Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Julie and Julia


In the summer I become an avid reader. I read all of my fun summer novels, my book club selections, and some for school. This summer has been no different, except I have been doing it only the last few weeks (or since I got out of summer school). On our trip this weekend, I read the book Julie and Julia, by Julie Powell. It is a fun summer read for someone who loves to cook. I even book marked pages to find recipes to try. I am attaching the book synopsis from Amazon. You will probably also recognize it as the title of an upcoming movie of the same name. Yes, it stars Amy Adams and Meryl Streep. Should be a winning combination. *Just so you are aware- Julie is not the most polished and uses quite a bit of language in her writing. It is not something that bothers me, but I wanted others to be warned. :)
From Amazon.com
Julie & Julia is the story of Julie Powell's attempt to revitalize her marriage, restore her ambition, and save her soul by cooking all 524 recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I, in a period of 365 days. The result is a masterful medley of Bridget Jones' Diary meets Like Water for Chocolate, mixed with a healthy dose of original wit, warmth, and inspiration that sets this memoir apart from most tales of personal redemption.
When we first meet Julie, she's a frustrated temp-to-perm secretary who slaves away at a thankless job, only to return to an equally demoralizing apartment in the outer boroughs of Manhattan each evening. At the urging of Eric, her devoted and slightly geeky husband, she decides to start a blog that will chronicle what she dubs the "Julie/Julia Project." What follows is a year of butter-drenched meals that will both necessitate the wearing of an unbearably uncomfortable girdle on the hottest night of the year, as well as the realization that life is what you make of it and joy is not as impossible a quest as it may seem, even when it's -10 degrees out and your pipes are frozen.
Powell is a natural when it comes to connecting with her readers, which is probably why her blog generated so much buzz, both from readers and media alike. And while her self-deprecating sense of humor can sometimes dissolve into whininess, she never really loses her edge, or her sense of purpose. Even on day 365, she's working her way through Mayonnaise Collee and ending the evening "back exactly where we started--just Eric and me, three cats and Buffy...sitting on a couch in the outer boroughs, eating, with Julia chortling alongside us...."
Inspired and encouraging, Julie and Julia is a unique opportunity to join one woman's attempt to change her life, and have a laugh, or ten, along the way. --Gisele Toueg

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