Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

Nearing 30 and trapped in a dead-end secretarial job, Julie Powell resolved to reclaim her life by cooking, in the span of a single year, every one of the 524 recipes in Julia Child's legendary Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Her unexpected reward: not just a newfound respect for calves' livers and aspic, but a new life--lived with gusto.

I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti

by Giulia Melucci

From failure to fusilli, this deliciously hilarious read tells the story of Giulia Melucci's fizzled romances and the mouth-watering recipes she used to seduce her men, smooth over the lumps, and console herself when the relationships flamed out. From an affectionate alcoholic, to the classic New York City commitment-phobe, to a hipster aged past his sell date, and not one, but two novelists with Peter Pan... (more)

Insatiable: Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess

Insatiable: Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess

by Gael Greene

DESCRIPTION: In 1968, Gael Greene became the restaurant critic of the fledgling New York magazine. Before taking the job, she'd never written a restaurant review in her life. But she was a passionate foodie, and dining in the world's great restaurants on someone else's dime was too enticing to resist. Thus began a remarkable career charting the restaurants that changed the way Americans ate, the chefs who turned... (more)

Stealing Buddha's Dinner

by Bich Minh Nguyen

As a Vietnamese girl coming of age in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Nguyen is filled with a rapacious hunger for American identity, and in the pre-PC-era Midwest (where the Jennifers and Tiffanys reign supreme), the desire to belong transmutes into a passion for American food. More exotic- seeming than her Buddhist grandmother’s traditional specialties, the campy, preservative-filled “delicacies” of mainstream America... (more)

Fried Butter: A Food Memoir

by Abe Opincar

"In this short intense memoir, the author ranges freely as he looks back on the food in his life and how it has intersected and toyed with his emotions. The writing is off-beat, achieving the trick of seeming at once grounded and untethered. . . . Elemental acuity and burlesque combine here to delicious effect."- Kirkus Reviews , starred

The Long Table: my love affair with food

The Long Table: my love affair with food

by Mary Moody

This book is a culinary memoir of an extra-ordinary life. Mary Moody is a well-known author, cook, gardener, TV celebrity and a woman who is determined to grow old disgracefully. This book celebrates Mary's passion for food and the pivotal role it has played in her life. It is a memoir told in her unique voice detailing four big stages in her life: her unusual childhood, her early years of marriage and motherhood... (more)

The Fourth Star: Dispatches from Inside Daniel Boulud's Celebrated New York Restaurant

The Fourth Star: Dispatches from Inside Daniel Boulud's Celebrated New York Restaurant

by Leslie Brenner

Within every fine restaurant there exist two worlds: the elegant, hushed environment of the dining room and the chaotic, explosive, high- tension scene behind the swinging kitchen doors. The ability to create dishes that are utterly sublime and turn them out at breakneck pace while simultaneously juggling kitchen crises, coddling demanding patrons, and managing overworked staff is what defines a four-star chef. ... (more)

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Tags: culinary memoir

Julie and Julia

My Year of Cooking Dangerously

by Julie Powell