Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
Thank you to Cathy @ WhatCathyReadNext and Hopewell’s Public Library of Life for submitting this topic.
I’m narrowing this week’s topic down to nonfiction books involving food history.
There is something really cool learning about the history, science, sociology, and/or cultural meaning of various types of food.
I could read about that sort of stuff all day!
1. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
2.Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser
3. Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky
4. A Cook’s Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines by Anthony Bourdain
5. Candyfreak: A Journey through the Chocolate Underbelly of America by Steve Almond
6. Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think by Brian Wansink
7. Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter
8. Diet for a Small Planet: The Book That Started a Revolution in the Way Americans Eat by Frances Moore Lappé
9. Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach
10. Spice: The History of a Temptation by Jack Turner
11.The Zen of Fish: The Story of Sushi, from Samurai to Supermarket by Trevor Corson
12. The Book of Tea by Kakuzō Okakura
A great list! I am drawn to nonfiction books about food and its connection to history. What foods helped a culture grow and thrive? Where did specific recipes come from? I recently read a book that answers these kinds of questions called Sweet Land of Liberty: A History of America in 11 Pies
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/foodies-in-books-ten-books-featuring-food/
Thank you. I have the same questions!
I loved Candyfreak; in general, I enjoy books that research the origins of foods.
That’s awesome. 🙂
That’s a great list! I haven’t heard of any of them but I would probably be afraid to know too much about the history of food in this country 😅 thanks for dropping by my post!
You’re welcome. 🙂
Great list! That’s a really clever little niche you’ve found between fiction and cookbooks which I hadn’t even considered.
Thank you!
I’ve read several of these and one (Schlosser) made my list, but I’ll have to check out the urban farmer one. I think that will become more important in the future. It’s a big part of solarpunk.
Absolutely.
I love reading about the history of food. I run a link up every month for reviews of books about food. I’d love to have you join whenever you read more foodie books or just browse to get more inspiration. https://www.spiritblog.net/september-2024-foodies-read/
Oh, cool! Thanks for sharing. I’ll see if I can find the time for it.
I have two historical non-fiction books on food that I’ve used when researching my own books. The Way We Ate about food in the mid to late 1800s and The First American Cookie Lady which has all kinds of cookie recipes from 1917 and the history behind them.
Those both sound great!
I always meant to read Candyfreak. I had two copies in my library and I never got around to reading it. I think books like that are often very revealing.
Food in Books
Absolutely. I hope you get to read it eventually.
I haven’t heard of any of these, but that’s probably because I rarely read up on any non-fiction title. However some of them probably do indeed have interesting facts or good information to have, it’s just the getting me to read any that’s a challenge. 😉 Thanks for visiting my website today!
Heh, no worries there. I know we have very different tastes!
Outstanding list!
Thank you. 🙂
I loved Farm City!! That was an excellent book!
Oh, cool!
Nice list! I haven’t read any of these, but I’ll have to look into them as I do enjoy non-fiction occasionally. Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thanks!
Cool!
There’s a lot of nonfiction about this topic I believe. It’s not my go-to genre, I in fact avoid it like the plague because reading should be relaxing and nonfiction is not that for me. So, I don’t know any of these books.
My TTT: https://laurieisreading.com/2024/09/03/top-ten-tuesday-books-involving-food/
No worries there. 🙂
Oh, I love Mary Roach and haven’t read this title of hers. Adding it to my list.
I hope you like it!
What an interesting list! I know my daughter was a fan of Michael Pollan’s books, although I haven’t read any myself. And I typically love Mary Roach — Gulp is one that I still need to get to.
Roach’s books are so good. Hope you like Gulp.
This is a great list. So many of them sound really interesting! I know some weeks you struggle with getting 10, look at you getting 12, LOL! I struggled a bit with getting to 10.
Thank you, Cindy. Yes, this was a great week for me. It helps to make up for the weeks when I have like 4 or 5 answers. haha.
The only one I’ve read is Candyfreak, which I loved! My list was nonfiction, but all food- or cooking-related memoirs. Candyfreak might fall under the memoir category, but I read it a long time ago.
🙂
“Candy Freak” was a fun read. “Diet for a Small Planet” is a classic, even if reading it about 1970 cost my mother and me 25 years of aggravated celiac symptoms. “McDougall’s Medicine” by our late e-friend, Dr. John McD., is another book about food that gives me very mixed feelings. Before glyphosate it really did work. Now if you can’t get completely clean vegetables, a “plant-based diet” can kill you. So the whole idea of telling people what to eat is problematic, but I still think eating the right food for your body is the best “health care” plan.
Thanks for sharing.
Awesome list! I love that we have three books in common! The other books on your list look interesting too!
Very cool! I love it when there’s overlap like that.
Ooh, excellent, some I haven’t read yet! I’ll just be over here adding to my wishlist, haha.
Nice. 🙂
I just downloaded a Cook’s Tour to my Kindle a couple of weeks ago. I hope to get to it soon.
Thank you. Enjoy!
I have heard a lot about Fast Food Nation! I have read Gulp. Great list!
It was a good read. 🙂
They look interesting. I like discovering where food comes from, then sometimes regret it!
Have a great week!
Heh, I understand that.
I’ve only read Gulp by Mary Roach from your list, because I love Mary Roach. Have you read The Cooking Gene by Michael W. Twitty? It wasn’t to my taste (pun wasn’t exactly intended) because I really am not a foodie but I can see how it would appeal to those who are.
No, I haven’t, but it does sound good!
I love your list! Non-fiction books don’t get enough love, in general, and I want to read several of these. (A couple were on my TBR before, but more are now.)
My TTT: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2024/09/03/top-ten-tuesday-non-cookbook-foodie-books/
(Sorry I’m late! The Monday holiday messed with my sense of time.)
No worries. Hope you had a good Labour Day.
And, yeah, I’d love to see more nonfiction talked about in the bookish community.
Candy Freak and Gulp both sound good! Thanks for sharing your picks and also stopping by my post earlier!
You’re welcome!
The Book of Tea seems like my type of read
Hope you like it.
Great list, as always. I haven’t read much nonfiction about food that isn’t a cookbook, so a lot of these really piqued my interest. Thanks for expanding my TBR like you usually do!
Aww, thanks, Leah. I loved your post, too.