Sourdough by Robin Sloan

This new novel by Robin Sloan is a part coming-of-age, part new (tech) age, part love story.

Lois, the main character, is a likable, fairly average young techie who moves from her home in Michigan to San Francisco. So ensues the usual culture shock of a new job, new workmates, and not a lot of outside adventure. Until she orders a home-delivery soup and bread — and changes her life by accepting a sourdough starter/culture from the departing soup-making brothers she has befriended.

Her forays into San Francisco’s tightly run farmers markets combined with her tech problem-solving is a perceptive look at our modern preoccupation with food — where it comes from, how it's processed, and who buys what.

I wish her interactions with the 'Lois Club' had more pages, simply because the premise intrigues me. Do people called 'Bill' or 'Lois' have similar experiences, simply because of their name? Probably not, but it might make a cracking good read.

by Jen