I just finished reading Potluck, and I must say I found it absolutely phenomenal. It mesmerized me from the beginningto the end. The easy and delicious way Spagna describes Stehekin, and the hills and valleys in and around it, is soenticingly captivating. Her love for the place and her community reveals itself in enchanting details page after pagewithout a pause. It's to her credit that I can almost picture the place and the community that inhabits it. Stehekinis a character in Potluck, and Spagna's intense love for it is felt throughout the book. Potluck seems more like a colorfulpainting than a collection of essays. It kept me turning the pages not only because of the richness of the languageand the metaphors Spagna uses, but also because of the humor that almost seems to smirk behind many of hersentences. The essays in the beginning of the book loop back to Spagna's paradise in an interesting way.At the end of the book, I felt a real urge to go see Stehekin and meet its unique community.The Fall Line, the essay in which Spagna describes her relationship with Laurie, is so powerful and touching ...especially the limning of the relationship as it begins to take shape so naturally, so gently and so compellingly. This essayleft me almost breathless as I followed Spagna and Laurie's deep feelings for each other and expression of those feelingsin weighted silence. Reading this essay was like reading a long beautiful poem.I have read "Now Go Home" and "Test Ride on the Sunnyland Bus," Spagna's other two books, and I have read many of heressays. I have never felt disappointed with her work. She is definitely one to watch for among the present day promising writers.