I’ve had a bit more time for reading in the morning lately as I slowly adjust to the bloody time change. The weather is finally nice enough to enjoy reading in Carolina room like we did after the hurricane while the power was out for days. The room still looks like this, as I haven’t yet moved all the plants to the veranda. So, it is a nice place to read with the windows open in the afternoon. This month’s book selections have one non-fiction and two fiction. Links to the listings on Amazon are provided so you can read more about the synopsis, or check on Kindle and Audible availability. Thank you for using my affiliate links when you can.

Hunger Like a Thirst: From Food Stamps to Fine Dining, a Restaurant Critic Finds Her Place at the Table by Besha Rodell – Food writing is always a genre I enjoy, so when this memoir from a restaurant critic came up on Net Galley to request, I jumped at it. Ms Rodell held positions on papers in New York and Atlanta, then Los Angeles, and finally back to her home in Australia where she grew up. She is a James Beard Award winner and served as restaurant critic for LA Weekly and The New York Times. The book is well organized for the first half, then tends to jump around a bit in time towards the end. It was very interesting to see her approach to the job as a question of why more than a question of what. Critics usually tell readers what they ate, how it was prepared and tasted, level of service and so on. Of course she did some of that. But she began to wonder about why people eat where they do, what makes Waffle House such a ubiquitous restaurant of comfort food? What is it about mid-price restaurant chains like Applebees that makes them so popular? She goes in to detail how Outback Steakhouse is not Australian and how it was purely a marketing ploy, but the popularity is based in familiarity and reasonably priced meals. She goes into some history, which was very interesting, touching on Harvey House and Howard Johnsons. When she gets to 2020, her covid experiences are glossed over. What could have been a wonderful insight into how restaurants weathered or failed during lockdown and after would have been very interesting to read, but she skipped over it. From there, the book seemed to falter a bit, as she began to rant against the prejudice in the industry against women, the toll it takes on family as she traveled, how poorly free lance writers are paid and that they are expected to spend of some their own money for expenses. A long treatise on a good friend’s battle with cancer, while touching, seemed out of place for the focus of the book. Overall, it was an interesting read, though and recommended. It publishes May 13, but get it on your library list now so you’ll be at the top of the line.

The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris by Evie Woods – This writer is becoming one of my favorites as her charming stories are easy reading and light. In this novel, a young woman takes a job in what she believes to be a Paris bakery, intending to work on her French and live in the famed city. It seemed like an an answer for her troubles and grief over her mother’s death. But the bakery turns out to be a hole in the wall in a tiny town on a street called Rue de Paris. The grouchy woman who owns the shop is difficult, but the job comes with a tiny studio apartment over the bakery. Edith decides to stay anyway, at least for a while. She settles into the routine, with the admonition to never go into the basement. You can guess what is next, she just has to find out the secret, and when she does, the urgency to save this tiny establishment from the greedy corporation wanting to turn it into condos takes her in a whole new direction. Of course, there is a bit of magic in the secret. And I’m not going to spoil it for you. Four stars. Now available, it just published on April 8.

Louisiana Saves the Library by Emily Beck Cogburn – Another story about a woman whose husband divorces her, which sends her to a small town to meet a hunky neighbor and have a cause to fight, in this case saving the library. Maybe I am just tired of the formula. This one was a bit tedious with her two unruly, undisciplined, very young children. The overly critical ex-husband was tiresome. Some chapters jump forward in time without any notice making it difficult to follow at times. The final chapter jumps forward a year, and skips what would have been interesting reading. I picked this one up on an impulse while browsing the library shelves. I should know better by now, and make sure I have my list of books with me. Overall, it isn’t a total waste of time, but there are other better books. Meh.

What are you reading?

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Saturday, May 10, is Jolly Bar Day at Fat Quarter Shop! Kimberly Jolly will have a special Livestream on May 10 with a trunk show, giveaways, and more surprises on their youtube channel. Plus, FQS is having a Spring Charm Sale! Save up to 50% on select charm packs.