Let me be real with you: I can’t cook.  At all.  Boiling water for pasta is about the extent of my kitchen skills.

But what I do love is microhistory.  Knowing how things got to be the way they are is absolutely fascinating to me.   In Consider the Fork, Bee Wilson takes the reader through the story of how objects we use every day came into being.  When was fire first discovered, and how did our ancestors know to use it to heat food and water?  Why does the fork have four spears?  When and how was the refrigerator created?

Wilson’s journey touches all time periods, from the oldest of ancestors to the Victorian age to modern man.  Each chapter reads like its own essay, so, if you’d like, you could read only the parts that specifically interest you.  My favorite, of course, was the discourse on the spork.

I really enjoyed this book, and I don’t spend that much time in the kitchen.  But if you have any desire whatsoever to learn more about cooking, or the history behind it all, consider reading Consider the Fork.

Thanks for reading!

• Fun Finds on the Hold Shelf — June
• The Librarian’s Guide to Notable Nonfiction
• Managing Your Mental Health One Day at a Time 
• Ashley is history
• Coming Soon!