Last year I read two books that were unexpectedly devoted to examining the lives and behaviors of bees. This year I’ve read (and I went into them blind) two sci-fi romances where food is the greatest love of the male main character’s life, and thus a great deal of time is spent delving into the smells, flavors, and experiences of cooking and eating. I will be wholly unsurprised next year if I randomly read two books similarly committed to something so niche.