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Stella Peabody's Wild Librarian Bakery and Bookstore: A Novel-in-Stories
Stella Peabody, an independent and free-spirited "Wild Librarian," follows her dream and opens a vegan bakery/bookstore where she and her literary-inspired baked goods form the heart of a diverse community full of beloved characters, including Robert Gonzales, a romance novel devotee and loving husband, who finds solace in Stella's "Poet's Beer Bread" when his wife goes missing under mysterious circumstances; solitary psychologist Mary Chin who leans upon her experiences with Stella's "Women Who Run With the Wolves" Book Club to find comfort and meaning following a life-changing breast cancer diagnosis; and Rita Johansen, a lusty rare book cataloger, who is ready to find her fifth husband when she walks into the Wild Librarian one day.
Recipes are included in this novel-in-stories where familiar recurring characters' lives interconnect to shape a heartwarming tale of one woman's extraordinary dream being realized-and, subsequently, the creation of a community built on friendship, belonging, and a mutual love of great books and delicious baked goods.
"Russo's exuberance shines through the antics of the quirky, diverse cast....Ideal for those who love combining feminism, reading, and sweet treats." - Kirkus Reviews
"Delicious sense of community and depiction of women's connections. - D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
"There's something cozy and safe yet also wise, realistic, and visionary about Stacy Russo's novel-in-stories..." - Lucretia Tye Jasmine, freelance writer/artist; co-producer of KPFK's Feminist Magazine
Recipes are included in this novel-in-stories where familiar recurring characters' lives interconnect to shape a heartwarming tale of one woman's extraordinary dream being realized-and, subsequently, the creation of a community built on friendship, belonging, and a mutual love of great books and delicious baked goods.
"Russo's exuberance shines through the antics of the quirky, diverse cast....Ideal for those who love combining feminism, reading, and sweet treats." - Kirkus Reviews
"Delicious sense of community and depiction of women's connections. - D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review
"There's something cozy and safe yet also wise, realistic, and visionary about Stacy Russo's novel-in-stories..." - Lucretia Tye Jasmine, freelance writer/artist; co-producer of KPFK's Feminist Magazine
- GenresFictionBooks About Books
216 pages, Paperback
First published December 15, 2021
About the author
Stacy Russo
16 books73 followersStacy Russo is a California poet, writer, and artist who is committed to creating books and art for a more peaceful world. After a long career in libraries, she currently serves as Professor of English at Santa Ana College. Stacy's books have been featured on National Public Radio, Pacifica Radio, the Canadian Broadcasting System, Sirius XM Radio, KCET Artbound, LA Weekly, and various other media channels. She holds degrees from the University of California, Berkeley; Chapman University; and San Jose State University.
Stacy believes in the power of personal story, lifelong learning, and peaceful living. She takes her coffee black and eats chocolate before noon each day.
Stacy believes in the power of personal story, lifelong learning, and peaceful living. She takes her coffee black and eats chocolate before noon each day.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 27, 2022
I was incredibly eager to read this book and requested that my public library purchase it. I was happy when they did. When the author offered to send me a copy I was thrilled. I’d had a copy on reserve at the library but this is the sort of book I want to own, and I’ll treasure it. I will say that the author said there was no pressure on me to even read it. She included a wonderful “chocolate before noon” sticker and a lovely card with art from the Women’s Wisdom Collection and she wrote me a nice note. If I hadn’t received the book as a gift I’d definitely have read a library copy as soon as I could have gotten one. I’m eager to read all the author’s other books, those for children and those for adults. I’m particularly interested in reading her two children’s books.
Highly recommending this book to many.
Memorable characters!!! It therefore was fine when I could read only 6 days out of 8 days. The story stayed close to my mind & heart for the 8 days, and I am sure it will stay with me in the future too. I’ve been struggling with reading and my intention was to read one story a day. This book did help me get out of my reading slump.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and I think readers with a spiritual bent might enjoy it even more than I did. Definitely recommended for almost all vegans, people who love the idea of a combination bookstore/bakery, readers who appreciate community and enjoy reading about it. Just see how many of my shelves it’s on and it will be apparent that this book might appeal to a wide variety of readers.
