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Slow Books

Slow Books is a curated list of books and resources that speak to Slow Food values. We hope to connect readers with food writing that inspires thought and discussion about the food you love, diverse food cultures, historical foodways, food justice and the joy of eating.

SLOW Books recommends

We use bookshop.org to host our booklist because their sales support independent bookstores. Plus, Slow Food USA will receive 10% of the sale of every book sold via our booklist, which will support our efforts to achieve good, clean and fair food for all.

THIS MONTH’S RECOMMENDATIONS

Prepared by Slow Books team member Katie

MAY 2023 BOOK OF THE MONTH

“This book has heft – and not only due to its 900-plus pages. Set in Georgia (the country) on the edge of the Russian Empire in the start of the twentieth century, it tells the tale of a family who prospers against all odds, thanks in no small part to an intoxicating chocolate recipe, passed on generationally only through memory. This internationally bestselling novel was an English Pen Award winner and will pull you in from the start – much in the way people become seemingly hypnotized by this Georgian family’s most treasured heirloom: a chocolate recipe. But be warned, ‘A very small quantity of the ingredients can make any chocolate product a true delight, but in its pure form, in this form, it can bring about calamity.'”

MAY 2023 YOUTH BOOK OF THE MONTH

“For me, the theme of ‘Maybe You Might’ is all about the metaphor of planting a seed. Maybe that translates into physically watching a plant grow, but maybe it also could relate to watching a child delight in all the possibilities before them. Beautifully illustrated with a lyrical cadence – an all around sweet book.”

Hsiao-Ching Chou embraces the intersection of food, storytelling and identity

Seattle-based Hsiao-Ching Chou has explored the intersection of food, storytelling and identity in a number of interconnected contexts: as a food columnist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, a cooking instructor, a PR entrepreneur, and a communications leader for top...

2022 Holiday Book Gift Guide

CURATED BY SLOW FOOD USA'S SLOW BOOKS TEAM Looking for books for the foodies on your list, or for yourself? Here are a small selection of some of our favorites of 2022, plus others we are looking forward to! They include cookbooks, an anthology, memoir, fiction, and a...

Discussion Guides

For the 2022 Network-Wide Read-Along, the Slow Books team chose Grist: A Practical Guide to Cooking Grains, Beans, Seeds, and Legumes by Abra Berens. Here are some additional reading materials to enhance your enjoyment of this epic ode to some of our favorite foods.

 

PUBLISHER’S WEBSITE

AUTHOR’S WEBSITE

PURCHASE THE BOOK FROM BOOKSHOP!

In 2020, Slow Books hosted a virtual discussion group to discuss How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. The Slow Books Curators developed a trio of discussion guides for the book—A Reading & Discussion Guide, A Moderator’s Guide and a Virtual Book Club Toolkit—so you can host your own discussion group! Download all three here.
Suggest a Book

The Slow Food Book Curators

Tammy Maitland

Tammy Maitland

Tammy is a coastal Massachusetts transplant who has been living in the high desert of New Mexico for the past 16 years. She has mainly worked in the field of education, either as a 4th grade teacher, substitute teacher, or environmental educator. In the last few years her love of food has blossomed right along with her growing obsession with books. Tammy has been a board member of Slow Food Albuquerque for about a year. You can find her on Instagram as @quibit_the_cat.
Katie Johnson

Katie Johnson

Katie discovered her local Slow Food chapter in Chicago five years ago while working at a commercial food broker, scratching her head at the gap between the midwest-grown blueberries they sold across the nation and local food markets. She got involved with the Chicago chapter as a blog writer and is now a chapter leader, having taken on many roles over the years, including program manager for the chapter’s food book club. Katie officially added the title of “librarian” to her resume, graduating in May of 2019 with a MSLIS. So it is only fitting that those two worlds collide in establishing Slow Food Books! You can find out more about Katie on her website or instagram @katydid_katiejohnson.
Cedar Schimke

Cedar Schimke

Cedar is a chef, community gardener, farmer, writer, singer, artist. They devour books both fiction and nonfiction that help them imagine emergent worlds. Their favorite ingredients to cook with are chilies, and they love exploring recipes as a way to apprentice themselves to culture, tradition, and place. Cedar’s favorite genre of book is magical realism, especially when written by folks who use storytelling to offer alternatives to the current systems of hierarchy and dominance.

 

Margaret Woodruff

Margaret Woodruff

Margaret Woodruff first learned about Slow Food while researching local foods for library programs at her library in Vermont.  Since that time, she has been part of the Slow Food Vermont board and worked to fold Slow Food initiatives into libraries across the state, including Plant-a-Seed gardens at the Charlotte Library where she serves as director.  Books and food seem like such a natural combination!

To get involved in Slow Food Books as a curator or partner, contact books@slowfoodusa.org