This is the second book of essays and poems I've read by Aimee Nezhukumatathil: this time it is centered around various foods, their origins, usage and qualities. It is also a memoir with many personal stories about her and her family's experiences with different foods, their family meal traditions, etc. All in all, it is a charming read with lovely illustrations and would make a very special gift for a dear mother or friend.

Many thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an arc of this book via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

A celebration of the joy food can bring to life, with each essay on a different type of food. Great for those who enjoyed Ross Gay’s Book of Delights.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I typically reserve reading foodie memoirs for the summer, but I couldn’t resist Bite by Bite. Aimee Nezhukumatathil shares many of her favorite foods and the memories they evoke from her life’s journey. Each chapter of this collection is dedicated to one precious food - from mangoes to mangosteens, maple syrup to halo-halo. The author entwines the history of foods and culinary delights with her thoughtful reflections on life as a woman of color, family life, celebration, culture and society. Readers will also get a taste of Nezhukumatathil‘s poetry.


Bite by Bite left me craving juicy cherries, sticky maple candies and plates of aromatic chicken adobo with a side of crispy lumpia. If you’re a foodie, or would simply enjoy a thoughtful memoir that’s not trauma centered, pick up a copy of Bite by Bite.

Many thanks to the author @Amiee_Nezhukumatahil, @EccoBooks and @NetGalley for the pleasure of reading this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this book of short essays. It was a wonderful celebration of the simple pleasures of life. It’s wonderful food writing, heartwarming and I didn’t want it to end. Will highly recommend this to all my food-loving friends.

"Bite by Bite" is such a celebration of the simple pleasures in life. In this short and uniquely structured book, author and poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil shares her pure love for all things edible and her personal connection to different foods and ingredients over the course of her life.

Each chapter centers on a singular food item or dish, from the humble potato to the more exotic mangosteen and jackfruit, and also includes creations like halo halo and lumpia - foods that were prominent in Nezhukumatathil's life growing up with a Filipino mother and an Indian father. I was fascinated by the sheer amount of historical background included, details on the entomology, and even a healthy sprinkle of mythology and folklore as well. The focus, however, is placed on the personal connection to each ingredient or creation, and I loved how the author brought us to the dinner tables of her childhood, the trips to India to visit her extended family, the bittersweet moments of watching her children grow older, and her own journey as a writer in New York. While some of the memories are specific, I could easily to connect to those moments; who hasn't been embarrassed as a child of bringing a "strange" food to school in fear of being teased? Or missed a specific dish that a parent made for us growing up that we still fail to recreate on our own, despite numerous attempts? Or connected with friends and loved ones over shared meals and foods?

This book was such a joy to read, and should be savored passage by passage. So excited for others to read when "Bite by Bite" is published April 30th!

Thank you Ecco and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available April 30th 2024.

Bite by Bite is a gastronomic delight, exploring personal, political, and social history by excavating the author's food choices. I've long loved Aimee Nezhukumatathil's wonderful prose - World of Wonders is one of my favorites of all time! Bite by Bite is no different, only the focus this time is food. I loved every delicous turn in this book, the way we could zoom in and out of the discussion at hand while still being carefully led to our final destination. There is so much grace, love and tenderness here, so much earnest joy and gratitude that I, as the reader, walk away feeling lighter, happier, and ready to engage with the world.

This is an example of Ranganathan’s law (librarians will know) - every book its reader. Alas, this book was not for this reader. I attempted to finish several times and could not connect with the author’s narrative. Usually when this happens, my head is in a weird place because truly there’s nothing wrong with this book. It will appeal to fans of food writing, memoirs, and gentle autobiographies. I feel like I will need to pick this one up in hardcover and try it again.

This is a gorgeous book, which is completely unsurprising coming from Nezhukumatathil. The prose is lush and poignant, and each chapter is like a little, near-perfect gem. It's a book that's meant to be savored.

Each essay in this collection is a bite-sized bit of loveliness. Nezhukumatathil is just a few years older than me, with two boys just ahead of mine, and her musings on family and food and memory as her children are on the cusp of college hit me at just the right time.

This book would make an excellent gift.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy. Just a few essays in, I knew I'd be buying a hardcopy to keep by my reading chair and slowly savor, an essay at a time.

I adored Aimee Nezhukumatathil's WORLD OF WONDERS, so when I heard she was writing a similar collection inspired by food, I had to get my hands on it immediately! This book is gorgeous in both prose and illustrations, with moving reflections on how what we eat shapes us and our memories. A must-read for lovers of food-centric memoirs, and a perfect gift for the foodie in your life!

I GOSH DANG LOVE a book about food, that's a collection of essays and memories and little bits of knowledge, and this folks, this is how you do it. Scrumptious.

I ate up Bite by Bite (pun intended). Nezhukumatathil's essays varied in structure, some more personal, others more informative, but each one felt fitting to the food they were reflecting. As I was reading, it almost felt like some of them gave the foods their own life-like qualities. I loved the prose but also learned so much about Nezhukumatathil's life and family, but also just about food and how different the way we interact with foods can be not only in various cultures but from household to household and person to person. Highly recommend this one!

Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.