I love books about books and it helped that I’d read a few of the books/writings mentioned in this book. I read it a long time ago but I remember really liking Women Who Run with the Wolves. Some of the books/poems/writings I haven’t read I now have some interest in reading most of them.
I suggest reading this without knowing too much. I did that and was delighted with what transpired.
I appreciate stories with vegan characters. I appreciate the diversity of the characters included in this story/these stories.
I love baked goods and vegan recipes. I love that the recipes in this book have “perfect pairings” included, not of wine but of books.
I love the motto “chocolate before noon.”
I wish this wasn’t a novel or at least wish that the bakery was real. I want to spend a lot of time there. I’d like to move right in. I’ve never had a place like this to hang out and the author envisioned what is for me a perfect place. It was a balm to my soul to just read about this place.
Some great quotes:
“How does one move on when a major part of your life stopped on a certain day, but you’re still alive?”
“ We never know how we will really act until something is upon us.”
“…some tough things in life we can’t overcome, and others we can.”
“…but there is a magic with books.”
“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” (This is a quote by Joseph Campbell.)
There are six linked short stories that make up the novel. Fast readers might want to read the short novel in one sitting but I think the best way to read this book is reading one story a day. The stories do make up a novel and each story also stands on its own. The only exception is the sixth/last story that I know I found richer reading it after having read the previous five stories.
First story: The Closet Romantic. It definitely went in an unexpected direction and was sadder than I’d expected, but was entertaining, and really lovely. For me it felt sad in a thoughtful vs. depressing way. I love the books and bookstores, and the vegan baked goods. Recipes from the first story: Poet’s Beer Bread; Enchanted Lemon Pecan Cupcakes.
Second story: Women and Wolves. I looked up the Mabel Dodge Luhan House in Taos. I have loved wolves since 1976 when I read Never Cry Wolf. Cancer story. The game Clue. The book club. Recipes from the second story: Coconut Jazz Muffins; Wild Women Blueberry Muffins.
Third story: Dr. Freud, an Avocado Tree, and the Goddess Spaceship. Another moving, sometimes sad, story with an unexpected twist. I have always loved cancer stories I have a Goodreads shelf for books that have them, but I’ve noticed that since one of my oldest and closest friends died from cancer a bit over a year ago I don’t gravitate to them nearly as much anymore. I find that interesting since my mother dying of cancer when I was eleven and my own gene mutations putting me at extremely high risk for cancers were most of what made me interested in reading them. I’ve wanted a vegetable & herb garden my whole life but oh I would give anything to have an avocado tree! Recipes from the third story: Taos Bread; Judy’s bread.
Fourth story: The Pilgrim. A house and yard and library to covet. Recipes from the fourth story: Scandalous Strawberry Cupcakes; Rose Pistachio Desire Cupcakes.
Fifth story: Visions. I loved this story. I wanted to see all of Tom’s art pieces. I love the name Henry, and the name Jane too. Recipes from the fifth story: Magical Day Muffins; Walt’s Banana Spice Muffins.
Sixth story: Love Walks into the Bakery. Oh, the man. The dogs. The mother. The house. The food garden. Perfect garden. My interest in gardening has always been with practical plants/foods. Even the few flowers happen to be my favorites. The art. The anniversary celebration. Recipes from the sixth story: On the Road Chocolate Cupcakes; Lover’s Cake.
I could say so much about each chapter but different readers are going to find different meanings in each story in this book. I made notes to remind me of some of what I found significant and unforgettable for me. I also didn’t want to write too much/spoilers.
Great cover. One lovely small drawing. I wish there were more. I’ve seen some of the author’s art online and I love it. It’s spectacular and I’m enough of a fan that I’d enjoy it on my walls.
My only quibble is that the print in the paperback is too tiny for my eyes, and I do already wear progressives. I don’t have this problem with most books I read. I prefer paper books but this is one instance when an e-book might help so that font size could be increased. I have a magnifying sheet but it’s too large to use comfortably with this size paperback book. I did eventually get used to the small print but I don’t know if some readers might find it difficult to read throughout.
