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Jan 15, 2011

Cheryl rated it:

When I was given this book the first thing I asked the person who gave it to me was, “Why’d you get me a book about baking? I’m a vegan.” And I was told it was because from what she’d seen, the author loved baking; people, not so much, just like me.

I really started liking the book right out of the gate, with the mention of the nightmare inducing book Struwwelpeter, which my sister and I were also subjected to (by our non-German family) when we were kids. Bullock-Prado does a nice jo More...

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Feb 20, 2010

Lindsey rated it:

The alleged charm of this book was lost on me. The lauded opening, "I saw the devil at age three and he gave me chocolate. It changed my life forever," is followed by the clunker, "And in the end it was the example of unlikely angels and the power of confections that led me on a sweet path to happiness and grace in my adult life," to close out the first chapter. Shudder. That's oddly saccharine for a book you named "Master Baker" with bawdy intent.

Despi More...

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Dec 01, 2009

Tad rated it:

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I purchased it to get the Golden Eggs recipe which I had misplaced after baking them the first time. I was inspired to make them based on a short video I watched of Gesine doing a demo of the Eggs. Concerning the book itself, there are times when I thought “she really doesn't like people”. I can relate to that because there are times when people are just completely unlikable. Her stories are mostly interesting and I appreciate how her chapters lead to a recipe More...

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Nov 11, 2009

Amy rated it:

Title: Confections of a Closet Master Baker
Author: Gesine Bullock-Prado
ISBN: 978-0-7679-3268-4
Pages: 223
Release Date: September 2009
Publisher: Broadway Books
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Publisher: As head of her celebrity sister’s production company, Gesine Bullock-Prado had a closet full of designer clothes and the ear of all the influential studio heads, but she was miserable. The only solace she found was in her secret hobby: baki More...

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Nov 01, 2009

Suzanne (Chick with Books) rated it:

Gesine Bullock-Prado gave up the designer clothes, the Red Carpet walks and life as a Hollywood schmoozer (almost all of which she hated) for her true calling- Baking! Gesine comes out of the closet in her book Confections of a Closet Master Baker to share with us her journey from unhappy Hollywood insider to life as a baker in Vermont and it is simply delicious!

The writing, the recipes, and Gesine Bullock-Prado's wry sense of humor is all delectable! Chapters are arranged by hours, More...

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Oct 10, 2009

Catherine rated it:

Gesine Bullock-Prado takes the reader on her journey from unhappy production company executive in her sister Sandra's company to opening her own bakery in Vermont.

Having worked in Hollywood for most of my life, I could totally relate to her experience with the unique personalities and frustrating process involved in working in that industry.

She details the process of opening her bakery from start to finish, including many colorful characters, employees and customers, as More...

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Sep 07, 2009

Tattered Cover added it

Jackie says:

This book had me at it's very short but very memorable first paragraph: "I saw the devil at the age of three and he gave me chocolate. It changed my life forever."

Gesine (pronounced geh see neh--don't mess it up because it makes her crazy when you do) had a glamourous Hollywood life running a production company with her sister Sandra Bullock. Red carpets, "doing" lunch, meetings and schmoozing made up her daily life. And she was miserable. More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 16, 2009

Jackie rated it:

This book had me at it's very short but very memorable first paragraph: "I saw the devil at the age of three and he gave me chocolate. It changed my life forever."

Gesine (pronounced geh see neh--don't mess it up because it makes her crazy when you do) had a glamourous Hollywood life running a production company with her sister Sandra Bullock. Red carpets, "doing" lunch, meetings and schmoozing made up her daily life. And she was miserable. To make herself fee More...

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Jul 13, 2009

Turi rated it:

This book wasn't what I expected.

I was expecting a self-absorbed, boutique-ey book about someone who fancied themselves a baker.

Instead I was plunged into Gesine Bullock-Prado's memoir of her exodus from the shallow Hollywood world she had found herself in, to a self-created temple of baking delight in Montpelier, Vermont.

This is DEEP baking. Her grasp of why baking matters, what in means to the baker and the consumer, is breathtaking. There is sadness, More...

1 comment like

Oct 05, 2009

Alicia rated it:

I love memoirs, and memoirs with yummy baking recipes - all the better. This is also reflective and interesting. And the story is intriguing - an unhappy Hollywood executive who found happiness as a lowly pastry chef. It is a bit edgy in places (mostly language), but it's so honest at the same time. And how could I not love this lovely piece:

"I had always been under the general impression that a child both home schooled and religious is dangerous, at the very least, and certainl More...

