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Review: Julie and Julia by Julie Powell

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*1Well, since Thanksgiving is tomorrow (although being in the United Kingdom now we don’t celebrate this one :-/ ) and since this is a novel about a food blogger…and well….I am a kinda sorta blogger myself….I reckoned it was a good idea to post this review now….

If you check out the reviews for this book they are all over the place….I reckon this means that you either love this book or you hate it…Well, not me…I really enjoyed it….I didn’t love it…but in no way did I hate it….I thought it was charming. Julie was bit of a drama queen, but I loved her. I understand her sarcasm perfectly! It started as a blog and of course if you read any blogs you can understand how witty, engaging and entertaining her blog must have been. This is a movie that I have actually seen for once and I thought the movie and the book went along quite well together. Amy Adams was a perfect fit for the role and I had no problem imagining her as I read this book. If you’ve ever wanted to start out to do something fun and it rolled into something that totally stressed you out and encompassed your entire life…yet you were too stubborn to back down and throw in the towel…or you cared too much…..If you became so obsessed with it that you sometimes forget the other “going ons” in the *real* world….well this is a book you can relate to….I laughed out loud at times and I totally cringed at other times….and I sincerely felt her frustration and the “I’M. AT. THE. END. OF. MY. ROPE. AND. I. JUST. WANT. TO. LAY. DOWN. AND. CRY. PLEASE. DON’T. TALK. TO. ME. FOR. AT. LEAST. 5. DAYS. I. CAN’T. BE. BOTHERED”…..

If the book lets you down at points, well one must only remember that this started as a blog and with momentum and life it rolled into a movie and a book….If it had started out as a book, then turned into a movie and then finished with a blog, well it would have been written in a totally different style I think….

This book gives me hope that it’s true…we all have a book in us just waiting to be written down….

Until next time…

Urania xx

Buy it now Julie and Julia by Julie Powell

Review: The Last Word by A. L. Michael

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Tabitha was playing it safe, blogging from home in her pajamas, going out occasionally with her roommates, and avoiding romantic relationships… Until editor Harry Shulman offered her a job at the newspaper doing real journalism. Tabby did everything she could to avoid the opportunity, remembering the disaster that landed on her the last time she worked for a major news outlet.

The conversations in this book are snappy! Tabitha’s convos with her roommates and Harry are quick-witted, and so are the times she’s just talking to herself… Useful characteristic for a blogger, but a little annoying when your editor is trying to ask you out on a date. 🙂

And oh how I enjoyed Harry and Tabby’s dates. Her head on his shoulder. Flirting on car rides. Restaurant debacles. The beach. Holding hands. Staring with affection and sometimes confusion. Kissing. Sigh. I was totally brought back to being in my twenties and going on fun dates and bantering and falling in love.

Every facet of The Last Word was done well. The characters were developed appropriately for their roles (Tabby’s mom was hilarious!), and, for the most part, they were likeable. (Ex-boyfriend/ex-editor was hate-able in a wonderful way.) The plot drove forward at a respectable speed. Everyone’s relationships made sense. Natural dialogue and excellent writing made for easy reading. I’m impressed, especially knowing that Carina UK, an imprint of the publisher Harlequin, is only a year old! Well done, A.L. Michael and editors.

The only interruptions to the flow of this terrific read were the drinking and weed-smoking binges. They aren’t really my scene, but I see how it could make sense if you’re in your twenties, living in the city with roommates also in their twenties.

Honestly, I know it’s a good book when at the end I shut the kindle cover and sigh with contentment. The Last Word totally did it for me. Tabitha was a spitfire sweetheart, and Harry was so awesome I could read ten books about the man! (A.L. Michael, does Harry have a doppelgänger?)

–Calliope

buy THE LAST WORD