Beastmomma

From Goodreads:

With the humor of Bridget Jones and the vitality of Augusten Burroughs, Julie Powell recounts how she conquered every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and saved her soul. Julie Powell is 30-years-old, living in a rundown apartment in Queens and working at a soul-sucking secretarial job that's going nowhere. She needs something to break the monotony of her life, and she invents a deranged assignment. She will take her mother's dog-eared copy of Julia Child's 1961 classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and she will cook all 524 recipes. In the span of one year. At first she thinks it will be easy. But as she moves from the simple Potage Parmentier (potato soup) into the more complicated realm of aspics and crepes, she realizes there's more to Mastering the Art of French Cooking than meets the eye. With Julia's stern warble always in her ear, Julie haunts the local butcher, buying kidneys and sweetbreads. She sends her husband on late-night runs for yet more butter and rarely serves dinner before midnight. She discovers how to mold the perfect Orange Bavarian, the trick to extracting marrow from bone, and the intense pleasure of eating liver.And somewhere along the line she realizes she has turned her kitchen into a miracle of creation and cuisine. She has eclipsed her life's ordinariness through spectacular humor, hysteria, and perseverance.

Pages: 307 (paperback)

Rating: 5 out of 10

I finished this book at the end of September and I am just now getting around to writing my review. (Tisk Tisk-- Shame on me)  Anyway, I read this book for the first meeting of the book club I started.  Based on the premise I thought that I would really like the book. I feel like I can relate very well to the desire to have a purpose to your days and feeling like your job is sucking the life out of you.  However, I found Julie to be a bit off putting.  She was crass and whiny.  At times, I hated the way she treated her husband.  On the plus side, the book was good for discussion.  My edition of the book had questions in the back which certainly helped us to have a lengthy conversation.

In spite of all the reasons why I thought the book was just okay, I did love this quote:

"Julia taught me what it takes to find your way in the world.  It's not what I thought it was.  I thought it was all about-- I don't know, confidence or will or luck.  Those are all some good things to have, no question.  But there's something else, something that these things grow out of.  It's joy."

If the whole book had been written in that flavor and with that sentiment, I would have had a different (probably more pleasurable) reading experience.

I wrote about the book for one Sunday Salon post.

From amazon:

Cook's lack of ability as a stylist generally has been masked by his talent for fashioning a solid medical drama--often ripped from current headlines--that keeps readers turning pages. Unfortunately, that's not the case in his 12th novel (after Vital Signs ), which has a plot so ludicrous that the weak characters and silly dialogue are all too obvious. Most offensive in the latter category are the stilted, out-of-kilter exchanges between a pair of Mafia hit men who run about New York City "whacking" (murdering) people with increasing frequency. Meanwhile, Dr. Laurie Montgomery, a forensic pathologist in the NYC Medical Examiner office, finds a pattern of unrelated cocaine overdose deaths among career-oriented people never known to have used drugs. Despite the obvious evidence that she's onto something, her boss couldn't care less, while the homicide detective she becomes involved with is more concerned about the mob killings, and, like her boss, cannot understand why she is outraged by the behavior of two corrupt, thieving uniformed cops in her department. As luck would have it, there's also another man in Laurie's life, a self-centered ophthalmologist whose patients just happen to include the mob boss behind both the cocaine deaths and the murder spree. Readers who plow through this amateurish effort will guess the ending long before any of the characters has a clue.

Pages: 252 (paperback)

Rating: 2 out of 10

I read this book to fulfill the medical condition category of the What’s in a Name Challenge 2 and wish that I had not wasted my time.  One of the most frustrating things about this book for me was that it was recommended to me by a librarian.  I visited the public library in my new home town for the first time and decided to ask for a recommendation.  I was a little skeptical when I picked up the book, but I thought that I should be open minded.  Turns out that it is possible to be so open minded that your brains fall out. 

The review that I posted above sums up some of the issues that I had with the book.   I started to articulate some of the issues I have with the book in a Sunday Salon post. The characters were weak! Also, I found the book filled with some racist undertones.  As I was reading the book, I started making a list of each racist or stereotypical comment I encountered.  Since so much time has passed and I misplaced the paper, I am going to go from memory.  In an effort to be descriptive, the author let’s us know the ethnic backgrounds of several side characters.   I found that annoying not only because the description usually also contained something negative, but I found myself wondering about the ethnic background of all the other characters.  Are we to assume that if the author does not describe the characters that they are white?

One of the main characters of the novel is Dr. Laurie Montgomery.  From the author’s description, she is an attractive woman who is the recipient of sexist comments and is having trouble dating.  I did appreciate the attempt at having a strong, female lead. However, I got annoyed with all the descriptions of her beauty and her strange dating antics.  I just felt like it did not move the plot forward.  Instead, I found her dialogue whiny and her approach to matters of the heart trite.

