What do you read when you're not reading about food and cooking?

I usually read mysteries in my spare time (like my train ride home from work). Currently loving Michael Lee West's "Gone with a Handsomer Man" and "A Teeny Bit of Trouble". I'm also a fan of Janet Evanovich's Lizzy & Diesel supernatural series about a pastry chef and an ongoing search for biblically-enpowered stones. Then there's Kerry Greenwood's mysteries starring Corinna Chapman, the bread baker.

Not interested in "Fifty Shades of Gray" because I just find the subject matter kind of boring. Sort of like a "been there, read that" kind of thing ;)

Loved The Hunger Games trilogy except for that last book which felt like it was rushed out to publication.

Liked Lisbeth Salander trilogy (Millenium Trilogy?). Worth slogging through some of the writing which can be so dry and aimless at times.

Ahhh, culture shock! I think I've read only 10 books on this list. Thank you drbabs for asking a great question. Always waited until I went back to the States to stock up on books but now I can put my iPad to work @ Amazon. Love the internet!

Just read a novel called Balance of Power by Richard North Patterson. It's about congress and our government and how their manipulate it so they don't have to pass legislation-- in this case GUN legislation. Really reminded me of our latest financial ....

I hope y'all don't mind my revisiting this question, but I just have to share. I've read 2 books that are absolute page turners: 11/22/63 by Stephen King (750 pages and I read it in 3 days) and Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. (Brilliant thriller and deconstruction of marriage). Enjoy!

Just treated myself to a set of 3 books by Herve This.. a treat for both the geek & the cook in me!

oh and Half Of A Yellow Sun!!!

A load of my faves are already listed but -

for some magical stuff, Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere, American Gods, and Anansi Boys

I LOVE Barabar Kingsolver, if you haven't read Animal Vegetable Miracle, you should, and The Lacuna is GREAT.

Fun travel journal stuff from Bill Brtson - A Walk In The Woods is laugh-out-loud funny, all of his stuff is fun to read

The Particular Sadness Of Lemon Cake - enjoyed greatly

Rain Of Gold - great Magical Realism

ANYTHING by Isabelle Allende (except Paula - I didn't like that one)

now I want to hop over to Amazon :-)

Another excellent young adult/sy fy/fantasy book is The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer. Just finished it. Highly recommend.

Now onto Goon Squad and loving it so far.

A Woman of Independent Means has always been a favorite of mine.

I loved Let the Great World Spin! Just finished Cutting for Stone. One of those kind of books you just can't put down!

Great books! The other two are ones I've read more recently. They are not on the same level as Goon Squad and History of Love, but they were definitely good reads. And I love Howard Jacobson (Kalooki NIghts). I had the chance to meet him. His humor is very dry and definitely not for everyone, but I think both he and his books are brilliant.

Some suggestions: A Visit From the Goon Squad, In the Garden of Beasts, Let the Great World Spin, A History of Love, Kalooki Nights. In the food lit category, I really want to read Talking WIth My Mouth Full by Gail Simmons. I think I'd really like her, and I find her career trajectory very interesting and inspiring in the way of follow your passion advice...

So true! Though as a lifelong P&P fan, I'm afraid I didn't really enjoy Death Comes to Pemberley because I didn't like how the author treated Elizabeth. How are you liking it so far? I hope you'll let me know what you think!

I'm actually reading Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James. Because there were never enough Jane Austen novels.

Have y'all read Fraser's Penguins and/or Half the Sky? Both are super-compelling. I really enjoyed Waiting for Bones by Donna Cousins- a new release, it's such a fun read. I tore through it. Eating Animals is very(!) thought-provoking, and I've not found it heavy-handed at all so far.

one of my favorite authors is ann patchett. her latest book, state of wonder, is staggeringly good.
it's the kind of book that when you finish reading it you need to take a break from reading for a while because you just need to live with it for a while. i've already re- read it since it came out last summer.

