Good Reads On Good Eats

About author / Christine Gable

Culinary enthusiast; kids cuisine and slow cooking; magazine recipe developer; professional writer. Her simple recipes are great for family dinners.

We’re in the thick of it. Yes, not only August’s deep, steamy heat, but also vacation season. August is the most popular vacation month of the year, and you know what that means – eating out, relaxing on the beach, doing something different than your ordinary existence. And best of all, coming back refreshed (but hopefully not tired!) to your home and life. I’m not even going to suggest kid-friendly food or ways to get your kids cooking on your vacation. No, I don’t want you to do that.

When I go on vacation, the last thing I want to think about is cooking. Yes, really. Vacation is when I’m ready to do something different and to know that I’ll come home feeling refreshed and ready for new adventures. A big part of my vacation plan is a bag of good reads though. To lay in a hammock, on a lounge chair, on a chaise with a good book and leisurely hours stretching ahead of me is what I yearn for most. No plans to make. Nothing to clean up, clean out or clean under. Just my book and me. That and, well, a tall, icy drink would complete the utterly satisfying picture.

It’s all part of the plan, you see. When I give myself a much-needed (and much-deserved) reprieve, I come back to my home and life more energized and enthusiastic than if I had tried to save a buck and be the honorable mom, wife and cook.

And so it is with pleasure that I’ve compiled some good reads for you. And surprise, surprise, they just so happen to have some sort of food theme. Yes, you’ll be glad to know that I still love to read about food when I’m vacationing, even if I like to stay far, far away from the stove. So whether you search out eBay, order on Amazon or buy through Better World Books—heck, just put in a request through your local library—I hope you’ll enjoy some of these good reads before the summer is through. I haven’t read all the books on this list; but I plan to. So if you have read any other good foodie novels, please do share!

Eat Cake by Jeanne Ray

Eat, Drink and be Buried: a Gourmet Detective Mystery by Peter King

Eat, Drink and be Buried: a Pennyfoot Hotel Mystery by Kate Kingsbury

Key Lime Pie Murder: a Hannah Swensen Mystery with Recipes by Joanne Fluke

Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee

Later, at the Bar: A Novel in Stories by Rebecca Barry

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace... One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier


And here’s a few for your kids:

Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith and Gioia Fiammenghi

The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling

Chocolatina by Erik Kraft