Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession by Julie Powell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars.

I'm almost afraid to review this book positively, given how many people vehemently hate it. But I don't think the book was horribly written. I find Julie Powell absolutely despicable and was thoroughly disturbed by her while I read the book. But like a train wreck, that made it interesting.
I don't understand her actions and I don't understand her relationship with her husband. While I read the book, I couldn't stop wondering about how he feels about being a cuckold and how he can stand the way he is portrayed in the book. It absolutely confounds me that a marriage could survive her actions and especially the book. I actually found myself googling the guy to see if there were any comments from him on the book (I found none).
The fact that the book kept my attention and bothered me so much, makes it interesting to me, and therefore the good rating.
But I certainly have no desire to ever meet Julie Powell or anyone like her.
View all my reviews >>

Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Loved this book! Novella Carpenter is a rad (as my friend K would say), ultimate do it yourselfer. She sets up a farm on an unused lot in urban (i.e. ghetto) Oakland. And I don't mean a big garden with maybe a few chickens. This gal also has ducks, turkeys, rabbits, and pigs(!)--all of which she harvests for food. She even befriended a chef who taught her how to cure the pig meat into fancy salume. Yum!

It was very readable and just a fascinating account of someone who's marching to the beat of a different drummer. Lots of lessons for us all to learn on where our food comes from, sustainable eating, etc.

View all my reviews >>

Don't Follow Me, I'm Lost: A Memoir of Hampshire College in the Twilight of the '80s by Richard Rushfield


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed the book about a guy who started college the same year I did: 1986. While liberal, make-up-your-own-education Hampshire College is very different from the traditional, state school that I went to, he captures the "feeling" of that era very well. It made me nostalgic for some of the funnest years of my life.

View all my reviews >>

Confections of a Closet Master Baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A sweet, light read about a woman (who happens to be Sandra Bullock's sister) who gave up a profitable career in Hollywood to be a baker in Vermont. She cooks German style pastries and cakes and describes the joy of living out your dream, rather than doing what you're "supposed" to do.

View all my reviews >>

Wintergirls

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

My rating: 4 of 5 starsI wish I could give this 4 1/2 stars. It was a haunting and painful book that I know will stick with me for awhile. I listened to the CD version, which was produced very interestingly. It had "tricks" that annoyed me at first, but once I understood them, it really added to the experience. I found myself looking forward to my commute so that I could listen to this book.
It's a story about an 18 year old anorexic, self-mutilator, who is not only dealing with her illness(es) but the death of her ex-friend who died from binging. Not a book for the faint of heart, but beautifully written.
View all my reviews >

Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story

Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story by Sue Monk Kidd


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this book by the author of "The Secret Life of Bees" and her daughter. It's part travel memoir, but more of a reflection on many feminine topics, including mother-daughter relationships; coming to terms with menopause, aging, and death; and feeling lost as a young adult. The book explores many feminine iconic themes: Demeter and Persephone, Joan of Arc, Athena, and the virgin Mary.

Both writers have beautiful voices and it was a very touching and thought provoking book.

View all my reviews >>

The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World's Most Famous Cooking School

The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World's Most Famous Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Another food memoir and another francophile book. I swear I've never been a real francophile, but I've read so many books focusing on Paris lately that I think I'm turning into one. It's just a coincidence too.

I listened to this book on CD and really enjoyed the reader, which is very important. The book is the memoir of a woman who leaves the advertising world (not by choice) and realizes her dream of studying at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. She does all 3 "courses:" basic, intermediate, and superieur. Great food writing and an engrossing memoir.

My only complaint is that the recipes seemed to be after thoughts. I suspect she couldn't use Le Cordon Bleu recipes due to copywright issues, but she could have tied in some of the recipes better. Some made sense with the chapter, some did not. Also, she seemed to use her book to "get back" at a few people she didn't like: difficult house guests, a competitive fellow student, etc. It seemed a little petty.

But I heartily recommend the book.

View all my reviews >>

Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire: A Novel

Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire: A Novel by Margot Berwin


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this odd book about a woman who meets strange men who deal in plants and teach her about spirituality, love, and life. One sells her her first plant the other owns a laundromat, in which the floor is covered in moss, the washers and dryers covered in grass, and the place filled with plants. Together, they manage to send her to Mexico to obtain the Nine Plants of Desire.

Weird and grossly entertaining.

View all my reviews >>

The Magicians

The Magicians by Lev Grossman


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this book. It's like Harry Potter and C. S. Lewis, but if they were in the real world. Everything isn't black or white and good or evil. Magic doesn't automatically make you happy. The characters act like real teenagers and young people--at least depressive ones.

A very clever book. I especially liked the occasional self-aware and joking nods to H. Potter.

View all my reviews >>

The Man Who Ate the World

The Man Who Ate the World: In Search of the Perfect Dinner by Jay Rayner


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I was surprised at how much I liked this book. I picked it up expecting to not like it, because he kind of annoyed me on Top Chef Masters, but I enjoyed it immensely. And I'm very jealous of his little project to find the best fine dining experience there is. He's pompous, but amusing, which makes the former okay. Now, if I were to see him on Top Chef, I'd appreciate him.

If good food photography is "food porn," then this book is "food erotica." I could read his descriptions of meals anytime.

