Dining with Proust by J-B Naudin, Anne Borrell, and Alain Senderens. Recipes, excerpts from In Search of Lost Time, commentary, and pictures.

A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle

I love reading about food. I have hundreds of cookbooks and love reading them as well as cooking from them. Here are a few of my favorites. (No way could I think of them all.)

All of M.F.K. Fischer is great reading. And I loved all 3 of the Reichel books, although the 3rd is a the most frivolous of the 3.

Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky is good. I liked it better than Cod.

I'm a real fan of Michael Rhulman. The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute is a must read for anyone who has ever thought about professional cooking.

Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemmais very good. If you haven't given much thought to our farm policy you will after reading this! And he makes it interesting!

And for humor how about a little Calvin Trillin? I believe his 3 food books are now in a volume called The Tummy Trilogy but they may be excerpts. In which case get the whole volumes.

And Jeffrey Steingarten's The Man Who Ate Everything is also funny.

Gourmet magazine did a little bound edition last summer of some really great food writing by some wonderful authors. Unfortunately, many people threw it away thinking it was advertising. It was really great.

If I give this some thought I can come up with more, and I haven't even started on the cookbook authors!

Pat Conroy (of The Great Santini, Beach Music, Prince of Tides, etc. fame) has written a book called The Pat Conroy Cookbook: Recipes from My Life. It has been called more of a memoir with recipes scattered here and there than an actual cookbook.

There is the mystery series by Diana Mott Davidson featuring a caterer that includes recipes for the event during which someone is inevitably murdered. Her love of food shines through.

Frances Mayes explores food in her books.

The Bialy Eaters by Mimi Sheridan. I have also read her Eating My Words about her time as a food critic, but I didn't like it nearly as much as the Ruth Reichel books previously mentioned.

I don't like the Diana Mott Davidson mysteries even though they have lots of food stuff. Dare I say they are too saccharin?

Thanks for the lead on Pat Conroy. I love his books, especially the early ones. I'm about to re-read a couple in anticipation of a trip to Charleston/Savannah and will add this one to my list.

Miriam's Kitchen: A Memoir by Elizabeth Ehrlich. A wonderful memoir of a modern woman who decides to keep a kosher kitchen. I'm not Jewish but have always been fascinated by this food prep method.

My grandmother lived with us and was a caterer. In our community of 70,000 there were no kosher caterers but a size-able Jewish population. Grandma would complain alot about several of her kosher clients. She was forever putting things in the wrong frig! And they wouldn't let her clean up the way she liked.

My husband was raised in a kosher household, but his mother died when he was 20 and no one else in the family cared. (They integrated the black housekeepers dishes and all the meat and dairy together after the funeral. Disrespectful kids!) He was never helpful on the fine points. This book explains it all in a thoughtful and loving way. I learned a lot and it was nicely done. (No wonder grandma was frustrated!)

Strange Foods by Jerry Hopkins. I wrote the review titled "Erp!"

should have given you more info about The Bialy Eaters, it would be an interesting counterpoint to Miriam's Kitchen

From a review:
"For most, the bialy is the bagel's lesser-known cousin, with a scattering of onions and an indentation instead of a hole. For food writer Mimi Sheraton, it's an entree into the history of the Jews of Bialystok, many of whom she befriended over years of obsessive inquiry and travel. The stories she uncovered are a reminder of what food can mean to people living far from their homeland, and the many ways in which it can nourish.
On assignment in Poland, Sheraton takes a detour to Bialystok to sample the bialy on native soil. But she discovers that not only are there no bialys in Bialystok; only five Jews remain of the 60,000 who lived there in 1941, when the Nazis entered the city. More determined than ever, Sheraton embarks upon a project to trace the diasporas of both the bialy and the Bialystokers."

I've found that nothing goes with a good book on food like a good book on wine :-) Unfortunately, I don't know that many (beyond the encyclopedic type) so any recommendations would be appreciated. I've recently read A Hedonist in the Cellar by Jay McInerney, which was pretty good. I have Auberon Waugh's Waugh on Wine near the top of my TBR list.

Much Depends on Dinner: The Extraordinary History and Mythology, Allure and Obsessions, Perils and Taboos of an Ordinary Meal by Margaret Visser.

