The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai (audiobook)

 Pages: 201 

 Narrator: Hanako Footman 

 Publisher: Mantle 

 Released: 5th of October 2023 

The Kamogawa Food Detectives, translated from Japanese by Jesse Kirkwood, is the first book in the bestselling, mouth-watering Japanese sleuthing series for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold.

What’s the one dish you’d do anything to taste just one more time?

Down a quiet backstreet in Kyoto exists a very special restaurant. Run by Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare, the Kamogawa Diner treats its customers to wonderfully extravagant meals. But that's not the main reason to stop by . . .

The father-daughter duo have started advertising their services as 'food detectives'. Through ingenious investigations, they are capable of recreating a dish from their customers' pasts – dishes that may well hold the keys to forgotten memories and future happiness.

From the widower looking for a specific noodle dish that his wife used to cook, to a first love's beef stew, the restaurant of lost recipes provides a link to the past – and a way to a more contented future.

A bestseller in Japan, The Kamogawa Food Detectives is a celebration of good company and the power of a delicious meal.

What I Have to Say 

This book was exactly what I wanted. Cosy Japanese fiction (featuring a cat) with heart-warming stories about food. It was short story format and I think was possibly serialised in a magazine judging from the style of it, so it was a little repetitive in places, but that didn't take away from it at all. 

There is a lot of delicious sounding food in this book so it's definitely not one to read when hungry! It had me drooling over descriptions of food that I wouldn't actually eat, it was so nicely described. The food detective part was interesting and well done, so it really felt like reading an actual detective story at times! 

The main theme of this story though is family. It shows the tight family of the father and daughter doing the detectiving and also highlights family in some of the customer's story. 

I took away from this book, warmth and cheerfulness and it was an absolute joy to listen to. 

 5 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Mantle for providing me with this gifted copy for review. 

Big Bones by Laura Dockrill

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 400

Publisher: Hot Key Books 

Released: 8th of March 2018

It's a food diary. I have to tell the truth. That's the point.

Bluebelle, aka BB, aka Big Bones - is a sixteen-year-old girl encouraged to tackle her weight even though she's perfectly happy, thank you, and getting on with her life and in love with food. 

Then a tragedy in the family forces BB to find a new relationship with her body and herself. . .

Tuck in for best mates, belly laughs, boys and the best Bakewell tart.

What I Have to Do

This book was brilliant. It was essentially a young girl exploring her relationship with food. It wasn't about comfort eating or junk food or any of the other things that a lot of people associate with fat girls. It was about a true foodie who wasn't ashamed of enjoying eating. The way she described food was beautiful and perfect and really summed up her character for me more than anything. As a bit of a foodie myself, I loved reading her thoughts on food. 

And while this book is unashamedly pro-food, it also didn't shy away from the fact that being overweight is unhealthy. Although BB took a while to be convinced that her weight was a bad thing, it managed to balance the issues of weight and liking your body without glorifying the problem. There were no fad diets or extremes either way, it truly was just an exploration of how much we eat and exercise and finding a healthy balance. It makes a very good point that our culture makes it seem like exercise is uncool, while secretly most people are doing it behind closed doors. 

This book truly touched me. BB is such a likeable character and it was fun to explore the issues through her eyes. The book devastated me with the downs and made me laugh and smile with it's ups as well as leaving me with just so much to think about. 

My thanks go to Hot Key Books and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review.

Where the Wild Cherries Go by Laura Madeleine

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 368

Publisher:  Transworld 

Released: 23nd of March 2017 

I closed my eyes as I tried to pick apart every flavour, because nothing had ever tasted so good before.It was love and it could not be hidden.

It is 1919 and the end of the war has not brought peace for Emeline Vane. Lost in grief, she is suddenly alone at the heart of a depleted family. She can no longer cope. And just as everything seems to be slipping beyond her control, in a moment of desperation, she boards a train and runs away.

Fifty years later, a young solicitor on his first case finds Emeline’s diary. Bill Perch is eager to prove himself but what he finds in the tattered pages of neat script goes against everything he has been told. He begins to trace a story of love and betrayal that will send him on a journey to discover the truth. What really happened to Emeline all those years ago?

What I Have to Say 

This book is many things. At it's heart is a mystery. It's about what happened to Emeline and how Bill will go about tracking her down. It's about whether Bill will choose to do what is right and search for a long missing woman, or file the correct paperwork and move on with his life. But at it's heart, it's about identity. It's about Bill and Emeline finding who they are meant to be. 

Emeline's life has been completely shattered by the war and by the influenza that came after it. She has nothing left to hold on to. This story more than anything is about whether she'll ever be able to get away from the past and that was the mystery that kept me reading until the very last page. It wasn't about anything other than will Emeline ever find peace. 

The description is the best part of the book. The passages of wreckage and abandonment of the house where Emeline once lived and the ones of beauty and culture that form her new life. The food and people that she finds at the edge of France are so vividly described. 

This book is not for the hungry as there are many very detailed descriptions of food and cooking. I found it amazing that I was able to identify spices such as paprika from just a description of the tastes. 

A beautiful book that evokes every sense and falling deep into the narrative. 

My thanks go to Penguin Random House for providing me with this copy for review.