Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“I was thirty-seven years old and still discovering who I was.”

My Life in France by Julia Child, Alex Prud'Homme

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The story of Julia Child’s years in France in her own words was literally the second book I put on my Goodreads to read list in January 2012. It has taken me this long to get to it, but I’m perfectly happy to have waited until I was in the right mood – even though this book made me hungry every time I picked it up. My Life in France is exactly what the title says it is. For most people the contents of this […]

Look no further: Perfect Christmas gift for all the foodies on your list

The New Homemade Kitchen by Joseph Shuldiner

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CBR12 BINGO: Happy Full disclosure: My husband tested recipes for this cookbook and we are both listed under the acknowledgments as recipe testers. Some years ago, my husband attended a beer crafting class that was offered by The Institute of Domestic Technology and held at the historic Zane Grey Estate in Altadena, California. When he came home and told me that not only did he have a great time, but that there were goats on the estate, I said, “Sign me up for the next […]

Humans are the worst

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Bear with me, I’m about to try to get you to read a nonfiction book about a species of fish. One of my best reading years as an adult occurred a few years back when I was tearing through a lot of non-fiction food books. So when one of the contributors to the site Serious Eats mentioned that “Cod” had a permanent place on his kitchen bookshelf, I made a mental note to pick it up the next time I went to the library.  Well, […]

My modern Italian feast experiment

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After a year back in town, I finally sorted out my LAPL library card privileges. Much to my surprise, the Highland Park branch has a very extensive cookbook selection. I LOVE Italian food and culture, even minored in Italian at USC. As such, I immediately snagged the Giada’s Kitchen: New Italian Favorites off the shelf. I was never a big fan of her Food Network cooking show, but I do own a very nice skillet from her Target line. 🙂 The book is organized into the following sections: appetizers […]

No Reservations. And no novel structure, but still good.

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I have been a Bourdain fan for a while and really enjoyed Kitchen Confidential so when I came across this book for less than $2, and had an upcoming vacation, I snagged it because I thought it would be a good vacay read, and I was validated, though I wouldn’t say the book was a total success. This novel follows the adventures of Bourdain during his first television series of the same name and we travel with him to exotic locales, and even more exotic […]

I Think I Need Some Tums

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This is a novel that feels more like a movie script with lots of amazing food descriptions—some mouthwatering and some stomach-turning (depending on how you feel about certain types of French food). There are interesting elements here and the text goes down easily but it ultimately felt a bit unsatisfying to me. Richard Morais’s novel tells the story of Hassan Haji, who travels from the kitchen of his father’s Indian restaurant to a career as an acclaimed French chef. Hassan’s early memories are of his […]



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