tracking his own strange and unexpected voyage from journeyman cook to globe-traveling professional eater and drinker, and even to fatherhood, Bourdain takes no prisoners as he dissects what he's seen, pausing along the way for a series of confessions, rants, investigations, and interrogations of some of the most controversial figures in food.

The United States of Arugula: The Sun Dried, Cold Pressed, Dark Roasted, Extra Virgin Story of the American Food Revolution by David Kamp - One day we woke up and realized that our macaroni had become pasta, that our Wonder Bread had been replaced by organic whole wheat, that sushi was fast food, and that our tomatoes were heirlooms. How did all this happen, and who made it happen? The United States of Arugula is the rollicking, revealing chronicle of how gourmet eating in America went from obscure to pervasive, thanks to the contributions of some outsized, opinionated iconoclasts who couldn't abide the status quo.