Summer reading, a genial mishmash:

THE PAT CONROY COOKBOOK, by Pat Conroy. I haven't read any of this author's bestsellers, but I'd heard here and there that he loves both eating and cooking. So I picked this up at the library. Delightful! Anecdotes about food, growing up, and Conroy's path to superstar writerdom. But calling it a cookbook is misleading: This is a memoir with a few recipes scattered throughout. Which is fine by me, because that's my favorite sub-genre of food writing. Procured from the 'new' shelf at my local library.

LA BONNE TABLE, by Ludwig Bemelmans. Recognize the author? Yep, he of Madeline fame. In an earlier life he was a waiter, restaurateur, hotelier, and in this large collection of essays, articles, and short fiction, he recollects that life. The style is somewhat old-fashioned, but the humor is droll and the book is illustrated with Bemelman's charming line drawings too. Loved the slim middle section of menus from restaurants in the U.S. and Europe from years gone by. Bought second-hand.

THE BOYS OF SUMMER, by Roger Kahn. Nonfiction, the author's journey toward becoming a professional journalist via covering the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1952. I had the wrong idea about this book, thinking it would be more Dodgers and less Kahn, but there are still some great baseball moments recounted. The second half of the book, Kahn visits the stars of that '52 team some twenty years later, and of course, the Jackie Robinson chapter is unforgettable. Library.

AS SEEN ON TV: The Visual Culture of Everyday Life in the 1950s, by Karal Ann Marling. Social commentary. I'm researching the 1950s for a possible new story. Library reserve.