This is my first Kitchen Reader post (even though I joined months ago), and sadly, it will be a short one. Life has been so chaotic this year that I haven’t had time to bake or read, hence the pathetic number of recent posts. I apologize. This month’s pick is Tender at the Bone, by former New York Times restaurant critic and more recently former Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl. I read this book when it first came out, in 1998, and I was so happy to have the chance to read it again. Ruth Reichl loved food from an early age, possibly as a reaction to her mother’s alarming culinary habits. As she moved through high school and college, cooking was a way to connect with people and make friends. And later, of course, writing about food became her career. Tender at the Bone is a series of vignettes from Reichl’s life, written with self-awareness and insight and a good deal of humor. Best of all, she includes recipes in every chapter, some of which sound pretty wonderful. In another life, I would certainly have tried a few of them before writing this review. Check out the other Kitchen Reader blogs for a fuller review of this book, and I swear I will do better next month.