Finally, the worst part about this book is that I figured out the mystery with at least a third of the book remaining.  The ending tied together a little bit too neatly. I did not care much about any of the characters and I felt angry with the lack of character development.  I would not recommend this book to a friend.

I am very slow with completing books as I adjusted to married life in the New England area. I thought it would be fun to track my reading progress each week. The Sunday Salon is  an online reading group where all the participants set aside time to read every Sunday and blog about the experience. To learn more or to join, click on the picture above.

This morning,  I read a few more pages of Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon.  In addition to being written from a unique perspective, the story has some interesting plot developments.  In the passage I read this morning, a mystery was solved.  A relationship between two characters was transformed.  As cliche as it sounds, I thought about how one act, moment or event can change your life forever.   I wonder what it would be like to change from loving my parents and trusting them completely to feeling very frightened of them and being unsure about everything they told me. 

On Wednesday, I attended my second meeting of a book club at our public library.  It was storming pretty badly and not many people came.  The folks who attended are what I would describe as the core group.  They all had lots to say and I had trouble interjecting myself into the conversation.  It is another lesson in how I need to speak up more, but I also enjoyed listening to them speak.  We read Bel Canto by Ann Patchett which was excellent.  I realize that now I have three reviews which need to be written, but I am struggling more and more to find the time to think about, create, and post my reviews. Hopefully, I will get to catch up on my reviews soon.

Next Saturday, I have to take an ethics exam in order to sit for the Massachusetts bar.  I am nervous because I am not very good at taking standardized tests and I failed the exam once already.  This time, I feel more focused because I have set aside time to study and a plan of action in which to finish.  The last time I took the test, I was trying to study while driving across country and then took the exam two days after we moved.  Even when I was studying, I did not feel particularly focused.  I am hoping that my familiarity with the exam combined with a use of flash cards or more practice questions will result in a passing score.

I am very slow with completing books as I adjusted to married life in the New England area. I thought it would be fun to track my reading progress each week. The Sunday Salon is  an online reading group where all the participants set aside time to read every Sunday and blog about the experience. To learn more or to join, click on the picture above.

On Wednesday we got a new bed which does not sound like it has much to do with reading.  However, it is now much easier and more comfortable to read in bed.  I also wake up in a better mood since I am not having back pain.  Today,  I read a few more pages of Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon.  The chapter I read today was about the main character, who is an autistic teenager deciding to be brave by talking with strangers.  Christopher, the narrator, has such a direct and honest voice.   I loved him even more because he is going to be brave by talking with strangers.   It got me thinking about what I could do to be brave. 

The biggest thing I am afraid of right now is preparing for an ethics exam which I have to pass in order to sit for the state bar.  In August, I studied and prepared for the ethics exam.  Everyone told me that it was easy, ,but I did not pass which was pretty devastating.  I have not been committed to studying again because I am worried that the effort will not pay off and I will be humiliated again.  I need to take my inspiration from Christopher and be brave to get the result that is important to me. 

You can read my previous post about this book, here.

I am very slow with completing books as I adjusted to married life in the New England area. I thought it would be fun to track my reading progress each week. The Sunday Salon is  an online reading group where all the participants set aside time to read every Sunday and blog about the experience. To learn more or to join, click on the picture above.

Even though I did not do much blogging about books over the past week, I did have a few book-ish adventures.  On Wednesday evening, I attended a book club meeting at the local library where we discussed Once Upon a Day by Lisa Tucker.  You can read my review here.  I was a little bit nervous because I did not care for the book too much.  At the meeting I discovered that not only did others feel the same as I did, but they were quite fierce about their opinions. I have been in quite a few book clubs in my day, but I have never been to a meeting with people who were so intense about expressing their opinion of the book.  The members ranged in age from retirees to young professionals.  There was one man who I actually felt sorry for because he had to defend his preference for long hair.  It sounds totally random, but I kid you not. 

On Friday night, I attended the first meeting of a book club that I started.  In my head, I have named the club "Partners of Professors" because we are all connected to a professor at a local college.  Our first selection was Julie & Julia by Julie Powell which I actually finished about forty minutes before I had to leave.  I am telling you that to explain why I have not written a review of the book yet :) The host served a yummy dinner and wine.  We enjoyed the discussion and I liked getting to know the members better.  We talked about a lot of other things, in addition to the book.  I am excited to return to both of these meetings next month.

As for my reading today,  I read a few more pages of Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon.  I started the book earlier this week and I am really drawn into the story. Getting the perspective of a fifteen-year-old autistic child who is working on solving a mystery is really engaging.  The main character is very observant and good at picking up random details.  When Partner and I were looking at bed's earlier today, I thought about what Christopher (the main character in the book) would look for in a bed and a headboard.  It was a fun exercise to take into account the opinion and potential reaction of a fictional character in my shopping adventure.  I think that thinking about Christopher helped me from purchasing a headboard prematurely.