by Becky LeJeune
We’re shaking things up and doing December a little different with the cookbook club. First, we’re recommending not one, but two books this month. Second, they’re a little different from our previous fare. But rest assured, both are amazing titles that we know you’re going to love!
Our first pick this month is: Eat Joy: Stories and Comfort from 31 Celebrated Writers 
edited by Natalie Eve Garrett. This isn’t a cookbook per se, but a book of essays all centered around food. And each contributing author has, in addition to their essay, provided a recipe as well. Some of the pieces include: “General Tso” by Lev Grossman’s, a piece about surviving divorce that includes a recipe for General Tso’s Tofu; Claire Messud’s “The Taste of Consolation,” an essay about a new understanding of her mother, in which she also shares Mrs. Hemmings’s Chocolate Brownies; and Natalie Baszile’s “The Boudin Trail,” a piece about spreading her father’s ashes around Louisiana. Baszile ends that one with a recipe for boudin!
Divided into sections titled Growing Pains, Loss, Healing, and Homecoming, the book features pieces from the above-mentioned authors as well as Carmen Maria Machado, Alexander Chee, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and more. This collection is all at once thoughtful and thought provoking, heart wrenching and heartwarming!
Our second pick is Felicita Sala’s What’s Cooking at 10 Garden Street?: Recipes for Kids From Around the World.
The idea behind this book is that each person living at 10 Garden Street is cooking something different and unique to their culture. Recipes range from Guacamole and Black Bean Soup to Oyakodon and Salmorejo.
Each page is gorgeously illustrated and the recipes are easy, as well as incredibly flavorful. It’s the perfect book for budding chefs and foodies!
Happy eating! Remember to sign up for the book club over on Readtribe. And be sure to post your pictures to social media using the hashtag: #BookBarCookClub
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