Book #13: Julie & Julia

So, I both loved and hated this book.

I hated this book because of the following:
1. Julie Powell was whiny and arrogant in a condescending, nerdy way. 
2. She was rude to her husband who seemed like he was just trying to help!
3. There was a scene where she finds a mess of MAGGOTS LIVING UNDER HER DISH DRAINER because she was not a good housekeeper.  Ew. 

Ok so here’s why I loved this book:
1. She has way more guts than I do to take on a task such as cooking every single recipe out of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  I could, quite honestly, never do that.  And in a year!  Truly amazing.
2. She has way more guts than I do to eat most of those recipes out of Mastering the Art of French Cooking!  Kidneys?  Bone Marrow?  Boned Duck?!  I am not nearly enough of a foodie to try those recipes. 
3. She struggled with the same fear of turning 30 as I do.  So there’s that.
4.  I’ve only recently tried to start cultivating my culinary side.  What that means is that I used to be the queen of takeout and I’m trying to be more healthy and spend less money, so I started cooking.  So I was intrigued by her adventure.
5. Aaaaand… I have to admit:  Seeing the movie Julie & Julia is 95% why I started this blog.  [I have to give credit where credit's due.]

(Hmm… Real quick, in case you missed it, this is a memoir of a 29 year old woman’s year of cooking her way through Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which is a cookbook not for the faint of heart.  Back to the review)

So I think that the idea of the Julie/Julia project was an A+ idea.  I loved the parts about what went well and what went horribly wrong with the recipes… I just wish I liked Julie better.  So, I knew there was a sequel to this book, Cleaving.  Out of curosity, I googled what I could find about this sequel.  A quick search and I found this USAToday article excerpt:

[In] Cleaving (the film rights have not been sold), she writes in graphic detail about her two-year affair with a man she refers to as “D.” She describes their sexual encounters and even having sex with a stranger as she struggled with shame and self-loathing.

Powell calls her affair “the thing I used to pull my marriage apart for a while, but I do not recommend infidelity as a way of dealing with marital problems. It did turn out to be the thing that made us examine what exactly was going on and rebuild our marriage.”

She admits her behavior was “selfish and hurtful,” and she expects many fans of Julie & Julia to condemn her.

This is utterly ridiculous because in Julie & Julia, she berates her peers and friends who make this very same decision in their marriages!  She stands up on her soapbox as a pillar of marital piety and then goes and does the same thing herself!  So, she’s not only whiny, she’s also a hypocrate.  GREAT!  I think it’s safe to say I won’t be reading.  Good luck to you and “D”, Julie!

Anyway, moving on!  [Chase, this blog post is too long, wrap it up, please]  [Yes I know, I'm getting there! I swear!]

I am overwhelmed with the decision of what to read next.  A piece of me wants a good old Chick Lit book!  It’s been a while!  And I also have Chelsea, Chelsea, Bang, Bang which is practically burning a hole on my bookshelf!  And I also ordered another copy of Years of Rice & Salt after I *cough* lost my last one.  Should be here in a week!

Here’s a poll. Which of these should I read next?
1. Best Friends Forever – Jennifer Weiner (I’m a huge fan of her)
2. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close – Jonathan Safran Foer
3. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet – Jamie Ford
4. Chelsea, Chelsea, Bang, Bang – Chelsea Handler

[Last thing I swear!]  I have lost 6.0 lbs in the last 2 weeks.  Yaaay Clean Eating!!