Theology: When You Fast by L. Joseph Letendre.

I caught the wave of fasting a little before it became trendy as a health strategy. But my motivations were not exactly pure: basically, I was still having too much fun as a cook figuring out how to make tasty things under various Lenten ingredient restrictions. The only thing that was not fun at all was not eating at all. I go into more detail here. However, since there’s little a sinner can’t do to mess up an attempted spiritual practice (which I sometimes think is their real point), I remain in regular search of help in fasting for the right reasons. Letendre, an Orthodox layperson, is a pretty decent guide. There is more contrastive identity politics in the book than I care for, and at times an overly optimistic anthropology. Still, the counsel is fundamentally sound. I suspect his encouragement to fast from noise, chatter, and criticism will speak even powerfully to you than the part about fasting from food. Incidentally, if you have your own recommendation of a book on Christian fasting, I’d like to hear about it!

Novel: A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka.

I found this secondhand in a Little Library and recognized the title from when it came out some years ago, so I thought I’d give it a try. It’s delightful. And, curiously, a good way to experience the quandaries of immigration and war, specific to Britain and Ukraine, before those two places came into the spotlight for all their present upheaval. Anyone who has experienced the culture gap between generations born in one country and another will immediately recognize, with hilarity, all the insoluble conflicts. If you have a penchant for all things eastern European, as I do, you will especially love it.

Cookbook: Please to the Table by Anya von Bremzen.

Though subtitled “The Russian Cookbook,” this would more accurately be called “The Former Soviet Union Cookbook.” It was published in 1990, at which time the USSR was in the process of rapid dissolution. Politically confusing but culinarily advantageous: this book covers the range from dark bread-, berry-, and dairy-heavy northern European cuisines to the crossroads kitchens of Armenia and Georgia (every single recipe from Georgia is wonderful) to the exotic eastern flavors of Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. Pretty much every stew and every borscht is amazing, as is the Boiled Beef à la Russe with two sauces. Russians are evidently really fond of croquettes—little fried patties—and they’re all great in here, whether of wild mushrooms, white fish, salmon, chicken, veal, or beef. So are the many savory pies, and though I’m not much of a rice person, the pilafs were beautiful. Then there are the hearty loaf breads (even better when transformed into Estonian Bread Soup with berry juice, raisins, and cream on top) and airy Central Asian flatbreads. If Whole Salmon in Aspic is not on your cooking agenda, though, there’s an enormous range of vegetable dishes, which puts the land of iceberg lettuce and steamed broccoli to shame: to mention but a few, cabbage baked with feta, carrot baba, chard and chickpeas, two-colored cauliflower and beet purée bake, and the best sauerkraut stew I’ve ever made. Read more of my lavish praise of this book here.