Books and Breads Blog

March 18, 2025

A Walk in the Park by Kevin Fedarko **** (of 4)

Kevin Fedarko, a native of the degraded coal mining towns near Pittsburgh, and his best friend, photographer, Pete McBride, walk the 750-mile length of the...

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March 18, 2025

Guide Me Home by Attica Locke *** (of 4)

In southeast Texas's Nacagdoches County, Texas Ranger Darren Matthews has problems big and small. As a Black Texas Ranger he is self-motivated to uphold the...

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March 18, 2025

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman *** (of 4)

Richard Osman has taken a bread from his retired senior citizens of the Thursday Murder Club. His new crew of investigators include Amy Wheeler, a...

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February 25, 2025

James by Percival Everett **** (of 4)

On the face of it, a book that can be described in a single sentence. What would the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn look like if...

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February 25, 2025

A Map of Future Ruins by Lauren Markham *** (of 4)

By necessity, print and visual media focus on the big picture when reporting on human migration -- how many thousands of refugees are crossing the...

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February 24, 2025

WHY CHALLAH ISN’T JUST BREAD

For thousands of years, Jewish families have baked challah, the iconic braided bread that graces Sabbath tables worldwide. While many know it for its glossy...

Sourdoughs and SCOBYs

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February 4, 2025

The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich **** (of 4)

In a small farming town in North Dakota, sugar beet farming is almost as much everybody's livelihood as keeping track of one's neighbor's business. Kismet,...

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February 4, 2025

Flags on the Bayou by James Lee Burke *** (of 4)

The Civil War has come to Louisiana. Union soldiers are making advances, but slavery, and its cruelties persist. The experience of war, and its changing...

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January 16, 2025

Dogland by Tommy Tomlinson *** (of 4)

Dogland is a lighthearted romp through the world of elite dog shows. As Tomlinson makes clear from the outset, the relationship between dog and human...

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January 16, 2025

What the Chicken Knows by Sy Montgomery *** (of 4)

The more I learn about animal cognition, the more I realize how ignorant I have been. (I recently read an article, for example, strongly suggesting...

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