Books and Breads Blog

August 23, 2023

Robert E. Lee and Me by Ty Seidule *** (of 4)

The author, Ty Seidule, is a professor of history at West Point. That gives him real cache when he says the southern states lost the...

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August 2, 2023

Only to Sleep by Lawrence Osborne **** (of 4)

In 1939, Raymond Chandler wroteThe Big Sleep featuring, Private Investigator Philip Marlowe. Marlowe was the original world weary, cynical PI: hard drinking, self-mocking, and a...

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August 2, 2023

Grandma Gatewood’s Walk *** (of 4)

In 1955, when the Appalachian Trail (AT) was still in its infancy, Emma Gatewood walked its full length, 2050 miles from Mount Oglethorpe, Georgia to...

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July 18, 2023

The Poison Machine *** (of 4)

Some authors of historical fiction (see Geraldine Brooks) are so caught up by their research that plot and characters are afterthoughts or cliches applied to...

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July 18, 2023

The End of October by Lawrence Wright *** (of 4)

The End of October is shocking because of its initial accuracy and publication date. Coming into print just before the pandemic, Wright’s novel describes a...

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July 3, 2023

An Immense World by Ed Yong *** (of 4)

Philosophically, a wonderfully provocative account of what other organisms can sense that we humans cannot. Ed Yong introduces us to umwelt the idea that our...

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July 3, 2023

Taste: My Life Through Food *** (of 4)

Beginning with his childhood in the 1960s suburbs of New York City and continuing through the pandemic, Tucci traces his own growth as an eater,...

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June 12, 2023

Gangland by Chuck Hogan *** (of 4)

Based on the true story of Tony Accardo, Al Capone’s protege, the undisputed mob boss of Chicago in the 1970s. Accardo’s mob runs all of...

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May 19, 2023

Dust to Dust

The composition and decomposition of a sourdough culture, my latest essay, is available at The Perfect Loaf.

Sourdoughs and SCOBYs

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May 19, 2023

A Fever in the Heartland by Timothy Egan **** (of 4)

Following more than 100,000 American casualties in WWI and the death of 450,000 Americans from viral influenza in 1918, most Americans roared into the 1920s...

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