10. Tender At the Bone: Growing Up At the Table (NF2)

by Ruth Reichl (304 pgs)

Rating: 5

Ruth Reichl, in case you don't know, is the restaurant reviewer for the New York Times. This, her first memoir, covers from her childhood through to the 1970s. It's an interesting read partly because her family is so eccentric and partly because of Reichl's conversational tone. I began to feel that she was sitting on the other side of my kitchen table with a mug of coffee and telling me about here bi-polar mother and her misspent teenage years. Her frankness in the telling stops well shy of being embarrassing and is instead a comforting level of confiding.

Tender At the Bone is a very good, very quick read. I suspect that it may appeal slightly more to women then to men, but I think that's more incidental than intentional. The recipes look interesting although there are only a couple I suspect I will try.

Recommended to everyone, but specifically those who love to cook, those who love to eat, and those with crazy families.