Sadly, I did not read this month’s selection for The Kitchen Reader because of a library snafu. Next month’s is on its way to my local branch.
I really enjoyed this book. As a subscriber to Molly’s blog, the book sometimes felt like a printed collection of blog posts, but that’s not a bad thing. In fact, I think it’s a testament to how good her blog is, and perhaps her blog just reads like chapters of a book. The main reason, though, is that each chapter ends with a recipe related to the story told immediately prior (like a good food blog post) so the structure is familiar. The library copy I read (though I might buy myself the paperback version anyway) somewhat adorably had all of the recipe pages dog-eared for the first third or so of the book.
In some ways reading the book reminded me of Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, except it would be Cook, Write, Love instead. Both authors effectively take the reader on their journey so that the story is intimate without being uncomfortable; I feel like the author is telling you her story over a glass of wine. At the end of the book I felt like I had made a new friend. There is no great drama or conflict, but I appreciated the honest description of someone struggling with real life (the experience of a foreign exchange, the death of a parent, the decision to go to grad school).
Other than the lovely writing, the recipes looked great. I’ve made a number of dishes from her blog before and been pleased. I was disappointed that I had to return the book to the library ($1.50 in late fees!) before I had a chance to try any or even copy any down, but I know a lot of them are available on her blog.
This was a library book for me, but I might still buy it — mainly for the recipes, but I would enjoy reading it again. The next time I would make one of the recipes first so I wouldn’t get so hungry while reading it.
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I LOVED this book. I seriously laughed and cried and salivated all the way through it. I still don’t think I’ve made any of the recipes, which is silly, because I’m pretty sure everything I’ve made from Molly’s site has been great.
I read this book last year and enjoyed it. I think I only tried one recipe! I need to go back and look through the book again because I know that a lot of the recipes looked good.
I haven’t started May’s Kitchen Reader book yet, but I’ve heard that it’s good.
Oh, no! Late fees! (I work in a library.)
Love your review. I’d most certainly snag one up if you get a chance. It’s cool to have all these recipes on hand.
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