Books and Breads Blog

October 20, 2023

Gettysburg: The Last Invasion by Allen Guelzo *** (of 4)

Tens of thousands of books have been written about the Civil War, and thousands have covered one of the most significant battles of the conflict:...

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October 7, 2023

How to Make a Slave by Jerald Walker **** (of 4)

Jerald Walker is a Black professor at a prestigious Boston college. He lives in an overwhelmingly upscale Boston-adjacent community, and on the surface would appear...

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October 7, 2023

Draft No. 4 by John McPhee *** (of 4)

McPhee is one of the preeminent nonfiction craftsmen of the last half century. As a staff writer for The New Yorker his longform essays have...

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September 21, 2023

Sourdough: Three variations

One of the things I love most about sourdough, and breadmaking in general, is how many variations can come from such a small number of...

Sourdoughs and SCOBYs

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September 21, 2023

The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith

On the plus side there are very few writers who can match JK Rowling’s (writing under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith) ability to capture personality, dialogue,...

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September 19, 2023

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride **** (of 4)

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store is a one-room general store owned by Moshe, but run, at a loss, by his warm-hearted, open-minded, club-footed (polio),...

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September 19, 2023

The Art Thief by Michael Finkel **** (of 4)

The book opens by letting readers know that Stephane Breitwieser is probably the most successful art thief that has ever lived. He has been captured...

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September 19, 2023

Properties of Thirst by Marianne Wiggins *** (of 4)

An ambitious book that centers the Owen’s Valley in California, the valley’s desertification following rerouting all of the valley’s water to Los Angeles, and the...

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September 14, 2023

The Breads of Morocco

This is a longform article about the geography, history, culture, and value of bread in Morocco. It can be found at The Perfect Loaf. The...

The Perfect Loaf

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August 23, 2023

Deep South by Paul Theroux **** (of 4)

This is Paul Theroux’s only travel book wherein the act of traveling is intentionally easy. Unlike his other books – taking the railroad across Siberia,...

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