Sunday, July 26, 2009

Julie & Julia

Author: Julie Powell
Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (July 1, 2009)
ISBN-10: 031604251X

Book Description:
Julie & Julia, the bestselling memoir that's "irresistible....A kind of Bridget Jones meets The French Chef" (Philadelphia Inquirer), is now a major motion picture.
Julie Powell, nearing thirty and trapped in a dead-end secretarial job, resolves to reclaim her life by cooking in the span of a single year, every one of the 524 recipes in Julia Child's legendary Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Her unexpected reward: not just a newfound respect for calves' livers and aspic, but a new life-lived with gusto.


My Review:
While visiting her parents, Julie finds an old cookbook that brings back important childhood memories. When it's time to go back to her own home, she conveniently stows it away in her luggage.
After returning home, and being unhappy with her job, Julie's husband encourages her to create a cooking blog, where she will attempt to cook and talk about every one of the 524 recipes in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in a single year.
I really got a laugh out of her description of her first days as a new blogger. The enthusiasm, the excitement of getting that first comment, and her new "followers" being her friends and relatives, brought back so many memories of my own first days of blogging.
This is an entertaining, laugh-out-loud, well-written book that is not only the story about Julie, but it also gives glimpses into the life of the legendary, Julia Child.
At the end of the book the reader will find a study guide with questions and answers which are well suited for reading groups. There's even a recipe for Valentine's Day Liver for Two (Yummy! LOL).
I have also reviewed this on Amazon. If it has been helpful, please give me a "yes" vote under reviews.
(Thanks to Hackette Book Group for my review copy.)

9 comments:

JD/ Jill said...

I would definitely like to see this movie, but now you also have me interested in reading the book...thank you for sharing...

Sheila DeChantal said...

I have to get to this book before the movie comes out! Thanks for posting this. :)

Tana said...

Someone who loves fall as much as I do! Thanx for the review! Movie sounds interesting but the book is always better.

Anonymous said...

i want to see this movie, it looks really cool, I didnt know there was a book so...now I must go read it.

Diane said...

The movie looked interesting. Thanks for sharing the review!

Anonymous said...

I am working my way through this book and I'm seriously hoping the movie is better then the read. I am really disappointed with the language and I'm hoping the movie doesn't have to include all the foul language that is dispersed throughout the book. I've never come across a laugh-out-loud moment in the book as yet, but I have smiled a few times. I can usually read a really good book in a single day, but this one just hasn't done that for me! Seriously how many times can a writer throw in the "F" word and really have it enhance the entire paragraph? It just gets old really fast! I love Meryl Streep and I think she will be an excellent Julia Child! So this is only MY opinion of the book and I'm sure others will find it hilarious!!

Barb Davis said...

Everyone- Thanks for your comments.

Barb Davis said...

Ms.Marcia- I did have some laugh-out-loud moments, because I identified with some of her experiences. Especially, the new blogger..where she said she got 36 hits the first day and she knew because she checked 12 times!!

The language is over the top, but it seems that the day we live in. That doesn't make it right, of course, but it's true. Some writers must feel that's the only way they can sell books (or movies). I hold my nose and read on. I have to as a reviewer, or I would have very few books to review. LOL. I guess that's why I like the nineteenth century classics so much....they are just very beautifully written.

Susan Blake said...

Hi Barb! I've been writing this summer much more than reading - but - I am keeping a list from a lot of your wonderful reviews!