I also wish that there were photos of the baked goods but this isn’t primarily a cookbook and I understand that the cost to include color photos of food would have likely been prohibitive. Except for the ones with coconut and coconut and rum they all look scrumptious to me and they don’t look too hard to make. I don’t like coconut or rum but I know that many do, and almost everyone seems to like coconut.
Happy and sad, like real life. Overall, it left me with an uplifting and satisfied feeling, although slightly sad about my life but with good food for thought. There are some twists and turns and the endings are not predictable, which surprised me more than once and all of which I appreciated.
All the time I was reading the book I was thinking 4-1/2 stars but I wasn’t sure if I’d downgrade it to 4 or upgrade it to 5 stars. I was learning toward the former until the end when I read “A Note from the Author: Writing a Community Novel.” That brought the entire book up to 5 stars for me. I fervently hope that the author’s dream will come to fruition and I would be tempted to relocate to be near such a place and at the least would do my best to make a visit to it. My only request, since I am not a coffee drinker, would be for the place to have plenty of water on hand and maybe some teas or other beverages for sale in addition to coffee.
There is one page at the end with 10 book club discussion questions. They’re excellent. I’d love to read this book with my real world book club. I started it in 2005 and our first meeting was In January 2006. We’ve faded a lot over the last several years but we’re not dead yet, and I formed it as a vegan book club so I could always eat at meetings. Most of us are vegan though there are a couple of vegetarians and maybe some of the new people are omnivores but when we meet in person together we eat 100% vegan. I think that this book would be a good one for us to discuss.
There is also a “About the Author” page at the very end of the book.
Because Goodreads no longer allows external links I am posting the following not as links:
https:// www. wildlibrarianbakery. com/ about
https: //stacy-russo .com/
https: //litwinbooks. .com/. books/wild-librarian-bakery-and-bookstore/
and https: //litwinbooks .com /?s=russo
Highly recommending this book to many.
Memorable characters!!! It therefore was fine when I could read only 6 days out of 8 days. The story stayed close to my mind & heart for the 8 days, and I am sure it will stay with me in the future too. I’ve been struggling with reading and my intention was to read one story a day. This book did help me get out of my reading slump.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and I think readers with a spiritual bent might enjoy it even more than I did. Definitely recommended for almost all vegans, people who love the idea of a combination bookstore/bakery, readers who appreciate community and enjoy reading about it. Just see how many of my shelves it’s on and it will be apparent that this book might appeal to a wide variety of readers.
I love books about books and it helped that I’d read a few of the books/writings mentioned in this book. I read it a long time ago but I remember really liking Women Who Run with the Wolves. Some of the books/poems/writings I haven’t read I now have some interest in reading most of them.
I suggest reading this without knowing too much. I did that and was delighted with what transpired.
I appreciate stories with vegan characters. I appreciate the diversity of the characters included in this story/these stories.
I love baked goods and vegan recipes. I love that the recipes in this book have “perfect pairings” included, not of wine but of books.
I love the motto “chocolate before noon.”
I wish this wasn’t a novel or at least wish that the bakery was real. I want to spend a lot of time there. I’d like to move right in. I’ve never had a place like this to hang out and the author envisioned what is for me a perfect place. It was a balm to my soul to just read about this place.
Some great quotes:
“How does one move on when a major part of your life stopped on a certain day, but you’re still alive?”
“ We never know how we will really act until something is upon us.”
“…some tough things in life we can’t overcome, and others we can.”
“…but there is a magic with books.”
“We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” (This is a quote by Joseph Campbell.)
There are six linked short stories that make up the novel. Fast readers might want to read the short novel in one sitting but I think the best way to read this book is reading one story a day. The stories do make up a novel and each story also stands on its own. The only exception is the sixth/last story that I know I found richer reading it after having read the previous five stories.
