Books to Bring on a Picnic

The first time I created a list of Picnic Reads, sharing a blanket with friends and family for a day of eating, drinking, fun and frivolity wasn’t that popular.  However, things have changed, and if you're going to hang out with your loved ones, an open space outdoors makes the best sense.

I compiled the first list with books centered around food, summer and vacations in mind. Some of those books, alas, are no longer in our collection—something I consider a tragedy! Five years ago, I could not have conceived of a world in which future generations of library users would be deprived of such esteemed literature as Auralee Wallace’s Skinny Dipping for Murder. 

Rather than rage at this injustice, I've compiled an updated list with some new titles that are, if anything, even more picnic-centric. They will help make your next day under blue, sunny skies with your nearest and dearest more memorable, either by giving you fascinating recommendations or ideas for delicious treats to bring with you. (Or, if you're solo, they're all great reads).

Mixtape Potluck, by Questlove
Questlove, founding member of The Roots and a formidable turntablist, likes dinner parties. Here, he has invited 60 friends to provide recipes inspired by a song of Questlove's suggestion. And his friends know how to cook!

The Picnic: Recipes and Inspiration from Basket to Blanket, by Marnie Handel, Andrea Slonecker and Jen Stevenson
The leaders of the Portland Picnic Society tell you everything you’ll need to know to go on a picnic, except how to outrun a bear.

Picnic at Hanging Rock, by Joan Weigall Lindsay
The tale of a party of college women who go missing after a picnic in the Australian woods. The ambiguous ending has fascinated readers since its publication, as has its mood, which is often (and accurately) described as "haunting" and "erotic".

Blood, Bones, and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef, by Gabrielle Hamilton
It's difficult for me to write about Gabrielle Hamilton's book without thinking of Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, seeing as they were friends who lived similar lives and married Italians. In Hamilton’s memoir, we learn more about her early life, particularly her imposing French mother. The chef and founder of the acclaimed Manhattan restaurant Prune, Hamilton is also a gifted writer (she has an MFA) and so has the ingredients for a good memoir: an interesting life story and the ability to tell it well. Highly recommended.

Yes, Chef, by Marcus Samuelsson
In this New York Times bestselling memoir by the chef behind Harlem's acclaimed Red Rooster restaurant, Samuelsson, a native Ethiopian, writes of losing his mother and sister at a very early age, his adoption by a Swedish family, and the events which subsequently led him to a life preparing food for celebrities, Presidents, city employees, and pretty much anyone else you could name in Europe and America.

The Summer that Melted Everything, by Tiffany McDaniel
During a brutal heat wave, a 13-year-old boy with an intense stare shows up in an Appalachian town claiming to be the devil. After strange incidents begin to occur, the townsfolk start to take him at his word. Chosen both for the author's skill in creating a mood of smoldering menace and for the (possible—no spoilers!) guest appearance of some Underwood deviled ham, a perennial picnic favorite. 

Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of A Critic in Disguise, by Ruth Reichl
When Ruth Reichl was offered the job of Restaurant Critic for The New York Times, she knew she wanted to remain as anonymous as possible, and she went to considerable (at times considerably amusing) lengths to do it. An entertaining, thought-provoking book. 

To see the full, previous Picnic Reads list, visit us online.