Julie & Julia And The Lives Of Writers

Very busy getting the house ready to go on the market this weekend–no time to write a new post! Hope you enjoy this one from the archive.

MOON IN GEMINI

I recently watched (again) the charming movie Julie & Julia. It stars Meryl Streep as television chef and cookbook author Julia Child and Amy Adams as Julie Powell, who wrote a blog about making every recipe in Child’s book Mastering The Art Of French Cooking over the course of a year.

The movie alternates between telling the stories of both women. Child and her husband are living in France during the 1950s when she decides to learn French cooking. This eventually leads to a partnership with two French women to write a cookbook specifically for Americans, and, of course, her cooking show and status as America’s first celebrity chef. Julie Powell, frustrated with a job she doesn’t like and feeling directionless in life, decides to start a blog about cooking, which eventually leads to a book and movie deal.

As Julie cooks the recipes and writes about them…

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Movie Review: The Divergent Series: Insurgent

MINOR SPOILERS FOLLOW FOR THE MOVIE INSURGENT: I enjoyed the first movie in this series, Divergent. Based on the first novel in Veronica Roth's dystopian YA series, it boasted good casting, energetic direction by Neil Burger, creative envisioning of Chicago after an apocalypse, and a tight screenplay. All these elements helped make it a decent, … Continue reading Movie Review: The Divergent Series: Insurgent

Mini-Reviews of Books I’ve Enjoyed Lately

Looking over the review I posted for Veronica Roth’s Allegiant a couple of weeks ago, I realized it’s such a negative one that it may have given the impression I’m a Nelly Negative, which can’t be further from the truth. In fact, over the last couple of months I’ve read some terrific books and thought … Continue reading Mini-Reviews of Books I’ve Enjoyed Lately

Book Review: The Twelve By Justin Cronin

The Twelve by Justin Cronin is the second of his post-apocalyptic/vampire trilogy. The first book in the trilogy is The Passage. I wrote a spoilerific analysis of one of the major characters in The Passage a while back. This review will refrain from divulging any major spoilers. That makes it very difficult to write this … Continue reading Book Review: The Twelve By Justin Cronin

Subjective vs. Objective When Writing Reviews

Has this ever happened to you? You pick up a book, or watch a movie or TV show that has received rave reviews, from friends, professional critics and internet posters--and you don't like it.  At all. You don't get it.  You can't understand what everyone else is flipping out over. Of course, it happens to … Continue reading Subjective vs. Objective When Writing Reviews