Rating: 
Summary: This is the good stuff
Review: Though she has trouble being monogomous in this second book, the stories about the culinary awakening in California make it a must read for any avid lover of "American" cuisine.
Rating:
Summary: I felt next to Ruth...
Review: I never expected to be drawn into this book as much as I was...I felt like I was living and feeling Ruth Reichl's experiences next to her. The author has a very real and sensitive way of sharing her life and experiences with her audience -- this being the key to making this such a great read. It is a quick read, a book I couldn't put down. Although it would seem that this book is suitable only for the "foodie" crowd, anyone who appreciates a great meal can love this book. The author intertwines her love of food with her love of life's relationships, experiences, travels and adventures to make this a great story to read.
Rating: 
Summary: A good read
Review: I must first applaud this extraordinary woman for her honesty. She can discuss almost anything. But perhaps that is also what is negative about the book. I LOVE hearing about her culinary adventures all over the world (especially Paris and Barcelona)but I felt like I was subjected to the endless love triangle drama. It was tedious at times. Although I understand its inclusion, I wish she had focused less on this aspect of her life. The book was great in dealing with personalities and excellent when describing an adoption horror she and her husband undergo. I liked this book and would tell anyone to read it who loved Tender at the Bone, but I don't think the sequel tops the first book. Hope a third is coming along and that it turns out to be the best of the three.
Rating:
Summary: The sequel always fall short
Review: Ruth's follow-up to Tender at the Bone, Comfort Me With Apples, picks up right where she left off, without missing a beat. Unfortunately, this time around, something has changed. While she still manages to engage the reader and maintain him/her in a vise-like grip, the book tends to revolve more around her infidelities than with her career or even the food. Ruth definitely is not afraid to let people see the "real" Ruth, but sometimes I felt that maybe she was giving out too much information. After reading this one, I have to say that I don't like her as much as before, but I do respect her a little more. If you're looking for a "foodie" book, you might want to pass on this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Loved it but with reservations
Review: I really loved this book as I was reading it. I got completely lost in her travels to China and the cafes and countless meals in Paris. I also loved the story of her struggle to adopt a child and the way she intertwined this all back to food. But, it is a little hard to really embrace someone who is trying to get you to enjoy details of an affair she has behind her husbands back. The author seems to only be concerned with her culinary delights and expresses no remorse over her dishonest actions. I think to really love a book you have to have an affection for the person telling the story and I couldn't help but feel like someone taking the side of an untrustworthy friend.
Rating: 
Summary: Comfort me with Maalox
Review: After having read Tender at the Bone and loving it..imagine my astonishment at reading this amateur, adolescent angst-ridden soap opera of one woman's overindulgence both in unsavory men and unsavory meals.
Did she throw this book together over a weekend?
How did this book EVER get past the lawyers at Random House?
Rating:
Summary: For A True Sense Of Kinship
Review: Every person who has ever taken the love of food on as burning passion should read this book. Being a former professional chef, who has revered many of the chefs Ruth has personally had the pleasure to have known intimately, I can place myself in any of the situations she describes and see it exactly as she did. A splendidly written work.
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Summary: Berkeley gourmet ghetto nostalgia at its best
Review: I loved this book! Having spent my formative years (late 20's, 30's) in Berkeley hanging with half of the foodies mentioned in this wonderfully written story, I was so homesick for those days and inspired to get back into the "food" world. Ruth captures the excitement of the hot chefs movement which was influenced by Alice Waters of Chez Panisse. Of course Julia Child is the grande dame who really got all of these American chefs going but that's another story in itself. I too visited M.F.K Fisher in her cute Sonoma house and she described the woman to a tee. Couldn't put the book down, a fantastic read. Can't wait for more! Also can't wait to go back for some Chez Panisse cafe meals.....and many more days in Paris....
Keep writing Ruth!
Rating:
Summary: Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table
Review: In a sequel to Tender at the Bone (CH, Jul'98), Reichl, the noted New York Times restaurant critic for several years and now editor of Gourmet, continues her autobiography with the same humor and storytelling ability of the previous volume. She describes her experiences with people and travels during her years as a freelance food writer in the Bay area when she first became a restaurant critic, and her move to Los Angeles, up to the time of her pregnancy. Clearly, she loves food, as she describes her memorable experiences with the food of the countries she visited as well as the developing cuisine of southern California. Reichl writes of her life with candor and understanding for the other people she knows. Her comments about people are often insightful in describing the philosophy of her generation, which applies beyond her personal experience. Reichl has been friends with many noted people in the food world, so there are interesting tales that include people at the forefront of the current American food scene. With each chapter she includes a few recipes that demonstrate the food events she discusses. Recommended for general readers.
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre
Review: This book was good as far as providing the authors perspective on how she rose to be a critic. It has great insight on how a critic builds his/her reputation, by detailing her travels in order to understand food. However, the book fails in one part. I should have been spared from the authors weakness with men. Her sexual exploits with Colman Andrews and Michael Singer, belong in a soap opera or in her diary. To me, it was like taking me to food heaven in one of her stories, and then all of the sudden I was dropped into a quagmire of personal conflicts and love making.
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