Scribbles in the Margins: My Life in France & So B. It

Instructions for Creating a Custom Book Pile in Ten Easy Steps:

1. Select book. Begin reading.
2. 1/3 of the way through book, decide you want something lighter to read to offset Book #1.
3. Begin Book #2.
4. Read 1/3 to 1/2 of Book #2, become captivated by topic of unrelated Book #3.
5. Read 2/3rds of Book #3, hear about / see / buy interesting Book #4.
6. Promise yourself that you will not start Book #4 until you finish Books #1-#3.
7. Begin Book #4
8. Finish Book #4, get disgusted with yourself and go back to Book #1.
9. Reread bits of Book #1 to remember what it is about, finish Book #1.
10 . Repeat Step 9 for Books #2-#3

With these easy to follow instructions you too can have a book pile that resembles this:

Omnivore's Dilemma (Started in August, 1/3rd done)
My Life in France (Started in September, 100+/- pages left)
Portrait of an Unknown Woman (Read first chapter back in August)
So B. It (Skimmed through in October, only 180-some pages long)

On Wednesday I hit Step 8 (well a modified Step 8...I never actually finished a book, I just got disgusted with myself.) and by Sunday morning I could proudly proclaim that I could remove TWO WHOLE books from my pile and add them to my Books I Have Read shelf.

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Ever since I saw the first trailer for Julie & Julia with Meryl Streep as Juila Child I've wanted to see the movie (which I have not...yet). I dutifully picked up the book the film is based on, read it and declared...tthhhbbbbtt. The book just wasn't that inspirational...or well written for that matter. I didn't feel an affinity for Julie Powell, I often felt like she hadn't captured her own growth and that for all her troubles, the changes she made in the year that she Mastered the Art of French Cooking were only superficial.

Mostly I just wanted her to just stop whining already.

No seriously, shut up lady.

The real hollowness of Powell's book comes in to sharp focus when reading Julia Child's memoir, My Life in France. Following Child's growth from late-blooming housewife to the internationally known voice of French Cuisine is personal and intimate, the book is less about the food (though there is plenty of that) and more about self-discovery. Following along with Julia as she uncovers her passions, her vices and why she loves France is inspirational. Her example for developing a life of continued learning, self-discovery and an always curious nature is something that nearly everyone can appreciate if not emulate...even if we can't stomach the idea of eggs in aspic.

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In a different direction entirely is this juvenile fiction which I picked about a month ago when visiting my family for a weekend. So B. It tells the story 12 year old Heidi's search to learn the truth about her mentally disabled mother, where they are from and how they ended up creating a family for themselves with their neighbor Bernadette. Heidi's quest to learn about herself, her past and her mother's mysterious word, soof, takes her from Reno to New York state and teaches her more than she ever expected in a well written and very quiet story.