http://www.goodreads.com/review/list_rss/36265 en-US Fri, 04 Jan 2008 08:15:31 -0800 60 http://www.goodreads.com/ 200 41 http://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_logo.gif 11623162 Fri, 04 Jan 2008 08:15:31 -0800
author: Diane Setterfield
name: devra
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 01/07
date added: 01/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 11594891 Thu, 03 Jan 2008 19:53:59 -0800
author: William Wilkie Collins
name: devra
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1859
rating: 4
read at: 02/08
date added: 01/03/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 11594684 Thu, 03 Jan 2008 19:50:51 -0800
author: Mark Mills
name: devra
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 01/03/08
shelves: mystery
review:

]]> 1877883 Fri, 09 Nov 2007 08:36:31 -0800
author: Donna Leon
name: devra
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at: 01/07
date added: 11/09/07
shelves: mystery
review:
there is something so pleasant, so simple, so elegant about donna leon's writing style in this first of her commissario brunetti mysteries...it is rare to find such eloquence and laughter in a murder mystery, but this example left me thirsting for more. unfortunately, most of the subsequent books to not match this one for sheer promise. (they are enjoyable nonetheless)
]]> 8879686 Fri, 09 Nov 2007 08:33:47 -0800
the book is part of a series of might-have-beens riffing on austen's pride & prejudice. the conceit of this one imagines that lizzie and darcy were married after the first time he proposed instead of the second. it dawned on me in the opening pages of this novel that it would turn lizzie's wedding night into a semi-rape and i, unfortunately, was not mistaken in visualizing that portrayal. the book only went downhill from here, forcing on the hapless reader an unnatural growth of affection and love on lizzie's part for this horrible visage of darcy when we all know that he is capable of far better.

the sole redemption of this book is that it reminds the reader how lucky we are that austen plotted her novel the way that she did--so that we can all rejoice in lizzie's and darcy's happiness together rather than revile it.]]>
author: Abigail Reynolds
name: devra
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2007
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 11/09/07
shelves:
review:
this book was so horrifyingly awful that i actually had to stop reading it halfway through and re-read half of pride and prejudice just to get the sour taste out of my mouth.

the book is part of a series of might-have-beens riffing on austen's pride & prejudice. the conceit of this one imagines that lizzie and darcy were married after the first time he proposed instead of the second. it dawned on me in the opening pages of this novel that it would turn lizzie's wedding night into a semi-rape and i, unfortunately, was not mistaken in visualizing that portrayal. the book only went downhill from here, forcing on the hapless reader an unnatural growth of affection and love on lizzie's part for this horrible visage of darcy when we all know that he is capable of far better.

the sole redemption of this book is that it reminds the reader how lucky we are that austen plotted her novel the way that she did--so that we can all rejoice in lizzie's and darcy's happiness together rather than revile it.
]]> 8879705 Fri, 09 Nov 2007 08:29:34 -0800 or bodice-ripping creativity (or lack thereof), truly awful.]]>
author: Abigail Reynolds
name: devra
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at: 10/07
date added: 11/09/07
shelves: myjaneaustenfixation
review:
though occasionally amusing for sheer audacity
or bodice-ripping creativity (or lack thereof), truly awful.
]]> 8879694 Fri, 09 Nov 2007 08:29:17 -0800
the twists and turns were occasionally creative, nearly always amusing, and the bodice-ripping done with such innocence that i felt as though the author was winking at me. this, while fun for me, was also unfortunate because i don't think that was her intention at all. and of course the storyline was completely ludicrous. the most interesting thing about these "pemberley variations" is that, while lizzie and darcy always end up together, they really drive home the rightness and sanctity of austen's original storyline. which is to say that while lizzie and darcy were made for each other as much as two people ever were, their relationship never truly works on the same level as it does when they have each been misunderstood and forced to overcome those hurdles on their respective journeys toward each other. as hysterical as it is to picture intense groping and makeout sessions in victorian england, it's much more fulfilling to get there via austen's route than reynolds'.]]>
author: Abigail Reynolds
name: devra
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 10/07
date added: 11/09/07
shelves: myjaneaustenfixation
review:
i went into this book with genuine curiosity. it purports to be one of a series of might-have-beens regarding the classic pride & prejudice story. this one dealt with a question i have always wanted the answer to--what would have happened had lizzie and darcy spoken their true feelings for each other in the inn at lambton instead of months later in hertfordshire?

