FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Books that have food or food items in the title or books that evoke reflections stimulated by food.

FICTION

Abu-Jaber, Diana. Crescent
Never married, living with an Iraqi-immigrant uncle and devoted dog, and working as a chef in a Lebanese restaurant, thirty-nine-year-old Sirine finds her life turned upside down by a handsome Arabic literature professor. Fic Abu (Main)

Averill, Thomas Fox. Secrets of the Tsil Café
Young Weston Hingler becomes caught in the middle of his parents' culinary diversity, secrets, histories, infidelities, and needs as he grows up in a cross-cultural extended family that exists between two kitchens--one new world, the other traditional. Fic Ave (Main)

Binchey, Maeve. Scarlet Feather
Scarlet Feather is a new catering company formed by two friends from cooking school, Cathy Scarlet and Tom Feather. Their dream is to have the best business in Dublin. Over the course of a year, we follow their lives, as well as those of their extended family, as they meet the trials and rewards of life head on. Fic Bin (Main)                                           

Capella, Anthony. The Food of Love
Enchanted by Italy's rich culture, first-time American visitor Laura finds herself falling for the handsome Tomasso, who woos her with magnificent meals and hides the fact that shy, enamored Bruno is actually the chef. Fic Capella  (Main)

Conant-Park, Jessica. Steamed
Known in local chatrooms as GourmetGirl, Chloe Carter, a food connoisseur and expert in failed romances, continues her quest to find the perfect man, but a blind date with a fellow food lover goes horribly wrong when he is stabbed to death. LP Conant-Park (Main)

Davidson, Diane Mott. Catering to Nobody
Caterer Goldy Bear has been able to pay her bills from the income from her catering business until rat poison is put in the food of her buffet and the police close her business. First in light, enjoyable series. Mys. Davidson  (Main)

Esquivel, Laura.  Like Water for Chocolate
At the beginning of the 20th century, Tita, the youngest of three daughters, is expected to serve her mother for the rest of her life, but in order to show her love to Pedro, who is engaged to her sister, Tita cooks for him. Fic Esqivel (Main)

Flagg, Fannie. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café
Mrs. Threadgoode's tale of two high-spirited women of the 1930s, Idgie and Ruth, helps Evelyn, a 1980s woman in a sad slump of middle age, to begin to rejuvenate her own life. Fic Fla (Main & West)

Fluke, Joanna. The Cherry Cheesecake Murder
When Main Street in Lake Eden becomes a movie set, a clever killer rewrites the script and bakery owner Hannah Swenson must sift through a cast of suspects before the film wraps with an even deadlier ending. Mys Fluke (Main)

Harris, Joanne. Five Quarters of the Orange
A sensual novel follows a woman as she returns to the French village where she lived as a girl during the German occupation. Fic Har (Main & West)

Hinton, J. Lynne. Friendship Cake 
Five women, working together to create a church cookbook, share their passions, loves, and losses, including pastor Charlotte Stewart, who is suffering a crisis in faith; widow Margaret, the town confidante; and Jessie, the only African American in an all-white church. Fic Hinton (Main)

Killham, Nina. How to Cook a Tart
Cookbook author Jasmine March's life is turned upside down after her publisher drops her, her husband begins an affair with an aspiring actress, and her sixteen-year-old daughter plans to lose her virginity. Fic Kil (Main)

Liss, David. Coffee Trader
In seventeenth-century Amsterdam, Miguel Lienzo, a Portuguese-Jewish trader desperate to recover his lost fortune, enters into a partnership with seductive Geertruid Damhuis to introduce coffee to the city, and confronts a ruthless adversary. Fic Lis (Main & West)

Page, Katherine Hall. The Body in the Ivy
Caterer and part-time investigator Faith Fairchild is lured to a private island along with a group of college classmates, one of whom their host believes is responsible for the death of her sister thirty years earlier. Mys Page (Main)

Ray, Jeanne. Eat Cake
Ruth draws on her talent for concocting delectable cakes and desserts when her family begins to disintegrate around her--her husband loses his job, her mother moves in, and her long-estranged father shows up at the door with no place to go. Fic Ray (Main)

Richman, Phyllis C. The Butter Did It: A Gastronimic Tale of Love and Murder
Restaurant critic Chas Wheatley enlists the aid of detective/gourmand Homer Jones to investigate the death of Laurence Levain, Washington's finest French chef and an ex-lover, who supposedly died of an overdose of foie gras. Mys Ric (Main)

Russo, Richard. Empire Falls
Milo Roby tries to hold his family together while working at the Empire Grill in the once-successful logging town of Empire Falls, Maine, with his partner, Mrs. Whiting, who is the heir to a faded logging and textile legacy. Fic Rus (Main)

Temple, Lou Jane. Death du Jour
In the midst of the revolutionary fervor sweeping 1790 Paris, Fanny Delarue, a young cook for a wealthy family, and her head chef, Henri, embark on a high-stakes investigation into the murder of Etienne de la Porte, Henri's mentor. LT Mys Temple (Main)

Truong, Monique. The Book of Salt
Considering whether he will accompany his employers, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, to America, a personal cook remembers his youth in French-colonized Vietnam and his days cooking for the doyennes of the Lost Generation. Fic Truong (West)

Wells, H.G.  Food of the Gods and How it Came to Earth
One of Wells’ lesser known novels, this one offers an early examination of scientific ethics as two scientists develop a super food that causes life forms to grown into giants.  Their lack of forethought brings on terrifying results as the substance is ingested by those for which it was not intended. Was Wells’ book an early warning about the ethics of scientific experimentation and genetically engineered food??? SF Wells (Main)

NON-FICTION & MEMOIRS

Ausubel, Ken. Seeds of Change: The Living Treasure: The Passionate Story of the Growing Movement to Restore Biodiversity and Revolutionize the Way We Think about Food  631.5  Ausubel  (Main)

Bourdain, Anthony. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly B Bourdain (Main), also Nasty Bits: Collected Varietal Cuts, Useable Trim, Scraps and Bones 641.5092 Bourdain (Main)

Child, Julia.  My Life in France B Child (Main)

Kingsolver, Barbara.   Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
641.09  Kingsolver (Main)

Kramer, Jack. The Suburban Farmer’s Handbook : A Comprehensive Guide to Growing and Preserving Your Own Food and Drink.  635 Kra  (Main)

Ledraulec, Pascale.   American Pie: Slices of Life (and Pie) From America’s Back Roads  641.8 Led  (Main)

Lust, Teresa. Pass the Polenta: And Other Writings from the Kitchen 641.01 Lust (Main)

Pollan, Michael.   The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals 394.1 Pollan (Main)

Reichl, Ruth.  Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table B Reichl (Main) also, Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise B Reichl

Robb, Peter. Midnight in Sicily: On Art, Food, History, Travel and La Cosa Nostra 945  Robb  (Main)

Schlosser, Eric.    Fast-Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal 
YA 394.1  Schlosser (Main)

Silva, Nikki. Hidden Kitchens: Stories Recipes and More from NPR’s The Hidden Kitchen Sisters 641.5973  Silva  (Main)

Waterhouse. Debra. Why Women Need Chocolate: Eat What You Crave to Look Good and Feel Great. 613.2   Wat  (Main)

CP 7/07