An enduring love of food has a way of seeping into every corner of your life. As a foodie and a bibliophile, I personally can’t get enough books centered around bold flavors and the culinary world. Books with food themes are as irresistible as candy at the grocery checkout counter for me. If you feel the same way, you’ve come to the right place. I’ve got six new works of nonfiction for foodies for you, plus four upcoming books to preorder now. You’ll find no cookbooks here—although reading a cookbook from cover to cover can often be a surprisingly engaging exercise. Instead, I’ve rounded up books with scrumptious true stories to tell about ingredients, dishes, cuisines, and cooking.

Got a sweet tooth? Check out books on the history of candy and the current movement to preserve heirloom strains of chocolate. More of a fruit lover? Read thoughtful reflections on mangoes and oranges. Can’t get enough restaurant drama? You’ll love juicy memoirs by celebrity chefs and fine dining insiders. No matter which books you choose, be sure to have snacks on hand because this food writing is sure to stoke your appetite.

From food history to travelogues to lyrical essay collections to personal memoirs, these enticing works of nonfiction are sure to give you lots of new ideas to chew on.

New Nonfiction for Foodies

Wild Chocolate: Across the Americas in Search of Cacao’s Soul by Rowan Jacobsen Chocolate is highly valued in cuisines across the globe. But the vast majority of the chocolate we consume comes from one strain of cacao, the heartiest and easiest to grow, and it is primarily now grown in West Africa. There’s a big movement to change the way we look at chocolate by protecting and cultivating wild, ancient, and heirloom cacao beans across Central and South America. In Wild Chocolate, food journalist Rowan Jacobsen takes readers on a gripping adventure through the Amazon in search of these endangered cacao beans, following a quirky cast of (real!) characters including farmers, activists, chocolate makers, and more, all working to preserve and celebrate the magic of wild cacao. Full of fascinating history, dangerous travels, and delicious food writing, Wild Chocolate will send you on a quest to taste single-source heirloom chocolate for yourself.

Sweet Nothings: Confessions of a Candy Lover by Sarah Perry In a delectable combination of food history, pop culture, social science, and personal memoir, writer Sarah Perry pens 100 microessays in Sweet Nothings, each centered around a different candy. Perry investigates the charm and staying power of candy, including classics like Werther’s Originals, divisive favorites like candy corn, luxury chocolates like Ferrero Rocher, and lesser-known international delights. It’s a far-reaching collection that draws on colorful nostalgia and a love of all things sweet.

In her new gripping memoir Catherine Simone Gray reckons with the questions what happens when survivors become mothers and what if we give half the attention to understanding our pleasure as we have to our pain? Gray reminds us that even amid pain, our bodies can teach us new truths about our capacity to heal and experience pleasure. Proud Flesh rewrites the body of the mother beyond the borders—bold, defiant, and heart-stoppingly true, it’s an unputdownable memoir and a force of nature.

“Why the obsession with motherhood?” writes author and journalist Gabriela Wiener in her book Nine Moons, translated by Jessica Powell. And it’s a question so many writers turn their minds to. It’s perhaps not surprising. Motherhood, in one way or another, affects us all—even the not having or the not doing can create tensions, pain, and societal implications that many have to grapple with. But perhaps more interestingly to writers and other creative minds, it overlaps with so many other significant subjects in our lives, like power and wealth; race, gender, and sexuality; language and culture; science and the environment, among others. Among the many books to choose from, I found that I was personally drawn to titles that were more international, translated from languages other than English. I’m grateful to the talented translators of these motherhood memoirs. Their work allows me to read more widely and think deeply and intentionally about what it means to be a mother all over the world.

6 Motherhood Memoirs

Breathe by Imani Perry In Breathe, author, critic, and historian Imani Perry writes movingly about what it means to raise Black sons in America. It is at once a letter to her sons, a memoir sifting through her life and her son’s formative years, and a resounding challenge to society to see her sons—and all Black children—as precious and deserving of humanity. At one point in the midst of Breathe, Perry writes, “I live for the life of the mind and heart.” It’s a simple statement in the midst of so much that’s insightful and profound in the collection but it struck me as a perfect capturing of the book. Breathe is a thoughtful and intimate glimpse into one of the brightest minds writing today but there is an equal amount of care and heart. It’s a special combination that I’ve treasured.

