Haunted Ground
by Erin Hart
[Book]
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This character-driven mystery introduces us to Irish archaeologist Cormac Maguire and American pathologist Nora Gavin, who team up to learn more after a decapitated woman is found preserved in a bog in Ireland. Nora is running away from a personal tragedy back in the United States, and Cormac is recovering from the death of a close friend. Together they search for answers in the historical death of a woman, and a current missing woman. The characters are richly drawn, as is the countryside of Ireland, with a strong dose of Irish folklore and musical tradition thrown in.
Reviewed by Molly
Tagged: Fiction, Ireland, Mystery
Heart’s Blood
by Juliet Marillier
[Book]
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In 12th Century Ireland, Caitrin is fleeing an abusive suitor and finds work as a scribe to a struggling and crippled chieftain, Anluan. Caitrin goes through his family documents and begins to uncover an evil sorcery that has plagued Anluan’s family. With enemies approaching, Caitrin must help Anluan overcome this evil and save their budding romance. Heart’s Blood is an adventurous love story and reminded me of Beauty and the Beast, one of my favorite fairy tales.
Reviewed by Jennifer
Tagged: Fantasy, Fiction, Ireland, Romance
The Physiology of Taste
by Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin; translated by Anne Drayton
[Book]
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One of the great classics of food writing, still fun to read and filled with insights almost 200 years later.
Reviewed by Forbes Library Staff
Tagged: Food, Non-fiction
Julie and Julia
by Julie Powell
[Book]
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Join Julie Powell as she tries to cook the entire “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” cookbook in one year. Her funny story started out as a blog and turned into one hilarious story about the adventures of trying something new.
Reviewed by Forbes Library Staff
Tagged: Food, Memoir, Non-fiction
American Fried
by Calvin Trillin
[Book]
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Trillin is just as serious about food as some of the more earnest writers on this list, but also hysterically funny. His main thesis is that the local food usually is best, not the “continental cuisine” served in the pretentious restaurants found everywhere which he names generically “La Maison de la Casa House”. This book is the first in his Tummy Trilogy, which moves on to Alice, Let’s Eat, and finishes with Third Helpings — a delectable three-course meal, all in our collection.
Reviewed by Forbes Library Staff
Tagged: Food, Non-fiction
Fast Food Nation
by Eric Schlosser
[Book]
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Analyzing the influence of the fast food industry on American society, an award-winning journalist explores the homogenization of American culture and the impact of the fast food industry on modern-day health, economy, politics, popular culture, entertainment, food production, and more.
Reviewed by Forbes Library Staff
Tagged: Food, Non-fiction
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
by Barbara Kingsolver
[Book]
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The National Humanities Medal-winning author of The Poisonwood Bible follows the author’s family’s efforts to live on locally and home-grown foods, an endeavor through which they learned lighthearted truths about food production and the connection between health and diet.
Reviewed by Forbes Library Staff
Tagged: Food, Non-fiction
The omnivore’s dilemma
by Michael Pollan
[Book]
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An ecological and anthropological study of eating offers insight into food consumption in the twenty-first century, explaining how an abundance of unlimited food varieties reveals the responsibilities of everyday consumers to protect their health and the environment.
Reviewed by Forbes Library Staff
Tagged: Food, Non-fiction
The Art of Eating
by M.F.K. Fisher
[Book]
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A compendium of the first five books by the famous food and autobiographical writer, filled with her mixture of insights into gastronomy and life in general. Her dry humor seasons the experience, as when she noted during the food shortages of World War II “when the wolf is at the door, one should invite him in and have him for dinner.”
Reviewed by Matt
Tagged: Food, Non-fiction
The Taste of America
[Book]
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This polemic about American cooking grabs the food establishment by the back of the neck and gives it a good shake. It does this partly by setting the historical record straight and partly by exposing the conceits, lazy thinking, and nutritional gobbledegook of so many food writers. Karen Hess was a food historian, John L. Hess was a reporter with a nose for the telling detail, and together they have written a book that is eye-opening, deliciously mean, and, unexpectedly, affectingly evocative. Sadly, it is just as pertinent today as it was in 1977, when it first appeared.
Reviewed by Matt
Tagged: Food, Non-fiction
Mrs. Mike : the story of Katherine Mary Flannigan
by Benedict and Nancy Freedman
[Book]
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Katherine O’Fallon, of Boston, marries a Canadian Mountie named Mike Flanagan. Together they live a large life in the wilderness dealing with hardship and loss with their neighbors, both white and native, in an engaging and bighearted way.
Reviewed by Sara
Tagged: Canada, Fiction, Frontier, Romance
Brooklyn: A Novel
by Colm Toibin
[Book]
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Brooklyn is a beautifully written novel about an Irish girl who moves to Brooklyn in the 1950s to find work. Toibin sensitively relates the protagonist’s ambivalence about both Ireland and Brooklyn and her inability to reconcile the two different worlds.
Reviewed by Jason
Tagged: Fiction, Immigration
