Season to Taste: How I Lost My Sense of Smell and Found My Way by Molly Birnbaum was the March Kitchen Reader selection and was chosen by chosen by Katherine Martinelli.
Molly Birnbaum’s Season to Taste has been on my “to read” list for ages, so I was thrilled to see it on the reading list for the Kitchen Reader this month.
The book examines Birnbaum’s experience with losing her sense of smell after a traumatic car accident. As she struggles to come to terms with a an odorless world, she dives headfirst into learning as much as she can about how smell and aromas work and how to regain her sense of smell. With all the scientific studies and interviews, the book had the potential to be dry, but Birnbaum’s personal narrative, artfully woven into the story, broke up the research and kept the pace of the book moving. She clearly put a lot of time and research into this book, taking many of the tests and examinations she learned about herself, so she was able to include her own thoughs on much of the research. In the end, it is not clear how she slowly regained her sense of smell, but then, I don’t think anyone really knows.
Overall, I give this memoir 4 stars out of 5.
More of my book reviews can be found here.
Another great-sounding recommendation. Maybe I should just join this book club haha!
Do it!!
Ooh this sounds like a good read. I just can’t even imagine. I get ticked when I can’t taste or smell with a cold, I can’t imagine it being semi- or totally permanent!
I have a friend who was born without a sense of smell, she used to have me come over and smell her house before she had a date home… Lol! I’ll check out the book
That’s a little awkward!
I’m glad we helped you read something on your “to read” pile – I need a lot of help in this area!
This book really made me realise how under-appreciated my nose is. I can see now how essential is is.
It sounds like a very interesting book. I´ve been away for a while but I miss the book club and will resume this month, I promise. Life without any of our under appreciated senses could be miserable, but if we are strong enough to overcome it and try to compensate in some way, we can succeed. Hard work, though.
My ADD self might have glossed over some of the research findings, but overall, I really enjoyed this one, and I’m glad someone chose it so I’d have a chance to pick it up.
One takeaway for me is… I am so, so grateful for my sense of smell. Especially since “food” is a passion of mine. 
[K]
I really hoped there would be some conclusion about how she ended up regaining her sense of smell, too! Not knowing made me really antsy… which helped me to understand her passion & dedication to finding out as much as she could about about the olfactory system. It must be infuriating to not understand the way your body works.
I found the book very thought provoking and totally agree that her writing style kept this moving and enjoyable. I washed over most of the scientific bit as it didn’t hold my interest, the personal side held my hooked. Marian