8 Foodie Books To Read This Summer

How’s your summer reading going? Next to Christmas reading (because let’s be real: what’s better than curling up next to the Christmas tree with a great book?), summer is my favorite time to read books! I loaded up my kindle at the beginning of the summer so I would have lots of good stuff to read.

I love reading books about food. “Food writing” is a vague genre with lots of different options: memoirs, cookbooks, instructional writing, essays, and some fiction. I’ve been mixing it up and reading a little of this and a little of that, and today I have 8 fun foodie books to add to your summer reading list!

1. Will Write For Food by Dianne Jacob

This is the holy grail of advice about food writing. Diane Jacob uses her years of experience in writing, editing, blogging, and teaching to provide loads of information to anyone who loves writing about food. New to blogging? You should read this book! There’s an entire chapter devoted to food blogging. There’s also a chapter about reviewing restaurants, either professionally or for fun, that I found helpful. And if you’re  serious about food writing and want to make it a career, she talks about landing a cookbook contract, making an income from writing, learning to freelance, and plenty of other stuff. Note that this book is more like a textbook than a “fun” book…but sometimes #learningisfun too. 😉

2. The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy E. Reichert

Every summer reading list should include at least one good rom-com, right? This one is sweet, charming, and, uh…you’ll definitely get hungry while reading! I recommend having a snack nearby before opening the book, because you’ll get the munchies. I love these light-hearted “fluff” books for the summer!

3. Blood, Bones, and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton

I raved about this book in my book review last month (you can read my June Reads here). Gabrielle Hamilton is the chef and owner of the 30-seater restaurant “Prune” in NYC, and this books is her story. She doesn’t leave anything out – expect shocking honesty on every page. But I  think that’s why I loved it so much. She doesn’t glamorize her restaurant career….she just puts her head down, works hard, follows her feelings, and lives her life with exuberance.

4. The Man Who Ate Everything by Jeffrey Steingarten

I “lol’d” a few times while reading this! Jeffrey Steingarten is the food critic at Vogue magazine, and his unique writing voice made me sit up in my chair (figuratively, of course; in reality I was lounging in bed while I read this..) and pay attention to what he had to say.

5. Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl

This was my first Ruth Reichl book to read, and since then I’ve read four more…I love her writing! In Garlic and Sapphires, she writes about the beginning stages of her new job as the food critic for the New York Times. Part of the challenge, for her, was not being recognized. She didn’t want to receive “star treatment” when review a restaurant, because she needed to be served in the same way her readers would be when they ate there. So she goes through all sorts of ridiculous hoops to put on various disguises before dining. I listened to this as an audiobook, and it was one of those books where I’d get home and sit in my car in the driveway for an extra 10 minutes just to finish the chapter.

6. Seven Spoons by Tara O’Brady

My friend Grace gave my this cookbook last year. At the time, I didn’t know about the popular blog by the same name, Seven Spoons, but since then I’ve been a regular reader. Tara’s cookbook is written like her blog: each recipe has an accompanying story. I’ve read through multiple recipes without any intention of making them….just reading them! I have made a few recipes from this book, though, and all have been lovely. Her chocolate chip cookie recipe is the best I’ve ever tried, and all of my sisters have (at some point) asked me to text it to them! It’s a winner, and so is this book.

7. My Father’s Daughter by Gwenyth Paltrow

Full disclosure: I haven’t made any recipes from this book. But the writing and photography are GORGEOUS (hello, perfect coffee table book!) and can we all just say that we’d love to have her kitchen? If you’ve made any recipes from this book, let me know your thoughts.

8. Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan

Here’s some classic chick lit for your beach bag! This novel takes place on a fictional island, so it’s perfect for summer reading. The food description are oh-so-tasty, and although it was my first Jenny Colgan novel to read, I’ve added a few more to my kindle queue. I have a feeling most of her books will be similar to this – perfect to read when you don’t want to think too hard!

That’s it for me. What have you been reading this summer? Have you read any of the books I mentioned?

XO

Kelsey

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