Book Review

Ok, time for more reflective posting after my work-rant. I've been through quite a few books recently, so I thought I'd share my thoughts.

"Caught" by Harlan Coben. One of my favorite authors serves up another good thriller. Got a bit unrealistic toward the end, I thought, when the viral marketing, which previously was somewhat based on truth, went quite a bit overboard. Still, it shows how the power of the internet makes a big difference in our news today. Also, a good cautionary tale to parents, how you must 'parent' your kids, not be their friend. Its one thing to allow one's kid to have a few sips of wine with dinner when their a teenager, its another to host a keg party.


"Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. I only read this book because I had read a review of her current book, "Committed" and saw that it was about marrying a non-US Citizen and at least involved some of the wonderful dealings with the INS. Given my own interactions with him, I was curious to see what she wrote. However, it was the sequel to the prior book, so I had to read that first (I hate starting something in the middle). I liked the book, it did well showing the extremes and trying to find balance. Not reading anything by Gilbert previously, I don't know if any prior books discussed more of her marriage life, I did feel that I was missing something, the prologue to "Eat, Pray." Still, I could empathize with being on one path, only to find out it wasn't quite right and needing to change things up to find the better way. I started this book about the same time Lost returned to TV, so naturally I perked up at the whole 108 bit and wonder if the Lost writers intended the connection (of course they did). So now going to get the second book from the library.


"Best Friends Forever" by Jennifer Weiner. I really enjoyed her first couple of books. Based in Philly, main character is a lawyer and usually on the heavy side. Something to which I could relate. The plots were decent as well. However, this book was a poor effort. Very superficial and cliche. The characters were not developed well at all, especially the cop. The story line seemed very thin as well. I guess a deadline forced a very rushed book. I hope she takes her time more with the next one.

"Marley & Me" and "Longest Trip Home" by John Grogan. Another Philly writer. Great books, very funny and "Marley" is wonderful as a book, although the bit at the end takes longer to complete, so you cry more. I miss Grogan as an Inquirer writer. After reading these two, I checked out a couple of other books from the library, compilations of his Inquirer articles that were put together by the newspaper. Its a shame that they didn't consult with Grogan on these books, invited him to write a prologue or edit. I loved reading the articles again (some for the first time, as I had missed some when initially published). I recalled reading about Kate Gosslin back when she first had the sixtuplets and was a controversial person even then.


"Julie and Julia" by Julie Powell. This one is long. Yeah, another book I'm on the late train with. But probably more people saw the movie rather than read the book (I haven't yet, another habit of mine, I always try to read the book before seeing the movie). I would have liked to have read the actual blog (which I had presumed this was, a'la "Sex in the City"), but this was more of a book about the blog. I gather some portions of the blog were rewritten for the book and expanded upon, but it was clearly completely reviewed and redone after the fact and I would have been more interested in reading the process as it went along. I wonder if by really searching the internet one could find the original blog, probably not, no doubt the publisher made Julie Powell remove the blog so as not to impinge on book sales.

Anyway, as to the subject itself, I was interested because I cook from Julia Child all the time, or at least once I married a frenchman. And naturally as I'm reading it, I'm thinking, I could have done this, why didn't I think of this. Of course, I really couldn't have done this. I had interests outside of my job (other than drinking and watching TV that is, which appear to have been Julie's) so I never would have had the time to devote to finding all the esoteric ingredients and cooking all the recipes. I admit, I'm also reading this book with the knowledge that Julie Powell eventually separated from her husband and engaged in several affairs, so reading portions of the book about how great their marriage is, how annoyed she is with her philandering friend, how much she depends on Eric and appreciates his support, seem well, rather hollow in retrospect. Still, I enjoy reading about her experiences in trying to get the dishes right and struggling with eggs and aspic (which I'd never eat either, blech). If nothing else, I'm glad this book (and movie) and exist because now its easier to find certain ingredients in normal grocery stores (like marrow bones - hooray!). I've got the movie in my Netflix queue, so I'll get to it eventually. I'm not interested in reading Powell's follow-up however, I've read too many very negative reviews and frankly, the subject matter isn't all that interesting to me.


I'm currently in the middle of several other books (one in my briefcase for commuting, one by the TV for commercials, one upstairs by the bed), "Nanny Returns" by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Krause (follow-up to "The Nanny Diaries"), "Think Twice" by Lisa Scottoline, and "Divine Misdemeanors" by Laurell K Hamilton. I also started "The Audacity of Hope" by Barak Obama, which I'll return to as my commuting book (because its in paperback and lightweight) after the "Nanny" (which I borrowed). Also will be checking out "Committed" by Elizabeth Gilbert from the library probably later this week. Finally, I recently bought the last two Dick Francis books, "Silks" and "Even Money" and "My Life in France" by Julia Child. I'll report on these another time.