No. 7

Julie and Julia: My Year of Living Dangerously, by Julie Powell.

John and I saw the previews for the upcoming movie based on this book before we left for our honeymoon. I was intrigued, because this book came from a blog experience. Then, while we were on our honeymoon, we stopped at the Borders in Kahului-Maui. Partly because John was a reading fiend on our honeymoon, and partly because I had to visit the Borders there. I love that place!!

I picked up Julie & Julia in the store and read a few pages. I was intrigued. However, I didn't feel committed enough to walk around the store with it. When I didn't find another book during our visit, I took a risk. I went back and got the little mass market paperback, perfect for beach-going. I read the first 50 or so pages of this book on Wailea Beach. Ah, if only I could go back!! It was my first experience reading a) on a beach, and b) near the ocean.

Ok, so the book is about a woman who is feeling lost in her life, and she (or her husband, I can't remember who) decides that maybe she should cook all the recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year. There are interesting culinary adventures that ensue. I learned a LOT about what sorts of foods the French like to cook with, and also that I will probably not be tackling any of them, except for maybe an artichoke recipe. Someday.

I enjoyed that she wrote about her experiences of working through MtAoFC in a blog. The book includes some things she wrote in her blog, and some comments she received. However, this is a small portion. This book feels like a book, which was written... not pieced together from previous writings. I also enjoyed reading her thoughts on marriage.

I'm looking forward to the movie, but I think it's been pretty movie-ized. By that, I mean, just in the preview, I can pick out things that they have changed from reality. For instance, in reality, the book deal comes AFTER the blog. In the movie, she suggests to her husband that she could write a book, implying that the blog was a way to get a book deal. Also, it looks like they REALLY play up the Julia Child part... maybe because Meryl Streep plays the part. In the book, the Julia part amounts to a page or two at the beginning of each chapter, giving slices of how Julie imagines Julia's life to have been. In the movie, it is clear that there will be a lot of screen time devoted to the Julia part of the story.

I recommend this book to those who are in their 20s or 30s (or any age, really), those who enjoy cooking, or those who enjoy blogs.