Sourdough: A Novel

I read this entire book in the airport and on a flight from Italy to Boston. I couldn't stop reading it....I LOVED this book....It was so well written, both smart and funny (I laughed out loud on several occassions...probably to the dismay of the travelers on either side of me). I tend to read a lot of books about food and cooking...but this is not your typical foodie novel. A few people have said it wasn't "believable" but I don't mind a bit of fancy, or fantasy, mixed into a story - - I actually quite like it. Having worked in the tech industry in the Bay Area , I really enjoyed the parts that took place at work. Loved the Lois Club and the Beo email arcs as well. I haven't read any other books by Robin Sloan, but I ordered one immediately upon finishing this one.!

Being a programmer and loving San Francisco, I loved the first part of the book. I thought the feel of working in Big Tech was spot on, as were the personalities of the people you find there. However, the second half went a little zaney/ twilight zone for me and really did not love it from that point on. It is well written and I had no problem reading the story each night. I am a little surprised that I did not see anyone mention one of the best features of this book. Here I am reading a section where yeasty creatures are blooping and blopping to the music and putting on a light show. So I finished reading this, turned out my red head lamp and turned my head to place the book on my nightstand. And something was glowing in my hand. I looked again, and realized that the spiral design on the front jacket was definitely glowing brightly in the dark. What a great effect. How fun.

A wonderful, smart, quirky and hopeful journey through America's rapid blending if technology and life. unlike many technology-laced writers, Sloan is hopeful and has faith in the goodness of us. Like Mr. Penumbras, this book is devourable whole and leaves you thinking. I want to think this is a smart allegory for our civilization. Or maybe its valuable just because its a wonderful story. Thank you, Mr. Sloan!

“Sourdough” is a romp into the world of bread making as a health restoration, as entrepreneurship, and as a life-changer. Take one overworked tech geek who has no “real” life, add one gifted sourdough culture starter, and imagination that follows curiosity—welcome to the adventures of Lois. Lois, much like Alice in Wonderland, has a child-like curiosity and a need for human contact. Lois meets her rabbit in the form of soup maker brothers who add a slice of sourdough bread to each order of soup. And not just any sourdough bread. Bread that heals and makes Lois want to know more about why it is so delicious. What follows as Lois begins her journey into bread making is a fantasy that breaks all the rules of reality. I highly recommend this book and several earlier books by this author, Robin Sloan. You will laugh and want to start baking to keep the warm feeling.

What interesting, different and great book! Anybody, who has made bread in the past especially sourdough bread and I have, will be fascinated just by the adventure of it all. Indeed, sourdough starter does have a life of its own and keeping it going means making bread a lot which, unfortunately, the family grew up and moved away, life got busy and I reached a spot where I didn’t need to eat so much bread. So, I stopped making sourdough and my starter died! This story careens into some incredible spaces that are hilarious and imaginative. I found myself laughing out loud unexpectedly at the oddest moments! This is a highly entertaining plus a well researched story with allusions and references (in multiple directions) that are well worth following up!

We're in the San Francisco Bay area, foodies and early programmers. This is a charming tale of technology, the food culture, and sourdough that's just fun to read. Bought this on kindle because the print copy had font that was slightly too difficult for me to read but that's a problem of my eyesight. Allusions to Alice Waters and other Bay Area features. Another Bay Area book of interest is "Catapult: Harry and I build a siege weapon" which shows just how easy it is to get an arts grant here.

There is a meditation in this story on lifecycles, moderation, and on unchecked activity. I thought there were clever echoes of it everywhere, in all parts of the story, even the seemingly unimportant ones about cafeteria French fries. And in the end, a promise of a way back, too...a reminder of the ebb and flow, rise and fall of life's endeavors.This story went down like an easy pill, smooth and over before I knew it, having sucked several hours of my life away from me (but not in a bad way).I love when stories have so much natural structure and connectedness. I think this was worth the read. I read a lot, and while I have read some slop, this is not that. Ignore the criticism and read with an open mind.