First story: The Closet Romantic. It definitely went in an unexpected direction and was sadder than I’d expected, but was entertaining, and really lovely. For me it felt sad in a thoughtful vs. depressing way. I love the books and bookstores, and the vegan baked goods. Recipes from the first story: Poet’s Beer Bread; Enchanted Lemon Pecan Cupcakes.
Second story: Women and Wolves. I looked up the Mabel Dodge Luhan House in Taos. I have loved wolves since 1976 when I read Never Cry Wolf. Cancer story. The game Clue. The book club. Recipes from the second story: Coconut Jazz Muffins; Wild Women Blueberry Muffins.
Third story: Dr. Freud, an Avocado Tree, and the Goddess Spaceship. Another moving, sometimes sad, story with an unexpected twist. I have always loved cancer stories I have a Goodreads shelf for books that have them, but I’ve noticed that since one of my oldest and closest friends died from cancer a bit over a year ago I don’t gravitate to them nearly as much anymore. I find that interesting since my mother dying of cancer when I was eleven and my own gene mutations putting me at extremely high risk for cancers were most of what made me interested in reading them. I’ve wanted a vegetable & herb garden my whole life but oh I would give anything to have an avocado tree! Recipes from the third story: Taos Bread; Judy’s bread.
Fourth story: The Pilgrim. A house and yard and library to covet. Recipes from the fourth story: Scandalous Strawberry Cupcakes; Rose Pistachio Desire Cupcakes.
Fifth story: Visions. I loved this story. I wanted to see all of Tom’s art pieces. I love the name Henry, and the name Jane too. Recipes from the fifth story: Magical Day Muffins; Walt’s Banana Spice Muffins.
Sixth story: Love Walks into the Bakery. Oh, the man. The dogs. The mother. The house. The food garden. Perfect garden. My interest in gardening has always been with practical plants/foods. Even the few flowers happen to be my favorites. The art. The anniversary celebration. Recipes from the sixth story: On the Road Chocolate Cupcakes; Lover’s Cake.
I could say so much about each chapter but different readers are going to find different meanings in each story in this book. I made notes to remind me of some of what I found significant and unforgettable for me. I also didn’t want to write too much/spoilers.
Great cover. One lovely small drawing. I wish there were more. I’ve seen some of the author’s art online and I love it. It’s spectacular and I’m enough of a fan that I’d enjoy it on my walls.
My only quibble is that the print in the paperback is too tiny for my eyes, and I do already wear progressives. I don’t have this problem with most books I read. I prefer paper books but this is one instance when an e-book might help so that font size could be increased. I have a magnifying sheet but it’s too large to use comfortably with this size paperback book. I did eventually get used to the small print but I don’t know if some readers might find it difficult to read throughout.
I also wish that there were photos of the baked goods but this isn’t primarily a cookbook and I understand that the cost to include color photos of food would have likely been prohibitive. Except for the ones with coconut and coconut and rum they all look scrumptious to me and they don’t look too hard to make. I don’t like coconut or rum but I know that many do, and almost everyone seems to like coconut.
Happy and sad, like real life. Overall, it left me with an uplifting and satisfied feeling, although slightly sad about my life but with good food for thought. There are some twists and turns and the endings are not predictable, which surprised me more than once and all of which I appreciated.
All the time I was reading the book I was thinking 4-1/2 stars but I wasn’t sure if I’d downgrade it to 4 or upgrade it to 5 stars. I was learning toward the former until the end when I read “A Note from the Author: Writing a Community Novel.” That brought the entire book up to 5 stars for me. I fervently hope that the author’s dream will come to fruition and I would be tempted to relocate to be near such a place and at the least would do my best to make a visit to it. My only request, since I am not a coffee drinker, would be for the place to have plenty of water on hand and maybe some teas or other beverages for sale in addition to coffee.
There is one page at the end with 10 book club discussion questions. They’re excellent. I’d love to read this book with my real world book club. I started it in 2005 and our first meeting was In January 2006. We’ve faded a lot over the last several years but we’re not dead yet, and I formed it as a vegan book club so I could always eat at meetings. Most of us are vegan though there are a couple of vegetarians and maybe some of the new people are omnivores but when we meet in person together we eat 100% vegan. I think that this book would be a good one for us to discuss.