Great great question! Some of my all time favorite books are in no particular order.... Forever by Pete Hamill (he also wrote Snow in August which is similarly fantastic), Kent Haruf wrote two books, Plainsong and Eventide which are so sparce and beautiful in their language that you want to cry at the prose. Davita's Harp by Chiam Potak. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. And pretty much anything by Mark Helprin: Refiner's Fire, Memoirs from an Ant Proof Case, Soldier of the Great War - he is one seriously talented author! And if you're willing to put in the effort of slogging through the first 120 pages, Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace is great. And (can you tell I like to read?) Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card is truely lovely even though it's not my normal genre being sci-fi. And well we're on the sci-fi bend, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LaGuin (spelling?) is great!

currently reading the paris wife. but prior were 2 books i couldnt put down...The Help and Water for Elephants. i read both of those in a weekend. my husband was getting frustrated with me because i would lock myself in a room and read from sun up to sun down but i couldn't physically stop....i had to know what would happen next!

after reading all the reccomendations, i'm adding Blood, Bones and Butter to the list. just requested it from the library!

my problem is, i find an author i like then i read all the books they have written. for about 6 months all i could read were Jodi Picoult.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was one of my favorites growing up! I must have read it twenty times. I gave it to my daughter a few years back (she's now almost 17) and she loved it too.

Wonder When You'll Miss Me by Amanda Davis. So, so beautiful.

I recently started A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Way old-school, but a lovely read so far.

Wonderful story, especially for those who love books for the things that they are as well as the story they tell:
The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield.

I also loved "The Book Thief"...one of my favorite children's books to read aloud (for ages 8-80) is Jill Paton Walsh's "The Green Book"...it says so much about our love for books in only 70 pages!

Right now we are reading "One Thousand White Women" for book club...personally, I'm on a "wife" kick...just finished "An American Wife" and now reading "The Paris Wife"

If you have an adolescent daughter...mine lLOVED the Libba Bray series...A Great and Terrible Beauty"

If they haven't come up yet -- the novels of Amy Tan, especially The Bonesetter's Daughter. Other Chinese women authors, drawing on the contrast between the life in China, the family dynamics -- ancestors of the present generation and the present, sometimes with back and forth parallel stories.
At the blog www.theperfectpantry, there is a list of food related books that are not cookbooks, worth checking -- look under the header for Bookworms in the Pantry. (I submitted a list of food-centric mysteries.) My latest in that category -- The Fortune Cookie Chronicles (Jennifer 8. Lee), Peppers (Amal Naj), Daughter of Heaven (Leslie Li, another Chinese family in America).

Add your answer here

The Alexandria Quartet is one of my favorite old school time/space continuum collection of 4 novels - set in Alexandria, Egypt. Lawrence Durrell. Also, early short story collections by Ellen Gilchrist.

The Alexandria Quartet is one of my favorite old school time/space continuum collection of 4 novels - set in Alexandria, Egypt. Lawrence Durrell. Also, early short story collections by Ellen Gilchrist.

my choice is Season of Second Chances, Diane Meirer, wow, loved it, just loved it, set in Western Mass college town, she's a professor! what great dialogue and the story...check it out, also Maine about a extended family visiting in Cape Neddick, and well, read it!

The Madonnas of Leningrad is one of the best novels I've read in years, have given multiple copies because it's a novel that can expand me as a person (also desperately want to visit Leningrad, but that's another story). Really enjoyed Townie by Andre Dubus III but it is dense and dark. Let's Take the Long Way Home is a great book about friendship and love of dogs. Rereading a biography of Elizabeth David, Writing at the Kitchen Table, very interesting, mild tarnishing of hero.

If you enjoyed Isaac's Storm you will be mesmerized by The Devil in the White City. He has a brand new one, can't remember title. But I just re-read your original query and it occurred to me that there might be ways to bring your book group out of the doldrums in addition to new books. I remember when I lived in Boston and my book group was in a blue funk... we re-vitalized things by taking a month off, inviting a new member, changing the order of things a bit... just enough tweaking to shake us out of our routine and get our groove back. Good luck!

This is a terrific question, drbabs! I am playing catch-up but one of my favorites is The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson. It is real page turner, and true, about the making 1893 Chicago World's Fair and its primary architect and the tale of a serial killer, one H.H. Holmes who poses as a physician. Chilling, fascinating. A wonderful compendium of letters is As Always, Julia which is the correspondence between Julia Child and Avis DeVoto, as Julia was trying to find a publisher for Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Very fun. Just finished Slow Love by Dominique Browning, memoir by the last editor of House and Garden with lots of funny food stuff, bits of sharp wisdom and insight. I enjoyed it, though there are moments when it is a bit too self-involved for me.

