Looking for book recs. Specifically, I really love books that create vivid scenes of home life - memoirs of cooks and eating, light reads that have really detailed descriptions of interpersonal dynamics and evocative scene-setting. Can be set anywhere in the world, but I like the focus to be domestic and familial. Ones I’ve loved recently are David Nichols’ “You Are Here” and Annie Proulx’s “The Shipping News.” Anything you’d recommend? Also open to TV and film recs (think along the lines of “Catastrophe” and “Perfect Days”).

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Liam Duffy · Answer

Flesh & Bone & Water by Luiza Sauma: By far, my favourite read to date. A story of a young Brazilian boy and his early life choices coming back to haunt him in his adulthood. Flipping between his early life in Brazil and his later life in London with a heart aching twist.

Breck · Answer

The Fortnight in September: Very domestic!A gentle and thoughtful story of a family of five taking their annual vacation in a British seaside town. It lovingly depicts all the small details as they eagerly prepare for their trip and the traditions they follow during their trip. I read it for the first time last September and found it so charming. It’s a book I’ll likely read many times again.

Joy Fowlkes · Answer

An Everlasting Meal by Tamar Adler: Less memoir, more meditation on cookery!

AMB · Answer

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi: “for anything to be good, truly good, there must be love in it. I’m not even sure I know fully what that means, but the older I get, the more I believe it. There must be love for the gift itself, love for the subject being depicted or the story being told, and love for the audience. Whether the art is sculpture, farming, teaching, lawmaking, medicine, music, or raising a child, if love is not in it — at the very heart of it — it might be skillful, marketable, or popular but I doubt it is truly good. Nothing is what it’s supposed to be if love is not at the core.”

even*cleveland · Answer

Family Happiness by Laurie Colwin: Polly Solo-Miller Demarest has more than enough— a loving if overworked husband, two charming children, a close (maybe too close) extended family, a fulfilling job, a fabulous apartment, access to a vacation spot. She is meeting expectations. She should be happy. She is happy. And yet ... maybe she wants something more? Colwin is so terrific at rendering humans on the page, WASP-ishly frayed collars and all, that reading this book feels like crashing a great party, and WHAT AN ENDING. I am deeply aggrieved that no female filmmaker of the 1980s or '90s made this into a movie (paging Joan Micklin Silver), because it deserved to become a repeat-watch classic.

Claire · Answer

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: Favorite book of all time. Also a film, but I've never seen it. The book is where it's at! Detailed descriptions of everyday life. Also, the only book that's ever made me tear up. But there's a good dose of happiness as well. My mom gave it to me as a birthday gift when I was 15, and I can't even tell you how many times I've re-read it (in my early 40s now)!

Wynne · Answer

Sandwich: Absolutely loved this book. I think it’s a perfect summer read. Everything I have read my Catherine Newman has been great. It’s funny, emotional and very human.

JaperMoon · Answer

Lies and Sorcery - Elsa Morante