Holy season of good reading (and cooking)

Have you heard about the crop of delicious cookbooks coming out this fall? No? There are a few in this month’s Bon Appetit, but Eater really did it up, selecting a whopping 43 titles, divided into geographic regions. Brilliant. At the top of my list: Dominique Ansel, Prune, Baked, Fat Radish and a new one from Ina Garten – hooray!

The sad reality is I haven't fallen in love with any novels as of late. I just finished The Goldfinch, which came after Delicious!, and Gone Girl. All entertaining, but not as earth shattering as anticipated (damn anticipation). My most exciting books, in fact, have been non-fiction.

Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation – My idol, Michael Pollan’s, treatise to making that final connection of sourcing and eating food through… cooking.

Overwhelmed: Work, Love and Play When No One Has the Time – An essential examination of having a balanced, fulfilling life in America’s always-on, 50-plus-workhours-a-week culture by Washington Post journalist Brigid Schulte. Love.

Otherhood: Modern Women Finding a New Kind of Happiness – I thought this was going to be more empowering, an ode to women who have created really cool, fulfilling lives that don’t include having babies, but it’s more of a lament. Still, Melanie Notkin’s book makes for fascinating reading, diving into everything from the contemporary New York dating scene (god help us) to the new generation of women who are freezing eggs (planning for it in their 20s, no less).

Delancey: A Man, A Woman, A Restaurant, A Marriage – A foodoir about Molly Wizenberg and her husband opening their first restaurant together.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t StopTalking – Susan Cain’s thoroughly cool look at being an introvert in relationships, the workplace and life.

The Examined Life: How We Lose and Find Ourselves – Beautiful, moving, compelling – it’s a simple book about life’s big themes by psychoanalyst Stephen Grosz. I read it twice in a row.

And speaking of books, we have a winner of the Gag giveaway! There were 20 wonderful, thoughtful responses to Melissa’s question: What activity is the most transporting for you and/or makes you lose track of time?

But we liked this lush, sensory (not to mention humble) response from Diane:

Oil painting is the most transporting for me. Smelling the paint, mixing the colors, and applying the paint on the canvas. After finishing, wondering, did I just create this wonderful painting?

Congrats, Diane! For anyone who missed the giveaway, you'll definitely want to check out this incredible novella and read about her Seymour Projects.

And happy reading and cooking to all!