the twists and turns were occasionally creative, nearly always amusing, and the bodice-ripping done with such innocence that i felt as though the author was winking at me. this, while fun for me, was also unfortunate because i don't think that was her intention at all. and of course the storyline was completely ludicrous. the most interesting thing about these "pemberley variations" is that, while lizzie and darcy always end up together, they really drive home the rightness and sanctity of austen's original storyline. which is to say that while lizzie and darcy were made for each other as much as two people ever were, their relationship never truly works on the same level as it does when they have each been misunderstood and forced to overcome those hurdles on their respective journeys toward each other. as hysterical as it is to picture intense groping and makeout sessions in victorian england, it's much more fulfilling to get there via austen's route than reynolds'.
]]> 8879695 Fri, 09 Nov 2007 08:23:10 -0800 or bodice-ripping creativity (or lack thereof), truly awful.]]>
author: Abigail Reynolds
name: devra
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 11/09/07
shelves:
review:
though occasionally amusing for sheer audacity
or bodice-ripping creativity (or lack thereof), truly awful.
]]> 5202705 Mon, 27 Aug 2007 20:40:38 -0700
author: David Shalleck
name: devra
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 08/07
date added: 08/27/07
shelves: foodlit
review:

]]> 1937245 Mon, 20 Aug 2007 09:11:13 -0700
author: A.S. Byatt
name: devra
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1990
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 08/20/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 2131248 Mon, 20 Aug 2007 09:10:33 -0700
author: Jasper Fforde
name: devra
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at: 08/07
date added: 08/20/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 4263168 Wed, 08 Aug 2007 10:32:32 -0700
the reason for the one-star review? mummies give me the wiggins...and so did the ending to this book!]]>
author: Arthur Phillips
name: devra
average rating: 3.21
book published: 2007
rating: 1
read at: 08/05
date added: 08/08/07
shelves:
review:
here's the caveat to my one-star review: this book was BRILLIANT. it was funny, it was well-plotted, it was superbly written, the characters felt real, and the concept was truly original.

the reason for the one-star review? mummies give me the wiggins...and so did the ending to this book!
]]> 4263089 Wed, 08 Aug 2007 10:30:00 -0700
author: Nelson DeMille
name: devra
average rating: 3.61
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 08/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 4263006 Wed, 08 Aug 2007 10:28:19 -0700
author: Agatha Christie
name: devra
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1984
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 08/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 4236444 Tue, 07 Aug 2007 19:25:14 -0700
two lowlights in particular: firstly, in her quest to keep the book fresh and timely, the author overburdened it with enough pop culture references to make it feel carbon dated within a few months.

secondly, her characterization of fitzwilliam darcy is as appalling as it is inaccurate. given that her main character is on a jane austen literary tour, it may have been helpful for the author to actually have read pride and prejudice. i'd settle for her having watched the BBC adaptation. even the kiera knightley/matthew macfayden film would have sufficed.]]>
author: Alexandra Potter
name: devra
average rating: 2.76
book published: 2007
rating: 1
read at: 08/07
date added: 08/07/07
shelves: myjaneaustenfixation
review:
so bad, boring, unbelievable and predictable it was actually painful to read, and yet i was unable to turn away from it. consider it the literary equivalent of a train wreck.

two lowlights in particular: firstly, in her quest to keep the book fresh and timely, the author overburdened it with enough pop culture references to make it feel carbon dated within a few months.

