Jonathan Reynolds -- Wrestling With Gravy: A Life, With Food

Wrestling With Gravy deftly mixes interesting narratives about food with delicious-sounding recipes. This combo makes the unique, original culinary memoir seem like a Choose Your Own Adventure book; you can either keep reading the next chapter, or take a break and cook up some "Better Than '56 Fontainebleau Lobster" or "Cheese Grits with Garlic." A food columnist for The New York Times Magazine for five years, you get the sense that Reynolds is an authority on good food, that he has the ability to describe accurately the intricate relationship between major life experiences and lunch, and that he has the decisiveness to only supply you with recipes that, once mastered, will make your kitchen a dining "must" on the family holiday tour circuit. While describing teenage angst, wooing women and failed attempts at cooking (it's good to know the pros have their bad days, too), Reynolds keeps his boyish sense of humor and witty, sometimes poignant authorial voice. Those who prefer cooking frozen meals in the microwave might find the book a bit too technical -- early on he talks about the perfect way to cook a Thanksgiving turkey -- and some might find themselves skipping over a few paragraphs here and there. But the overall description of Reynolds' life experiences, always intertwined with food, makes for a delightful read, especially around the food-stuffed holidays. Wrestling with Gravy is a good one to bring on long drives to grandma's house or for after-Christmas dinner when everyone else is watching A Christmas Story on TV. (Christine Mersch) Grade: A-