Nine Moons by Gabriela Wiener, translated by Jessica Powell Gabriela Wiener is an award-winning Peruvian journalist and author who is known for her wild explorations of sex, identity, and gender. Her personal accounts in the book Sexographies, also translated by Jessica Powell, range from infiltrating the most dangerous Peruvian prison to detailed encounters at sex clubs and being whipped by a dominatrix in public. In Nine Moons, she approaches her pregnancy and motherhood in a similar full-bodied approach. One of my favorite early images in the book is her growing pile of books on motherhood next to her recent research on various sexual subcultures. Her work is fierce and funny and brilliant, and it’s a necessary and exhilarating addition to the genre as she discusses so much that is often left unsaid in other books about motherhood—like her abortions and her lust.

Linea Nigra: An Essay on Pregnancy and Earthquakes by Jazmina Barrera, translated by Christina MacSweeney I loved Jazmina Barrera’s debut work of nonfiction, On Lighthouses, translated by the legend Christina MacSweeney, where she melds memoir and literary history while examining what lighthouses mean to her and more widely to us all through the works of Virginia Woolf, Edgar Allan Poe, Ingmar Bergman, and many others. So it’s no surprise that I would love her exploration of pregnancy, motherhood, and art. Like On Lighthouses, Linea Negra is a memoir and also so much more. Barrera chronicles her own pregnancy and early motherhood while also reflecting on representations of motherhood in art and literature. I was particularly struck by the collection of resources she presents at the back of the book—poems, short stories, interviews, and essays—that she read while breastfeeding, the act of the artist feeding herself as she feeds her child. This urgent and intimate book is one of the most stunning I’ve ever read.

In her new gripping memoir Catherine Simone Gray reckons with the questions what happens when survivors become mothers and what if we give half the attention to understanding our pleasure as we have to our pain? Gray reminds us that even amid pain, our bodies can teach us new truths about our capacity to heal and experience pleasure. Proud Flesh rewrites the body of the mother beyond the borders—bold, defiant, and heart-stoppingly true, it’s an unputdownable memoir and a force of nature.

“Why the obsession with motherhood?” writes author and journalist Gabriela Wiener in her book Nine Moons, translated by Jessica Powell. And it’s a question so many writers turn their minds to. It’s perhaps not surprising. Motherhood, in one way or another, affects us all—even the not having or the not doing can create tensions, pain, and societal implications that many have to grapple with. But perhaps more interestingly to writers and other creative minds, it overlaps with so many other significant subjects in our lives, like power and wealth; race, gender, and sexuality; language and culture; science and the environment, among others. Among the many books to choose from, I found that I was personally drawn to titles that were more international, translated from languages other than English. I’m grateful to the talented translators of these motherhood memoirs. Their work allows me to read more widely and think deeply and intentionally about what it means to be a mother all over the world.

6 Motherhood Memoirs

Breathe by Imani Perry In Breathe, author, critic, and historian Imani Perry writes movingly about what it means to raise Black sons in America. It is at once a letter to her sons, a memoir sifting through her life and her son’s formative years, and a resounding challenge to society to see her sons—and all Black children—as precious and deserving of humanity. At one point in the midst of Breathe, Perry writes, “I live for the life of the mind and heart.” It’s a simple statement in the midst of so much that’s insightful and profound in the collection but it struck me as a perfect capturing of the book. Breathe is a thoughtful and intimate glimpse into one of the brightest minds writing today but there is an equal amount of care and heart. It’s a special combination that I’ve treasured.

Nine Moons by Gabriela Wiener, translated by Jessica Powell Gabriela Wiener is an award-winning Peruvian journalist and author who is known for her wild explorations of sex, identity, and gender. Her personal accounts in the book Sexographies, also translated by Jessica Powell, range from infiltrating the most dangerous Peruvian prison to detailed encounters at sex clubs and being whipped by a dominatrix in public. In Nine Moons, she approaches her pregnancy and motherhood in a similar full-bodied approach. One of my favorite early images in the book is her growing pile of books on motherhood next to her recent research on various sexual subcultures. Her work is fierce and funny and brilliant, and it’s a necessary and exhilarating addition to the genre as she discusses so much that is often left unsaid in other books about motherhood—like her abortions and her lust.