There is also a “About the Author” page at the very end of the book.
Because Goodreads no longer allows external links I am posting the following not as links:
https:// www. wildlibrarianbakery. com/ about
https: //stacy-russo .com/
https: //litwinbooks. .com/. books/wild-librarian-bakery-and-bookstore/
and https: //litwinbooks .com /?s=russo
July 11, 2022
A former librarian, now a bookstore/bakery owner, interacts with her customers in this enjoyable collection of short stories. There's both humor and heartbreak to be found within these slice-of-life tales. Sharing the lives of these characters is a pleasant way to spend a few hours.
Good friends, books, and baked goods, not to mention some yummy-sounding recipes (vegan, if that matters to you) . . . what's not to love?
Thanks to Lisa Vegan for bringing this one to my attention.
Good friends, books, and baked goods, not to mention some yummy-sounding recipes (vegan, if that matters to you) . . . what's not to love?
Thanks to Lisa Vegan for bringing this one to my attention.
January 6, 2022
Some books are easy to describe and some simply are not. I have no lack of description for this book but where to start and where to stop is the hard part.
This book is both funny and sad. There is a strong community which is close to being a family especially when there is an unexpected and unexplained mystery. It’s short stories that all together make one big story. It’s women being empowered and people being alone but it’s also about not being alone but being embraced by friendships. It’s about people, men and women, discovering what makes them happy and letting that happiness flow in and through them.
Stella Peabody is at the center of each story since she is the owner of The Wild Librarian Bakery and Bookstore. She bakes and uses literature as her inspiration for her baked goods and the names she gives them.
I can’t help but think that the author has put pieces of herself into the stories but which bits are her life and which parts are her imagination I couldn’t begin to guess. There’s lots of name dropping of book title and music, and yes, lots of vegan recipes for sweets which definitely sound delicious.
I won this book in a First Reads giveaway. Thank you to the author Stacy Russo.
This book is both funny and sad. There is a strong community which is close to being a family especially when there is an unexpected and unexplained mystery. It’s short stories that all together make one big story. It’s women being empowered and people being alone but it’s also about not being alone but being embraced by friendships. It’s about people, men and women, discovering what makes them happy and letting that happiness flow in and through them.
Stella Peabody is at the center of each story since she is the owner of The Wild Librarian Bakery and Bookstore. She bakes and uses literature as her inspiration for her baked goods and the names she gives them.
I can’t help but think that the author has put pieces of herself into the stories but which bits are her life and which parts are her imagination I couldn’t begin to guess. There’s lots of name dropping of book title and music, and yes, lots of vegan recipes for sweets which definitely sound delicious.
I won this book in a First Reads giveaway. Thank you to the author Stacy Russo.
September 20, 2022
This isn’t the sort of book I’d normally read, but I’m glad I did. There’s a little bit of something here for everyone—from mystery to tearjerker to humor and romance. Above all, we see a pervasive love of books and the sometimes surprising ways they bring us together. (Expect lots of literary references!)
I know I’m not the only reader who wished for our very own neighborhood Wild Librarian café where we can feel welcomed and at home—the type of place that seems increasingly elusive in our world.
I loved that the bakery was vegan and that this was simply wound into the storyline as just another aspect of the café and its proprietor. Many of the shop’s regulars were not vegan, but they enjoyed Stella Peabody’s dishes just the same—demonstrating the idea that even if you don’t choose plant-based all of the time, you can still do it some of the time, and that’s a good thing! Multiple recipes for sweet treats are included.
I can think of several people I know who would enjoy this book, if they’d only give it a chance.
Content Note: There is a storyline involving a character who receives a serious diagnosis, so readers may wish to be aware of this going in.
I know I’m not the only reader who wished for our very own neighborhood Wild Librarian café where we can feel welcomed and at home—the type of place that seems increasingly elusive in our world.
