Books and Breads Blog

January 25, 2014

Green Tea Kombucha

The green tea in this batch of kombucha was imported by my brother-in-law’s Chinese friend. It is a premium tea, probably worth around $100 a...

Sourdoughs and SCOBYs

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January 25, 2014

The Round House by Louise Erdrich **** (of 4)

Joe, the story’s thirteen-year-old narrator, is a Native American living on a reservation in North Dakota. His mother has just been raped, not unusual as...

Book Reviews

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January 9, 2014

Unorthodox by Deborah Feldman *** (of 4)

It’s hard being female in a Hasidic community. It’s impossible to question authority in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, inside the dense community of Satmar Hasids. If, however,...

Book Reviews

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January 4, 2014

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage ** (of 4) by Ann Patchett

This is a collection of Patchett’s non-fiction essays, all previously published. Well-written, autobiographical, unresearched, and self-aggrandizing. Patchett is not only a strong writer, but she...

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January 1, 2014

The Guns at Last Light by Rick Atkinson **** (of 4)

Like a great general, not a good one, but a great one, Rick Atkinson tracks the final battles for European supremacy as the Second World...

Book Reviews

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December 8, 2013

How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny **** (of 5)

The ninth book in the Detective Armand Gamache series is a completely lovable installment. Gamache must locate a missing person with a false identity at...

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December 6, 2013

Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking by Anya von Bremzen *** (of 5)

What an interesting idea. Mix together a memoir of family history in the old Soviet Union with some Soviet history and the signature foods of...

Book Reviews

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October 29, 2013

Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem **** (of 4)

Lionel Esrog, along with three friends, is plucked from a Brooklyn orphanage by Frank Minna, a self-made detective and small time Brooklyn nogoodnik. Early in...

Book Reviews

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October 10, 2013