It's Only Slow Food Until You Try to Eat It: Misadventures of a Suburban Hunter-Gatherer , Bill Heavey

This was a very well written and well done book about how to see the food in front of our eyes, and how to go about eating it!
Bill Heavey, a sportswriter, takes on learning to forage, hunt, and fish, and in the process, learns and shares a ton of great information about the history of American food, the industrialization of the food industry, and how food and society can be intrinsically linked, as in the sections about the Gwich'in and the Cajuns.
More than an entertaining read, this surprisingly powerful books has me looking for local edibles in my own area, and thinking much more about what it means to eat locally.

The Muffin Tin Cookbook: 200 Fast, Delicious Mini-Pies, Pasta Cups, Gourmet Pockets, Veggie Cakes, and More, by Brette Sember

I have to say, I do prefer cookbooks with lots of photos of the finished product, but in this case, I was almost glad not to see images of Grown-Up Bologna Sandwiches made in muffin tins, or CornDog Cups.
I was impressed by the calorie and nutritional breakdowns of each recipe, but the dishes seemed to be aimed to please someone who would be craving different things than I would.
The few images provided of some dishes reinforced my impression that the Muffin Tin stunt is really about portion control, rather than to improve a meal by making it in a muffin tin, and were frankly unappetizing.
The best recipes seemed to be the most traditional, muffin-y/breakfast-y dishes, and some seemed like they would be great for a Sunday brunch, like maybe the eggs and lox, or the French Bread French Toast- the book really comes into it's own when suggesting recipes that would be easy to cook up a dozen at a time!
Some neat ideas, but would need a lot of tinkering to really be to my taste.

All About Roasting: A New Approach to a Classic Art, by Molly Stevens

A detailed but rather disappointing cookbook. Not enough pictures. I need pictures in a cookbook.

Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes, by Yotam Ottolenghi

Lovely, lush cookbook from the famed Ottolenghi- the only thing is, many of the recipes were so elaborate, it seemed a lot of work for a vegetable, lol. I would love to make a few of them, leek fritters (p. 36), asparagus mimosa (p. 182), mushroom ragout with poached eggs (p. 50), , and the broccoli and gorgonzola pie (p. . 92) looked amazing... maybe on a day with plenty of time? ha ha ha.

Martha Stewart Entertaining: A Year of Celebrations

Beautiful, unachievable lifestyle porn. Ugh.

Sex, Death and Oysters: A Half-Shell Lover's World Tour, by Robb Walsh

Now,  while the Geography of Oysters by Rowan Jacobson was rather dry, this was a juicy, salty, slurpy mess of a book, and all the better for it. This book had the passion and the hyperbole a book dedicated to bivalve eating really needs. I want to go to every place he wrote about- well, except maybe Texas- and eat oysters there. Especially France, Ireland, and Malpecque. Really well written, with a kind of breezy comfortable air, but a lot of solid research made this feel like a substantial book. 3 in a row (American Terroit, Geography of Oysters, and Sex, Death and Oysters), and I think I will take a break from reading books about oysters and concentratte on eating them, but this was a really good read.

A Geography of Oysters: The Connoisseur's Guide to Oyster Eating in North America, by Rowan Jacobson

Rather dry but interesting look at oysters and regional differences. This book lacked the almost delirious celebration of terroir- or rather, merroir- that American Terroir  had, but was a quick introduction into the differences between species and how the appelations came to be defined.

Fannie's Last Supper: Re-creating One Amazing Meal from Fannie Farmer's 1896 Cookbook, by Christopher Kimball

This was just fascinating. Kimball spends about 2 years working with chefs to try to recreate a 12 course meal from Fannie Farmer's cookbook, using a coal fired stove and as authentic ingedients and materials as possible. An insane labor of love.

Avec Eric, by Eric Ripert

"over 100 simple recipes"- I don't think so. over 100 gorgeous, impossible to replicate recipes? yes!
things I want to eat? YES!!!!
anything I could make at home?
no.
:(

Forgotten Skills of Cooking, by Darina Allen

OMG, everything in this looked amazing and delicious, but it didnt' seem like many of the recipes or tips would be very useful to a suburban American, as opposed to folk living at a coastal Irish country house farm.

Real Fast Food, by Nigel Slater

I wanted to make and eat every single thing in this. I should probably get a copy to keep, it was that good. Fun writing style too, wasn't all "this is life or death" about what should be fun!

Perfect One Dish Dinners, by Pam Anderson

Yum. Some geat looking dishes in here, but the one-dish thing is a total lie.

Cake Pops, by Bakerella

Insanely cute and time consuming baked goods. If I ever lose my mind entirely, you will find me making panda cupcakes on lollipop sticks, and I might even be pretty happy about it. Until then, there are better things to do with life.

The Barefoot Contessa: How Easy is That?, by Ina Garten

Some great ideas from my favorite chef-character.

What's New Cupcake? by Karen Tack

Absurdly cute and time consuming cupcakes that I sincerely hope I am never lobotomised enough to make.

Knack Fish & Seafood Cookbook: Delicious Recipes for All Seasons, by Doug DuCap

Pretty dreadful cookbook. When you make a cookbook of fish and seafood, which are my favorite things to eat, and there isn't a single recipe that I think sounds worth a go, that's pretty sad.

The I Hate To Cook Book, by Peg Bracken

Ok, I do get that this is kind of a joke, right, but still- I would hate to eat anything from this. This was a compilation of all the worst things Americans have done to food. This was a cookbook that suggested it was ok to use Montery Jack in lasagne. This might, actually, be fantastic if you were trying to diet- a quick flip through this book would kill anyone's appetite for at least hours, if not days.

The Gallery of Regrettable Food, by James Lileks

Very amusing collection of mid-century American cookbook images, with a heavy concentration on unlikely casseroles and jello salads.

Fashionable Food, by Sylvia Lovegren

Absolutely fascinating look at American food trends from the 1920's to the 1990's. While there were many recipes, this was not a cookbook in any real sense, it was more a sociological study examining how the impacts or technology, politics, and the economy have changed and re-invented American eating habits. From the 1920's "icebox cooking" to the 1930's "Betty Coed Surprise Cake" (Sandwiches disguised as cakes), women's changing roles in American life are illustrated through the dishes that they traditionally made. During WWII, many spices couldn't be imported, and olive oil cost $11 a gallon, again changing American eating. Just fascinating.

Garlic and Sapphires, by Ruth Reichl

I listened to this book, and it was wonderful, but one warning- when she describes food, it makes you crazy with hunger!

Interesting look at the life of a NYT food critic- the lengths she had to go to to preserve anonymity were insane!

Bonus- recipes that sounded delish and very do-able!