Tuesday, August 3, 2010

What was I thinking?

Okay in theory it seemed like a good idea to read a whole bunch of books with the same theme: memoirs written by women who turned to cooking careers. I checked out several of these from the library and started reading and... it's not the fun I thought it would be,

I read Julie and Julia last year and it was awesome, and I loved it. I also read I Loved I Lost I Made Spaghetti and loved it as well. Ditto the recently read The Sharper the Knife, the Less You Cry. I also read a few others so that's what nudged this project along for me. I thought since I tend to gravitate to these books and enjoy them, reading several for a theme month would be fun. I was wrong.

First, I screwed up because I ended up with books that weren't exactly what I was looking for. While Spaghetti, Knife and Julie were about just regular women doing cooking, the books I found were a bit different. I read Garlic and Sapphires which was about a woman who was a food critic for the NYTimes. While it was interesting, it wasn't what I wanted, exactly. I read The Recipe Club which was a fictional story of the friendship between two women told through letters and recipes. While it wasn't what I wanted, I did, however, REALLY enjoy it, and was glad I found it (thanks for the recommendation from a fellow blogger who pens Food for Thought!)

Then I found a book called Spoonfed about a woman who turned critic and something about her messed up life and blah blah blah. I have to admit I didn't even finish it! Spiced was about the alleged drama in the life of a new pastry chef. And it wasn't that dramatic as it claimed to be; I read it cover to cover waiting for the spiciness.

I wanted more of a feel like Julie, Knife and Spaghetti, I guess. Or maybe I read too many of the same genre all together. Whatever my problem, I just know it wasn't my best plan. So now, I'm back to mixing it up a bit. I'm got lots of good books in my stack:

  • a new Greg Rucka book with the Atticus Kodiak character
  • The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
  • Little Bee by Chris Cleave
  • The Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
  • State Fair (a Bennie Harper mystery) by Earlene Fowler
  • Beachcombers
So with that failed projected off my plate, I can turn to my waiting list of books, which is about 100 right now. Until I come up with another harebrained scheme!

Happy reading!
Mags

4 Comments:

a quiet life said...

i could never read the same genre is a row, i would be miserable... i LOVE mixing it up :-) glad you liked recipe club, cute huh! i loved garlic and sapphires, i thought she was a riot. with all these books why aren't you playing at fft?!

i LOVED guernsey and hotel, both great books, i am waiting for little bee at the library. i just finished sing them home, quirky and i loved it~

Maggie said...

Blue Moon- First, my intent was to actually do the cooking to go with these books but I've been busier this summer than ever before, it seems. I have recipes from each- can I go back in a few weeks and FFT with these even though I've posted my reviews?

And I usually mix up the genres, too. I just thought it would be a good idea to try several of the same theme- boy was i wrong- haha!

I thought with garlic and sapphires that while she had her funny moments, i think i let the cynical side get to me about the "influence" of a NYTimes reviews. Or I read too many in a row...

And thanks for the The recipe Club recommendation- it sure was cute, and the food- yummy! And all stuff I could easily make!

Will have to see what "sing them home" is about...

a quiet life said...

yes, come back and do a fft for EVERY BOOK!

Maggie said...

Blue moon- okay then. I have some recipes from each of the books so I will get on that in the next few weeks!