Top Ten Tuesday used to be a weekly post hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, but was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. “It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.” This is definitely something I can understand and want to participate in.
This week’s prompt was submitted by Cathy @ What Cathy Read Next and Hopewell’s Public Library of Life, and it’s a really good one. The topic is books involving food that are not cookbooks. I happen to love cozy mysteries, and they’re nearly always centered in a restaurant or bakery or other food-related establishment. I’m thinking that I’ll find this an easy list to create, so here are my favorite books that involve food but aren’t cookbooks:
- Crying in H-Mart by Michelle Zauner. This is a memoir about grief, but also a really moving story about a biracial woman learning to navigate life without her mother, with whom she had a difficult relationship. Her exploration of Korean food and heritage was profoundly moving.
- Murder at the Beacon Bakeshop by Darci Hannah. The first book in this cozy mystery series has the main character opening a bakeshop. I love the series, and there are always a couple of recipes listed at the end of each book.
- The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields. I love a cozy read of any sort, and this is a cozy fantasy that I really enjoyed. It features honey pretty prominently throughout the story.
- The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman. This wonderful book is one of my newer favorites, and earned Loigman auto-buy status. I love the way that Ashkenazi food is featured prominently, with chicken soup portrayed as a literal magical cure.
- The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer. My first Jewish romance was this book, and it takes place during Chanukah. I loved hearing about homemade rugelach and all of the Chanukah celebrations.
- Grounds for Murder by Tara Lush. While this one is set in a coffee shop, the main character Lana is always baking up something that sounds delicious. And I’m a sucker for the cute little dog in the series.
- Up to No Gouda by Linda Reilly. How could I not include a series that takes place in a grilled cheese shop, and has the cutest dog with a cheese-related name. Naturally, all of the books have a few grilled cheese recipes from the book with tips on how to make an amazing grilled cheese (but I am legally obligated to state that none of them beat my mom’s grilled cheese).
- Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson. The story centers around black cake, a special recipe from the Caribbean Islands, but it’s truly about family secrets, distance, and the work needed to overcome all of that. It was an outstanding read.
- Kill the Queen by Jennifer Estep. The foods described in this book sound so incredible. It helps that the main character has a magical ability to detect feelings as tastes, so they’re described in ways often comparable to foods.
- The Memory Keeper of Kyiv by Erin Litteken. This one is a little different from the others on the list; it addresses the Holodomor, a little-known famine that was engineered by Josef Stalin to starve and kill Ukrainians. But it has a split timeline, so it shows the impact of this experience when it was occurring, but also many decades later.
What are your favorite books featuring food that aren’t cookbooks? In case you can’t tell, I really enjoy reading food-related books, and am prepared to expand my TBR immensely.
Categories: Top Ten Tuesday
Leah's Books 
I’ve seen it on lists before, but I don’t think I’ve really read about The Matzah Ball. It looks like it could be a fun read though! And I’m always wanting another fun read!
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It’s so fun! It’s about a Jewish author who loves to write Christmas romance, and the enemies to lovers plot is wonderful!
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The Memory Keeper of Kyiv was such a devastating read!
My TTT: https://laurieisreading.com/2024/11/05/top-ten-tuesday-ya-one-book-wonders/
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It really was, and I love that the Holodomor is coming to the attention of more people.
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I tend to get suckered in by cozy mysteries with food pun titles, but I can’t think of one off the top of my head. I hope you have a great week.
Here’s my TTT if you wish to visit – https://justanothergirlandherbooks.blogspot.com/2024/11/top-ten-tuesday-covers-with-cats-on-them.html
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There are so many to choose from, it can be hard to think of a title at the drop of a hat. I love puns in books, and I’ve been known to drop a few puns myself whenever I cam.
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I love it when books involve food, I write down food quotes from books all the time in my recipe books 🙂
If you’d like to visit, here’s my TTT: https://thebooklorefairy.blogspot.com/2024/11/top-ten-tuesday-books-with-swords-on-the-cover.html
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That’s brilliant! I might have to start doing that too.
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LOL! I can so relate to your post title. The Memory Keeper of Kyiv sounds very interesting.
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Haha, I figured it was perfect for this week’s list, even though I completely got the dates mixed up and used the prompt for the first week of *September*
But the Memory Keeper of Kyiv was such a powerful read.
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I too would prefer to read about food than make it. Lol. I never got around to reading The Honey Witch and I really wanted to. I need to pick up a copy.
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The Honey Witch was a really good read! I hope you get to read it soon. I actually do love cooking, but not all the time and it’s way more fun to read about it.
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My favorite is Slow Noodles by Chantha Nguon. It’s not a cozy. It’s a sad book about a Cambodian refugee who survived near starvation, but still managed to preserve her family’s traditional recipes.
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That sounds like a really powerful read! I’m going to add it to my TBR now, thank you for the heads up.
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Forgot to add my TTT: https://bonniereadsandwrites.com/2024/11/05/top-ten-tuesday-books-with-animals-on-the-cover/
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I like reading about food, too.
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I always love seeing how characters relate to the food they make, and reading about these makes me hungry, but it’s worth it!
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I loved Up to No Gouda and The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern. I would love to have someone make me a fancy grilled cheese, or some of that chicken soup!
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/romance-covers-with-couples-on-them/
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I got all excited because I bought pepper jack to make my grilled cheese with and my mom even agreed to make her signature grilled cheese. Chicken soup is colloquially known as Jewish penicillin, and apparently there is some truth to the thought – it can help you feel better and speed up recovery. But Jewish families each tend to have their own version that they swear by.
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I love a good cozy mystery too, and several of these look really fun!
Here is our <a href=”https://www.longandshortreviews.com/miscellaneous-musings/top-ten-tuesday-covers-with-snow-and-ice-on-the-cover/“>Top Ten Tuesday.</a> Thank you!
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They really are fun! I highly recommend them all.
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I love cozies that are centered around food, except for one thing – they make me hungry! Ha ha.
Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
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Same! I can’t read any of Linda Reilly’s cozies because I just crave grilled cheese the whole time, but at least they usually have recipes at the back!
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