Ask a Bookseller: ‘Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees’ by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now. Rima Parikh of The Thinking Spot in Wayzata, Minn., recommends a book of short and sweet (and savory!) essays, perfect for gifting your favorite foodie. It’s called “Bite by Bite:  Nourishments and Jamborees” by poet and essayist Aimee Nezhukumatathil, whose previous book “World of Wonders” was a New York Times bestseller. Perhaps better than anything else, food can transport us back in time and evoke memories. Each of these nourishing personal essays focuses on a different food, drawing the reader in through stories and humor while weaving in facts about the foods and their history. Many passages focus on fruits, but she also throws in various savories, from potatoes to waffles.  Rima says: Along with her, we kind of get to travel the world. The fruits are from Greece and French Polynesia and India. And there are so many in there that I hadn’t even heard of. For example, there’s an apple banana, like a banana that tastes like apple. [The book] is great for this time of year, when our attention span is so short and there's too many things going on! You can take one essay at a time. In fact, I’d recommend it. You take one at a time, as if you were savoring the fruit and let any memories that come to you wash over you as you are reading it.— Rima Parikh