Cooking Bestsellers

Save Me the Plums

“Disclosure: I am not a foodie even though I am married to a former chef. What sparked my interest in Save Me The Plums was the subject - Gourmet Magazine. Although neither of my parents could cook to save their lives, we always proudly displayed and saved every copy of Gourmet Magazine that came with our yearly subscription. I listened to the audio which is read by the author, Ruth Reichl, who went from food critic to editor in chief of Gourmet Magazine. Most times, I don't like the author reading their own books because of the poor delivery. Not in this case - Reichl does a fabulous job with her reading. The details of the inner workings of Conde Nast were fascinating. Although she was not a self-proclaimed feminist, she knew instinctively how to handle tense situations as well as difficult people. I enjoyed hearing about everything from the strong personalities of the staff to the beautiful offices and test kitchen. There are also mouthwatering recipes included in this memoir. I may not have been a foodie when I began Save The Plums but thanks to Ruth Reichl, I have a whole new appreciation for food and a successful food magazine. I highly recommend this delicious memoir.”

Melinda, Buttonwood Books and Toys

Hunger

“Man oh man. Roxane Gay never fails to disappoint, even if she might disagree. This is a powerful, raw memoir, narrated by the author. Her truth is so relatable, and even when it’s not, Gay’s writing is empathetic. This audiobook was so engrossing, I actively looked for excuses to step away from what I was doing and listen to it. I highly recommend listening to or reading this book—for EVERYONE. This will challenge how you look at fat people, and women especially, and if you’re like me, how you look at yourself. Do yourself a favor and read this book.”

Tildy, Belmont Books

“Kwame Onwuachi’s story shines a light on food and culture not just in American restaurants or African American communities but around the world.” —Questlove
 
By the time he was twenty-seven years old, Kwame Onwuachi had opened—and closed—one of the most talked about restaurants in America. He had launched his own catering company with twenty... Read More »

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, en route to Paris, in the fall of 1948, Julia had an awakening that changed her life. Soon this tall, outspoken gal from Pasadena, California, who... Read More »

Uncommon Grounds tells the story of coffee from its discovery on a hill in ancient Abyssinia to the advent of Starbucks. In this updated edition of the classic work, Mark Pendergrast reviews the dramatic changes in coffee culture over the past decade, from the disastrous "Coffee Crisis" that caused global prices to plummet to the rise of the... Read More »

JAMES BEARD AWARD NOMINEE • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY VOGUE • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“One of the great culinary stories of our time.”—Dwight Garner, The New York Times
 
It begins with a simple ritual: Every Saturday afternoon, a boy who loves to cook walks to his grandmother’s house and helps her prepare a roast chicken for... Read More »

From Scratch

“I just finished wiping away my last tear as I close the curtain on From Scratch, a brilliant, compelling memoir. Tembi Locke lost her larger-than-life Italian chef husband at an early age to cancer. The book is a love letter to him as well as to enchanting Sicily and its aromatic, tantalizing food. But more than anything, it is the most memorable and thoughtful gift that her daughter will ever receive. I highly recommend the audio version which is read by the author. From Scratch is one of the best memoirs that I have ever read and one of my top five best books that I read this Summer.”

Melinda, Buttonwood Books and Toys

A cookbook and culinary memoir about growing up as the daughter of revered chef/restaurateur Alice Waters: a story of food, family, and the need for beauty in all aspects of life.

In this extraordinarily intimate portrait of her mother--and herself--Fanny Singer, daughter of food icon and activist Alice Waters, chronicles a unique world of food,... Read More »

JELL-O Girls

“Part memoir, part mystery, part fascinating history of America's favorite jiggly dessert, Jell-O Girls is a fascinating look at the life of several generations of women living off the Jell-O dollars. Author Allie Rowbottom weaves so many facets of this story together seamlessly. I couldn't wait to grab my earbuds each day and hear what happened next.”

Mary, Anderson's Bookshop

A heartbreakingly honest, endearing memoir of incredible weight loss by a young food blogger who battles body image issues and overcomes food addiction to find self-acceptance.
 
All her life, Andie Mitchell had eaten lustily and mindlessly. Food was her babysitter, her best friend, her confidant, and it provided a refuge from her fractured... Read More »

Comedian Jim Gaffigan reveals his most intimate food memories, opinions, and fantasies that will keep you laughing all the way to the refrigerator. 