Linea Nigra: An Essay on Pregnancy and Earthquakes by Jazmina Barrera, translated by Christina MacSweeney I loved Jazmina Barrera’s debut work of nonfiction, On Lighthouses, translated by the legend Christina MacSweeney, where she melds memoir and literary history while examining what lighthouses mean to her and more widely to us all through the works of Virginia Woolf, Edgar Allan Poe, Ingmar Bergman, and many others. So it’s no surprise that I would love her exploration of pregnancy, motherhood, and art. Like On Lighthouses, Linea Negra is a memoir and also so much more. Barrera chronicles her own pregnancy and early motherhood while also reflecting on representations of motherhood in art and literature. I was particularly struck by the collection of resources she presents at the back of the book—poems, short stories, interviews, and essays—that she read while breastfeeding, the act of the artist feeding herself as she feeds her child. This urgent and intimate book is one of the most stunning I’ve ever read.

The Millions’ seasonal previews have become anticipated, admired, and extremely useful events in the book world. Sophia Stewart, an editor at The Millions and Publishers Weekly, was kind enough to answer some of my questions about how it gets made.

The Millions has been doing comprehensive previews for a while. How did you come to be a part of it?

It really is amazing that The Millions has been publishing its Most Anticipated book previews for 20 years—the first one had something like 15 titles, most of which were by big-name authors. Since then, the lists have evolved to be more thorough and to spotlight emerging authors or small press books that might not enjoy the same marketing muscle as the big names at big houses. I joined The Millions as deputy editor in early 2022, and within a few months became the editor of the site, at which point I took over the Most Anticipated previews. I published my first preview at the start of 2023.

The Millions’ seasonal previews have become anticipated, admired, and extremely useful events in the book world. Sophia Stewart, an editor at The Millions and Publishers Weekly, was kind enough to answer some of my questions about how it gets made.

The Millions has been doing comprehensive previews for a while. How did you come to be a part of it?

It really is amazing that The Millions has been publishing its Most Anticipated book previews for 20 years—the first one had something like 15 titles, most of which were by big-name authors. Since then, the lists have evolved to be more thorough and to spotlight emerging authors or small press books that might not enjoy the same marketing muscle as the big names at big houses. I joined The Millions as deputy editor in early 2022, and within a few months became the editor of the site, at which point I took over the Most Anticipated previews. I published my first preview at the start of 2023.

Having written this column since mid-2021, I sometimes forget what I’ve covered. In some ways, I haven’t written anything new in the world of book censorship because the tactics, goals, and outcomes have not changed much at all over the course of this significant era of censorship. The guide to 56 tasks you can take to end book censorship? It’s literally the same guide as every other “how to fight book bans” guide since 2021, but it’s repackaged as a more granular checklist to make attending to those tasks easier. You’re still ultimately showing up to board meetings, voting, and sharing verified information about the latest news in book censorship.

This week, rather than drafting something fresh, let’s take the time to look back at some of the Literary Activism columns you may have missed from the previous several Januarys and Februarys. Catch up on what you may have missed, and remember that there is nothing new in the book—just different names and faces trying to get their 15 minutes of manufactured outrage fame. We are seeing the results of these actions play out and if you’ve been watching or engaged, nothing is surprising. That doesn’t mean it isn’t infuriating, disgusting, or not in need to pushback. It just means that the groundwork’s been being laid so it is simply not surprising in the least.

Be Your Own Library Advocate (2024)

“Public libraries are not play places. They are not cooling centers or warming centers or mental health clinics. Public libraries are not bars, nor are they essential services. Public libraries are places of information and access to information. They are places that ardently defend the rights of every person to seek out that information. This is fundamental and yet not highlighted or underlined enough. Public libraries are cornerstones of democratic and civic engagement, not safety nets for broken systems elsewhere. They might take on those roles, but that’s not their purpose.

No one else can raise your social value for you. You have to do it yourself. You have the data here to support it.”

Having written this column since mid-2021, I sometimes forget what I’ve covered. In some ways, I haven’t written anything new in the world of book censorship because the tactics, goals, and outcomes have not changed much at all over the course of this significant era of censorship. The guide to 56 tasks you can take to end book censorship? It’s literally the same guide as every other “how to fight book bans” guide since 2021, but it’s repackaged as a more granular checklist to make attending to those tasks easier. You’re still ultimately showing up to board meetings, voting, and sharing verified information about the latest news in book censorship.

