2009 National Barbecue News Barbecue Book of the Year
By Doug Mosley
dmosley@ulm.edu
Holy smokes! Where in the world did 2009 go? I can’t believe how fast this past year whizzed by. It seems like it wasn’t that long ago that I penned our annual National Barbecue News Barbecue Book of the Year column that comes each December. And now here it is, December again!
Even though the past 12 months seemingly flew past, we were blessed to have loads of great books on barbecue released in the past year, meaning that choosing our 2009 National Barbecue News Barbecue Book of the Year will likely be quite a challenge.
However, before we do make that selection, let’s first look back at the history of this honor. This will be the third year for the National Barbecue News Barbecue Book of the Year award. Our past winners were:
 2008 — The Best Barbecue on Earth: Grilling Across 6 Continents and 26 Countries With 170 Recipes by Rick Browne ($22.95, Ten Speed Press, 254 pp.)
2007 — Dr. BBQ’s Big-Time Barbecue Road Trip by Ray Lampe ($16.95, St. Martins Griffin)
The concept of the award came about from you, the readers. You see, the December column originally was a holiday buying guide with recommendations of all the top books from the corresponding year, as well as others still in print. After the December 2006 column ran, a reader e-mailed a question asking of all the books recommended, which one was best. That spurred some thought that ultimately resulted in the National Barbecue News Barbecue Book of the Year annual award. For the record, I don’t recall what book I picked in my reply to that kind reader. (If you’re reading this, please refresh my memory!)
We keep the rules for this award pretty simple. Any book published within the designated calendar year which has content predominately within the outdoor cooking genre, which chiefly includes barbecue and grilling, qualifies for consideration. We also typically release a list of honorable mentions — those books that received serious consideration for the award but came up short of being the one. And each year, we begin this column with those honorable mention, so here we go…
Texas BBQ by Wyatt McSpadden ($39.95, University of Texas Press, 160 pp.) is a book wonderfully illustrated with full-color pictures that tell its story almost as well as the words. Grillin’ with Gas: 150 Mouthwatering Recipes for Great Grilled Food by Fred Thompson ($19.95, Taunton Press, 305 pp.) is a book I really liked not because it was about how to use a gas grill to cook, but conversely how to cook using a gas grill. Trust me, there’s a difference there. America’s Best BBQ: 100 Recipes from America’s Best Smokehouses, Pits, Shacks, Rib Joints, Roadhouses and Restaurants by Paul Kirk and Ardie Davis ($19.99, Andres McMeel Publishing, 224 pp.) is a book that I could hardly put down. I found it to be outstanding and enjoy picking it up again and again. Cook’s Country Best Grilling Recipes: More Than 100 Regional Favorites Tested and Perfected for the Outdoor Cook by the editors of America’s Test Kitchen ($29.95, America’s Test Kitchen, 244 pp.) is exactly what you would expect coming from the people who bring us the excellent cooking magazines Cook’s Country and Cook’s Illustrated and the TV show America’s Test Kitchen. Down Home with the Neelys by Patrick and Gina Neely and Paul Disbrowe ($27.95, Knopf, 276 pp.) brings to the page all the warmth and love that the Neelys exude in their Food Network TV show. And last but not least, is the heartwarming story, Pig Candy: Taking My Father South, Taking My Father Home by Lise Funderburg ($15, Free Press, 306 pp.). Of all the books I’ve reviewed this year, no other has spurred as many reader e-mails as this one.
That’s a list of great books, but now we come to the one that was truly the best of the year. The 2009 National Barbecue News Barbecue Book of the Year is Big Bob Gibson’s BBQ Book: Recipes and Secrets from a Legendary Barbecue Joint by Chris Lilly ($24.99, Clarkson Potter, 256 pp.).
All of the books above are great, but this one really came to the forefront. I loved the stories, I loved the photos, I loved the recipes. But it was really no surprise when you consider that it came from one of the greats of barbecue, Chris Lilly from Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q. Part of a two-time Memphis in May world championship team, Lilly had become a familiar face in TV before venturing into print. His first book is remarkable in that he brought a great story to a publisher willing to lend full support by committing to a book that is beautifully illustrated and well done. Congratulations to Chris and Clarkson Potter.
That wraps things up for us for 2009. Thanks to each and every one of you for being loyal readers. I always love to hear your feedback and encourage you to send your e-mails to dmosley@ulm.edu. Happy holidays and we’ll see you in the new year!
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