An excellent, entertaining read.
BTW, the 'ordinary meal' the author examines - corn on the cob with butter and salt, roast chicken with rice, salad dressed in lemon juice and olive oil, and ice cream.

I love books about food too!

Many of the books from my childhood like Tolkien; Nesbit; Enid Blyton always feature food in so many scenes!

What about the famous picnic scene from "Wind in the Willows"

I can recommend "Feast: A History of Grand Eating" by Roy Strong

and "Apples of Gold in Settings of Silver" by Carolin C. Young.

Also the "Tea Shop Mysteries" series by Laura Childs. A "cozy" set of mysteries set in a wonderful teashop in Charleston --- and filled with so much history and information on the region and tea -- also has recipes too!

For art lovers: do check art.com -- and see Chardin's food art -- one of my favs! And for fun -- do check their categories that feature reproduction of vintage food and drink posters! :)

Here is a link that might be useful: art.com -- Chardin artworks featuring food!

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

I recommend "My Life in France", a memoir by Julia Child, with Alex Prud'homme. Fascinating detail about how Child got into gourmet cooking, while living in Paris, and her various struggles.

I second the M.F.K. Fisher recommendations above.

I read a lot about food and can recommend a few. Notable 2006 releases:

I second The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan - extremely influential and basically THE food book of 2006;

Heat by Bill Buford - v. entertaining, especially the whole bit apprenticing in Mario Batali's kitchen, and I learned a failproof way to braise;

The United States of Arugula by David Kamp - The history of eating in the USA; I confess I skimmed it and was a bit bored b/c it was so US-centric but it has gotten v. good reviews from USians;

The Ethics of Eating by Peter Singer, vegan and animal ethicist - didn't get as much press as it deserves b/c it was overshadowed by the Pollan book;

Real Food by Nina Planck, founder of Greenmarket in NYC - got me checking dairy labels and refusing to eat anything with modified milk protein;

What To Eat by Marion Nestle - also contributed to changing my food habits.

After reading the Pollan, Nestle and Planck books, I will never view industrial food the same way ever again. The Ethicurian blog has a very good food news digest also.

Barbara Kingsolver's latest book Animal Vegetable Miracle is about food and self-sustainability. Interesting to me as we try, as far as possible to grow all our own veggies, fruit and eggs though we haven't gone as far as meat rearing.
She was on the BBC's 'Woman's Hour' the other day describing the background to the book. I had expected her to sound tough and no-nonsense but she seemed much more 'little girly' than I would have guessed . . . perhaps she has a rugged interior :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Interview and 'listen again' with Barbara Kingsolver

I second Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I live much as the Kingsolvers do, raising almost all the vegetables I eat and buying local meat, eggs, and raw milk (I also make cheese regularly). Of course, I loved the book, but I've been talking the need to re-regionalize agriculture and the food supply for years. Healthier and safer for all.

Nearly forgot to mention my all-time Favorite Food Book:

"Being Dea is No Excuse: The Offical Ladies Guide to Hosting the Perfect Funeral" by Gayden Metcalfe and Charlotte Hays

this is a true laugh-out-loud book -- I just LOVE it!! With loads of receipes for "funeral and other occasions"

AND I've included a fav blog site too -- there are literally thousands of food-related blogs ..... for every taste -- literally!

http://cherrysenglishkitchen.typepad.com/

And here's another -- be sure to follow the writer's links to other food blogs -- and their recommendations for books to seek out too! Have fun!

Here is a link that might be useful: A food blog -- vegetables!

"Being Dead is No Excuse"

please excuse my typing! :)

I have to preface this suggestion with the admission that I have only read excerpts, but they were quite enjoyable.

Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen: How One Girl Risked Her Marriage, Her Job, & Her Sanity to Master the Art of Living
Julie Powell

I've read Julie and Julia and it's well worth a read, though from what I understand Julia Child was less than thrilled with it.

I'll also second the recommendations for the three Ruth Reichl books - I loved them all.

I liked Julie and Julia but the original blog had more zip. However, that original blog was eons ago in Web time. Now there are so many food blogs that I don't know how anyone ever has time to eat let alone cook! And all of them have beautiful photos as well.

Thanks for all the recommendations! I'll definitely be adding to my TBR pile.

The Omnivore's Dilemma sounds particularly interesting to me.