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
JANUARY 2023 BOOK OF THE MONTH
A cookbook by a celebrity with a flare for the hilarious? What could this possibly have to do with “Slow Food” ideals, you ask? Look no further than Amy’s introduction letter to the reader “Dear [your name here], Whether you live in a basement with the income of a ten-year-old girl or on a saffron farm in the south of Spain, the spirit of hospitality is the same. It’s the giving of yourself, a present of you to them from me for us.” To me, this speaks directly to Slow Food’s ability to meet people where they are and connect them over the community of food. Whether you ate frozen pizza for dinner last night or made a from-scratch sourdough crust and sauce with tomatoes you grew yourself, if you care about the enjoyment and pleasure connected to your meals, you are engaging in eating and living “slow.” Plus, “this book is full of real information” — something we could always use more of, not to mention, more laughs along the way.
— Katie
JANUARY 2023 YOUTH BOOK OF THE MONTH
Kyo Maclear is one of my personal favorite authors. I learned about her first through her adult writing with her memoir Birds Art Life: A Year of Observation. Since reading it, I decided to pick up some of her children’s books and couldn’t resist Julia, Child. This imaginative picture book envisions what a little girl, named Julia and her friend, Simca cook up together. This wink at the culinary world’s queen of hospitality, Julia Child, isn’t about the icon at all, but remains a reminder for all ages, that everything is better when shared with friends (and an extra pat of butter never hurt either).
— Katie
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 2021, Slow Books selected Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass as its network-wide read-along for the year. They created a Discussion Guide and revised their Virtual Book Club Toolkit. Watch a video recording of a session where the Slow Books team offered tips on how to host a chapter-wide book club focused on the book.
Suggest a Book
The Slow Food Book Curators
Tammy Maitland
Katie Johnson
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.
