Library Journal's Reader's Shelf

The Reader's Shelf

From Library Journal

Food and Fable:  You are what you read

Like Water for Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies By Esquivel, Laura Translator Christensen, Thomas Translator Christensen, Carol 1995-10 - Anchor Books 9780385420174 Check Our Catalog Earthy, magical, and utterly charming, this tale of family life in tum-of-the-century Mexico became a best-selling phenomenon with its winning blend of poignant romance and bittersweet wit. …More

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life By Kingsolver, Barbara Illustrator Houser, Richard A. With Hopp, Steven L. 2008-04 - Harper Perennial 9780060852566 Check Our Catalog In her first full-length nonfiction narrative, bestselling author Kingsolver opens readers' eyes in a hundred new ways to an old truth: you are what you eat. The bestselling author returns with a wise and compelling celebration of family, food, nature, and community. …More

The Edible Woman By Atwood, Margaret 1998-05 - Anchor Books 9780385491068 Check Our Catalog Ever since her engagement, the strangest thing has been happening to Marian McAlpin: she can't eat. First meat. Then eggs, vegetables, cake, pumpkin seeds--everything! Worse yet, she has the crazy feeling that she's being eaten. Marian ought to feel consumed with passion, but she really just feels...consumed. A brilliant and powerful work rich in irony and metaphor, "The Edible Woman is an unforgettable masterpiece by a true master of contemporary literary fiction. …More

The Earth Knows My Name: Food, Culture, and Sustainability in the Gardens of Ethnic Americans By Klindienst, Patricia 2007-04 - Beacon Press (MA) 9780807085714 Check Our Catalog Inspired by her own family's immigrant history, Patricia Klindienst traveled the country, gathering stories of urban, suburban, and rural gardens created by people rarely presented in books about American gardens: Native Americans, immigrants from across Asia and Europe, and ethnic peoples who were here long before our national boundaries were drawn. In The Earth Knows My Name, she writes about the beautiful gardens she discovered, each one an island of hope, offering us a model--on a sustainable scale--of a truly restorative ecology. "A moving tribute to those who keep the ancient love of the land in their hearts, and who stand up to the giants of agrobusiness in their fight to preserve their cultural heritage." --Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, UN Messenger of Peace, and author of Harvest for Hope: A Guide to Mindful Eating "Carefully weaving the threads of the cultures that were here before with those that came later, Klindienst makes her case for the deep, life-giving integrity of the earth . . . This is a poignant book that shows, without undue sentimentality, the underlying element we all share and can bring to life with our hands." --Edie Clark, Orion Patricia Klindienst is a master gardener and an award-winning scholar and teacher. She lives in Guilford, Connecticut, and teaches creative writing each summer at Yale University. …More

The Last Chinese Chef By Mones, Nicole 2008-06 - Mariner Books 9780547053738 Check Our Catalog This exhilarating story is the transporting tale of how the sensual, romantic elements of haute Chinese cuisine become the perfect ingredients to lift the troubled soul of a grieving American woman. …More

The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World By Pollan, Michael 2002-05 - Random House Trade 9780375760396 Check Our Catalog Every schoolchild learns about the mutually beneficial dance of honeybees and flowers: The bee collects nectar and pollen to make honey and, in the process, spreads the flowers' genes far and wide. In The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan ingeniously demonstrates how people and domesticated plants have formed a similarly reciprocal relationship. He masterfully links four fundamental human desires--sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control--with the plants that satisfy them: the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato. In telling the stories of four familiar species, Pollan illustrates how the plants have evolved to satisfy humankind's most basic yearnings. And just as we've benefited from these plants, we have also done well by them. So who is really domesticating whom? …More