Welcome to Litsy!

Whoops! Late to post my (nonfic heavy) #ReadingBracket2025.

Aimee Nezhukumatathil will *always* end up on the board whenever she‘s got a book to enter into the fray.

Titles written below (for those of us who struggle with tiny print):

Jan: The Witching Year by Diana Helmuth
Feb: Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson
Mar: Bite by Bite by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Wild: Giving Up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel 🏆
Wild: Eight Bears by Gloria Dickie

I used to try to read aloud to my pet house rabbit and, though she was my little soul-twin in many ways, she was decidedly uninterested; she preferred a cozy silence.

Bite by Bite will go down in personal memory as the first book I read aloud to my pup. He *loved* it. We started with Nezhukumatathil‘s essay on potatoes. Jett is now my “best spud.” 🥔 He also loved the chapter on maple syrup. As such, I‘m unable to rate this book objectively.

I enjoyed this memoir in essays about an interesting assortment of foods. The author, a poet, has a beautiful way of writing about her family, her career, her marriage, and culture. In some ways the structure reminded me a bit of Kate Lebo‘s first collection of essays, The Book of Difficult Fruit: Arguments for the Tart, Tender, and Unruly (with Recipes).

I adored Nezhukumatathil‘s World of Wonders. This follow up focuses on food instead of the natural world, which is another of my favorite things to think about. There‘s beautiful illustrations at the beginning of each essay about various foods. Each food evokes a memory or association for the author. A perfect blend of food writing, memoir, and history.

Beautiful writing about food and life.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

Finally feels like spring this week! Front porch reading 😊

Prose written by poets must be my absolute favorite genre of literature and Aimee Nezhukumatathil has gifted readers with another stunning essay collection. But then when she pairs a poem with an essay - it absolutely sings. Bite by Bite provides all the nourishment a reader could need.