secondly, her characterization of fitzwilliam darcy is as appalling as it is inaccurate. given that her main character is on a jane austen literary tour, it may have been helpful for the author to actually have read pride and prejudice. i'd settle for her having watched the BBC adaptation. even the kiera knightley/matthew macfayden film would have sufficed.
]]> 4126311 Sun, 05 Aug 2007 19:02:37 -0700
author: Mark Mills
name: devra
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 08/05/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 3129869 Mon, 16 Jul 2007 08:41:55 -0700
author: J.K. Rowling
name: devra
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 07/16/07
shelves: childrensfantasylit
review:

]]> 2392437 Tue, 26 Jun 2007 06:39:55 -0700
author: Frank Herbert
name: devra
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1965
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 06/26/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 2263613 Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:22:04 -0700
author: Nicole Krauss
name: devra
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 06/22/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 2223759 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:30:41 -0700
author: Marisha Pessl
name: devra
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2006
rating: 2
read at: 06/07
date added: 06/21/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 2223681 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:29:30 -0700
the writing is awful--at times, barely even readable. but the story shines through and never fails to remind me of how i felt when i first read it.]]>
author: Douglas Kennedy
name: devra
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 10/02
date added: 06/21/07
shelves:
review:
the fatal flaw in this lovely, bittersweet, semi-romantic, totally sappy delight of a read is a major one: the writing.

the writing is awful--at times, barely even readable. but the story shines through and never fails to remind me of how i felt when i first read it.
]]> 2223674 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:28:08 -0700
author: Meg Cabot
name: devra
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/21/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 2223669 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:27:43 -0700
author: Loraine Despres
name: devra
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/21/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 2223665 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:27:34 -0700
author: Robyn Sisman
name: devra
average rating: 3.07
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/21/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 2223660 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:27:19 -0700
author: Robyn Sisman
name: devra
average rating: 3.19
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/21/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 2223620 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:26:18 -0700
author: Jane Espenson
name: devra
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: fantasy
review:

]]> 2223188 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:15:04 -0700
author: Robert Jordan
name: devra
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: fantasy
review:

]]> 2223185 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:14:54 -0700
author: Robert Jordan
name: devra
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2003
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: fantasy
review:

]]> 2223169 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:14:30 -0700
author: Robert Jordan
name: devra
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2006
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: fantasy
review:

]]> 2223166 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:14:29 -0700
author: Robert Jordan
name: devra
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1994
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: fantasy
review:

]]> 2223165 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:14:22 -0700
author: Robert Jordan
name: devra
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: fantasy
review:

]]> 2223161 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:14:14 -0700
author: Robert Jordan
name: devra
average rating: 3.65
book published: 1996
rating: 2
read at: 01/08
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: fantasy
review:

]]> 2223157 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:14:12 -0700
author: Robert Jordan
name: devra
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1997
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: fantasy
review:

]]> 2223151 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:14:05 -0700
author: Robert Jordan
name: devra
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1992
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: fantasy
review:

]]> 2223136 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:13:57 -0700
author: Robert Jordan
name: devra
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1991
rating: 3
read at: 11/07
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: fantasy
review:

]]> 2223131 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:13:54 -0700
author: Robert Jordan
name: devra
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1993
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: fantasy
review:

]]> 2223124 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:13:50 -0700
author: Robert Jordan
name: devra
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1990
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: fantasy
review:

]]> 2223081 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:12:31 -0700
author: Gregory Maguire
name: devra
average rating: 3.41
book published: 1995
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: fairytales
review:

]]> 2223075 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:12:22 -0700
author: J.K. Rowling
name: devra
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1997
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: childrensfantasylit
review:

]]> 2223068 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:12:05 -0700
author: J.K. Rowling
name: devra
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: childrensfantasylit
review:

]]> 1938314 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:08:31 -0700
author: Nigel Slater
name: devra
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 01/07
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: cookbooks, foodlit
review:
earlier this week, i finally finished my much-anticipated read of nigel slater's "kitchen diaries," a year-long account of what happened in his kitchen and garden in london. i had hoped it would provide me with some inspiration, especially for writing about my food, and as an added bonus might have a few pictures or a pleasant recipe.