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Apr 16, 2011

Zarina rated it:

Author Gesine Bullock-Prado writes in a humorous way about her former Hollywood life and how she eventually finds her true calling in the one occupation she always took solace in when life became too stressful: baking.

To get the big question out of the way first, yes the author is the younger sister of actress Sandra Bullock. But those who start reading the book expecting to find Bullock's dirty little secrets on display will be thoroughly disappointed. Instead "Sandy" is More...

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Oct 04, 2009

Jen B rated it:

Unhappy with her career as a Hollywood film exec, Gesine Bullock-Prado packed her bags and moved to Vermont, trading in her Prada pumps and designer clothes for clogs and grubby t-shirts. Instead of rubbing elbows with Hollywood A-listers (like her big sis, Sandra Bullock), she now spends her days covered in flour, creating a breathtaking array of cakes, pies, and other butter- and sugar-filled confections that would make most Hollywood starlets cringe in horror (Butter! Fat!) And she's happy... More...

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Jun 15, 2010

Marjorie rated it:

One chapter in and already a favorite.....I LOVE this book!

The author is honest and speaks in a forthright manner that I really adore. In other words - no BS! Dropping an occasional F-bomb always warms the cockles of my heart too.

Loved it.

Done and done. Could. Not. Put.thebookdown. Seriously. And I have a child and a life, etc. This book is such a lovely work of art to read. As a person who has dreamed of being an owner of a pastry/bakery, I was able to li More...

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Oct 28, 2009

Denise rated it:

This is Gesine Bullock-Prado's memoir of leaving the rat race in Hollywood to open a bakery in Vermont. It comes complete with the usual funny mishaps and quirky characters. I think what I liked best about this book is Gesine herself. Far from the fat, jolly baker, she is impatient, caustic and sometimes not too sure she actually likes people all that much. What she does like is baking. She lives and breathes it, obsessing over the perfect cherry pie or macaroon. Opening a bakery she learns she More...

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Nov 06, 2010

Karen rated it:

My friend Glenda recommended it, but I wish I had found it before getting a diagnosis of hypoglycemia. Oh, my. So much white flour, butter and sugar. I skipped the recipes and focused on Gesine's cranky wit. As someone who has perfected the art of kvetching myself, I appreciate her world view. She's a bookish gal, so she does a good job creating a word-wrought path into the mind of a baking artist. I could never live her life, but I admire the passion and dedication she brings to her bakery More...

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Sep 23, 2010

Marcia rated it:

Quick read - written by Sandra Bullock's sister - her story of why she left Hollywood life for a more down to earth world in Vermont-opened a bakery and started loving her life. Her background is interesting with or without her famous sister. The book includes some recipes and will make you envy/admire her talent and decision to go for the road less traveled. She does seem to have a somewhat understandable anger toward people that have an interest in her only to get to her sister-yet how can y More...

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Oct 06, 2010

Happyreader rated it:

For someone so grumpy, she wrote a very bake-cute book. A very quick read. Like her, love the German tradition of 3:00 afternoon tea and cake and love my German mother’s plum cake. Unlike her, my sister’s not a movie star and I fortunately didn’t have to bake her wedding cake (that wedding cake story was like a marriage oracle). She makes you wish you could bake and grateful you don’t have to withstand the cruelty of Hollywood dealmaking (cruelest story was the guy whose project she made hap More...

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Oct 20, 2009

Christopher rated it:

All these reviews, perhaps understandably, focus on the publisher's summary: young woman throws off the glamorous chains of Hollywood to open a New England bakery. The real story of the book, however, is a good bit darker: a (self-confessed) difficult person copes with her mother's illness and death through a deep and transformative absorption with baking. For me, everything to do with the glamour bits in the book were a snooze (confession: I'm in the movie biz, so maybe I'm a bit numb to thos More...

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Feb 06, 2012

Cat rated it:

This was a really fun book for me, but I didn't even know it would be when I bought it. I purchased this book as part of Borders fire sale and it looked like a fun cooking memoir, but at the time I didn't take note of the author's name. However, shortly after I began reading it, I realized it was by Gesine Bullock, Sandra Bullock's sister and the same woman who opened a bakery near the apartment where my mom lives in Montpelier. I have been in that bakery. As a result I found pleasure in thi More...

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Sep 10, 2010

Chris rated it:

Note: If you are looking for this book in paperback, they changed the title. It's now called "My Life from Scratch." I've never seen that before, not sure why....

Gesine takes the reader through the day of a baker, starting at 3 a.m. and all the goings on during this time. Each essay ends with a recipe that she talks about making in the chapter, clearly written for even the novice baker. I found this book to actually be a love letter to her mother and the city of Montpelier, More...

