With food on the brain and recipe books falling short of a good beach read, Chow Bella has put together a list of our top 5 picks for summer food reading.
Savor them in small bites or gorge yourself on all five because these summer reads are guilt-free foodie non-fiction.
See Also: -Graphic Novelist Lucy Knisley Talks about Family, Recipes, and Illustrating Some of Her Favorite Food Memories -Laurie Notaro's Dish of Death -The Photography of Modernist Cuisine, Coming This Fall
The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart
With the rise of urban micro-framers and drink mixologists, best-selling author Amy Stewart hits the mark as she focuses on the long seeded connection between plants and alcohol.
This hybrid guide to horticulture and cocktails discusses everything from chemistry and etymology to drink recipes and gardening tips.
Cooked by Michael Pollan
Come on, it's Michael Pollan. The best-selling author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, The Botany of Desire, In Defense of Food, and Second Nature returns with an in-depth look at the four elements - earth, fire, water, air - in the kitchen.
"A natural history of transformation," this book, like Pollan's others, will no doubt change the way we look at food.
Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley This upbeat graphic novel for food promises to endear readers to Lucy Knisley 's life in the ktichen. The cartoonist with who grew up with a chef and a gourmet lays out her story and her passion for food in a culinary comic strip complete with beautifully illustrated guides of cheese cheat sheets, recipes, and more.
Gulp by Mary Roach
Humorous scientist Mary Roach takes readers and eaters into darker territory with "Adventure of the Alimentary Canal." This creative exploration of the human body will address issues of the human digestive tract that you were always curious about but never willing to ask out loud, with chapters like "I'm All Stopped Up: Elvis Presley's megacolon and other ruminations on death by constipation" and "Inflammable You: Fun with hydrogen and methane."
Potty Mouth at the Table by Laurie Notaro
New Times contributor and best-selling author Laurie Notaro is at it again -- and this time, she brought her manners. This book is less for the aspiring chef and more for anyone that's ever lost their appetite over tasteless behavior. Potty Mouth at the Table takes a comical look at the everyday encounters of Notaro including "Creepy Facebook Moments" and "Six Things I Never Want to Hear (Again) While Standing in Line at the Pharmacy." .