oh, how it was everything i hoped for and more. the writing was like food poetry. or porn, if one must be more graphic about it. every word conveyed this complete delight in food, even on those days where he was lazy or tired and just pulled a hunk of cheese and a slice of bread out of his refrigerator. i can only hope that with more concerted practice, i can express myself so eloquently about how much fun i have in my kitchen.

and then there were the recipes. they were all of them simple, elegant, and making the most of whatever fruit or veg might be in season (although he did demonstrate a love for fish and fennel that i could never get on board with). one of the reasons it took me so long to read this book was because i didn't want to read it away from my computer, where i would forget about all the gems i was unearthing. i wanted my recipe collection right in front of me, so that i could add each morsel as it came. i've already played with one of the recipes--a marmalade cake--and even though it wasn't perfect, it was still exactly what i wanted from 'diaries'--simple, relatively fast, with easy ingredients. i must have pulled between 30-50 recipes from the book, and the only thing that stopped me from pulling more was the fish factor. i even started pulling his two-line paragraphs about his formula for miso soup, or frittatas, or a ham and mushroom sandwich, just because the prose was so lovely it seemed to express more inspiration for such simple fare than i could ever muster.

and so, with this, i hope to step up my efforts to document my kitchen adventures, and my projects in general. i definitely need to work harder on my food photography (not just vis a vis slater, but after spending much of the week thus far browsing food blogs i am ashamed of my own efforts). and i hope to embrace the simplicity that nigel brought to his cooking. each day, he'd hunt for ingredients. he rarely planned ahead (although i don't fancy giving that up any time soon, as i get so much pleasure out of anticipating what i might cook) and took his time with everything. each day was a new challenge, even when he was just considering a salad for his own lunch. it was truly...delicious.
]]> 1938428 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:07:45 -0700
i like her mantra of picking a skill to work on and then practicing it until it feels natural instead of a challenge. will apply this to making pie crust (pastry crust?) over the next several weeks...

i’m just in the “basics” section right now--it seems to dovetail with the ease and serendipity of the nigel slater’s recipes. which makes sense, given how many times he states that nigella lawson is one of his favorite cookbook authors!

the section on stocking your fridge, freezer and pantry strikes me as totally common sense and yet utterly useful. i often fantasize about starting a kitchen from scratch, and i well recall how the last two times i moved i lugged along boxes of canned and boxed goods that ended up being useless, because i was trying to stock the pantry.

i’m less enthralled by her cooking in advance section, because although the advice is again sound and quite sensical, i’m less impressed with the recipes (largely for soups and stews that i can only assume are british-type favorites) but her writing is really shining through (“i loathe the acrid dustiness of standard-issue sherry,” she explains when she describes why she uses orange liquor in her trifles).

into the actual cooking sections now (one and two; fast food) and i’m starting to see very tempting ideas and recipes, instead of just “mere” inspiration for goals. i particularly liked the pasta recipes in “one and two” and am now enthralled by the simple soups and suppers of “fast food.”]]>
author: Nigella Lawson
name: devra
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 02/07
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: cookbooks, foodlit
review:
definitely another cookbook worth reading cover to cover, recipe by recipe. she’s very engaging, chatty even, and makes everything seem simple and doable.

i like her mantra of picking a skill to work on and then practicing it until it feels natural instead of a challenge. will apply this to making pie crust (pastry crust?) over the next several weeks...

i’m just in the “basics” section right now--it seems to dovetail with the ease and serendipity of the nigel slater’s recipes. which makes sense, given how many times he states that nigella lawson is one of his favorite cookbook authors!

the section on stocking your fridge, freezer and pantry strikes me as totally common sense and yet utterly useful. i often fantasize about starting a kitchen from scratch, and i well recall how the last two times i moved i lugged along boxes of canned and boxed goods that ended up being useless, because i was trying to stock the pantry.