“What are my qualifications to write this book? None really. So why should you read it? Here’s why: I’m a little fat. If a thin guy were to write about a love of food and eating I’d highly recommend... Read More »

LUNCH IN PARIS meets ADULTING in this funny and poignant memoir about collapsing cakes and coming of age in your twenties and thirties.

When Amelia Morris saw a towering, beautiful chocolate cake in Bon Appétit and took the recipe home to recreate it for a Christmas day brunch she was hosting, it resulted in a terrible (but tasty) mess that had... Read More »

Now a Netflix series!

New York Times Bestseller and Winner of the 2018 James Beard Award for Best General Cookbook and multiple IACP Cookbook Awards

Named one of the Best Books of 2017 by: NPR, BuzzFeed, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Rachel Ray Every Day, San Francisco Chronicle, Vice Munchies, Elle.com, Glamour, Eater,... Read More »

An affecting memoir from the country’s youngest sommelier, tracing her path through the glamorous but famously toxic restaurant world

At just twenty-one, the age when most people are starting to drink (well, legally at least), Victoria James became the country’s youngest sommelier at a Michelin-starred restaurant. Even as Victoria was selling... Read More »

A singular, powerfully expressive debut memoir that traces one chef’s struggle to find her place and what happens once she does

Burn the Place is a galvanizing culinary memoir that chronicles Iliana Regan’s journey from foraging on the family farm to opening her Michelin-starred restaurant, Elizabeth. Her story is alive with startling imagery,... Read More »

Coming to My Senses

“No one has transformed the way Americans think about food—its place in our individual and collective lives, and as a conveyer of our values—than Alice Waters. The founder of iconic Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, California, and the driving force behind the Edible Schoolyard program that has introduced tens of thousands of schoolchildren across America to the art of growing and cooking food, Waters has now written her long-awaited memoir. In Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook she describes her roots in New Jersey, her coming of age during the political tumult of the 1960s, and her ongoing crusade to make locally sourced, seasonal ingredients, and “slow food” the mainstays of a new American cuisine. Throw in a few spicy love affairs, her passion for books, and a life spent intersecting with presidents and movie moguls, and you’ve got a book that is a satisfying and delicious full-course meal.”

Lissa M., Politics & Prose

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK
 
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Miami Herald • Newsday • The Huffington Post • Financial Times • GQ • Slate • Men’s Journal • Washington Examiner • Publishers Weekly • Kirkus Reviews • National Post • The Toronto Star • BookPage • Bookreporter

“I wanted the lettuce and... Read More »

The Best Cook in the World

“This is the funniest cookbook in the world! Packed with old fashioned southern recipes, Bragg's brilliant storytelling and old black-and-white photographs bring his relatives to life. From lost cows to dead hogs to giant turtles, his stories feature grandparents and great grandparents, aunts and uncles. But most of all, his mother's voice comes through loud and clear. More than anything, you are taken by the back-and-forth between Bragg and his down-to-earth, matter-of-fact, shy but feisty mother. I absolutely loved this book! And I recommend the pecan pie!”

Helen Stewart, Quail Ridge Books

A Kirkus Reviews Best Middle Grade Book of 2019

“A big-hearted story that’s as sweet as it is awesome.” —R.J. Palacio, author of Wonder

In the tradition of Wonder and Out of My Mind, this big-hearted middle grade debut tells the story of an irrepressible girl with cerebral palsy whose life takes an unexpected turn when she moves to a new... Read More »

From one of our most interesting literary figures – former editor of Granta, former fiction editor at The New Yorker, acclaimed author of Among the Thugs – a sharp, funny, exuberant, close-up account of his headlong plunge into the life of a professional cook.

Expanding on his James Beard Award-winning New Yorker article, Bill Buford gives us a... Read More »

Anna Meriano’s unforgettable family of brujas returns for one more serving of amor, azúcar, and magia, in this breakout series that's been called "charming and delectably sweet." (Zoraida Córdova, award-winning author of the Brooklyn Brujas series)

It’s spring break in Rose Hill, Texas, but Leo Logroño has a lot of work to do if she's going to... Read More »

Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina explore the health benefits of vegan diets compared to other dietary choices; explain protein and amino acid requirements at various stages of life; describe fats and essential fatty acids and their value in plant-based diets; investigate carbohydrate facts and fallacies; reveal the truth about wheat, gluten, and... Read More »