This week, rather than drafting something fresh, let’s take the time to look back at some of the Literary Activism columns you may have missed from the previous several Januarys and Februarys. Catch up on what you may have missed, and remember that there is nothing new in the book—just different names and faces trying to get their 15 minutes of manufactured outrage fame. We are seeing the results of these actions play out and if you’ve been watching or engaged, nothing is surprising. That doesn’t mean it isn’t infuriating, disgusting, or not in need to pushback. It just means that the groundwork’s been being laid so it is simply not surprising in the least.

Be Your Own Library Advocate (2024)

“Public libraries are not play places. They are not cooling centers or warming centers or mental health clinics. Public libraries are not bars, nor are they essential services. Public libraries are places of information and access to information. They are places that ardently defend the rights of every person to seek out that information. This is fundamental and yet not highlighted or underlined enough. Public libraries are cornerstones of democratic and civic engagement, not safety nets for broken systems elsewhere. They might take on those roles, but that’s not their purpose.

No one else can raise your social value for you. You have to do it yourself. You have the data here to support it.”

Been too busy to keep up with all the comic book news lately? I’ve got you covered!

News From DC and Marvel

A hearty and heartfelt congratulations to Jenny Blake Isabella, best known for co-creating Black Lightning, who came out as trans earlier this month.Captain America: Brave New World opened to mixed reviews and massive receipts.Rob Liefeld did not have a marvel-ous time at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere and is now making it Marvel’s problem — namely, by cutting all ties with them.The Thunderbolts* trailer debuted during some football game earlier this month.Michael B. Jordan’s position on Jonathan Majors’ domestic violence conviction is deeply unfortunate, to say the least.Variety ranked its 100 greatest TV performances of the 21st century (so far). I won’t spoil it entirely, but superhero fans should definitely check out Numbers 71, 64, and 13.If you’re a fan of both Marvel and My Hero Academia, you’re going to want to check out these Japanese promotional posters that combine both franchises.

News From the Wider Comics World

Akio Iyoku, one of Dragon Ball‘s executive producers, recently did an interview about the role that franchise creator Akira Toriyama had in the anime’s development.ND Stevenson, best known for creating such popular graphic novels as Lumberjanes and Nimona, is venturing into prose novels. Scarlet Morning, the first of an illustrated duology, will be released this September.Book Riot’s Megan Mabee has thoughtfully rounded up some great teen sci-fi comics for your reading pleasure.The Binc Foundation has awarded scholarships to four comic book retailers to be put towards attending the ComicsPRO comic industry meeting later this month.

Been too busy to keep up with all the comic book news lately? I’ve got you covered!

News From DC and Marvel

A hearty and heartfelt congratulations to Jenny Blake Isabella, best known for co-creating Black Lightning, who came out as trans earlier this month.Captain America: Brave New World opened to mixed reviews and massive receipts.Rob Liefeld did not have a marvel-ous time at the Deadpool & Wolverine premiere and is now making it Marvel’s problem — namely, by cutting all ties with them.The Thunderbolts* trailer debuted during some football game earlier this month.Michael B. Jordan’s position on Jonathan Majors’ domestic violence conviction is deeply unfortunate, to say the least.Variety ranked its 100 greatest TV performances of the 21st century (so far). I won’t spoil it entirely, but superhero fans should definitely check out Numbers 71, 64, and 13.If you’re a fan of both Marvel and My Hero Academia, you’re going to want to check out these Japanese promotional posters that combine both franchises.

News From the Wider Comics World

Akio Iyoku, one of Dragon Ball‘s executive producers, recently did an interview about the role that franchise creator Akira Toriyama had in the anime’s development.ND Stevenson, best known for creating such popular graphic novels as Lumberjanes and Nimona, is venturing into prose novels. Scarlet Morning, the first of an illustrated duology, will be released this September.Book Riot’s Megan Mabee has thoughtfully rounded up some great teen sci-fi comics for your reading pleasure.The Binc Foundation has awarded scholarships to four comic book retailers to be put towards attending the ComicsPRO comic industry meeting later this month.

