wanderaven's review against another edition
4.0
I haven't read [b:Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore|13538873|Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore (Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, #1)|Robin Sloan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1345089845s/13538873.jpg|6736543] (from which you've likely heard of Sloan) yet, but I can guarantee you, I will now!
When Macmillan offered Sourdough for early review, the synopsis was too strange and intriguing to pass up... and the novel certainly fulfills those expectations.
A young woman, newly transplanted from Michigan to a massive tech company in San Francisco doesn't have the time (or possibly the nerve) to make new friends, and subsists on Slurry, the fictional version of Soylent. When she receives a delivery menu for a strange and unknown group, she becomes obsessed with their incredible bread and soup, eating it every night. When the two immigrant brothers, who have been making the food illegally in their apartment, have to leave the country, they leave their sourdough starter with her.
"Vietnamese pho's healing powers, physical and psychic, make traditional chicken noodle soup seem like dishwater... then this spicy soup, in turn, dishwatered pho. It was an elixir. The sandwich was spicier still, thin-sliced vegetables slathered with a fluorescent red sauce, the burn buffered by thick slabs of bread artfully toasted."
The novel is a lovely blend of humor, food, technology, and magical realism. One can consider it magical realism, anyway, pretty much right up until the last couple of chapters. Then, it all bleeds a little bit. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed by the ending but certainly not enough to regret the rest of the reading, and I'm not really sure of how else he might have ended it, anyway.
"Here's the thing I believe about people my age: we are the children of Hogwarts, and more than anything, we just want to be sorted."
"Two men stopped to assess the Vitruvian. It was a pair of the cold-eyed wraiths I worked with at General Dexterity. I knew them by their sneakers.
'Oh, sweet,' hooted one. 'Didn't expect to see a V3 here.'
'Look at that beast,' said the other.
'It's so clunky, dude! The old motors were super slow.'
'Actually,' I said - oh, it felt good - 'the Vitruvian 3's motors are exactly the same as the V4's. They're all PKD 2891s. It's just that the V4's chassis is lighter.'
The wraiths noticed me for the first time. 'Wait,' said the first. 'I know you, right? You're... one of our marketing people?'
My face burned hot, but through force of will, I cooled my gaze to absolute zero kelvin. 'Actually.' It felt very good. 'I work on Control.'
The wraiths pulled knives from their waistbands and committed ritual suicide.
Actually, they backed slowly away, and I never saw them again."
When Macmillan offered Sourdough for early review, the synopsis was too strange and intriguing to pass up... and the novel certainly fulfills those expectations.
A young woman, newly transplanted from Michigan to a massive tech company in San Francisco doesn't have the time (or possibly the nerve) to make new friends, and subsists on Slurry, the fictional version of Soylent. When she receives a delivery menu for a strange and unknown group, she becomes obsessed with their incredible bread and soup, eating it every night. When the two immigrant brothers, who have been making the food illegally in their apartment, have to leave the country, they leave their sourdough starter with her.
"Vietnamese pho's healing powers, physical and psychic, make traditional chicken noodle soup seem like dishwater... then this spicy soup, in turn, dishwatered pho. It was an elixir. The sandwich was spicier still, thin-sliced vegetables slathered with a fluorescent red sauce, the burn buffered by thick slabs of bread artfully toasted."
The novel is a lovely blend of humor, food, technology, and magical realism. One can consider it magical realism, anyway, pretty much right up until the last couple of chapters. Then, it all bleeds a little bit. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed by the ending but certainly not enough to regret the rest of the reading, and I'm not really sure of how else he might have ended it, anyway.
"Here's the thing I believe about people my age: we are the children of Hogwarts, and more than anything, we just want to be sorted."
"Two men stopped to assess the Vitruvian. It was a pair of the cold-eyed wraiths I worked with at General Dexterity. I knew them by their sneakers.
'Oh, sweet,' hooted one. 'Didn't expect to see a V3 here.'
'Look at that beast,' said the other.
'It's so clunky, dude! The old motors were super slow.'
'Actually,' I said - oh, it felt good - 'the Vitruvian 3's motors are exactly the same as the V4's. They're all PKD 2891s. It's just that the V4's chassis is lighter.'
The wraiths noticed me for the first time. 'Wait,' said the first. 'I know you, right? You're... one of our marketing people?'
My face burned hot, but through force of will, I cooled my gaze to absolute zero kelvin. 'Actually.' It felt very good. 'I work on Control.'
The wraiths pulled knives from their waistbands and committed ritual suicide.
Actually, they backed slowly away, and I never saw them again."
mmatti300's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I frankly have not stopped thinking about this book since I finished it and I flew through it. I started on the train to work and by the end of the day I was done. What a delightfully strange novel
booksandbobbins's review against another edition
4.0
This book was so fun! I absolutely loved Robin's writing style, I think I am learning about myself that I like descriptions but don't love super flowery long metaphors and analogys. Robin did this amazingly!
Similarly to other reviews, I kind of lost the plot (in more than one sense) towards the last third, but the first 2/3 were so good that it made up for it.
I'm excited to explore more of his body of work
Similarly to other reviews, I kind of lost the plot (in more than one sense) towards the last third, but the first 2/3 were so good that it made up for it.