Thank you all for your wonderful suggestions. I've read many of them already, but some I haven't heard of and will explore with my group. Thanks so much!

Two more great books...Read them back-to-back: Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy. Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett.

The Good Soldier (Ford Madox Ford) is one of my all-time favorites. A Confederacy of Dunces (John Kennedy Toole) is a hilarious book. The Rule of Four (Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason) and The Shadow of the Wind (Carlos Ruiz Zafon) are both engrossing, smart mystery/thriller stories. And two books I read recently and haven't been able to stop thinking about are Death and the Penguin (Andrey Kurkov) and Hygiene and the Assassin (Amelie Nothomb).

What a fun question! And it's so nice to pick up some suggestions from people's answers. Two of my favorite authors are Margaret Atwood and Jose Saramago... I would highly recommend any of their works. Atwood's Oryx and Crake, while not a 'foodie novel', has some interesting thoughts on the future of food (genetic modification and things like that). I also love John Irving's works. I have also greatly enjoyed Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale. A fun read is Ken Follet's Pillars of the Earth and its sequel World Without End, both of which center around the building of a cathedral in 12th and 13th century England. Follett's newest work, Fall of Giants, which centers around WW1, was also fun. I most recently enjoyed Ann Pratchett's State of Wonder, which was on a recommended reading list from NPR.

hmmmm....feeling slightly self conscious that our book club would spend very little time talking about the book, and the rest of the time just hanging out, eating and drinking. ;)

I enjoy historical novels. I 'm finishing up Catherine the Great by Robert Massie and Ken Follets World Without Ends was - ahmazing!!!!

Loved reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern! For the food lover, there are elaborate magical dinner parties and magical circus food. Was contemplating hosting a Night Circus themed dinner party.

Also, another engrossing read was The Art of Fielding: A Novel by Chad Harbach. I'm not a baseball fan, but I loved this book.

I loved "The Sense of an Ending" by Julian Barnes, "The Paris Wife and I am currently reading "The Cat's Table" by Michael Ondaatje (if you liked "The English Patient, this is even better!).

I too tend to read straight through an author I like --Donna Leon (mysteries set in Venice) because her characters are charming and they eat well, but right now I'm starting Edward St. Abyn and Elizabeth Taylor (fiction). I just finished The Science of Yoga because everyone was talking about it. The Hemingses of Monticello is a fascinating look into history and has been among my favorite non-fiction.

I stay on a diet of largely European writers fiction. When I start I cannot seem to get enough of an author I like, and read until I've exhausted volumes that have been translated into English. My favorites lately, seem to be Italian- Donna Leon or Andrea Cammilierri ( a Ruth Reichl recomendation) ; Scottish- Ian Rankin; and Norwegian-Jo Nesbo and Steig Larrson . When I'm in a mood for classic foodie writing, MFK Fisher's Art of Eating is always good to pick up for an essay to two. Not in a Foodie mood, but needing short essay reading material, pick up Paris Review of Books essays ...Amazon and UPS are my best friends...ch

Class Warfare by Stephen Brill was interesting and it might be a good book club book because education reform always seems to generate discussion and varied opinions (full disclosure: I work in education reform/policy so I might be biased but it wasn't super wonky and it made some of the new policies, initiatives, etc. really accessible to any reader). Paul Auster's books tend to be good discussion generators, at least in my view. And now I want to read other books people recommended!

A few recent nonfiction picks: Ian Frazier's Travels in Siberia and Peter Englund's The Beauty and the Sorrow. The first is self-explanatory and the second is a history of World War I as told through the diaries, letters, and memoirs of the participants. It is riveting. And why not a look backward to the fiction of Edith Wharton: The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence. Finally, if you read Jane Eyre as a teenager---read it again. You'll either love it for the first time (if you suffered back then) or love it more.