View all my reviews >>

French Milk

French Milk by Lucy Knisley


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
What an adorable little graphic "novel," although really more a daily diary of a young woman's trip to Paris with her mother. Lots about the wonderful food she eats (my favorite) and some about the panic many of us have in our early 20s (I remember that panicky feeling of "Oh no, I'm an 'adult.' What the heck do I do now?")

You don't have to be a francophile to enjoy this book, but you just might become one after reading it.

View all my reviews >>

In the Heart of the Canyon

In the Heart of the Canyon by Elisabeth Hyde


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this book. It didn't have much plot (I seem to be reading a lot of enjoyable books like that lately). It's about a group of people going on a raft trip down the Grand Canyon and what happens on the trip and the relationships that develop. It was a little unbelievable that so many bad things could happen on such a trip--can you say cursed trip? But it was a great story. I found myself unable to put the book down.

View all my reviews >>

Cooking Dirty

Cooking Dirty: A Story of Life, Sex, Love and Death in the Kitchen by Jason Sheehan


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Sheehan is a good writer. I've enjoyed his work as a restaurant critic for Denver's Westword for awhile and he's managed to take that edgy style of his and expand it into a full book.

This book chronicles his life working in kitchens--not famous ones, just regular ol' restaurants. At times, it got a bit redundant. I wanted to say, okay, we get it: cooking on a line during the rush is like going into battle and the guys who do it are tough. The book could have standed a bit of editing--too many similar stories about getting slammed during a dinner (or late night) rush. The book finishes with a little bit about how he got into food writing.

But all in all, I really enjoyed this book. The book will inevitably be compared to Bourdain's, but while that book is touted as an expose of the restaurant industry, this one is more of a memoir of how Sheehan has used and abused himself and turned out okay in the end.

And I'm wondering if the restaurant in the epilogue is Osteria Marco?

View all my reviews >>

A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table

A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenberg

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I absolutely loved this book. It combines the genres of memoir and food writing in the most beautiful of ways. Each short chapter is a memory of the writer's that involves food, followed with a recipe for the dish. I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, but definitely will as they sound wonderful. They range from something as simple as radishes and butter with fleur de sel on a baguette to fresh ginger cake with caramelized pears.



Her writing reminds me a bit of Ruth Reichl and I read a review that called her "this generation's M.F.K. Fisher." She writes lovingly of her relationships with her father and husband. She writes of her time spent in France.



The author is the owner of the food blog "Orangette," which I had heard of but never looked up. Unfortunately, it looks like she's now on hiatus, but I definitely plan on going back and reading past entries.



The book took me awhile to read, because--like a good dish--I wanted to savor it and really took my time reading it. I rarely read books again, but this is one I probably will (especially for the recipes). I hope there are more books to come from Wizenberg.


View all my reviews.

My Abandonment

My Abandonment by Peter Rock

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this unsettling book about a 13 year old girl who lives in the woods or outside of society with her caring, but mentally unstable veteran father. The last fifth of the book or so was absolutely shocking.



I am amazed at the links in another Goodreads review.



http://www.infowars.com/articles/us/12_y...


and



http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/06...


The cover said it was based on a true story, but I am surprised at how much it is.



I'd love to know what happens to Caroline as she grows up and begins the inevitable process of questioning her upbringing.


View all my reviews.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: A Novel by Jamie Ford

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
What a lovely book--a book about a Chinese-American boy in Seattle during WWII and his first love, a Japanese-American girl. The book is an ode to the city of Seattle and jazz. It's also an indictment of the racism against Japanese-Americans that occurred in that era. The Japanese internment camps are something you don't learn much about in history classes (I don't think I ever did), but are an appalling piece of our history. Why the Japanese and not the Germans or Italians? (Not that I'm condoning that anyone should be put in a camp.) Was it because the Japanese looked different than the typical white bread American?



Anyway, it's a gorgeous first novel. Very poignant and touching. I heartily recommend it.


View all my reviews.

Life on the Refrigerator Door

Life on the Refrigerator Door: Notes Between a Mother and a Daughter - A Novel by Alice Kuipers

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
A really quick read. It probably took me less than an hour, since some pages have only one line on them. A little unrealistic, but mildly entertaining.


View all my reviews.

Handle With Care

Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book pissed me off. I wanted to reach into the pages, grab the mom by the neck and press my thumbs into her windpipe. But...even though there are elements of Picoult's "formula" that drive me crazy and I detested the protagonist of this book, I still find her books riveting and had a hard time putting this one down. So it's going to get a 4.


View all my reviews.

Pretty in Plaid Day

Just a reminder that Jen Lancaster's "Pretty in Plaid: A Life, a Witch, and a Wardrobe, or, the Wonder Years Before the Condescending,Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smart Ass Phase" comes out today. Mine's on it's way from Amazon, and I can't wait. I know some of you out there are big fans too. If you're not, check her out: you will be. I've never read an author that makes me laugh out loud more.

Here's an old post about her first book. I also stalked...I mean saw her at the Tattered Cover this last year, and I am happy to say she is as funny in person as she is on the written page and computer screen.

Petal Pusher

Testing some functionality from GoodReads:

Petal Pusher: A Rock and Roll Cinderella Story by Laurie Lindeen

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
The writing bugged me a lot at the beginning, but got better as the book went along. A good editor should have fixed that. At times, the book was slow and at others compulsively readable. If I could, I'd give it 3.5 stars.



I don't really remember Zuzu's Petals, but you can enjoy the book without being familiar with them. A good memoir of music and being in a band in the early 90s.


View all my reviews.