Sourdough by Robin Sloan

SOURDOUGH by Robin Sloan is surprisingly one of my favorite reads of the summer. It’s about an overworked young programmer, Lois, who finds her passion – baking bread - and transforms her life and the life of others. SOURDOUGH is slow at times, but it has stayed with me due primarily to its endearing protagonist and its many humorous elements.  Initially, Lois has little life outside of working at General Dexterity in the Bay Area.  Her poor sleeping and eating habits gradually improve due to a mysterious local take-out’s soup and bread.  Sadly, the chef and his deliveryman brother run into visa issues and leave their “number one eater” (Lois) a yeasty sourdough starter and special ethnic music. Lois soon learns to bake bread, construct an oven, and even experiments with programming a robot to break eggs. This is a fun read about the possibility of following your dreams (even if you do not realize that is happening) from Robin Sloan, the author of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, an Alex Award winner.

A very interesting juxtaposition would be to have a group read the fictional SOURDOUGH (featuring its robot character and almost magical biological substance) and also LIFE 3.0 by Max Tegmark which is non-fiction, dealing with the dangers of super intelligence and AI. 

Tegmark, a professor of physics at MIT, argues that the most important conversation of our time is about the future of AI and he quotes numerous experts in his text.  Tegmark also makes good use of charts and visuals to explain his thinking, saying “the goal of the book is to help you join this conversation.”  There is quite a bit of background material to sift through, however, and his explanations were sometimes quite dry or even a bit condescending given the topic. A review in August 29th’s Wall Street Journal notes that LIFE 3.0 is likely to be controversial, with the bulk devoted to “how things could go wrong.” I agree that this is an extremely important issue, but it is a little unclear who Tegmark’s target audience is for this disturbing forecast.

Honestly, I felt that SOURDOUGH opened my mind more to the possibility of using robots and made me feel genuinely excited about the near-term future. I also want to learn more about Vivek Wadhwa and his book, The Driver in the Driverless Car, just featured on the PBS NewsHour.

Glass Houses by Louise Penny

GLASS HOUSES by Louise Penny is another excellent mystery (following A Great Reckoning and The Nature of the Beast) featuring Armand Gamache, his wife Reine-Marie, son-in-law and colleague Jean-Guy, plus numerous village residents and members of the judiciary and police forces.  In this stellar addition, Penny divides the narrative between Judge Maureen Corriveau’s first homicide case in Montreal (where Gamache is testifying) and the Quebecois village of Three Pines where a murder occurred.  The deceased was wearing a black hood and robes, perhaps acting as a “debt collector,” or Conscience, of sorts. But who was the target? Someone from the village or one of the college friends making an annual visit to the B and B? As Gamache and his force try to solve the local murder, they are also battling widespread drug trafficking and powerful cartels. Consequently, GLASS HOUSES explores moral questions from several perspectives.  And, as always, Penny weaves a suspenseful tale, culminating in exciting, action-filled scenes. GLASS HOUSES received starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus, and Library Journal.  

This series is an absolute favorite and highly recommended. Not to be ignored is the Author’s Note with Penny’s comments about Three Pines: “The village does not exist physically.... Three Pines is a state of mind. When we choose tolerance over hate. Kindness over cruelty. Goodness over bullying. When we choose to be hopeful, not cynical.  Then we live in Three Pines.”