Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen in Around the World in 80 Books

Jul 26, 2009 Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance rated it really liked it

Shelves: cooking, challenge, france, mood-boosting-books, foodie, memoir

Mmmm...Biography & Memoirs? or Cooking, Food & Wine? A little of both. But it really doesn't matter what this book is about because Julie Powell can write. The account of her self-appointed task to prepare all the recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking never bogs (blogs?) down; she weaves into her book stories of Julia's introduction to cooking and her own bouts with infertility and her friends' relationship ups and downs as well as, of course, her experiments with French c ...more

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Oct 18, 2009 Suzanne rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, memoir

A rare instance of when I liked the movie better than the book! I loved the movie and expected to love the book. Not so much. I honestly don't consider myself a prude, but I was getting a little tired of the language and gratuitous sex. Wasn't the book supposed to be about cooking?

The movie was a pretty even mix of Julia Childs / Julie Powell and the book was 95% Julie / 5% Julia. Too bad. Julie was not nearly as interesting. I would have to say Julie was self-absorbed, petty, and whiny. ...more

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Mar 08, 2012 jennifer rated it really liked it

This one is part of my "Everyone Has Read It But Me" challenge category, so I doubt if I need to outline what this book is about, but here goes...

Julie Powell was a NYC office temp who hated her life. While looking through her mother's copy of Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, a thought popped into her head that she should cook her way through the book, thereby accomplishing something in her life. And then she decided to blog about the experience, writing about the triumphs and ...more

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Jul 12, 2009 Kay Green rated it it was ok

I really did not enjoy reading this book although I am really looking forward to the movie. The descriptions of the food she cooked were somewhere between unappetizing and downright gross. She included so much talk about butter, organ meats, things which are gelled, and killing shellfish. I am sure those were true to the book but not fun to read about. There actually was very little about Julia Child in the book, and the author did not appeal to me as a person. But the idea was fantastic and I g ...more

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Jul 01, 2009 Jamie rated it it was ok

This book is just as obnoxious as I thought it would be. I am not complaining. Entirely mediocre, yet entertaining and quick.

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Aug 06, 2009 Lisa of Hopewell rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2009

Two chapters in and I want to read more. I've heard people say lousy things about this, but since most ARE about the movie [Julie's parts--everyone loves the Julia parts:] I'm going to keep going. Was disappointed to realize I only have the "French Chef" book--not the Mastering the Art of French Cooking volumes... I would like to read along. Might have to get it from the library. I LOVED "My Life in France" and might have to go get it, also, from the library and reread it. We'll see. ...more

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Apr 21, 2010 Kim rated it really liked it

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was great fun on vacation while we went from National Park to National Park. I could hear the voice of both Julie & Julia. The book was better than the movie. No surprise!

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