This is such an interesting question. I read and write, all day every day, often after dinner for an hour or two, for my client work (and none of that reading is from books -- all emails and legal documents), so when I have free time I'm usually outside hiking/backpacking/bicycling, etc. or in the kitchen. My bedtime reading often involves cooking one way or the other! I like non-fiction books relating to the history of food, and some memoirs, e.g., anything Ruth Reichl has written, including her compilations of essays from "Gourmet", "Toast" by Nigel Slater, "Blood, Bones and Butter" by Gabrielle Hamilton etc. Bill Bryson's recent "At Home" was interesting and a fun read. I've read everything he's written and generally have enjoyed it, though it can be rather common and vulgar at times. I write a lot of letters (yes, letters, not emails) to keep up with all the friends I've made throughout my life who don't live nearby. That takes a lot of time, so between that, and cooking dinner every night, and getting exercise outdoors before dinner, I actually don't read that much any more. But I'm now inspired to search out some of the community's recommendations. ;o)

THE WHISTLING SEASON by Ivan Doig, outstanding. This is one of Diog's best - and I am a fan of his.

I've been reading the Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series, by George R.R. Martin. It has me making pine nut oatcakes (http://beyondcelery.blogspot.com/2012/02/pine-nut-oatcakes.html), shepherd's pie, and roasted potatoes and root veggies. I'm now considering tackling lamb.

Other books I love: Ender's Game, The Foundation series, Cloudstreet (by Tim Winton).

Be careful if you read the Rum Diaries. I assume I'm not the only highly-suggestible reader/eater out there!

I hear you Devangi! I'm mostly stuck reading insanely dense academic papers, but a few books that I just love (they aren't new, but they're amazing books) and are great for a bookgroup are: English Passengers by Matthew Kneale (I cannot say enough good things about this book); Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks (so sad, but so beautiful); Out Stealing Horses by Per Peterson; The Elegance of The Hedgehog. My mother (who has been in the same bookgroup since before I was born!) recently told me they read Child 44 which was amazing but super intense and they also loved City of Thieves. And, it's a little fluffy, but if you haven't read Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, you should. It's sweet.
p.s. I didn't like Moo at all either, and I even am an academic!

HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE by Dale Carnegie is in my top three of all time. It has changed my life in so many ways. Highest recommendation.

Also liked the Art of Fielding.

Ohh! Right now I am only reading my social work license books, sob sob...I have to get two certifications.one LSW and another CSVA - Confidential Sexual Violence Advocate. no more fun..But, I love books based on inspiration and thrillers...my recent last read "Joy VS Success" by Geet Sethi, famous billiards player is really a nice one..

On my night stand right now; QUITE ENOUGH OF CALVIN TRILLIN, ABSOLUTE MONARCHS by John Julius Norwich (I read a lot of history). Waiting in the wings; THE ART OF FIELDING by Chad Harbach and Alan Furst's SPIES OF THE BALKANS. It's about time I reread Mark Kurlansky's COD. For book group reading I'd recommend THEN WE CAME TO THE END by Joshua Ferris. It was one of the New York Times "Best Ten Books of the Year" in 2007. Disclaimer, the author is a friend of mine.

my latest books, Palace of Illusions by CHitra Banerjee Divakaruni.. (mythological chik litt) & Jaya - an illustrated re telling of the Mahabharata by Devdutt Pattanaik.

GREAT question drbabs.

Right now, I'm reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I like it, ten pages in, so that's a good sign. ;)

One of my all-time favorite books is The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint by Brady Udall. Our book club loved this one. And his other book The Lonely Polygamist is awesome, too. Both are hilariously funny and heart-achingly sad at the same time.

I loved all the Charlie Huston books - mostly pulp noir genre (lots of violence, death, mystery, and all-round bad-assery.)

And I also love all the books by Joe Hill (Stephen King's son). Very dark horror/thrillers.

Goon Squad was hands down one of the best books I've read in a long time. I also recently read and liked The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides. Oh and The Believers by Zoe Heller, which I picked up randomly in an airport and loved. Both good book club material.

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver is great - it's one that's best read with a book group though because it's pretty dark, but there's LOTS to talk about.

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant is a favorite of mine too, as is Edwin Mullhouse: The Life and Death of an American Writer 1943-1954 by Jeffrey Cartwright (actually by Steven Millhauser - that's the full name of the book).

I loved that book!

I'm a magical realism junkie, so I'm quick to recommend something by Marquez as my go-to. But lately I'm trying to venture into things written in this century. I just wrapped up Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. It was completely different from what I would normally pick up but I enjoyed it, it was a quick read and fun to talk about.

There were a few great books on our "52" list: http://www.food52.com/blog/2888_the_food52_52
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