My Year of Meats

By Ruth Ozeki,

Book cover of My Year of Meats

Book description

*PRE-ORDER RUTH OZEKI'S NEW NOVEL, THE BOOK OF FORM AND EMPTINESS, TODAY*

In a single eye-opening year, two women, worlds apart, experience parallel awakenings.

In New York, Jane Takagi-Little has landed a job producing Japanese docu-soap My American Wife! But as she researches the consumption of meat in the American…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

2 authors picked My Year of Meats as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

While I enjoyed this book while I was reading it, it was only after I’d digested it (pun intended) that I really came to appreciate its value. I think one of the real measures of an artwork is how much it sits with you in the months and years after the initial read/watch/listen, and this is one I think about often. The story follows a documentarian attempting to serve the corporate hierarchy and produce an asinine show about American wives and the meat-filled dinners they serve their husbands, but the novel gradually unfolds as a complex critique of misogyny, corporate…

I owe a huge debt to Ozeki–in particular to her first two novels. They are both so ahead of their time. This book’s playful, curious, hilarious take on contemporary food culture is something that’s stuck with me for decades. The send-up of reality TV and nonfiction media is another thing that informed my work. As great as it’s been to watch all the success of Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being, I remain a loyal fan of My Year of Meats and All Over Creation. If you liked my book, you should run right out and…

From Tyler's list on the science of food.

I Meant to Tell You

By Fran Hawthorne,

Book cover of I Meant to Tell You

Fran Hawthorne Author Of I Meant to Tell You

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Museum guide Foreign language student Runner Community activist Former health-care journalist

Fran's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

When Miranda’s fiancé, Russ, is being vetted for his dream job in the U.S. attorney’s office, the couple joke that Miranda’s parents’ history as antiwar activists in the Sixties might jeopardize Russ’s security clearance. In fact, the real threat emerges when Russ’s future employer discovers that Miranda was arrested for felony kidnapping seven years earlier—an arrest she’d never bothered to tell Russ about.

Miranda tries to explain that she was only helping her best friend, in the midst of a nasty custody battle, take her daughter to visit her parents in Israel. As Miranda struggles to prove that she’s not a criminal, she stumbles into other secrets that will challenge what she thought she knew about her own family, her friend, Russ—and herself.

I Meant to Tell You

By Fran Hawthorne,

What is this book about?

When Miranda’s fiancé, Russ, is being vetted for his dream job in the U.S. attorney’s office, the couple joke that Miranda’s parents’ history as antiwar activists in the Sixties might jeopardize Russ’s security clearance. In fact, the real threat emerges when Russ’s future employer discovers that Miranda was arrested for felony kidnapping seven years earlier—an arrest she’d never bothered to tell Russ about.

Miranda tries to explain that she was only helping her best friend, in the midst of a nasty custody battle, take her daughter to visit her parents in Israel. As Miranda struggles to prove that she’s not…


Want books like My Year of Meats?

Our community of 10,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like My Year of Meats.

Browse books like My Year of Meats

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Tokyo, homemaker, and Japan?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about Tokyo, homemaker, and Japan.

Tokyo Explore 87 books about Tokyo
Homemaker Explore 11 books about homemaker
Japan Explore 477 books about Japan