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Cafe Parlez Fiction Bookgroup 2018 List: Food for Thought
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The baker's secret
by Stephen P Kiernan
We will discuss this book on Thursday, January 25, at 6:30 PM.
A baker's apprentice in Normandy endures shame and anger as her kind mentor is targeted and arrested for his Jewish heritage, a violation that compels the young woman to engage in discreet resistance activities, baking contraband loaves of bread for the hungry using surplus ingredients taken from occupying forces. 35,000 first printing.
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Fever
by Mary Beth Keane
We will discuss this book on Thursday, February 22 at 6:30 PM.
Presents a fictionalized account of the life of Typhoid Mary, an Irish immigrant who moved to New York at the turn of the century and became a successful cook, until the Department of Health noticed the trail of disease she left behind
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Five quarters of the orange
by Joanne Harris
We will discuss this book on Thursday, March 29 at 6:30 PM.
A stirring, sensual novel by the author of Chocolat follows a woman as she returns to the French village where she lived as a girl during the German occupation. 50,000 first printing.
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The hundred-foot journey : a novel
by Richard C. Morais
We will discuss this book on Thursday, April 26 at 6:30 PM.
An American release of a well-received 2008 publication in India is a tribute to Indian and French flavors that follows the life journey of chef Hassan Haji, who progresses from his family's modest restaurant in Mumbai to master haute cuisine in an elegant Parisian restaurant.
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The city baker's guide to country living
by Louise Miller
We will discuss this book on Thursday, May 31 at 6:30 PM.
"Like her creator, Olivia Rawlings is a Boston-based pastry chef, though one doubts that Miller ever set an entire building alight while flambéing her signature dessert. After that little upset, Livvy seeks comfort in Guthrie, VT, settling down with peppy dog Salty when she's offered a job at the Sugar Maple Inn and falling for Martin McCracken, home to tend his ailing father"--synopsis of standard edition
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Blood, bones, & butter : the inadvertent education of a reluctant chef
by Gabrielle Hamilton
We will discuss this book on Thursday, June 28 at 6:30 PM.
The chef of New York's East Village Prune restaurant presents an unflinching account of her search for meaning and purpose in the food-central rural New Jersey home of her youth, marked by a first chicken kill, an international backpacking tour and the opening of a first restaurant. 50,000 first printing.
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Kitchens of the great Midwest
by J. Ryan Stradal
We will discuss this book on Thursday, July 26 at 6:30 PM.
Raised with a sophisticated palate by her single father, Eva learns the culturally rich stories behind a series of Midwestern dishes while becoming the star chef at a legendary restaurant. A first novel. 75,000 first printing.
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Sweetbitter
by Stephanie Danler
We will discuss this book on Thursday, August 30 at 6:30 PM.
A year in the life of a beguiling young woman in the wild world of a famous downtown New York restaurant follows her burning effort to become someone of importance through a backwaiter job that enables her indulgences in culinary and intellectual interests.
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The kitchen daughter : a novel
by Jael McHenry
We will discuss this book on Thursday, Sept. 27 at 6:30 PM,
Seeking comfort in traditional family culinary practices after the early deaths of her parents, 26-year-old Asperger's patient Ginny struggles with her domineering sister's decision to sell the house, troubling secrets and the ghost of a dead ancestor, in a story complemented by recipes. 60,000 first printing.
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Sourdough : a novel
by Robin Sloan
We will discuss this book on Thursday Oct. 25 at 6:30 PM.
Enduring a virtually solitary existence working for an ambitious software company, an exhausted coder is bequeathed a sourdough recipe from sibling bakers who are forced to close their shop, a gift that leads to a new vocation, a legal dispute and a venture into a secret market that fuses food with technology. By the author of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore.
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The bartender's tale
by Ivan Doig
We will discuss this book on Thursday Nov. 29 at 6:30 PM.
Running a venerable bar in 1960 Montana while raising his twelve-year-old son, single father Tom Harry finds his world upended by the arrival of a woman from his past and her beatnik daughter, who claims Tom as her father
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The Gilly salt sisters
by Tiffany Baker
We will discuss this book on Thursday, Dec. 27 at 6:30 PM.
Two sisters in Cape Cod fight over the town's wealthiest bachelor as they learn about life, love and family history in this novel from the New York Times best-selling author of The Little Giant of Aberdeen County.
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Joseph H. Plumb Memorial Library 17 Constitution Way Rochester, Massachusetts 02770 (508)763-8600www.plumblibrary.com/ |
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