Rooted in the Kitchen

Are you hungry yet? Check out these delicious books about food, kitchens, and all things culinary. This list includes foodie favorites, tasty novels, chef memoirs, and much more. Plant a seed, read!

Updated May 11, 2026
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The particular sadness of lemon cake : a novel
Bender, Aimee.
Paper Book
On the eve of her ninth birthday, unassuming Rose Edelstein bites into her mother's homemade lemon-chocolate cake and discovers she has a magical gift: she can taste her mother's emotions in the slice. To her horror, she finds that her cheerful mother tastes of despair. Soon, she's nbsp;privy to...
Catering to nobody
Davidson, Diane Mott.
Paper Book
Even though working a wake isn't Goldy Bear's idea of fun, the Colorado caterer throws herself into preparing a savory feast featuring Poached Salmon and Strawberry Shortcake Buffet designed to soothe forty mourners. Her culinary efforts seem to be exactly what the doctor ordered . . . until her...
Death comes in through the kitchen
Dovalpage, Teresa
Paper Book
Havana, Cuba, 2003: Matt, a San Diego journalist, arrives in Havana to marry his girlfriend, Yarmila, a 24-year-old Cuban woman whom he first met through her food blog. But Yarmi isn't there to meet him at the airport, and when he hitches a ride to her apartment, he finds her lying dead in the...
Best served hot
Elliot, Amanda
Paper Book
Two restaurant critics learn their opposing tastes might make for a five-star relationship in the next foodie romantic comedy from the author of Sadie on a Plate. By day, Julie Zimmerman works as an executive assistant. After hours, she's @JulieZeeEatsNYC, a social media...
Be ready when the luck happens : a memoir
Garten, Ina
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * In her long-awaited memoir, Ina Garten--aka the Barefoot Contessa, author of thirteen bestselling cookbooks, beloved Food Network personality, Instagram sensation, and cultural icon--shares her personal story with readers hungry for a seat at her table....
Braided heritage : recipes and stories on the origin of American cuisine
Harris, Jessica B.
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER . Discover the sweeping story of how Indigenous, European, and African traditions intertwined to form an entirely new cuisine, with over 90 recipes for the modern home cook-from the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Famer and star of the Netflix docuseries High on the Hog.<...
Strong roots : a memoir of food, family, and Ukraine
Hercules, Olia
Paper Book
A sweeping and poignant account of a woman's life and her family history in Ukraine -- from the dark years of Soviet rule to the Russian invasion in 2022--and a beautiful, intimate portrait of a country's fight against erasure and the solace found through family, art, beauty,...
The Kamogawa food detectives
Kashiwai, Hisashi
Paper Book
The Kamogawa Food Detectives is the first book in the bestselling, mouth-watering Japanese series, for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold. What's the one dish you'd do anything to taste just one more time? Down a quiet backstreet in Kyoto...
Eat, drink and drop dead
LoTempio, T. C.
Paper Book
A former chef gets mixed up in murder when she moves back to her Southern home town in the first Tiffany Austin food blogger mystery - a culinary cozy that will make your brain work and your stomach rumble!"I was hooked from start to finish!" Laura Childs, New York Times bestselling author of the...
Save me the plums : my Gourmet memoir
Reichl, Ruth
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "A delicious insider account of the gritty, glamorous world of food culture."--Vanity Fair In this "poignant and hilarious" (The New York Times Book Review) memoir, trailblazing food writer and beloved restaurant critic Ruth...
Taste : my life through food
Tucci, Stanley
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Named a Notable Book of the Year by NPR and The Washington Post From award-winning actor and food obsessive Stanley Tucci comes an intimate and charming memoir of life in and out of the kitchen.
Praisesong for the kitchen ghosts : stories and recipes from five generations of Black country cooks
Wilkinson, Crystal
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER . A lyrical culinary journey that explores the hidden legacy of Black Appalachians, throughpowerful storytelling alongside nearly forty comforting recipes, from the former poetlaureate of Kentucky."With Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts,...
Care and feeding : a memoir
Woolever, Laurie
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times Bestseller! A candid, funny, and occasionally devastating culinary memoir of a woman making her way through the food world, navigating addiction, a cultural reckoning, and an unexpected tragedy In this moving, hilarious, and insightful...

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