Check out Ruth Reichl: Food with a Side of Politics

I've been stuck in one behemoth of non-fiction after the next for the last several months.  Every time I tried to claw my way out I got stuck again for some reason.  So, when I picked up Ruth Reichl's Tender on the Bone looking for an easy read on staycation a few weeks back, it was truly a breath of fresh air.  Astute readers might have noticed me dropping Reichl ideas and quotes in other posts.

There probably won't be a lot of book recommendations or reviews here on Amateur Foodies, but since I did just read 3 food books in 3 weeks, it seemed silly not to mention it.  Comfort Me with Apples is the follow up to Tender on the Bone, and while Garlic and Sapphires has a bit of different flow to it, itis essentially the next book in a series.

I'd say this quote from Comfort Me with Apples epitomizes what I most enjoyed about the trio:

Ruth:  "I may write about the life of leisure...but I don't live it.  And I'll have you know that the hospitality industry is America's largest employer."
Michael (soon to be husband): "How silly of me not to have known that you had a serious political mission."

And there you get a little window into my world.  I doubt the average reader enjoys Reichl because of her politics, but I bet a lot of people can relate to her search for finding what she loves and battling some moral questions along the way.

All three books are light reads, but they all evoke a range of emotions, and of course whet your appetite.  I'd recommend them to about anyone, but to a food lover especially, and even more so to someone who is trying to figure out how politically correct it is to pay $50-100 for a dinner with all the struggle in the world.

Have you read any good books lately that have food as a main component?  I've really enjoyed the non-cookbook parts of Momofuku's cookbook - David Chang's stories are quite interesting.  Anything of that sort you'd recommend?