Sunday, November 2, 2008

Julie and Julia : 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell

And here I go, on a self-indulgent happy bender back into food books. I wish you could see me now, grinning on my couch in my apartment, so cozy back in my food book addiction. 

So I read Julie & Julia...I picked it up at the library mostly because there's a picture of my egg beater on the cover (see below): 



Now, I have a strong affection for my egg beater...so I decided to judge a book by its cover and check this one out. I had also recently decided that it was about time I get back to my happy place filled with food books. 

I did not, though, take a break from reading cookbooks...I have been put in charge of the pumpkin pie at this year's Thanksgiving celebration (and by put in charge I mean asked to be put in charge) and I don't want to disappoint...so I've been testing recipes. I think I've found a good one, but please please please feel free to add a comment/e-mail me if you happen to know of a good recipe. 

But I digress. 

I read Julie & Julia this weekend...it's not a long read. It details the course of Julie Powell's life as she cooks her way through Julia Child's famous book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Volume I). She cooks her way through all of the recipes over the course of a year and blogs about her experiences, eventually compiling the blog entries into a book. You can check out her current blog at www.juliepowell.blogspot.com - but it's no longer about cooking as far as I can tell (and therefore, in my opinion, less worth reading). I want to take this opportunity to push you, once again, towards www.jennsylvania.com - it's really, really funny. Please go there now and see pictures of her pit bull Maisy

But I digress again. 

The book was interesting, definitely...although less about food than I had hoped when I picked it up. Powell details the events of her life, her husband's life, her friends lives during the course of her cooking year...which isn't a problem, per se, but just not what I was expecting. I'm rather surprised, in fact, that the book was placed with the other "food books" at the library (next to the cookbooks). Cooking is obviously the central theme of the book, and the whole reason it was written, but I feel like it, in the end, was really more about Powell's rediscovery of self than it was about the food she used to get there. Maybe I should be happier with this outcome, proudly touting this book as evidence that food is a worthwhile and potentially life-defining pursuit, but (and this is where I sound selfish) I care more about food than I do about Julie Powell and her mission to get out of her dead-end secretarial job. Just a thought. 

If you're looking for a true food book, look elsewhere (see other good food books listed in a previous post). If you're looking for a starter food book, check this one out. It's interesting, as I said above, evidenced by the fact that I did read it in two days instead of ignoring it for my Wii (another distraction that has recently strengthened its hold on me given my purchase of Super Mario Galaxy), but it's not filled with the same passion for food that I originally hoped for. 

The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory

The Tudor series by Philippa Gregory is interesting in that the order of the books release does not match the chronological order of the matter dealt with in the books.

Regardless, I managed to read the books completely out of order - both chronological order and order of release. See below for both orders (information gleaned from Wikipedia):

The Tudor series

  1. The Other Boleyn Girl (2001)
  2. The Queen's Fool (2003)
  3. The Virgin's Lover (2004)
  4. The Constant Princess (2005)
  5. The Boleyn Inheritance (2006)
  6. The Other Queen (2008)

Chronologically:

  • The Constant Princess (Katherine of Aragon)
  • The Other Boleyn Girl (Mary and Anne Boleyn)
  • The Boleyn Inheritance (Jane Boleyn, Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard)
  • The Queens Fool (A young Jewish Girl's story of her service in the court of Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth Tudor)
  • The Virgin’s Lover (Elizabeth I)
  • The Other Queen (Mary I, Queen of Scots)

Before I started this blog, I had already read The Constant Princess, The Queens Fool, and The Boleyn Inheritance. All are good, but I think I recommend them in the order that I read them. The Constant Princess is dramatic, The Queens Fool is fun (told from the perspective of a girl outside of the Tudor dynasty and therefore less...what's the word...less intense? stressful?), and the Boleyn Inheritance is just plain messssssssedddd up. Who knows, maybe the Boleyn Inheritance best conveys the feeling in the Tudor Court at the time, but reading the book stressed me out.

Moving on.

