Books and Breads Blog

February 17, 2022

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Crosby **** (of 4)

Ike and Buddy Lee couldn’t be more different or more the same. Ike is Black and barely the survivor of deeply embedded southern racism. Buddy...

Book Reviews

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February 17, 2022

A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R. King ** (of 4)

The second in the series of mysteries solved by the retired Sherlock Holmes and his young, sharp, eagle-eyed female assistant, no, make that coequal, Mary...

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January 31, 2022

Wildland: The Making of America’s Fury by Evan Osnos **** (of 4)

Journalism is a first attempt to record history, and Osnos makes an outstanding first pass over the period in America between September 11, 2001 and...

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January 9, 2022

The Children of Ash and Elm by Neil Price *** (of 4)

Truly, everything you might ever want to know about Vikings and how they ruled with terrible violence is scrutinized. Scandinavia, Western Europe, and the British...

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January 9, 2022

Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips ** (of 4)

Take my review with a grain of salt. Disappearing Earth was a National Book Award Finalist and top-10 book of the year for the New...

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December 24, 2021

Oven Spring

When a baker times his or her bake correctly, the dough will have risen to what appears to be its maximum capacity. The general instruction...

Sourdoughs and SCOBYs

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December 24, 2021

Harlem Shuffle **** (of 4) Colson Whitehead

It is the early 1960s and Ray Carney sells contemporary furniture from a showroom on 125th Street in Harlem, New York City’s Black enclave. Harlem...

African American Literature

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December 16, 2021

Sourdough Ryes

Rye flour, as I’ve noted before, can be tricky to work with. Rye dough is sticky. It doesn’t rise like wheat flour, but it’s flavor...

Sourdoughs and SCOBYs

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December 15, 2021

Medicus by Ruth Downie *** (of 4)

Gaius Petreius Ruso is a Roman physician working for Rome’s army in a remote outpost of the empire: dreary, rainy, savage countryside north of London...

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December 7, 2021