Relish: My Life in the Kitchen
Since I transferred to reading mostly library books (boo for being a responsible adult with a not very disposable income), there haven't been many books I've felt the need to buy after I've checked them out from the library. I've read 55 books so far this year, and the last one I can remember is from last year, and that was Where'd You Go, Bernadette. Oh, wait. And Attachments. Sigh. I will buy that book and I will take it down from my shelves periodically, smell the pages, and then pet it like a baby kitten. And I don't even care that 'baby kitten' is redundant so shut your face.
ANYWAY my point is that I need to own my very own copy of this book because it's pretty and it makes me happy and it has recipes inside, so it's like, HELLO, you are a good book and also there is food inside of you. Can we please get married now?
I'm not exactly sure how internet famous Lucy Knisley is, but I've been following her online comics for at least five years now, probably more, and her comics always have this great mix of whimsy and personal history. I always find myself nodding along in recognition when I'm reading them, like, yes, yes HOW DID YOU KNOW. Plus, she draws good cat. Not that there's any cat in this book (to its detriment), but there is lots of food, it being a food memoir and all. In Relish, she chronicles her most vivid food-related memories with loving attention, painting lovely pictures of how food has been inextricably linked to important moments in her life. Plus, she's funny.
With parents who were both foodies, and a mother who is a chef, she probably (definitely) had more exposure to classier types of food than most people, but she's by no means a food snob, as is made clear by the chapter about her love of junk food (much to her parent's disapproval). Even the more bittersweet parts of Knisley's story (like her parent's divorce) are tempered by the joy she obviously takes in both her art, and in her love of food. It's a delicious book, in like every connotation of that word. If you like graphic memoirs or food, definitely check this out.