The Virgin's Lover is, so far, my least favorite Philippa Gregory book. That said, it still ranks above some of my favorite books by other authors. It's quite interesting, just as richly detailed and tantalizingly dramatic as her other books, but it is just...DENSE. It takes a long time to get through, a long time even for an anti-social reader such as myself. Just keep that in mind before embarking on the project that is reading this book. It's no Crime and Punishment or War and Peace, but it does take a bit of a commitment.

If you're going to pick and choose your way through the Tudor series and you don't mind treating them as separate novels rather than an entire series, I might recommend that you skip The Virgin's Lover....but I will say that there is something more fulfilling, more enriching about reading an entire series, letting the separate novels become one huge story told through multiple points of view...so I can't, in good faith, strongly recommend that you leave this book out entirely. Just maybe read something light beforehand, and have something light lined up on the back end to follow it up.

Big Boned by Meg Cabot

I should mention now that my library habit causes me to frequently read books in a series completely out of order. In this case, the "Heather Wells mystery" series by Meg Cabot, I read book 1, then book 3, and now posses book 2 (it sits on my kitchen table waiting patiently with the rest of its library friends, but now that I have figured out that I managed to read them in that order, I'm not quite sure that I'm going to read book 2 in the end anyway). So, keep that in mind. Learn from my mistakes. 

I'm not really going to say much about the Heather Wells series...or Meg Cabot in general. That's not to say that Meg Cabot isn't worth commenting on, but in terms of level of seriousness, I'm going to put her at the bottom of the totem pole of authors I'm trying to build. Of the books I've read so far, I'm going to say Cabot is the least serious author, followed by Keyes, Lancaster, and Gregory (but keep in mind I'm only ranking fiction authors at this point). Anyway, that's immaterial. 

Cabot is a hugely successful author - most notably author of the Princess Diaries series - and I think it's because of her ability to create fun, lighthearted fiction with believable characters and creative story lines

The thing is, Cabot's writing isn't brilliant. She'll entertain you, but she won't transport you to a new time and/or place...she doesn't rank up there with JK Rowling or CS Lewis (did anyone else just realize that those two have two initials as their names? If I ever try to launch a career in fiction, I will officially write under the name of  BE Barry). 

I don't want to discount her talent, I'm just trying to tell you that it lies in a realm of the literary world inhabited by a number of other authors. Final thoughts? Entertaining and fun...but not the kind of book that will make you fall in love with reading, or with Cabot. 


The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

I'd like to refuse to acknowledge the month of no posting, but I must acknowledge this lapse as it is rather characteristic of myself and my personality...but...I will at least promise to make a concerted effort to stop lapsing in this way. 

So, The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. I must say that the most challenging thing about this book was learning to spell the title...which I confess I still haven't done. I just looked it up on Amazon again. I did something I rarely do, and I saw the movie before I read the book. I was disappointed to have to do so, but I had been waiting for it to be my turn in the line to check this book out the library for so long, and I really wanted to see the movie, etc...and you get how it turned out. So, my recommendation to you, if you haven't seen the movie, is to read the book before you see the movie. I think the book will enrich the movie more than the movie enriched the book. The movie, as movie adaptations so often do, took liberties with the plot of the book that I wish it hadn't. Anyway, read the book/see the movie to see what I mean. 

I'm not going to lie, this book is about as trashy as trashy historical fiction comes...and it's awesome. It's full of sibling rivalry, courtship, jealousy, royal intrigue...everything you could wish for in a book you read in order to get cheap drugstore novel thrills mixed with somewhat educational historical details thrown in. 

To summarize...the thing I want to communicate in this post is to read the book. Read it if you've already seen the movie, read it first if you haven't seen the movie yet...it's better than the movie. It's delicious. 

Oh, and I now hate Natalie Portman

Friday, September 26, 2008

Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster

There are a few authors out there who I feel speak with the same voice that I would if I were to write a novel - among them Melissa Bank and Jen Lancaster.

Melissa Bank (A Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing, The Wonder Spot) speaks more with my melancholy, emo voice, whereas Jen Lancaster speaks with the voice that most of you would know - I have read her first three "memoirs" and haven't been disappointed by any of them - Bitter is the New Black; Bright Lights, Big Ass, and this, most recent one, Such a Pretty Fat.