From the author of Clean Green Eats, a Japanese-inspired guide to finding balance, joy, and good health—A Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up for wellness—that emphasizes a simple, streamlined method for cleaning up your eating habits and offers modern-day applications of ancient Japanese healing practices and philosophy

Candice Kumai has always... Read More »

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Los Angeles Times • NPR • Men’s Journal • BookPage • Booklist • Publishers Weekly

In the fall of 2009, the food world was rocked when Gourmet magazine was abruptly shuttered by its parent company. No one was more stunned by this unexpected turn of events than its beloved... Read More »

The history of Guinness, one of the world's most famous brands, reveals the noble heights and generosity of a great family and an innovative business. It began in Ireland in the mid 1700s. The water in Ireland, indeed throughout Europe, was famously undrinkable, and the gin and whiskey that took its place devastated civil society. It was a... Read More »

A vivid memoir of food and family, survival and triumph, Love, Loss, and What We Ate traces the arc of Padma Lakshmi’s unlikely path from an immigrant childhood to a complicated life in front of the camera—a tantalizing blend of Ruth Reichl’s Tender at the Bone and Nora Ephron’s Heartburn

Long before Padma Lakshmi ever stepped onto a television... Read More »

From the author of the best-selling, widely acclaimed Heat--a new hilariously self-deprecating, highly obsessive account of the author's adventures, this time, in the world of French haute cuisine

Bill Buford turns his inimitable attention from Italian cuisine to the food of France. Baffled by the language, but convinced that he can master the... Read More »

From hours in the oven to years in the barrel, this illuminating book examines the relationship between the cook and the clock, and the underappreciated impact that time has on our favorite dishes

Two minutes into boiling an egg, the white isn’t set and the yolk is totally raw. After five minutes however, the white is fully set and the yolk... Read More »

A memoir of coming of age behind the counter, exploring butchery as an art form and taking an incisive look at an industry on the brink.

When sixteen-year-old Jessica Wragg applied for a job at her local farm shop in Derbyshire, England, she never expected to land a position behind the butchery counter. Wragg was younger than many of her... Read More »

“The ultimate truffle true crime tale”*: A thrilling journey through the hidden underworld of the world's most prized luxury ingredient.

*Bianca Bosker, New York Times bestselling author of Cork Dork

Beneath the gloss of star chefs and crystal-laden tables, the truffle supply chain is touched by theft, secrecy, sabotage, and fraud. Farmers patrol... Read More »

The United States boasts a culturally and ethnically diverse population which makes for a continually changing culinary landscape. But a young historical gastronomist named Sarah Lohman discovered that American food is united by eight flavors: black pepper, vanilla, curry powder, chili powder, soy sauce, garlic, MSG, and Sriracha. In Eight... Read More »

Matt Kramer, author and columnist for Wine Spectator, calls The New California Wine some of the most insightful wine writing you'll read anywhere, claiming it offers the real skinny on cutting-edge California wine. Hugh Johnson, the author of The World Atlas of Wine, agrees, finding Jon Bonne's clear-eyed perspective to offer a fresh look at a... Read More »

Hear a cookbook come to life as Food Network stars Jazz Smollett-Warwell and Jake Smollett read all 136 recipes in The Family Table to you! Feel as though you are in the kitchen cooking with the authors, while being guided step-by-step through each recipe and also hearing the recipe’s backstory. The audiobook is also fully enhanced with a... Read More »

From the best-selling author of Why We Get Fat, a groundbreaking, eye-opening exposé that makes the convincing case that sugar is the tobacco of the new millennium: backed by powerful lobbies, entrenched in our lives, and making us very sick.

Among Americans, diabetes is more prevalent today than ever; obesity is at epidemic proportions; nearly... Read More »

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AND A NEW YORK TIMES CRITICS' PICK

“Thrilling . . . [told] with gonzo élan . . . When the sommelier and blogger Madeline Puckette writes that this book is the Kitchen Confidential of the wine world, she’s not wrong, though Bill Buford’s Heat is probably a shade closer.” —Jennifer Senior, The New York... Read More »

Can Mimi undo the mayhem caused by her baking in this contemporary fantasy retelling of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream?

