by Erica Bauermeister
ages: adult
First sentence: “Lillian stood at the restaurant kitchen counter, considering the empty expanse in front of her.”
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Sequel to: The School of Essential Ingredients.

When I first saw this one, I thought: “Hey! I like books where food play a part.” And then, “I kind of remember liking School of Essential Ingredients.” And “That’s a happy cover. I think I’ll pick this one up.”

Then I read it.

When I finished, I actually went back and checked my review f Bauermeister’s other book. Two sentences popped out at me:

 “It was more like a series of connected short stories, and because of that, I felt unfulfilled when the story was over.”

and

“It seemed that once their story was done, Bauermeister didn’t quite know what to do with them, and pushed them out of the picture.”

Exactly.

I’m not sure the plot really matters (Lillian is pregnant, there are assorted other Crises and Discoveries), because it’s essentially the same book again. And it’s not that the book was bad. It wasn’t. It was… nice. Good enough to finish, but not good enough to run around saying “YOU HAVE TO READ THIS” to friends.

Which means: I need to do a better job at checking my own reviews before checking books out from the library. That’s why I have this blog, after all!