Author: Julie Powell
Title: Julie & Julia [sound recording] : 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen
Genre: Non-fiction; Food Writing
Publication Date: 2005
Number of Pages: 5 sound discs: digital; 4 3/4 in.
Geographical Setting: New York, New York
Time Period: current day
Series (If applicable): N/A
Plot Summary: Julie Powell is a 29 year old living in New York City who is fed up with her dead end secretarial job and depressing apartment in Queens. In an attempt to find deeper meaning in her life, Julie takes up an ambitious project: she resolves to cook the 524 recipes in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a single year. To document what she calls “The Julie and Julia project,” she begins writing a blog that captures not only every frustration encountered in following each recipe to exaction but also one that reveals aspects of her marriage, her friends, and her wry observations about daily life. This memoir delivers a more fleshed out version of events than her blog but still retains its chatty, observant, and hilarious tone. This inspiring and encouraging book is well written and honest. It is as much about the character of Julie and her relationships as it is a food memoir that that conveys the challenges and triumphs of a novice young cook attempting masterful French cooking in a tiny New York apartment.
Subject Headings: Powell, Julie.
Child, Julia. Mastering the art of French cooking.
Women cooks Anecdotes.
Cookery, French Anecdotes.
Audiobooks (Abridged).
Appeal: compelling, easy, engrossing, earnest, heartwarming, hopeful, humorous, lighthearted, optimistic, thoughtful, upbeat, quirky, realistic, well developed characters, character-centered, domestic, accurate, contemporary, details of cooking, chatty, candid, conversational, engaging, informal, witty, descriptive, informative, entertaining,
3 appeal terms that best describe this book: engaging, witty, entertaining
3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors
Flinn, Kathleen. The Sharper Your Knife, the Less you Cry: Love, Learning and Tears at the World’s Most Famous Cooking School. Like Julie and Julia, this book is a memoir that centers on cooking. The author recalls how she changed careers and attended Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris. Like Julie and Julia, the author recalls humorous anecdotes, explores love relationships, and uses cooking as a metaphor for life.
Reichl, Ruth. Tender at the Bone: Growing up at the Table. Like Julie and Julia, this is a memoir that is centered on food. It recounts the life and career of the restaurant critic from The New York Times. Like Julie and Julie, this is a heartwarming account that takes place in New York, features a strong woman character and contains humorous anecdotes and recipes.
Wizenberg, Molly. A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from my Kitchen Table. Like Julie and Julia, this memoir was derived from a popular blog that recounts the author’s life in terms of cooking and recipes. Also like Julie and Julia, the author’s accounts are sometimes touching and sometimes humorous in this charming account.
3 Relevant Fiction Works and Authors
Bender, Aimee. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. Rose Edelstein has the ability to taste the emotions of others when tasting their cooking. Like Julie and Julia, this novel is a witty, offbeat account of a woman’s relationship with food and with loved ones.
Esquivel, Laura. Like Water for Chocolate: a Novel in Monthly Installments, with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies. Tito, a doting daughter who cooks every meal for her parents in Mexico, finds love and herself through her cooking. Like Julie and Julia, this is a witty story that centers on cooking, love relationships, and contains recipes.
Mileti, Meredith. Aftertaste, A Novel in Five Courses: In this novel, Mira Rinaldi is a New York City restaurant owner whose life is in a shambles. Like Julie and Julia, this novel contains many descriptions of delicious food and recipes and features a strong female character who overcomes personal struggle and gains self-worth through cooking.
Name: Meghan M.
Tags: accurate, candid, character centered, chatty, compelling, contemporary, conversational, descriptive, details of cooking, domestic, earnest, easy, engaging, engrossing, entertaining, heartwarming, hopeful, humorous, informal, informative, lighthearted, optimistic, quirky, realistic, thoughtful, upbeat, well-developed characters, witty
