Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

My Life in France

by Alex Prud'homme, Julia Child

In her own words, here is the captivating story of Julia Child’s years in France, where she fell in love with French food and found ‘her true calling.’ From the moment the ship docked in Le Havre in the fall of 1948 and Julia watched the well-muscled stevedores unloading the cargo to the first perfectly soigné meal that she and her husband, Paul, savored in Rouen en route to Paris, where he was to work for the... (more)

Born Round

The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater

by Frank Bruni

The New York Times restaurant critic's heartbreaking and hilarious account of how he learned to love food just enough after decades of wrestling with his weight Frank Bruni was born round. Round as in stout, chubby, and hungry, always and endlessly hungry. He grew up in a big, loud Italian family in White Plains, New York, where meals were epic, outsize affairs. At those meals, he demonstrated one of his... (more)

The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food

by Judith Jones

From the legendary editor who helped shape modern cookbook publishing—one of the food world’s most admired figures—an evocative and inspiring memoir. Living in Paris after World War II, Judith Jones broke free of the bland American food she had been raised on and reveled in everyday French culinary delights. On returning to the States—hoping to bring some joie de cuisine to America—she published Julia Child’s ... (more)

Stealing Buddha's Dinner: A Memoir

by Bich Minh Nguyen

Winner of the PEN/Jerard Award. A vivid, funny, and viscerally powerful memoir about childhood, assimilation, food, and growing up in the 1980s As a Vietnamese girl coming of age in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Bich Nguyen is filled with a rapacious hunger for American identity. In the pre-PC era Midwest, where the devoutly Christian blond-haired, blue-eyed Jennifers and Tiffanys reign supreme, Nguyen's... (more)

French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating For Pleasure

French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating For Pleasure

by Mireille Guiliano

Stylish, convincing, wise, funny–and just in time: the ultimate non -diet book, which could radically change the way you think and live. French women don’t get fat, but they do eat bread and pastry, drink wine, and regularly enjoy three-course meals. In her delightful tale, Mireille Guiliano unlocks the simple secrets of this “French paradox”–how to enjoy food and stay slim and healthy. Hers is a charming,... (more)

Passion on the Vine: A Memoir of Food, Wine, and Family in the Heart of Italy

Passion on the Vine: A Memoir of Food, Wine, and Family in the Heart of Italy

by Sergio Esposito

As a young child in Naples, Italy, Sergio Esposito sat at his kitchen table observing the daily ritual of his large, loud family bonding over fresh local dishes and simple country wines. While devouring the rich bufala mozzarella, still sopping with milk and salt, and the platters of fresh prosciutto, sliced so thin he could see through it, he absorbed the profound relationship of food, wine, and family in... (more)

The Ungarnished Truth: A Cooking Contest Memoir

The Ungarnished Truth: A Cooking Contest Memoir

by Ellie Mathews

A woman, a chicken dinner, a million dollars—and a romp through the heartland of America’s competitive cooking culture. When Ellie Mathews entered her Salsa Couscous Chicken in the venerable Pillsbury Bake-Off, she never imagined she’d win the grand prize. Immediately after Alex Trebek announced that her dish had won a million dollars, she was thrown into the limelight. Booked with Oprah and Rosie—even... (more)

Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love, and the Search for Home

Trail of Crumbs: Hunger, Love, and the Search for Home

by Kim Sune?e

Already hailed as "brave, emotional, and gorgeously written" by Frances Mayes and "like a piece of dark chocolate--bittersweet, satisfying, and finished all too soon" by Laura Fraser, author of An Italian Affair, this is a unique memoir about the search for identity through love, hunger, and food. Jim Harrison says, "TRAIL OF CRUMBS reminds me of what heavily costumed and concealed waifs we all are. Kim Sunée... (more)

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Tags: food memoir