People often say that life imitates art, but sometimes art imitates reality television shows. It make sense that reality TV has crept into so many of our favorite horror novels. After all, these unscripted TV series have become such a huge part of our lives. Who isn’t watching The Traitors, the campy and suspensive reality competition show where contestants murder each other to win? Sounds like the perfect setting for a horror story, does it not?

Here are three horror novels that turn the world of reality TV into a dark, twisted place. Or at least…slightly more dark and twisted than it is usually.

Enjoying what you’re reading? Support the work we do as an independent media resource by becoming an All Access member, and unlock our entire library of articles and a growing catalog of community features. Sign up now for only $6/month!

Grim Root by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam Two of the books on this list are inspired by one of the biggest mainstays in reality TV, The Bachelor. Who can blame authors for wanting to write horror based on that show? What’s more horrifying than agreeing to marry a man you barely know after only, like, two dates? Especially when he’s been dating 20ish other women at the same time? In Grim Root, a Bachelor-like TV show gets ghosty when the contestants find themselves spending a week in a haunted house. But when the bachelor dies, all bets are off.

Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen This novel is about a reality TV dating series called The Catch which is definitely not anything like The Bachelor (except it totally is). The bachelor is down to his final four ladies, and the crew heads to a remote island in the Pacific Northwest to film their next round of dates. What could possibly go wrong, right? Little does the cast and crew of The Catch know what awaits them on the island. Patricia might be a little furry and a little violent. But mostly she’s just misunderstood. All she really wants to do is cuddle.

People often say that life imitates art, but sometimes art imitates reality television shows. It make sense that reality TV has crept into so many of our favorite horror novels. After all, these unscripted TV series have become such a huge part of our lives. Who isn’t watching The Traitors, the campy and suspensive reality competition show where contestants murder each other to win? Sounds like the perfect setting for a horror story, does it not?

Here are three horror novels that turn the world of reality TV into a dark, twisted place. Or at least…slightly more dark and twisted than it is usually.

Enjoying what you’re reading? Support the work we do as an independent media resource by becoming an All Access member, and unlock our entire library of articles and a growing catalog of community features. Sign up now for only $6/month!

Grim Root by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam Two of the books on this list are inspired by one of the biggest mainstays in reality TV, The Bachelor. Who can blame authors for wanting to write horror based on that show? What’s more horrifying than agreeing to marry a man you barely know after only, like, two dates? Especially when he’s been dating 20ish other women at the same time? In Grim Root, a Bachelor-like TV show gets ghosty when the contestants find themselves spending a week in a haunted house. But when the bachelor dies, all bets are off.

Patricia Wants to Cuddle by Samantha Allen This novel is about a reality TV dating series called The Catch which is definitely not anything like The Bachelor (except it totally is). The bachelor is down to his final four ladies, and the crew heads to a remote island in the Pacific Northwest to film their next round of dates. What could possibly go wrong, right? Little does the cast and crew of The Catch know what awaits them on the island. Patricia might be a little furry and a little violent. But mostly she’s just misunderstood. All she really wants to do is cuddle.

I love everything Billy-Ray Belcourt has ever written, so it’s no big surprise that his latest, a collection of short stories, blew me out of the water. I had a rare experience while reading this book where I kept putting it down, thinking, “I cannot possibly read another sentence as beautiful as this one.” And then, a paragraph later, another sentence so utterly alive and breathtaking that, once again, I’d have to pause for a moment before continuing. If you are looking for stories that will make you feel alive, stories that confront Canada’s colonial violence but never center it, stories that are animated, always, by deep love—you need to read this book ASAP.

Enjoying what you’re reading? Support the work we do as an independent media resource by becoming an All Access member, and unlock our entire library of articles and a growing catalog of community features. Sign up now for only $6/month!