I loved that the bakery was vegan and that this was simply wound into the storyline as just another aspect of the café and its proprietor. Many of the shop’s regulars were not vegan, but they enjoyed Stella Peabody’s dishes just the same—demonstrating the idea that even if you don’t choose plant-based all of the time, you can still do it some of the time, and that’s a good thing! Multiple recipes for sweet treats are included.
I can think of several people I know who would enjoy this book, if they’d only give it a chance.
Content Note: There is a storyline involving a character who receives a serious diagnosis, so readers may wish to be aware of this going in.
November 7, 2022
Some good stories and some worthwhile characters here, so I enjoyed this OK, but the writing style came across as very amateur for me. I liked the vegan recipes, hope I'll get to try some of these.
September 9, 2023
such a wonderful read!
It’s always been my dream to have a bookstore like Stella’s . I’m a retired librarian, so this fulfilled my fantasy. Loved the book recommendation for each recipe!
It’s always been my dream to have a bookstore like Stella’s . I’m a retired librarian, so this fulfilled my fantasy. Loved the book recommendation for each recipe!
February 10, 2024
This book was cute. I liked the idea of putting a few short stories into one book. I love that it stayed related to the coffee shop and the book club. Some parts were sad but there was a lot of happiness as well. I definitely would recommend to anyone who loves short stories that are super super cute through them.
October 13, 2022
If you’re expecting a conservative, gray-haired, older librarian quietly baking chocolate chip cookies, you’ve misjudged this book
The women and men in these Interconnected stories grapple with life’s hardships. Stacy Russo writes their stories so incredibly well and it was such a joy to get to know each of the characters in each of the stories. Each story is woven together so that you continue to see the characters throughout, even when the story no longer focuses on them. So beautifully done. The stories ache and they bring joy. I loved them, absolutely them.
The Wild Librarian Bakery and Bookstore is an absolute dream. This place truly should exist. And, is really a version of something I would love to have, myself, one day.
The recipes all sound delicious. While there are a few that I would try vegan, as written, several of them would be very easy to sub back to a not-vegan version. The artwork and creativity are inspriring. Russo creates food and works of art on these pages that I want to experience in person.
I was so in tune and so in love with Stella’s little life she had created for herself. It’s established how wonderful Stella’s life is, just as it is. She’s “blissfully single”, “independent and free-spirited”. And, then. I got to the last story. I almost didn’t even want to finish reading, to be honest. I did finish the book. However; I didn’t sink into the last story, soaking it in as I did the others. I quickly and half-heartedly read through it, just so I’d know how all of my beloved friends ended up.
The magic slipped back in during the last few pages; Russo wraps back around towards the other characters and also leans into Stella’s new found art medium. Unfortunately, by then I was no longer as deeply enamored as before. The spell was broken.
The women and men in these Interconnected stories grapple with life’s hardships. Stacy Russo writes their stories so incredibly well and it was such a joy to get to know each of the characters in each of the stories. Each story is woven together so that you continue to see the characters throughout, even when the story no longer focuses on them. So beautifully done. The stories ache and they bring joy. I loved them, absolutely them.
The Wild Librarian Bakery and Bookstore is an absolute dream. This place truly should exist. And, is really a version of something I would love to have, myself, one day.
The recipes all sound delicious. While there are a few that I would try vegan, as written, several of them would be very easy to sub back to a not-vegan version. The artwork and creativity are inspriring. Russo creates food and works of art on these pages that I want to experience in person.
I was so in tune and so in love with Stella’s little life she had created for herself. It’s established how wonderful Stella’s life is, just as it is. She’s “blissfully single”, “independent and free-spirited”. And, then. I got to the last story. I almost didn’t even want to finish reading, to be honest. I did finish the book. However; I didn’t sink into the last story, soaking it in as I did the others. I quickly and half-heartedly read through it, just so I’d know how all of my beloved friends ended up.
The magic slipped back in during the last few pages; Russo wraps back around towards the other characters and also leans into Stella’s new found art medium. Unfortunately, by then I was no longer as deeply enamored as before. The spell was broken.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews