My Own Reading Rainbow

These are some books I will be purchasing within the next 2 months. They are going to go on my 100 Books To Read This Year list, too. I have heard good reviews on some of these books after researching them and seeing them recommended by various people in the food industry, so I'm excited about reading them.

If you are inspired, go and check out these books too:

1. The Curious Cook: More Kitchen & Science Lore by Harold McGee
2. On Food & Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee
3. Mastering the Art of French Cooking (2 Volume Box Set) by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck
4. The Oxford Companion to Food and the Oxford Companion to Wine (2-Volume Set) by Alan Davidson
5. Washoku: Recipes from the Japanese Home Kitchen by Elizabeth Andoh
   
6. The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World's Most Glorious and Perplexing City by David Lebovitz
7. The Patisseries of Paris: Chocolatiers, Tea Salons, Ice Cream Parlors, and more by Jamie Cahill
8. The Professional Pastry Chef: Fundamentals of Baking and Pastry (4th Edition) by Bo Friberg
9. On Rue Tatin: Living and Cooking in a French Town by Susan Hermann Loomis
   

Inside Info: OK, so there's a French theme going on here. What can I say? I am fascinated by France, and particularly Paris. It's one of the places that I've always wanted to visit some day and I'll go further in saying that, in the future, I'd love to live there for awhile. I am seriously thinking about. First, I'd like to live in Canada for a bit and in the meantime (if the cards are played right, I might get to do this starting late this year), I'd like to make plans for Paris as the next step. Overall, I hear it's got an amazing food culture. It's also the place for pastry and dessert aficionados, and I am very interested in gaining some food knowledge, exploration, and experience in that city, among many others.

I have a long intermittent history with learning French and I've always had a burning desire to become a polyglot (hyper-polyglot if I truly want to put the challenge and pressure on). The best way to learn a language or to push basic or intermediate knowledge of one into full motion is through immersion. Another one of my goals for this year is to get back into my French language studies and take the process seriously, so that by the time my plan to live in France becomes a reality, I'll be reasonably groomed for it, at least in this regard. :D

 OK, leaning back out now and away from your ear.

Chit-Chat: Just got a thought for something called "Ear Whisper Therapy". When someone whispers very lightly in my ear, I find the sensation created so utterly soothing that I feel the need to fall asleep in total relaxation and tingly mind feelings. Wouldn't this be nice if this odd therapy was offered in alternative spas? I'd certainly try it. I'd pay for 20 minutes of it. The spa would just have to make sure that the person doing the whispering had a pleasant voice, clean breath, good hygiene, and uh...lots of patience. Maybe if they read from books or cited random passages, it would help with the enduring task.

Let's continue with a few more books, shall we?

10. Any books from the Best Food Writing series by Holly Hughes
11. Chocolate: History, Culture, and Heritage by Louis E. Grivetti et al.
12. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan
13. The Great Book of Chocolate by David Lebovitz
14. Chop Suey : A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States by Andrew Coe
15. Spice: The History of a Temptation by Jack Turner
    
16. BakeWise by Shirley O. Corriher
17. CookWise by Shirley O. Corriher

So, as you can see, I'll have lots to read by starting off with this list. *Yay*