My Perfect Read

All recommendations have been updated to digitally available books for social isolation.  Check out the recommended reading tab if you are looking for cookbooks, food memoirs or culinary fiction.

From my perspective, the only thing better than finding the perfect book is helping someone else find the perfect book!

Trying out recipes from a new cookbook is a little like trying to solve a mystery.  Maybe it will all come together as described, but maybe I am missing a crucial piece of information, an important technique, or I’ve just overlooked something.  Perhaps I will learn something about a culture I knew nothing about, perhaps I’ll view something I thought I knew through new eyes. Great chefs don’t necessarily make great cookbook authors, but it’s always interesting to find out if their ideas translate to the home kitchen. Two of my favorite recent cookbooks are The Adobo Road by Marvin Gapultos and Smoke and Pickles by Edward Lee

I enjoy mysteries that take me into a different time or a different place,but most of all, I enjoy being surprised.  Some of my favorite mystery titles include: Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan; Devotion of Suspect X by Kiego Higashino; Before the Poison by Peter Robinson and The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson. Local(ish) authors I enjoy are Art Taylor and Laura Lippman.

Audio books are wonderful because I can do other things (like cook or drive) while reading. A good audiobook transports me in a different way than a print book does. Maybe the book will be so good that I don’t mind doing dishes, accidentally clean my whole house, or finish a project or painting without noticing.

Genres of Interest:

• literary fiction
• mysteries
• mythology (especially in audiobook format)
• cookbooks