For the 2024 Bread & Butter dining special, Little Village asked bookstores located around central and eastern Iowa about their favorite food-related titles. They responded with cookbooks, memoirs, nonfiction and fiction recommendations —and in some cases, a paragraph or two explaining their choices — including books from Iowa authors and/or focused on Iowa culinary history.
Browse the list below, and if a book sounds good enough to buy, you know where to look for it first: your local indie bookstore.
Recommended by…
The Little Book, Des Moines
Noodles, Rice, and Everything Spice: A Thai Comic Book Cookbook by Christina De Witte and Mallika Kauppinen
A unique take on the traditional “cookbook,” Noodles, Rice, and Everything Spice uses a graphic novel layout combined with food photography to perfectly guide newbies and skilled culinary professionals alike through the joys of Thai cooking techniques and recipes. You can find delectable one-plate meals, or spreads sure to delight an entire gathering.
Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks by Crystal Wilkinson
Part cookbook, part genealogical journal, part memoir and part speculative fiction, Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts is guaranteed to be nothing like any other cookbook you’ve got on your shelves. Author Crystal Wilkinson delights in tracing her family history through five generations of Black women who settled in Appalachia. She lovingly calls them her “Kitchen Ghosts,” these mothers who came before. Through recipes passed down both physically and by word of mouth, Wilkinson shares the stories of the land that provided for generations of her family, and the untold heritage of Black Appalachia. Nearly 40 mouth-watering recipes are in this rich book, full of family lore, stunning historical photographs, kitchen secrets and, of course, ghosts of the past.
Seoul Food by Erin Danielle Russell (an Iowa author!), art by Tamisha Anthony
Young Hana is smitten with both sets of her grandparents — her Grandma and Grandpa Williams who reside in the Deep American South, and her Halmoni and Harabeoj who live in Seoul. When all four of them are set to visit Hana all at the same time, she frets over the decision of what scrumptious recipe to prepare ahead of their arrival. Should she make a pot of savory gumbo in honor of her Southern family, or a sweet and spicy stew in the Korean style she so loves? With the encouragement of her loving family, Hana creates a fusion dish that is sure to delight and honor both sides of her family. The art in this book is absolutely beautiful, with warm illustrations that exude the comfort and warmth of family and great food.
—Bethany Fast
Beaverdale Books, Des Moines
Ox Yoke Inn: Our Recipes, Our Story by Emily Hoppe
A beautiful book about an Amana restaurant that’s been a community staple for more than 80 years. Simple farm cooking served family style has pulled in diners from all over, and the recipes are a big reason why. This book is new and selling well, a testament to the interest in this iconic restaurant.
Everyday French Cooking by Wini Moranville
Wini lived in France for two decades before settling here in Des Moines and she’s one of my favorite local authors. Her stories are always interesting and charming and I love the recipes she’s built, mixing simple cooking with French indulgence. I recommend this one to customers all the time.
Baking Blue Ribbons by Key Fenton Smith and Carol McGarvey
A book that mixes Iowa State fair history with award-winning recipes and a ton of gorgeous pictures. I love the little vignettes and historical notes almost as much as the food.
—Julie Goodrich
Dog-Eared Books, Ames
The Secret Life of Groceries by Benjamin Lorr
One of our managers, Amy Zmolek, ADORES this book. She says of it: “Author Lorr spent five years thoroughly investigating the grocery industry. The result was eye-opening. It turns out our food supply chain has fostered extensive human suffering. I most definitely will not see a grocery store the same way again.”
My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki
This is one of Bailey Sterk’s absolute favorite titles, and she used it as part of her Master’s thesis. Here is was Bailey says of it: “This book is smart, hilarious and biting. My Year of Meats follows two women. Jane Takagi-Little is a broke aspiring director and documentarian who takes a job creating My American Wife! a show funded by BEEF-EX to sell American meat to Japanese housewives using the American wives that are ‘ample, robust, and easy to digest,’ like the meat they peddle. On the other side of the world, Akiko Ueno is the wife of a BEEF-EX executive and is made to watch the show and recreate the dishes as she frays under the demands and isolation of being a housewife. The blend of formats — snippets of ancient poetry, emails and faxes, and program scripts — make this novel so fun and so immersive.”
Madame Fromage’s Adventures in Cheese by Tenaya Darlington
This is an adorable cookbook with lovely illustrations that covers all things cheese — the history, how it’s made, different pairings, etc. We love this not only because it’s a beautiful physical object and for its drool-worthy world of cheese, but also because Tenaya has roots in Ames! We also love her boozy books, including Booze and Vinyl, and Booze and Vinyl 2.
—Mariah McGuire
Storyhouse Bookpub, Des Moines
The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson
Cook Like Your Ancestors by Mariah-Rise Mare
Start Here by Sohla El-Waylly
The Weekday Vegetarians by Jenny Rosenstrach
Pageturners Bookstore, Indianola
Love is My Favorite Flavor by Wini Moranville
Little Women Cookbook by Wini Moranville
Fresh Midwest: Modern Recipes from the Heartland by Maren Ellingboe King
Next Page Books, Cedar Rapids
Big Heart Little Stove by Erin French
The Farm Table by Julius Roberts
Rhett & Link Present: The Mythical Cookbook by Josh Scherer
Swamp Fox Bookstore, Marion
Iowa Supper Clubs by Megan Bannister
From Little Village’s review: One never knows when the inspiration for an unforgettable road trip might happen. But you will most likely experience many of those unignorable “let’s go right now” moments while you read Iowa Supper Clubs, released in August 2020 from The History Press. Megan Bannister adds the historical flavor to these iconic Midwest restaurants with her debut book — and the mighty portion of nostalgia that’s served up from these classic dining concepts are very much the featured special page after page.
How to Taste: A Guide to Discovering Flavor and Savoring Life by Mandy Naglich (originally from Iowa)
Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J Ryan Stradal
Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry by Austin Frerick
Girly Drinks: A World History of Women and Alcohol by Mallory O’Meara
HEA Book Boutique, Marion
Happily Ever After Cookbook by Skye Warren
Recipes from your favorite indie romance novels
When In Rome by Sarah Adams
Pop star runs away to Rome, Kentucky and falls for a baker
Poker Face by Maggie Gates
Pastry chef falls for a food critic — who is also her boss
Love and Other Disasters by Anita Kelly
Two contestants on a reality cooking show fall in love
The Haunted Bookshop, Iowa City
A Cook’s Journey: Slow Food in the Heartland by Kurt Michael Friese
Food Roots: A Local Foods Community Cookbook, photos by Laura Dowd
River Lights Bookstore, Dubuque
Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry by Austin Frerick
From Little Village’s review: Austin Frerick’s captivating and necessary book Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry (March 2024, Island Press), is a road trip through America’s heartland — but not the one depicted in Grant Wood’s paintings of rural Iowa. Where Wood depicted an early 20th century lush with rolling fields of green, Frerick’s contemporary America details manure lagoons, algae-bloomed lakes and windowless buildings overflowing with cattle.
Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell
Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal
This article was originally published in Little Village’s 2024 Bread & Butter special issue.