I enjoy quirky books and after reading the sneak peak of Sourdough, I was intrigued; how does a software engineer like Lois, end up making sourdough bread for a living? As the book opens we discover a little about Lois. She works at a San Francisco robotics company, miles away from her family; she has few friends as she has no time to find them, spending hours at work and then collapsing at night. She, along with most of her colleagues, eats mainly ‘Slurry’ a nutritive gel, which is encouraged by the company to ensure their employees get a fully nutritional diet, despite their incredibly long days. However, Lois discovers a local soup/sandwich bar that makes the most delicious spicy soup and mouth-watering sourdough bread. She becomes their ‘Number One Customer’. When the sandwich shop has to close, the owners leave her with the starter for their sourdough bread. Taking her new responsibility very seriously, Lois is soon baking loaves daily. She takes them to work for her colleagues and is encouraged to take them to the local farmers’ market. Whilst there, she is invited to join a different, secretive market, which aims to combine food and technology. Sourdough is a self-confessed geeky book, full of computer speak, secret clubs, book devotees and foodies. Lois is a great character, she is smart and inquisitive, and has a sense of fun. However, she has ended up as a coder because she is good at it, not because she really wanted to do it, and she knows this. There is an observant line in the book which I think many readers will identify with; "Here's a thing I believe about people my age: We are the children of Hogwarts, and more than anything, we just want to be sorted." Sourdough has a gentle humour, not laugh out loud funny, but quiet chuckles. Many of the secondary characters are also noteworthy; Peter at the software company who is a sponsor for ‘Slurry’ and can’t understand why anyone would want to eat real bread; Horace, the librarian, who seems to know about every book ever written; the members of the Lois Club, a social club for those named Lois with chapters in towns across the US. Overall I did enjoy this book. The story is fun and has a slightly fantastical edge to it throughout. I know some readers lose patience with quirky stories, preferring more realism, but I enjoy an eccentric tale. However, the final act of the Sourdough goes all out and for me was a ‘quirk too far’.