Book review-Sourdough by Robin Sloan

A few years ago I read Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore  by Robin Sloan.  It was a really fun book with a touch of magical realism, which I enjoy.  When I saw that Sloan had a second book out, I immediately placed a hold on it! Sourdough is the story of Lois Clary, a 20 something engineer.  She recently moved from Michigan (!) to the San Francisco area to work at a robotics company.  The hours are brutal so she hasn't had time to make new friends-she barely has time to eat!  One day she comes home to find a flyer for a delivery service.  They only have 2 or 3 things on the menu, but she decides to give it a go.  The food is the ultimate comfort food, so she orders everyday and gets to know the brothers who are the owners and only employees.  They suddenly have to leave due to visa issues, so they give her their sourdough starter and give her some basic instructions on how to keep it alive.  And alive it is!  There aren't many books that have a food item as a main character, but this one sure does. I enjoyed this book very much.  There's technology (the robots that Lois is working on), food, character growth, mystery, and that sourdough.  It is light on the surface, but looks at some heady issues as well, but overall a fun read.

Sourdough By Sloan, Robin 2017-09 - MCD/Farrar Straus and Giroux 9780374203108 Check Our Catalog In his much-anticipated new novel, Robin Sloan does for the world of food what he did for the world of books in Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore Lois Clary is a software engineer at General Dexterity, a San Francisco robotics company with world-changing ambitions. She codes all day and collapses at night, her human contact limited to the two brothers who run the neighborhood …More

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