Eleven-year-old Mimi Mackson comes from a big Indian American family: Dad’s a renowned food writer, Mom’s a successful businesswoman, and her three older siblings all have their own respective accomplishments. It’s easy... Read More »

“Not since Michael Pollan has such a powerful storyteller emerged to reform American food.” —The Washington Post

Today’s optimistic farm-to-table food culture has a dark secret: the local food movement has failed to change how we eat. It has also offered a false promise for the future of food. In his visionary New York Times–bestselling book,... Read More »

From civil rights to Ferguson, Franchise reveals the untold history of how fast food became one of the greatest generators of black wealth in America. Often blamed for the rising rates of obesity and diabetes among black Americans, fast food restaurants like McDonald's have long symbolized capitalism's villainous effects on our nation's most... Read More »

The true adventures of David Fairchild, a turn-of-the-century food explorer who traveled the globe and introduced diverse crops like avocados, mangoes, seedless grapes—and thousands more—to the American plate.

“Fascinating.”—The New York Times Book Review • “Fast-paced adventure writing.”—The Wall Street Journal • “Richly descriptive.”—Kirkus •... Read More »

A beautifully written food memoir chronicling one woman’s journey from her rural Midwestern hometown to the intoxicating world of New York City fine dining—and back again—in search of her culinary roots
 
Before Amy Thielen frantically plated rings of truffled potatoes in some of New York City’s finest kitchens—for chefs David Bouley, Daniel... Read More »

The enchanting story of Julia Child's years as TV personality and beloved cookbook author--a sequel in spirit to My Life in France--by her great-nephew

Julia Child is synonymous with French cooking, but her legacy runs much deeper. Now, her great-nephew and My Life in France coauthor vividly recounts the myriad ways in which she profoundly... Read More »

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Fight cancer, diabetes, heart disease, weight gain, and even the aging process itself with one simple, scientifically proven plan to reverse disease—as well as prevent and reduce symptoms—from the world-renowned pioneer of lifestyle medicine.

Dean Ornish, M.D., has directed revolutionary research proving, for the first... Read More »

A food critic chronicles four years spent traveling with René Redzepi, the renowned chef of Noma, in search of the most tantalizing flavors the world has to offer.
 
“If you want to understand modern restaurant culture, you need to read this book.”—Ruth Reichl, author of Save Me the Plums
 
Hungry is a book about not only the hunger for food, but... Read More »

At an early age, Ruth Reichl discovered that "food could be a way of making sense of the world. . . . If you watched people as they ate, you could find out who they were." Her deliciously crafted memoir, Tender at the Bone, is the story of a life determined, enhanced, and defined in equal measure by a passion for food, unforgettable people, and... Read More »

Coke’s insatiablethirst for resources shapes the company and reshapes the globe in thisabsorbing history.

Coca-Cola’s success in building a global empire out ofsugary water drew on more than a secret formula and brilliant advertising. Thereal secret to Coke’s success was its strategy, from the beginning, to offloadproduction costs and risks onto... Read More »

An award-winning food writer takes us on a global tour of what the world eats--and shows us how we can change it for the better

Food is one of life's great joys. So why has eating become such a source of anxiety and confusion?

Bee Wilson shows that in two generations the world has undergone a massive shift from traditional, limited diets to... Read More »

In a tale replete with scandal and opulence, Luke Barr, author of the New York Times bestselling Provence, 1970, transports readers to turn-of-the-century London and Paris to discover how celebrated hotelier César Ritz and famed chef Auguste Escoffier joined forces at the Savoy Hotel to spawn the modern luxury hotel and restaurant, where women... Read More »

NOW AN ORIGINAL SERIES ON ABC • “Just may be the best new comedy of [the year] . . . based on restaurateur Eddie Huang’s memoir of the same name . . . [a] classic fresh-out-of-water comedy.”—People
 
“Bawdy and frequently hilarious . . . a surprisingly sophisticated memoir about race and assimilation in America . . . as much James Baldwin and... Read More »

In his second in-depth foray into the world of professionalcooking, Michael Ruhlman journeys into the heart of the profession. Observingthe rigorous Certified Master Chef exam at the Culinary Institute of America,the most influential cooking school in the country, Ruhlman enters the livesand kitchens of rising star Michael Symon and the renowned... Read More »

A wildly hilarious and irreverent memoir of a globe-trotting life lived meal-to-meal by one of our most influential and respected food critics.

As the son of a diplomat growing up in places like Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan, Adam Platt didn’t have the chance to become a picky eater. Living, traveling, and eating in some of the most far-flung... Read More »