Rating: 
Summary: Great Characters
Review: The only reason this book does not get a 5 is because I know Hendricks can do better...she came so close with this book, just a little something missing. I enjoyed this book (I want to learn how to make bread). I am not much on series books, but I do hope Hendricks continues this story and includes all the characters (even David). Most books rush the ending and there is no conclusion..but this book has a great conclusion - too great because I want more. The characters are fun and easy to associate with (even David). I am looking forward to her next book.
Rating: 
Summary: Pleasant vacation reading
Review: This book is a pleasant read with a predictable and uninspired plot - 30-something executive wife gets dumped by corporate ladder-climbing husband and embarks on a journey of self-discovery to find a new man and happiness at the end. While the main character is reasonably well-developed through the use of flashbacks to her baking experiences in France and wonderful descriptions of bread-making, the other characters are somewhat flat and one-dimentional. Having said all that, however, the author's style is engaging and the book held my interest to the end. This is a perfect book to read at the beach or on a plane ride to your vacation destination.
Rating: 
Summary: I LOVED THIS BOOK!
Review: This book is a warm, wonderful slice of life. The characters are people I'd like to spend time with. There are so many stories out there of women who have been "done wrong" by a man (and I've read them all!), but something about this book touched me deeply. I envy Wynter's courage in moving on and making a great new life for herself - even though she was as uncertain about her decisions as the rest of us are about ours. The descriptions of the bread made my mouth water and made me want to be Wyn's friend - and a lucky recipient of some of her bread experiments. I cannot recommend this book highly enough if you're looking for a book to truly lose yourself in. It left me wanting more!
Rating:
Summary: I LOVED THIS BOOK!
Review: This book is a warm, wonderful slice of life. The characters are people I'd like to spend time with. There are so many stories out there of women who have been "done wrong" by a man (and I've read them all!), but something about this book touched me deeply. I envy Wynter's courage in moving on and making a great new life for herself - even though she was as uncertain about her decisions as the rest of us are about ours. The descriptions of the bread made my mouth water and made me want to be Wyn's friend - and a lucky recipient of some of her bread experiments. I cannot recommend this book highly enough if you're looking for a book to truly lose yourself in. It left me wanting more!
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written
Review: This book is not about racing to finish and find out what happens. It's about enjoying every paragraph and every page which is filled with vivid imagery, a wonderful sense of humor, tremendously sensitive insight into the emotional life of the human heart, and rich characterizations of imperfect people who become real and important to you. You WILL get involved with Hendrick's characters and you WILL care deeply about what happens. But, in THIS book (and Hendrick's other Novel "Isabel's Daughter"), you will enjoy every page on the journey to find out. I borrowed these books, read them, and then ordered them (from amazon, of course) because I want to OWN them and re-read them, something I hardly ever do. These are keepers! And I hope Judith Hendricks lives a long productive life, taking her time to craft more such beautifully-written stories.
Rating:
Summary: Satisfies like warm bread
Review: This book will make you hungry - for a good, crusty bread fresh from the oven as well as a second chance to do the thing you love most but have abandoned in favor of more "traditional" pursuits.Hendricks gives the reader a pleasant, warm glimpse into the life of a young woman who is able to reinvent herself by rediscovering what she truly loves - bread and herself. Although a failed marriage and romance are central to the plot, the protagonist is able to do forge an identity on her own - apart from a man. A quick read, but an enjoyable one worth the time.
Rating:
Summary: Charming, not great
Review: This is a very pleasant read, the story of a yuppie woman who get dumped by her louse of a husband, only to find fulfillment as a baker and "bread maven." A tiny bit of sloppiness irritated me - the chronology was off for a woman in her thirties, and Williams-Sonoma hasn't been in Westlake Mall for several years - but overall a good story and a nice read. The bread recipes sound delicious.
Rating:
Summary: cozy and heartwarming debut
Review: This is a wonderful book. I was drawn into the story immediately and found myself thinking about the characters when I was away from the book. I picked up this book at a time when I needed to wrap myself around something that not only held my interest, but allowed me to involve myself with someone else's life. Read and enjoy this book, and if you can bake, enjoy the recipes. I myself am almost useless in the kitchen and I need to lose weight, so I just enjoyed the breads, cakes and cookies vicariously. I am looking forward to Ms. Hendrricks next book, but in the meantime, when I'm in the mood for comfort "food", I may just havt to read this again!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This is one of the best books I've ever read. I loved Ms. Hendricks' sense of humor. Several of my friends read the book at my suggestion and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was so impressed with this book that I e-mailed the author directly to tell her so. She took the time to e-mail me back and thanked me for my comments. I am looking forward to her next book.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful weekend book
Review: This is one of the few books I've read that actually delivers more than the jacket promises. From the blurb, I thought I'd get one of those light self-discovery-and-a-dash-of-romance books that seem to be so popular right now - which was all right with me. I just wanted a getaway book for the weekend. From the first paragraph, the quality of writing told me I was in for something better. Hendricks' evocative style of writing made me long for Seattle, for a simpler life, and it's really put me in the mood to BAKE BREAD! (In fact, I was hoping to read a review that told me how the bread recipes actually come out.) My only quibble was that the Toulouse flashbacks ceased rather abruptly, making me wish for more substantial closure on the Jean Marc story. But that's a small one. I finished the book, closed it, and said to the cover, "What a lovely, lovely, lovely story." A very satisfying read.
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