Reviews

Pastries: A Novel of Desserts and Discoveries by Bharti Kirchner

balkeyeston's review

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4.0

Not what I originally anticipated, but that's what I love about reading books for the first time. It's refreshing for me to finally pick up a book I haven't read for the zillionth time.

I picked up three things from this book. The first was my appreciation for local business. Having lived in a city for about a year now, I feel at ease resorting to local cafes for morning coffee and light lunches, thrift stores for my clothes shopping, and local markets for groceries. I don't depend as much on corporate businesses to keep me alive, and I've even become more frugal of a shopper. Sunya's patisserie has made me want to embrace all things beautiful about living in the city.

Secondly, I've appreciated a refreshing protagonist. This is the first adult fiction novel I've read so far where the main character isn't low on intelligence or self confidence, and for this I salute Ms Kirchner. While dimmer characters make for a more relatable protagonist, someone like Sunya creates a role model that women can look up to.

Lastly, I've learned from the Buddhist ties in this novel about how to better myself as a person. I keep myself connected to the more depressing things that happened to me in life, when I know now that I need to just move on to the next thing. I've even considered picking up meditation for the summer to help me clear my head of these troubles after reading this book. It may just end up being a fad for me, but it's a start to something different.

megfang315's review

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1.0

DNF. Really slow; disappointed in how focus wasn't on food.
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