I was in my glory recently. I had had a chance to cook dinner, entertain, and engage in fun conversations about books, food, sourdough, and technology including discussing the various Dr. Who characters. Our nephew, Rob, a prodigious reader, and co-founder of a software company, and his newly found love, Samantha, joined my husband and me for dinner. They had found a romantic suite in Stowe, Vermont during the height of the foliage season and had accepted my invitation to join us for dinner as well as stay the night before heading south back to Connecticut.

After dinner (see menu below), I brought to the table, Bibliophile An Illustrated Miscellany * by Jane Mount, and together we perused the pages noting our fav authors, books read, ones yet to read as well as beloved new and used book stores and all things of interest to bibliophiles. Rob highly recommended that I read Sourdough by Robin Sloan. He thought I’d especially enjoy the novel because it blends the magic of fiction with sourdough and technology (librarians appreciate all kinds of technologies).

Having now read Sourdough I must recommend it as a wonderful foodie novel! Lois Clary is a savvy robotics programmer who discovers sourdough making when The Clement Soup and Sourdough local restaurant owners, Beoreg and Chaiman, leave town due to expiring Visas. In her rather mundane program job, Lois finds great comfort in Clement’s magical spicy soup and sourdough. She becomes their number one customer. On the owner’s way out of town, the owners drop off their mystical sourdough starter with Lois because they want to leave her something special. Special indeed!

Lois’s life takes wonderful adventurous turns as she discovers the power of making sourdough. I found myself laughing throughout and really identifying with the fascination of making sourdough as well as the obsession with it.

I highly recommend the novel Sourdough to bakers, technology enthusiasts, and anyone looking for an entertaining story.

Dinner Menu :

I served Cookie and Kate’s Homemade Vegetarian Chili, a salad, Somebody Feed Seb’s Crusty Sourdough Baguettes with buttered garlic, and fresh apple pie with ice cream. Rob and Samantha surprised us with a bottle of French Cabernet Sauvignon purchased from Dedalus Wine Shop, Market & Wine Bar in Burlington’s South End Arts District.

• See the latest Bibliophile book, Bibliophile Diverse Spines (Just came out November 2021)