Food & Travel Books...
...that have inspired me lately.
Sometimes you just need to get away and you can’t jump on a plane. That’s when I reach for a really good book, especially one that is food or travel related; it’s a mental vacation of the best kind. Here are five food and travel books I’ve read lately that were the perfect escape.
Be Ready When the Luck Happens
We all know Ina Garten, A.K.A. The Barefoot Contessa, is an icon in the food world; her cookbooks and cooking shows have done famously well and shaped the landscape of home-cooking. Because of all of this I was intrigued to read her memoir, thinking it would be a lovely little story of her life in the Hamptons. It was far better than I expected.
Garten’s life has taken more twists and turns than I ever imagined, and she speaks very transparently about them in her memoir. I gained a new respect for her as I read about how she built her career from scratch while remaining true to herself and following her nose. However easy her cooking (and life) appears on t.v., this book reveals the odds she overcame to arrive where she is today. Be Ready When the Luck Happens is pleasant and surprising; plus there are a few great recipes sprinkled throughout the book!
I had to toss a fiction book into the mix! This novel by food writer, Ann Mah, is the perfect blend of travel, wine, and historical fiction. Following the main character, you’ll travel from California to France and on a journey back in time to World War II. As the name implies there is a bit of a mystery pertaining to a lost vintage from the winery the story surrounds.
The Lost Vintage is a light read; yet it’s beautifully written and hard to put down! Mah, a professional food and travel writer, has outdone herself with this foray into fiction.
Marlena de Blasi’s vivid account of moving to Tuscany from Venice with her Italian husband swept me away. Her writing paints such an evocative picture of life in their new village that you feel like you’re there with them. When they make new friends, you make new friends. When they go on adventures in the countryside, you go on adventures in the countryside. When tragedy strikes, you’re there for that too.
A Thousand Days in Tuscany is bittersweet, heart-warming, and so very Italian. Read this one when you want to go to Italy and fall in love with the way of life in the Tuscan countryside.
Stanley Tucci’s new book— his memoir part two if you will— is simply lovely. It’s about food and life and culture, following the course of one year of Tucci’s life. Obviously his life differs from most of ours due to his career, but the beauty in this book was the normalcy. His flight was delayed, so what terrible airport food did he eat? His kids won’t eat what he cooks, so he makes something “boring” for them. There are exceptional meals that filled me with envy, sure, but there were so many normal meals and moments in What I Ate in One Year. It was fun to watch these universal truths play out in someone else’s life, making this book very relatable.
What I Ate in One Year reads like Tucci’s journal, and as a life-long snoop I couldn’t get enough. Plus, he travels quite a bit over the course of the year, and as the reader you get to go along with him.
Natural wine journalist, Rachel Signer, tells her story with vulnerability and fascinating insights into the natural wine world. From New York to Georgia (the country) to Paris to Australia and many places in between, Signer embarks on a journey to change her own life and plant herself in a new one that’s filled with love and plenty of natural wine.
I thoroughly enjoyed You Had Me at Pét-Nat, and I couldn’t put it down. Reading this memoir makes you feel more connected to the human experience thanks to Signer’s vulnerability about her experiences facing the types of decisions many of us must face. It’s a must-read for those of you who love natural wine, are facing big decisions about carving out a new life for yourself, or just want to lose yourself in a story that centers around wine and is set in beautiful places.
I hope you enjoy these food and travel escapes, friends. If you read any of them, let me know what you think. Or if you know of a book that feels like a vacation, send those recommendations my way!
I just happened to open your newsletter and found my book in there. Thank you, I'm glad it resonated with you and the sharing is much appreciated!