I recommend that you read all three books, and in order, if possible, but they all tell separate stories so it is possible to read them out of order and/or only read one or two of them.

ANYWAY...Lancaster is vulgar, straightforward, and hilarious. She reminds me of the part of myself that considered putting "Direct is an understatement" as my "About Me" section of my Facebook profile. It's not so much the stories she tells as it is the way she tells them. That's not to say that the stories aren't great - but more that they aren't...out of the ordinary. Such a Pretty Fat is the story of Jen trying to lose weight and get in shape...which I think makes it a book almost any woman could relate to. Sure, maybe not all of us have embarked on months-long journies to get our health under control, but I think almost every woman I know has had a moment/day/week/month/year when she'd just LOVE to have a magic wand or a magic wardrobe to strip off the perceived extra pounds.

Here's the thing. If I don't like a book, I have plenty to say about it...but if I do, I want to pull a 3rd grade book report and say "If you want to know more, you'll just have to read it yourself."

So...go read this book. (It's a Friday. I'm lazy.)

And check out www.jennsylvania.com for a taste of this author's writing style/humor.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

The Food Life: Inside the World of Food with the Grocer Extraordinaire at Fairway by Steven Jenkins

And so it is revealed...my sick obsession with reading books about food. Seriously, put anything in front of me. Books about food, books about restaurants, books about culinary schools, even straight up cookbooks. I will read cookbooks from cover to cover even if I have zero intention of ever making any of the recipes. I spend a lot of time reading cookbooks (baking cookbooks specifically) but will not review them on this blog...as I understand that the obsession that envelops my life doesn't necessarily reach the lives of others (but if you want to know the names of a few good cookbooks let me know).

So. The Food Life. You might think that this is my sneaky way of getting a cookbook onto the blog, and you'd be right. This book does in fact contain recipes, but they are more footnotes than they are the actual subject matter of the book...and so I will indulge myself.

The book centers around the grocery store chain called Fairway Market in New York City. Fairway started with one location in Harlem and has expanded to four locations all across New York. Maybe I'm alone here, but it fascinates me to read about specialty food stores. I just realized with that sentence that it may be a very long time before I find another boyfriend.

Anyway, the book is about the development of Fairway from one location to the next, and the development of the idea of "specialty food" grocery stores in general. The reason I found this book to be so interesting - and so useful - is that Jenkins explains the entire culture and reasoning behind specialty food stores. He explains the heightened quality of goods available in this type of market. He broke down the Fairway Market structure to clearly show the reader that "specialty" does not necessarily have to mean "more expensive," and in doing so, identified the characteristics he looks for in quality items from olive oils to different types of cheese, educating the reader on what to look for in their own cities and local food stores.

This book came with multiple side effects:
  1. Lessened hatred/fear of New York City - I assure you that I have a very mature and thorough understanding of the city, but I maintain that NYC is not as great as everyone claims...mostly because it is loud and smelly. Anyway, as I consume food book after food book, I have come to realize that they all have a common theme...aside from The French Laundry in California, most if not all of the country's great restaurants/food outlets are in New York City. This makes a little part of me die. This book, though, is the first that made me actually consider giving up my stand against NYC and joining its fold...until I realized that I would be moving across country to live near a supermarket (please reference above statement re: not finding a boyfriend for a long time).
  2. Heightened desire to remain in my apartment reading instead of socializing with other members of my species
  3. Sudden intense disdain for all food in my apartment/supermarket/city/state/time zone.

In short - the book is like pornography for foodies. If you love food, you'll love the book. Otherwise, you'll probably just think I'm insane.

Other good food books you should check out:

Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter by Phoebe Damrosch

ANYTHING BY RUTH REICHL. I tore through Tender at the Bone, Garlic and Sapphires, and Comfort me with Apples. Ruth Reichl is the first author who has ever caused me to be ANGRY with her for not writing more books after I finished her last.

Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany (Vintage) by Bill Buford (centering around Mario Batali's restaurant Babbo in NYC)

The Seasoning of a Chef: My Journey from Diner to Ducasse and Beyond by Doug Psaltis and Michael Psaltis

More to come.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

love the one you're with by Emily Giffin

The fact that I'm posting this less than 12 hours after I posted about the first book should tell you something...because I started this book after finishing the last post. Granted, I did almost nothing other than read all day, but still...this book was not rocket science. 

That's not necessarily a bad thing. I doubt that Giffin set out with the intention of producing a thought provoking and noteworthy piece of literature...rather I believe that she set out to produce an engaging and entertaining work...which she succeeded in doing. 

My opinion might be biased by the fact that I discovered from the book jacket that she attended the University of Virginia School of Law (Wahoowa). 

Anyway this is the story of a woman who takes the time to fully consider "What Might Have Been." The one who got away, the path not taken, etc. As a 24 year old I can't say that I really have too many paths not taken stacked up in my mind that I'd like to think about yet, but maybe someday I will understand the temptation that the main character in this novel did. The criticism that I have of this book - any maybe of Giffin's works in general (she also authored something borrowed, something blue, and baby proof) - is that I am left without a clear idea of what exactly she was trying to communicate. 

All of her novels (so far, at least) have dealt with friendships intertwined with romantic relationships and the suggestion or reality of unfaithfulness. I find myself wondering if it's a lazy trick to introduce sensation and intrigue into otherwise unremarkable stories. That said, Giffin's skill lies in her gifted narrative...the reader always effortlessly sees the story through the eyes of the protagonist, but (and this is something i appreciate) does not always agree with their choices, like them, or understand why they are doing what they are. I think it is a confidently risky move on an author's part when they make the main character less than entirely likable, as is the case in love the one you're with. 

The story was interesting but not enthralling; I found myself tempted to skip entire paragraphs of description at a time, looking ahead for more dialogue. It wasn't boring, though...a good read but one that didn't cause me to forget what time it was or how many hours had passed since I had picked it up (despite the fact that I spent all day reading it...I just don't really have a life). All in all, a solid piece of chick lit, but one that leaves you with the feeling that the author - much like the main character - wasn't quite sure of what she was going to do, what she was going to say, what she was going to mean, until the very last page. 

This Charming Man by Marian Keyes

This book is the story of the influence that one man has on the lives of multiple women...with different parts of the story told from the perspective of each of those women. 

I'm not sure yet if I'll develop some sort of rating scale to rate each book that I read relative to one another, but what I can say about this book is that I stayed up until about 3:30 this morning to finish and briefly considered not leaving the apartment to go to dinner with friends last night so I that I could continue reading. 

Is this book going to change the way you look at the world? Probably not. But it will entertain you while also introducing an idea that you may not have taken the time to seriously consider in the past. This book follows the classic Marian Keyes formula - lull the reader into a less serious cognitive state with a chick lit introduction while slyly drawing a topic with more gravity into focus. In that way, the book is indulgent in a way that other chick lit books are not - it allows you to tell yourself (and maybe others) that you're reading a book about domestic violence...when in reality you're reading a thoroughly entertaining book about relationships in which domestic violence is one of the supporting characters.  

I don't mean to criticize Keyes - or the book - for taking a less than serious look at the concept of domestic violence...rather, I support her formula because it brings important ideas into view that devoted chick lit readers otherwise may not have considered. That is exactly where Keyes' brilliance lies - you'd think that the idea of an entertaining book dealing with domestic violence would be impossible...but she doesn't introduce the serious topic until you're already devoted to the characters...and she balances gravity with levity in perfect measure to make sure you don't abandon her cause.

I honestly think that this book communicates the exact message that Keyes intended - it develops a number of characters thoroughly and independently and shows the reader how people so different can really be the same. It may not cause you to champion a local movement against domestic violence, but it will probably cause you to visit a few websites and educate yourself on the topic...which I consider to be an accomplishment. 

I think this book would be perfect for a read on a long plane ride - it draws you in and keeps you entertained, keeps you thinking...but it's not so serious or grave that it couldn't also be a beach read. Maybe I'm the only one with the antisocial reading problem, but beware of the fact that this book may cause you to sacrifice sleep...and for me, that's saying something.