Summer Reading List :: Food Novels

Earlier this year, my mom and I started our own little "book club." Since we don't live in the same state, and since Gilmore Girls ended years ago, we needed a new activity that we could do together even though we were apart. She knows how much I love to cook, and she's working to expand her recipe repertoire, so we picked some great food novels that had recipes intertwined in the stories.

We've worked our way through some great books, so I decided it could be a fun little summer series to share these books with you if you're looking for some good summer reading, in addition to some new recipes!

And with that, I want to share with you the first book in my Summer Food Novel Series, I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti: A memoir of good food and bad boyfriends.



The author, Guilia Melucci, shares story after story about the different loves in her life, and how cooking and food had such a presence in each one. Growing up in a big Italian family, she learned at an early age that food is love.

"If my mother did not impart to me an understanding of how to play games when it comes to love, she at least sent me into the world with a clear knowledge of how to make a simple tomato sauce."

From traditional Italian recipes like Spaghetti Carbonara and Fried Eggplant to more amusing dishes like Pear Cake for Friends with Benefits and Bucatini Amatriciana with MP3 File-Sharing Technology, this book is just a joy to read when you're looking for something light and enjoyable. Also, Guilia goes through some background of Italian cooking, so I definitely learned a thing or two about the basics of making great Italian food.

Hope you enjoy this book as much as I did!