A reread. This time the worst of it for me were the political and philosophical sections which often felt dated and dull, though I've loved similar scenes in other books. He seemed conflicted about his characters at times, especially the women. But when they argue or fight their worst impulses, I'm in awe of his perception. I also loved the farm work, Kitty in labor, and Anna's deteriorating mental state. And that awful book review!

Top notch food history plus memoir. He writes so beautifully, and this is essay at its best, thoughtful self-questioning in the context of history and genealogy, made more present through travel and his development of practical skills.

This is wonderful. An epic serious comedy of French WWII, first published in 1980, now translated. I read it immediately after Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend and it wasn't a comedown.

Anyone who was a child of brown rice people in the 70s will have special love for this one. And if you want to know where all the kale and "detox" diets came from, this is for you too.

Smart and gorgeous -- coffee table book and excellent art history in one.

I'm just reading Summer so far and love it. Complex young reluctant librarian protagonist. Sleepy tiny decrepit town, sexual bliss and disaster, painful class issues delicately handled, transient joys, a gradually closing trap. Clouds of white butterflies.

"Breakfast is held in a wood-paneled room from another era. There are three large buffet tables of food labeled : Indian, British, and Healthy."

I've yet to see a better book on the techniques of baking daily breads, whole grain or otherwise. And beautifully written --"about as thick as a heavy wool blanket" slays me every time. (from a recipe for pita bread)

I read this for a paid review -- it's excellent, heartbreaking and also heartening.. A childhood memoir by an artist who grew up poor and abandoned in 1920s and 30s Colombia.

For Earth Day -- this is my botanist great-grandmother's copy.

I just discovered Jessica B Harris and picked this up. I love food history and this is one of the best I've read in years. Her expertise and research are clear in every sentence, but her writing is so graceful, and she knows how to tell a good story and leave you with just enough. And after all her tantalizing food descriptions, I was glad to find she included a section of good-looking recipes at the end.

Escapism. Also, good prep for the full eclipse coming this summer!

Finished my huge book project and I can read again! Catching up on Shelf reviews. I'm only 50 pages into this and I'm breathless -- sound, brilliant, passionate. Short version: US urban segregation is the creation of systematic unconstitutional (as in 13th amendment of 1866) government policy and law, and we all owe it to ourselves to set it right.

I read this for a Shelf review. I think it's already my history pick for 2017. Endlessly eye-opening about why US culture is the way it is-- the volunteerism, the social movements, the individualism and anti-intellectualism, the link between fundamentalism and white supremacy, the fear.... and she can tell a good story too.

I read Harris' memoir this week and loved it, could relate to many parts of it and envied most of the rest! She mentioned this 1969 cookbook and neighborhood restaurant guide, and it just came in the mail! One of my favorite forms of time travel.

March #tbr -- my work pile has six more! But I went to the #library to pick up the DVD on hold...and then I was in the library...

This is one #favoritechildrensbook among many, my mother's old copy that I read as a child. Lucinda is a temporary orphan, free to explore Manhattan on her skates at the turn of the last century. She has her supportive and antagonistic relatives. She makes friends, and one dies --I think it was my first book with a real shock of grief in it. She's crazy for The Tempest and has a wonderful tabletop theater I still wish for.

I reviewed this for Shelf Awareness when it came out and am still recommending it to people. Pure joy if you love history/computer/literature geekery. A taste for steampunk helps too. My 12 year old daughter also read it several times, ignoring all the footnotes (the stories don't require them). The author is an animator who worked on Iron Giant and the 2016 Jungle Book movie. She has a website with excerpts from this. #comics #riotgrams

Day 8 of #riotgrams -- #blackhistory. I just did a Shelf review of this new book written in 1941. It's a time machine, one of those novels that drops you into a specific place in history, and at the same time, so much in it is still all too relevant. If it had come out back then it would be a classic now.

No photo of #mylocallibrary for #riotgrams today, instead, here's my well-worn library card and my laptop stickers. My reading life oscillates between TCPL and Buffalo Street Books--a short and pleasant walk from each other in downtown #Ithaca, NY.

Eye-watering pan of this by my 15 year old boy. To summarize: "Too much teenage drama and nothing much happening, a bunch of weird tangential stories in the middle, abrupt bad cliffhanger ending. Meh." He picked it up because he loves Ready Player One. Betrayed by the blurb.