Coexistence by Billy-Ray Belcourt These stories are mostly (though not exclusively) set in and around Edmonton. Belcourt’s narrators are mostly queer Cree men—artists, poets, professors, and students—struggling with how to live and love and how to use language to describe and make sense of their living. One story details the beginning of a relationship; another a different relationship’s end. They take place at literary festivals and in drab motel rooms, on highways and in living rooms. Every story is pulsing and clattering with aliveness. Every story is a beautiful and specific expression of Indigenous love. I’ve always admired the way Belcourt writes theory into his fiction. His characters take thinking seriously but they also belly laugh. They use theory and scholarship as a way to remake language and remake the world, but they wrestle just as meaningfully with the systems of oppression that affect their material realities. In these stories sex and poetry are equally important; the life of the mind and the life of the body are not separate. It makes for incredibly intimate reading. How do you make a poem? How do you fall in love in the wake of ongoing colonial violence? What does it mean to listen well—to your mother, your students, your lover, yourself? Does art matter? How do you rebuild your life after being released from prison? What about the prairies and the ghosts that live there, the Alberta wind, your childhood home? What are they telling you about how to live? These questions are not abstract, as they live in the bodies of Belcourt’s characters and in the language they use to make sense of the world.

I love everything Billy-Ray Belcourt has ever written, so it’s no big surprise that his latest, a collection of short stories, blew me out of the water. I had a rare experience while reading this book where I kept putting it down, thinking, “I cannot possibly read another sentence as beautiful as this one.” And then, a paragraph later, another sentence so utterly alive and breathtaking that, once again, I’d have to pause for a moment before continuing. If you are looking for stories that will make you feel alive, stories that confront Canada’s colonial violence but never center it, stories that are animated, always, by deep love—you need to read this book ASAP.

Enjoying what you’re reading? Support the work we do as an independent media resource by becoming an All Access member, and unlock our entire library of articles and a growing catalog of community features. Sign up now for only $6/month!

Coexistence by Billy-Ray Belcourt These stories are mostly (though not exclusively) set in and around Edmonton. Belcourt’s narrators are mostly queer Cree men—artists, poets, professors, and students—struggling with how to live and love and how to use language to describe and make sense of their living. One story details the beginning of a relationship; another a different relationship’s end. They take place at literary festivals and in drab motel rooms, on highways and in living rooms. Every story is pulsing and clattering with aliveness. Every story is a beautiful and specific expression of Indigenous love. I’ve always admired the way Belcourt writes theory into his fiction. His characters take thinking seriously but they also belly laugh. They use theory and scholarship as a way to remake language and remake the world, but they wrestle just as meaningfully with the systems of oppression that affect their material realities. In these stories sex and poetry are equally important; the life of the mind and the life of the body are not separate. It makes for incredibly intimate reading. How do you make a poem? How do you fall in love in the wake of ongoing colonial violence? What does it mean to listen well—to your mother, your students, your lover, yourself? Does art matter? How do you rebuild your life after being released from prison? What about the prairies and the ghosts that live there, the Alberta wind, your childhood home? What are they telling you about how to live? These questions are not abstract, as they live in the bodies of Belcourt’s characters and in the language they use to make sense of the world.

My cousin Lorrie invited me on a ten-day retreat in Peru where we would partake in ancient ceremonies involving the Living Death Drug ayahuasca and—

“Don’t tell me anything more,” I interrupted. “The answer is yes!”

I never watch the trailer before going to the movie. I don’t want to ruin the surprise. Even if sometimes that means the surprise ruins me. I met a big-personalitied Frenchman while traveling and did not take time to get to know him before marrying him and moving into his house in Paris. I guess I don’t feel any proprietary rights over my destiny. I allow the Parisian shopgirls to choose my outfits, and now I will let the Peruvian shamans choose my insides. Whatever they’ve got has to be better than what I got going on now.

Lorrie and I tried to figure out when was the last time we’d seen each other. Thirty-six years ago, when she visited me in Philadelphia!

Welcome to Today in Books. In this weekend edition, a look at all the news Book Riot covered this week.

I read about 100 books a year, and most of those are queer. Since I started my book blog The Lesbrary, queer books—especially sapphic books—have taken over my reading life, and I couldn’t be happier about it. But that means that trying to narrow down a favourites list is tricky. I keep a running list of more than 100 sapphic books I recommend, never mind other queer books.

Recently, though, a BookTuber I follow invited members to submit a list of their top 20 books of all time. Since I already put in the work of narrowing down my favourites for that, I thought I’d share them with you! Of the 20 books I submitted, 15 were queer, naturally.

Because most of my reading has been sapphic (thanks to the Lesbrary), most of these books are, too. I also know that if I was asked on a different day, this list would change dramatically.