I am over the moon about how this turned out. It just looks SO GREAT. Many many thanks to Sheila Sachs and Paul Dolan for being so very talented.

So, yes, the book is on its way to a bookstore shelf near you; please, if you can, buy it from an indie, from the publisher, or direct from me. We get a few more pieces of gold that way, and you’ll be doing your part to support independent media, in both its production and distribution.

To make it easy – at least for Chicagoans – we’re throwing a book release party on Wednesday, November 2, from 7 to 9 PM at the Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia. We’ll have books for sale, and soup and bread from a wide range of donors, and a DJ and beer and, basically, a furious good time. A portion of the proceeds from all books sold at the party, and all donations raised, go to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

If you are not familiar with what is euphemistically referred to over on the right as “my other blog,” I’d urge you to check it out, for more than you could ever want to know about Soup & Bread and its evolution over the years.

But here, in a nutshell, are some of the nice things people have been saying:

Time Out Chicago named it “One of the ten essential cookbooks for autumn.”

Chicagoist says the book is “just as stunning to read” as the first one; Grub Street Chicago concurs, but they used the word “adorable.”

And out in Baltimore, Examiner‘s Tamar Fleishman called it “one of the most thought-provoking (and appetizing!) books I’ve picked up in a long time.” How nice is that?

As things ramp up on the soup scene, I will try and post updates here. But, well, if I run out of steam just trust that I’ll get back to this forum eventually. In the meantime, if you’re wondering where I am, the Soup & Bread blog as and the Facebook page for the book are both good places to look.

Hope to see you on the 2nd!