5 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 12, 2010

Joanie rated it:

5 stars might be a little much but I really, really enjoyed this. I read it in a weekend-no small feat considering it was my son's 4th birthday.

I took this book out from the library not realizing it was written by Sandra Bullock's sister. I'm not so dim that I couldn't have put two and two together-there was a "New Book" sticker over the top where the author's name was written and I didn't really look much closer until I finally started to read it.

I don't kn More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 06, 2009

Rachel rated it:

Despite the word memoir in the title, I expected this to be a twist on so many novels on the market: powerful woman makes grievous error/realizes she hates her career and throws in the towel to do something homey and realizes it's what she should have done all along. Despite the reality of that, it was a fun, delightful, yummy read. She has a very realistic way of describing her life and its foibles, along with the personalities of her customers and employees. As someone who loves baking and has More...

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Sep 07, 2011

Koko rated it:

I'm going to go ahead and give this book five stars. It's the best book I've read in a long time. Gesine Bullock Prado is the lesser known sister of Sandra Bullock. She gave up showbiz life in L.A. to pursue her dream of baking. She and her husband piled everything into their car and road tripped to Vermont to open a bakery in a sleepy little town. The best thing about this book is the author's voice. She is brilliant, grouchy, anti-social, unapologetic and hilarious. Even if you don't bake you More...

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Jul 16, 2010

Evanston Public added it

How often does one hear of a "reverse" Hollywood success story? That's what intrigued me when I saw Gesine Bullock-Prado's Confections of a Closet Master Baker. After years of working as a producer, hustling deals at power lunches for her older sister Sandra, Gesine decided to swap the pressure and glamour for a quieter life in Vermont turning out, of all things, gourmet pastries. It's a very personal account enhanced by her husband's sketches and her remembrances of a seemingly charme More...

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Aug 16, 2010

Bonnie rated it:

What an enjoyable book! The author left the glitz of Hollywood to pursue what she loved --baking. After law school, she became a Hollywood executive. She was head of her sister's production company (her sister is Sandra Bullock) --and she was miserable. She always loved sweets and shared her mother's love of baking. The book is a memoir --funny, honest and slightly irreverant. She describes her move to Vermont, where along with her husband (a Hollywood video producer and artist) she open More...

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Oct 21, 2009

Rachaelita rated it:

I enjoyed this book a great deal. The author's story structure was very well done as it was creative and organized. I liked how she used the hours of her baking day as a guideline for her chapters. The anecdotes accompanying each chapter were heartfelt and endearing especially the ones about her mother and grandmother and the influences these women had on Gesine (Pronounced Ge-sin-eyh). Reading her story gave me genuine insight into her life as a baker in Vermont, as a sister to a movie star, an More...

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Jun 03, 2010

DixieJo rated it:

Graded as a whole, this book would not be four stars for me, but add up all the little things I did like about it and it gets the fourth star because it will be one of those books I "come back to" in thought.

Sandra Bullock's sister walks away from Hollywood and lives out her dream and passion for baking. Is the life easier, less work, less dramatic, slower paced? No way. But because it is what she loves she is happier. You have to honor someone that will walk away from More...

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Nov 07, 2009

Holly rated it:

I loved, loved, loved this book. It's not just about the fact Gesine is Sandra Bullock's sister, or her life in Hollywood, or the pains of starting/running a bakery in Vermont. It's about family and making people happy with good food and the memories we all have when we smell something specific baking or cooking and how sometimes that smell can even hurt a little because we miss that person so much.
This book is lovely. Gesine sounds like several people I know--not a people person, but More...

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Aug 18, 2010

Anne Marie rated it:

This was an enjoyable memoir - Gesine left Hollywood to open her own bakery in Vermont. Every chapter is associated with a time of day, what's happening at the bakery at a certain time, or a memory from her childhood. There is also one of her recipes at the end of each chapter. This made me want to make every last recipe! She does not glamorize the life of a bakery owner, and that is refreshing to read. If you are looking to read this in paperback, it looks like it was republished under the titl More...

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Dec 20, 2009

JoAnn/QuAppelle rated it:

I enjoyed most of this book. I do think she could have stopped referring to her unhappiness with Hollywood after, say, the fourth time.

I like reading books about food establishments and how they are started and run. This was no exception as far as that goes...I fully appreciated all of the hard work that Gesine put into her confectionary and continues to put into it every day. She sure is no slacker! She described the setup and the daily routine so well.

I wish the recip More...

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