When you make a purchase using links on our site, The Week may earn a commission. All reviews are written independently by our editorial team.
Rowan Jacobsen is the James Beard Award-winning author of "A Geography of Oysters" and "Truffle Hound." His new book, "Wild Chocolate," tells the stories of the farmers, activists, and chocolatiers laboring to bring ancient cacao back from near extinction.
'Totem Salmon' by Freeman House (1999)
A lot of good books have been written about salmon, but none compares with "Totem Salmon," House's masterpiece about the efforts of his Northern California community to restore king salmon to their watershed. "Ecosystem absences can become a palpable presence," he writes, "a weird stillness moving against the winds of existence." House never wrote a second complete book. He didn't need to. Buy it here.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
'The Botany of Desire' by Michael Pollan (2001)
Pollan's breakthrough book, and still his best, this "plant's-eye view" asks not what apples, tulips, marijuana, and the potato can do for us, but what we have done for them. A delightfully original perspective that has changed the way I see the world on a daily basis. Buy it here.
'On Food and Cooking' by Harold McGee (2004 edition)
The one reference book on this list, and a must for every bookshelf. McGee's nerdy dive helped us all to understand the deep structure underlying gastronomy. Suddenly, it all made sense. Buy it here.
'The Dirty Life' by Kristin Kimball (2010)
Kristin Kimball was a Manhattan journalist when she did a story on a young farmer with some radical ideas. Reader, she married him. Soon, the two of them were launching a wildly experimental community-supported agriculture program in upstate New York that set a new standard for how much food, community, and chaos you can create out of one patch of dirt. Buy it here.
'Agave Spirits' by David Suro Pinera and Gary Paul Nabhan (2023)
Agave is the succulent that gives us mezcal and tequila. It's also a linchpin of desert ecosystems, a touchstone of Mexican culture, and friggin' delicious when made using ancestral methods. This book will have you savoring every sip. Buy it here.
'The Salt Stones' by Helen Whybrow (2025)
In achingly poetic prose, this forthcoming chronicle of life on a Vermont hill farm captures the familial responsibilities of the shepherd — for animals, parents, children, wild things, and the land upon which we walk for such a brief time. Buy it here.
This article was first published in the latest issue of The Week magazine. If you want to read more like it, you can try six risk-free issues of the magazine here.
-
The 5 best political thriller series of the 21st centuryThe Week Recommends Viewers can binge on most anything, including espionage and the formation of parliamentary coalitions
-
Sudan stands on the brink of another national schismThe Explainer With tens of thousands dead and millions displaced, one of Africa’s most severe outbreaks of sectarian violence is poised to take a dramatic turn for the worse
-
‘Not every social scourge is an act of war’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
6 trailside homes for hikersFeature Featuring a roof deck with skyline views in California and a home with access to private trails in Montana
-
Lazarus: Harlan Coben’s ‘embarrassingly compelling’ thrillerThe Week Recommends Bill Nighy and Sam Claflin play father-and-son psychiatrists in this ‘precision-engineered’ crime drama
-
The Rose Field: a ‘nail-biting’ end to The Book of Dust seriesThe Week Recommends Philip Pullman’s superb new novel brings the trilogy to a ‘fitting’ conclusion
-
Nigerian Modernism: an ‘entrancing, enlightening exhibition’The Week Recommends Tate Modern’s ‘revelatory’ show includes 250 works examining Nigerian art pre- and post independence
-
The Mastermind: Josh O’Connor stars in unconventional art heist movieThe Week Recommends Kelly Reichardt cements her status as the ‘queen of slow cinema’ with her latest film
-
Critics’ choice: Watering holes for gourmandsFeature An endless selection of Mexican spirits, a Dublin-inspired bar, and an upscale Baltimore pub
-
Film reviews: Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Frankenstein, and Blue MoonFeature A rock star on the rise turns inward, a stressed mother begins to unravel, and more
-
Beth Macy’s 6 favorite books about living in a divided nationFeature The journalist recommends works by Nicholas Buccola, Matthew Desmond, and more