I'm excited to explore more of his body of work
moonysplace's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
paulinagrf's review against another edition
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
achin8's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
As someone who grew up in San Francisco, this story perfectly touched on the tech industry and the foodie scene here and it is clear that Sloan has spent a lot of time in the Bay. Was this book life changing? definitely not but it was a fun quick read that had quirky and enjoyable characters. My only gripe as a bread baker myself is the oversimplification of baking sourdough but I was able to overlook it. If you're not from the Bay I can see this book being underwhelming for some people as part of the story's charm is the little references to Bay Area culture.
jazzyjan94's review against another edition
4.0
This review appears on my blog: https://confessionsofabookwormweb.wordpress.com/2018/12/17/book-review-sourdough-by-robin-sloan/
I had been intrigued by this book when I heard several BookTubers talk about the synopsis, especially since it is basically a book centered around the making of sourdough bread, as well as engineering. Needless to say I was very curious to check it out for myself.
Lois is an engineer who is so busy that she barely has time to eat proper food. However, one day she discovers a flyer for a local takeout restaurant that serves the best sourdough bread. But then the owners of the restaurant are forced to leave abruptly, however they leave part of their sourdough starter for Lois because they knew how much she loved it. She then embarks on journey of caring for the starter, which is no ordinary starter either, learning how to bake sourdough bread and eventually trying to get a stall in some of San Francisco’s farmer’s markets. After being rejected by the majority of the farmer’s markets, she gets an invitation to a mysterious underground farmer’s market where each of the stalls incorporate some form of science into the making of their products.
This book does not get the readership that it deserves! I loved it, even though I was somewhat skeptical about what it would actually be about. However, Robin Sloan does a great job of drawing readers in and making them stay for the whole story. Once I read about how the sourdough starter was “singing” I was instantly hooked, and then there was the whole section dealing with Lois trying to get a robotic arm to make sourdough bread when the software for the arm was previously faulty.
One of the flaws of Sourdough is that there isn’t a whole lot of character development for Lois, except for the fact that she becomes a healthier person in general, and less stressed, but other than that she is still the same character at the end of the book as she was at the start. I did enjoy her relationship with the brothers who gave her the starter, especially with Beoreg and his encouragement for her to keep at it with the care of the starter, as well as her baking adventures. I really think that they would make a cute couple.
Another interesting aspect was this whole other people group – the Mazg – that the author created in order to properly explain the somewhat magical properties of the sourdough starter. There are even sections of the book where Beoreg emails Lois and tells her the story of the Mazg people in several snippets, and it was really fascinating to read and I would love it if there was a book all about the Mazg!
Overall, this book is perfect for readers who want something a little bit different from the typical slice of life book. If you are into baking or science or both, then you need to give this book a try. 4/5 Stars.
I had been intrigued by this book when I heard several BookTubers talk about the synopsis, especially since it is basically a book centered around the making of sourdough bread, as well as engineering. Needless to say I was very curious to check it out for myself.
Lois is an engineer who is so busy that she barely has time to eat proper food. However, one day she discovers a flyer for a local takeout restaurant that serves the best sourdough bread. But then the owners of the restaurant are forced to leave abruptly, however they leave part of their sourdough starter for Lois because they knew how much she loved it. She then embarks on journey of caring for the starter, which is no ordinary starter either, learning how to bake sourdough bread and eventually trying to get a stall in some of San Francisco’s farmer’s markets. After being rejected by the majority of the farmer’s markets, she gets an invitation to a mysterious underground farmer’s market where each of the stalls incorporate some form of science into the making of their products.
This book does not get the readership that it deserves! I loved it, even though I was somewhat skeptical about what it would actually be about. However, Robin Sloan does a great job of drawing readers in and making them stay for the whole story. Once I read about how the sourdough starter was “singing” I was instantly hooked, and then there was the whole section dealing with Lois trying to get a robotic arm to make sourdough bread when the software for the arm was previously faulty.
One of the flaws of Sourdough is that there isn’t a whole lot of character development for Lois, except for the fact that she becomes a healthier person in general, and less stressed, but other than that she is still the same character at the end of the book as she was at the start. I did enjoy her relationship with the brothers who gave her the starter, especially with Beoreg and his encouragement for her to keep at it with the care of the starter, as well as her baking adventures. I really think that they would make a cute couple.
Another interesting aspect was this whole other people group – the Mazg – that the author created in order to properly explain the somewhat magical properties of the sourdough starter. There are even sections of the book where Beoreg emails Lois and tells her the story of the Mazg people in several snippets, and it was really fascinating to read and I would love it if there was a book all about the Mazg!
Overall, this book is perfect for readers who want something a little bit different from the typical slice of life book. If you are into baking or science or both, then you need to give this book a try. 4/5 Stars.
dspinelli's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
jaw417's review against another edition
3.0
If you enjoyed Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore, suffice it to say you'll enjoy this book. Just like Penumbra's narrator, Lois is nice blend of quirky, relatably awkward, enthusiastic, and stuck in a rut when the story begins. She finds herself in the place where the pseudo-mystical and mundane meet, skirting questions all the while about what is magic and was is simply the magic of real life. There are also similar themes of the rise of technology, and the thematic question of whether machine-made efficiency is worth the loss of home-grown human influence. Though I wasn't sucked in enough to chew through the audiobook in a few sittings as I sometimes do, the story kept be interested all the way through. Lighthearted and magical, with depths to think about if you want to.