Sourdough by Robin Sloan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Sourdough lacks the charm of Sloan’s first book, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore but displays much of the same imagination and cleverness of style. The plot centers around Lois Clary, a robotic arm programmer in San Francisco who discovers the joy of sourdough bread. Soon she receives her own sourdough starter and begins to bake for her coworkers. This becomes a passion and finally a calling.
Tension builds throughout as things progress in unexpected ways, but I found the author’s resolution clumsy and unsatisfying. It can be called intriguing and unoffensive, which is not to be read as damned by faint praise, nor is it to be considered high praise. It was a quick, mildly entertaining read.