I read this after reading the 24hour bookstore by same author. If he had more books, I would read them, too. Fun, adventure, pure enjoyment.

I have to confess Mr Penumbra’s 24 hour bookstore is in my top 10 favourite books so I have been eagerly awaiting the publication of Sourdough.I’m relieved to say I loved it. So much so I was close to skiving off work to finish it and found it very hard to stop reading it whilst I was there – I could feel it singing to me from my office drawer – very mazg!Once again it heavily features San Francisco complete with tech-creatives and a cool vibe. Sloan’s writing is refreshing and tongue in cheek without sounding too hipster.It should come with a warning that you will become obsessed with nurturing and baking your own sourdough bread after reading it – that’s definitely on the agenda for my weekend.In fact I enjoyed it so much that despite receiving a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, I also purchased the hardback. Love love love it.

I loved Robin Sloan's first book, the quirky "Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Book Store" and was hoping for something similar here. "Sourdough" tells the story of Lois, who works for a tech company in San Francisco. She programs robot arms and hates the man-made slop called Slurry that her boss encourages her to eat instead of real food. Craving something more tasty, she finds a takeaway leaflet for a nearby soup and sourdough shop and finds that their products are absolutely delicious. She quickly becomes their number one customer, until the brothers who run the business have to leave. Before they go however they give her their sourdough starter - the yeast-based mix they add to their bread - and Lois decides to try her hand at baking. Soon enough she finds that her bread is fantastic and decides to change her career, but then things take a surreal turn."Sourdough" has quirky bits in it but on the whole it really didn't engage me like Sloan's first book. I found that the second half of the book felt a bit bolted-on, as though someone had suggested that Sloan made the book more exciting, so he added a sort of horror movie cliche to the story. There were a few fun and sweet scenes to be found, but it didn't really work for me at all, although I was craving bread by the end as it sounded delicious.

Lois Clary is a Bay Area robot programmer. To start with, she’s the furthest thing from a foodie you can imagine: she’s happy enough drinking “Slurry” meal replacement gel. But she’s so seduced by the spicy stew and sourdough bread sold by a pair of ethnic brothers that when their visas are up and they leave her with their sourdough starter, through their occasional e-mail guidance she becomes a devoted baker. “I needed a more interesting life. I could start by learning something. I could start with the starter.” Lois attempts to link her job and her hobby by teaching a robot arm to knead the bread she makes for a farmer’s market, but ultimately she has to choose between what her head tells her and what her heart draws her towards. Madcap adventures ensue. It’s a funny and original novel and it makes you think, too – particularly about the extent to which we should allow technology to take over our food production. I’d recommend it to those who enjoyed Kitchens of the Great Midwest.

I first came across Robin Sloan when I read Mr Penumbra's Bookstore last years, then I read the prequel - Ajax Penumbra. Then when I found this was on promotion for 99p I was delighted.This was a thoroughly enjoyable book. It had all the sass, all the beauty and all the vivid imagery of San Francisco. It had the encroachingly uncomfortable technology industry. It had the incomer protagonist who was incredibly relatable, like in Penumbra. It had some really clever devices to tie together all these people. Then it had the Mazg tribe who are a soulful group, always on the move and who are close to food and music and all the best things in life. It just made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.It's a clever book, it's an intelligent book, it was just totally magnificent. If I could buy it again on Kindle I would. It's worth the full price £4.99, probably more. If I could buy it again I would.What am I on?Sourdough, obviously.

The fundamentals of this book - the character of Lois, the main character, and her journey - feel entirely real. The story follows her from an outwardly enviable situation - a well-paying job for a cool start-up in SF - through a series of decisions which lead her to take control of her life. It doesn't feel corny, or contrived, even though much of the rest of the story is unlikely.The love for food, and the people who make it, shines through - and the book is full of ideas. It's one of those books that makes me smile.