i’m less enthralled by her cooking in advance section, because although the advice is again sound and quite sensical, i’m less impressed with the recipes (largely for soups and stews that i can only assume are british-type favorites) but her writing is really shining through (“i loathe the acrid dustiness of standard-issue sherry,” she explains when she describes why she uses orange liquor in her trifles).

into the actual cooking sections now (one and two; fast food) and i’m starting to see very tempting ideas and recipes, instead of just “mere” inspiration for goals. i particularly liked the pasta recipes in “one and two” and am now enthralled by the simple soups and suppers of “fast food.”
]]> 2222799 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:06:45 -0700
a woman who dedicated her year to learning how to cook.
like me. i hoped for inspiration--for my writing, for my cooking, for ideas that i could incorporate into both.

i immediately ordered a copy. or maybe i went straight to borders after work. i started reading the night i got it. that's how eager i was.

and then i put it down in disgust. it wasn't her language--i'm from new jersey, i can swear like a sailor and appreciate the release it offers in one's vocabulary. it was her attitude. whiny. despairing. woe-is-me.

that was my first turn-off.

several months later, i picked it up again, convinced that i had just given it short shrift. it's pretty rare, after all, that i don't bother to finish a book that i've started. i got much farther into the book this time--nearly halfway--and again, i got distracted and annoyed by her writing style. this, i rationalized, may have been because i had started the book all over again from the beginning instead of merely picking up where i left off, giving all of the original prejudices a chance to rear their heads again. i donated the book to a used book store.

and then, in spite of myself, i picked up another copy off of a discount table at barnes and noble. surely, surely the third time would be the charm. surely the information and hope that i had envisioned were somewhere within the pages of this conceptually brilliant book.

so this time, just last week, i decided to throw it into my weekend travel bag for a 3-hour train ride and give it one last try. i started from where i'd left off, approximately. i read it non-stop for 3 hours. and it did, at last, begin to grow on me. i shared her affinity for buffy, her inability to make pastry cream even after a dozen practices. i loved her chapter about her murderous rampage of the lobsters in new york city. and here is where i really found the weakness of this book--not in the tone, or the despair, or the language or the attitude. it was actually in the structure of the book itself.

julie seemed incapable of adhering to a timeline. everything was an anecdote that tied back to something else. and since she wasn't really writing chronologically, on a recipe-by-recipe basis, each anecdote had to be explained before it could be joined with the cooking example at hand. she interrupted her best chapter, about the lobsters, with a story about being home for christmas and finding out that her best friend wants to have an affair with a punk rocker from bath.

every successive example of seriously good writing was similarly misspent. her chapter about preparing to cook for a food reporter--interrupted. her chapter about the final month of the Project--scattered to the winds.

and above all, she doesn't write enough about the food, which is what i really wanted to hear. yes, i sympathize about her government-secretary-syndrome, but i don't want to hear abotu how your day sucked, i want to hear about cooking that day's recipe and how it affected your day. were you mad while you were shopping? did the recipe turn out? what, for heaven's sake, were you even making? how far into the Project are you?

(these tidbits were scattered across the chapter heads, but there was nothing more specific than that)

her writing lacked the consideration, the sensuality, even the day-to-day rhythm of, say, nigel slater's kitchen diaries. he made everything sound sexy. even the recipes that failed were still fantastic to read about. it made me think about how incorporate food and cooking into my daily life and how shopping for lunch can be a hassle, but it can also be the highlight of your day.

nigel made the food sound sexy.
julie talks about how cooking ruined her sex life.
enough said, right?]]>
author: Julie Powell
name: devra
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2005
rating: 2
read at: 02/07
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: foodlit
review:
it seemed so simple, and so brilliant and so the perfect type of book for me, i remember thinking as i perused--i forget what, probably the new york times--and saw a reference to julie powell's julie and julia project.

a woman who dedicated her year to learning how to cook.
like me. i hoped for inspiration--for my writing, for my cooking, for ideas that i could incorporate into both.

i immediately ordered a copy. or maybe i went straight to borders after work. i started reading the night i got it. that's how eager i was.

