jcpdiesel21's review against another edition
3.0
While reading about Julie's misadventures in cooking was fun, there didn't seem to be enough material to support a full-length novel. Julie started out a bit on the annoying side, especially with some of her stories that went off on tangents and ventured into TMI territory, but eventually she won me over. I could have done without hearing about the lives of her various friends, though, which didn't add anything to the story. It was nice to see how Julia Child's recipes had an unexpected impact on Julie and her life.
hesskenn's review against another edition
2.0
This is one example of where the movie is better than the book, and I have yet to see the movie in its entirety.
friedathurman's review against another edition
2.0
It took me what felt like forever to force myself to get through this book! This is one of those rare instances where the movie was much better than the book.
leasummer's review against another edition
1.0
I couldn't finish it. I didn't even make it to the half way point. I couldn't figure out what the point was. It's like reading someone's journal who has a job she hates, a husband I think she loves, and who is totally disorganized and swears a lot, and then she decides to cook for a year.
The book doesn't follow what she cooks, she kind of just throws the names in there and every now and then tells a story about cooking it. Maybe later in the book it gets more descriptive but I've got more books to read that I think I would actually enjoy.
The book doesn't follow what she cooks, she kind of just throws the names in there and every now and then tells a story about cooking it. Maybe later in the book it gets more descriptive but I've got more books to read that I think I would actually enjoy.
mka0204's review against another edition
2.0
I stopped reading it. I thought Julie was really self-absorbed, and wasn't very entertained by her 'adventures' in cooking. Maybe I just didn't get it - so many of my friends read it and liked it....
marissa_k_mason's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
tense
slow-paced
_sarah_reads_'s review against another edition
3.0
I don't regret reading this book, it was entertaining, but I don't know that I would recommend it. On the plus side, the author is a huge Buffy fan, so I was able to relate to her on that level. But overall, I had a hard time with the tone of the book--it felt like she was trying too hard or something. She came off sounding like a less sophisticated, less witty, less interesting Nora Ephron.
rebeccatc's review against another edition
2.0
This book is a good example of the fact that writing that may be good enough for a blog is not necessarily good enough for a book. This book, based on the gimmick of a woman cooking her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, reads like a hastily and sloppily compiled set of blog venting sessions. Julie often sounds like the most boring person you know who insists on telling you every detail of her day, including her petty marital spats, her encounters with the inconveniences of public transportation and, even less exciting, the weather. She must have had a minimum word count to meet because she also goes off on tangents about her friends that are obviously filler. While there are definitely parts of the story that are funny, Julie herself is so self-absorbed and self-indulgent that I really didn't care what happened to her. Her motivation was never really clear and it didn't seem that she had really grown in any way by the completion of the project. This is one of the rare instances where I enjoyed the movie more than the book, mainly because it was more Julia and less Julie.
beccacraven's review against another edition
2.0
This book has inspired me to learn more about Julia Child. Julie Powell was pretty insufferable through the whole thing, though.
books_plants_hikes's review against another edition
2.0
I honestly just really didn't enjoy this book very much. I'm not saying what Julie did wasn't wonderful but it certainly wasn't enjoyable for me to read about. Maybe because I find my center in being outdoors, seeing new places, hiking and climbing.