Reading Ideas: Fiction
June 27, 2009
I haven’t read most of these books, but I have found them on various lists as novels about food. This is, of course, just a sampling. The possibilities are endless!
Any book that has a memorable or significant scene revolving around food, eating, or drinking could count for this challenge. Do you have any recent reads you could recommend?
- A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
- A Feast of Words: For Lovers of Food Fiction by Anna Shapiro
- A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
- Alimentum: The Literature of Food by Issue One
- Blue Plate Special: A Novel of Love, Loss, and Food by Frances Norris
- Bread Alone: A Novel by Judith R. Hendricks
- Chloe Zhivago’s Recipe for Marriage and Mischief: A Novel by Olivia Lichtenstein
- Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs
- Entertaining Disasters: A Novel (With Recipes) by Nancy Spiller
- Francesca’s Kitchen by Peter Pezzelli
- Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
- Home To Italy by Peter Pezzelli
- Last Bite: A Novel of Culinary Romance by Nancy Verde Barr
- Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
- Literary Feasts: Inspired Eating from Classic Fiction by Sean Brand
- Pastries: A Novel of Desserts and Discoveries by Bharti Kirchner
- Playing For Pizza: A Novel by John Grisham
- Selected Shorts: Food Fictions (Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story) by Symphony Space
- She Flew the Coop: A Novel Concerning Life, Death, Sex and Recipes in Limoges, Louisiana by Michael Lee West
- The Food of Love by Anthony Capella
- The Food of the Gods by H. G. Wells
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Soc… by Mary Ann Shaffer
- The Jungle: The Uncensored Original Edition by Upton Sinclair
- The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister
- The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
- The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
- The Various Flavors of Coffee by Anthony Capella
The Spice of Life Challenge 
Julia Glass’s first two novels, “Three Junes” and “The Whole World Over”, both have tantalizing food preparation central to the plot.
Joanne Fluke: “The Cream Puff Murders”,
Virginia Woolf: “Mrs. Dalloway”, “To The Lighthouse”,
Isak Denisan: “Babette’s Feast”.
Frances Meyer: “A Year in The World: Journeys of a Passionate Travel” (She also wrote “Under the Tuscan Sun”)
A Literary Feast: Recipes and Writings by American Women Authors from History” and Yvonne Schofer edited this wonderful book.
***”Julia Child: My Life in France.”
Ruth Rechl: “Tender to the Bone”
Jeanne Ray: “Eat Cake” (You will be up baking a cake before you finish reading!
Amanda Hesser: “Cooking for Mr. Latte.”
Rebecca, are you sure you want to recommend Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle”???? People may never want to eat again!
Helen, I haven’t read most of the books on this list so I’m not really recommending, just sharing ideas. I haven’t read The Jungle — but it certainly would count for this challenge! The book doesn’t have to be about tantalizing food; I”ll bet some of the nonfiction books about fat and fast food are a bit “never-want-to-eat-again” inducing!
Thanks for all the ideas, by the way. I’m glad to hear those!
I just finished The School of Essential Ingredients – it was a really fun read, a bit fluffy but perfect for a hot summer day on the deck.
And I picked up Hungry Woman in Paris by Josefina Lopez about a woman who walks away from her upcoming marriage and enrolls in a culinary institue in Paris.
I just finished Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Have you read it? Do you think it’s qualified? I’m tempted to include it, though mainly because of the title 😛
Mee, I haven’t read it, but if you say it works, it works! I’m not picky.
I just finished The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones. Super entertaining and interesting — a novel about the history of Chinese food and the current revival of “imperial” cooking in China. With romance and a good plot.
This was my fiction review for the challenge. I have lost track of where I am supposed to post my reviews, so I will drop off the link here: http://rosecityreader.blogspot.com/2009/09/review-of-day-last-chinese-chef.html
I may put it a few other places too, until I figure it out.
Hi Rose City Reader,
Sorry finding the place for reviews is confusing! There is a separate page in the column on the right hand side: Reviews. Also a link at the top of the page. But where ever you feel like leaving a link works too! Thanks for reading, it sounds like it was a great book.