and then i put it down in disgust. it wasn't her language--i'm from new jersey, i can swear like a sailor and appreciate the release it offers in one's vocabulary. it was her attitude. whiny. despairing. woe-is-me.

that was my first turn-off.

several months later, i picked it up again, convinced that i had just given it short shrift. it's pretty rare, after all, that i don't bother to finish a book that i've started. i got much farther into the book this time--nearly halfway--and again, i got distracted and annoyed by her writing style. this, i rationalized, may have been because i had started the book all over again from the beginning instead of merely picking up where i left off, giving all of the original prejudices a chance to rear their heads again. i donated the book to a used book store.

and then, in spite of myself, i picked up another copy off of a discount table at barnes and noble. surely, surely the third time would be the charm. surely the information and hope that i had envisioned were somewhere within the pages of this conceptually brilliant book.

so this time, just last week, i decided to throw it into my weekend travel bag for a 3-hour train ride and give it one last try. i started from where i'd left off, approximately. i read it non-stop for 3 hours. and it did, at last, begin to grow on me. i shared her affinity for buffy, her inability to make pastry cream even after a dozen practices. i loved her chapter about her murderous rampage of the lobsters in new york city. and here is where i really found the weakness of this book--not in the tone, or the despair, or the language or the attitude. it was actually in the structure of the book itself.

julie seemed incapable of adhering to a timeline. everything was an anecdote that tied back to something else. and since she wasn't really writing chronologically, on a recipe-by-recipe basis, each anecdote had to be explained before it could be joined with the cooking example at hand. she interrupted her best chapter, about the lobsters, with a story about being home for christmas and finding out that her best friend wants to have an affair with a punk rocker from bath.

every successive example of seriously good writing was similarly misspent. her chapter about preparing to cook for a food reporter--interrupted. her chapter about the final month of the Project--scattered to the winds.

and above all, she doesn't write enough about the food, which is what i really wanted to hear. yes, i sympathize about her government-secretary-syndrome, but i don't want to hear abotu how your day sucked, i want to hear about cooking that day's recipe and how it affected your day. were you mad while you were shopping? did the recipe turn out? what, for heaven's sake, were you even making? how far into the Project are you?

(these tidbits were scattered across the chapter heads, but there was nothing more specific than that)

her writing lacked the consideration, the sensuality, even the day-to-day rhythm of, say, nigel slater's kitchen diaries. he made everything sound sexy. even the recipes that failed were still fantastic to read about. it made me think about how incorporate food and cooking into my daily life and how shopping for lunch can be a hassle, but it can also be the highlight of your day.

nigel made the food sound sexy.
julie talks about how cooking ruined her sex life.
enough said, right?
]]> 2222734 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:04:11 -0700
author: Ruth Reichl
name: devra
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: foodlit
review:

]]> 2222642 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:02:42 -0700
author: C.S. Lewis
name: devra
average rating: 4.44
book published: 1950
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: childrensfantasylit
review:

]]> 2222519 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 13:59:47 -0700
author: Douglas Adams
name: devra
average rating: 4.54
book published: 1987
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: scifi
review:

]]> 2222390 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 13:56:28 -0700
author: Philip Pullman
name: devra
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: childrensfantasylit
review:

]]> 2222373 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 13:56:11 -0700
author: Philip Pullman
name: devra
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1997
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: childrensfantasylit
review:

]]> 2222360 Thu, 21 Jun 2007 13:55:57 -0700
author: Philip Pullman
name: devra
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1995
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 06/21/07
shelves: childrensfantasylit
review:

]]> 2131575 Tue, 19 Jun 2007 14:50:58 -0700
author: Neil Gaiman
name: devra
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 06/19/07
shelves: scifi
review:

]]> 2131338 Tue, 19 Jun 2007 14:48:42 -0700
author: Orson Scott Card
name: devra
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1985
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 06/19/07
shelves: scifi
review:

]]> 2131392 Tue, 19 Jun 2007 14:48:15 -0700