London Libraries Recommend...An Appetite for Reading is a selection of around 50 titles chosen and reviewed by the capital's librarians. The recommendations deliberately avoid pure recipe books but amongst the stories and memoirs you will find some ideas to get you cooking too.
On this page you'll find the perfect ingredients for a great novel: sizzling stories inspired by food and drink including contemporary and historical settings.
The selections includes books which are available in accessible formats on revealweb (i.e. large print, talking books or Braille) and these are indicated with 
Check out more Appetite for Reading titles:
non-fictionTo find the book in your local library click on the ISBN below and for a printable version of the full list click here»
ISBN: 1843541890
Marc Basset has a reputation as a pitiless restaurant critic, sending one poor chef to an early grave through his harsh criticism. Guilt gets the better of him and he apologises! He then goes onto be the chief Apologist for the United Nations. This is not a role that you can imagine a food critic would find very inviting but it does give him wealth , fame and access to a lot of chocolate !!!
-- BrentCountry of origin: United States
The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs - Irvine Welsh
ISBN: 022407587X
Not an easy author to get on with but this novel touches on some of the great obsessions of our times: food, sex and minor celebrities. At its centre is a weird 'boy thing' rivalry between a hard-drinking womaniser and a model railway enthusiast. Very edgy as well as off the wall as you might expect with Irvine Welsh. As Delia Smith might say "C'mon readers - let's be 'aving yer' - particularly recommended to mustard eaters.
Country of origin: other
ISBN: 0552998001
This is the second book in Joanne Harris's food trilogy. The story weaves magic and wine together with life in a small community, and the reader is taken back to the village of Lansquenet, the setting of her previous book, Chocolat.
Country of origin: France
ISBN: 0752844776
Trophy wife Wyn leaves behind her old life and the husband who no longer loves her. She moves to Seattle, gets a job on a night shift baking bread and gradually makes a new life for herself. The author shares recipes and breadmaking tips - mouthwatering!
-- Harrow
Facing divorce and nursing a broken heart, Wynter leaves her comfortable Californian home to join her best friend in Seattle. A job in the local bakery seems ideal – but can she win over the resident baker, Linda? Will her husband, David, come to his senses – and what about Mac, the enigmatic bartender? This enjoyable romantic novel may be conventional in plot and characterisation – but the Seattle setting is enticing and the descriptions of different types of bread (including the recipes) are mouthwatering. A novel to read in one sitting and guaranteed to put a smile on the face
-- WandsworthCountry of origin: United States
ISBN: 0007145896
This is a collection of short stories by popular novelist Philippa Gregory.
Country of origin: other
