Good Books

Lots of reading going on here. