Ingredients for a good read

Ever read a book where you suddenly realize you're grinning into the pages like an idiot? The smile erupts into a giggle or a laugh, drawing attention to itself before landing back on your face again, and you need someone to tell: "I love this! I love this book!"

The current book is Erica Bauermeister's first novel, The School of Essential Ingredients, and the phrases are things like this: In the time since Lillian's father had left, housework had become for Lillian's mother a travel destination rarely reached; laundry, a friend one never remembered to call.

And the laughter comes from places like this:

When Lillian reached the age of eight, she began to take over the cooking in her
own household. Lillian's mother raised no objections; food had not disappeared
along with Lillian's father, but while it was not impossible to cook while
reading, it was problematic, and, because of Lillian's mother's tendency to
mistake one spice for another if a book was unusually absorbing, meals had
become less successful, if also more intriguing.

Reading while cooking. Absolutely! The relief when dinner is something like pasta because of the chance to get a few more pages read while the water comes to a boil. The desire for stir fry competing with the knowledge that chopping veggies is to reading, as a trip to the ER is to eating dinner as a family.

I'll post a full review of this book closer to its release date. For now, I'm on page fifteen and grinning ear to ear.

****
Update: My full review of The School of Essential Ingredients is here.