oooh, goodreads choice awards semifinalist for best fiction! what will happen? 
 this is the same kind of breezy good fun as the author's debut, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, but while that one was about computer-savvy booknerds having secret-society-based adventures in san francisco, this one is about computer-savvy FOODnerds having secret-society-based adventures in san francisco. so, totes different dynamic. 
 that might sound like me having a go at sloane, but i'm not at all - i love books and i love food and i love mysterious adventures involving secret societies. if his third book turns out to be about a secret cabal of adorable fuzzy baby animalnerds who have adventures in san francisco, i'm not gonna say no, especially if it glows in the dark the way the first two do (including the arcs), which is thoughtful AND fun: 
 he is hard to review, though. a lot of the fun of his books is in that journey of discovery where a thing leads to an unexpected thing leads to a weird thing leads to...adventure! they're all brisk movement, full of heart and charming characters with nothing to offend any reader, all without coming across as cloying or cheesy. except when he is actually writing about cheese, which he does at great length in this book. 
 it's a quick read that doesn't skimp on details or research; there are fun food facts, clever ha-has sprinkled throughout, and it's got this really appealing tone of bonhomie, which is just what the doctor ordered to offset all the discord spinning through the world right now. a very pleasant distraction that will make you smile and desperately crave bread (slathered in butter, please). if i had to point out one negative thing, it's that his characters aren't as developed or complex as you may find elsewhere, but in a way it's a little freeing to read something that isn't concerned with psychological scrutiny, and i kind of loved that it was fun without being "dumb" fun. 
 OH - i just realized - this book is "adventures in food and fun!!" which is a thing that used to happen here on goodreads and no longer does. quick - gimmie some bread to dry these nostalgic tears! 
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 DRAMATIC BREAD!!! 
 review to come post-vacation/when sober - whichever comes first.