The Rewards of Reading

Today I went to Barnes and Noble because for budgeting or other unlikely reason the Bee Cave library is closed on Mondays  (probably so they don't have to have many full time employees to offer benefits to). I had just connected to an author via email, Erica Bauermeister, who is having a new book signing party in Seattle next week. I will be in Seattle also, but alas, will be leaving two days before the event. I reserved one of her books, published in 2009, at the Marble Falls library for pick up on Tuesday when I go there for my job with Symphony (sounds like a more glamorous job than it really is).

Having already parked the very un-obvious choice of automobile for me, a huge white van - the white whale - with Aeroflor Coating Services and a logo that is an airplane prop with wings emblazoned on the side, I remembered the Monday library closing. I decided to walk across the street and browse B+N and view the book reserved in Marble Falls. I asked about the organization of books by author, not knowing if it is ordered as a library is, as I normally Never purchase books unless my child needs it for school reading. I do like to shop here for 50% off all pocket calendars each year though, and this location has a Starbucks that we like to visit when shopping, and my daughters use at least 25% of their B+N gift cards from their grandaddy there.

Back to the book I reviewed - it was awesome and spoke directly to my soul! If anyone else is a Bauermeister fan you will understand when I say that I ate it up! The School of Essential Ingredients is the title, and it details the life a restaurant owner who holds a once-a-month cooking lesson and her students' interactions. But what Erica brings to the table is an incredibly detailed description of food - at least in the first 20 pages or so. I could smell the garlic and chicken fat, and inhale the cinnamon-orange-chocolate coffee. I could taste her first batch of mashed potatoes and see Mexican tamales she tried for the first time. Her analogies were incredible and I can't wait to get the book at the library tomorrow! At the same time, I will recommend to that library and to the other two that I frequent that they order her new book and previous ones as well. If you are a sensory reader - feeling what the characters feel with their senses - you will truly enjoy this book.