My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life

Reichl (Sapphires and Garlic) delivers another satisfying memoir. Covering the year after the abrupt and unexpected shuttering of Gourmet magazine, where she was editor in chief, Reichl's book reveals how she did exactly what she has always encouraged her followers to do: head back into the kitchen for comfort. There, she found joy, solace, inspiration, and strength. While the bulk of the book is composed of recipes, each one is introduced and given background: how she stumbled upon an ingredient; what drove her to create it; what memory triggered the desire for this dish. With the combination of Reichl's warm, intimate narration and her conversational writing style, this book is like a chat over coffee with a friend, and the recipes tend more toward general guidelines than directives. The moral throughout is that food provides solace, so one should embrace it, even if it means having ice cream for dinner. The only drawback is not getting the recipes themselves; a PDF containing a recipe index and shopping list is included, but listeners will have to go back and write down the instructions.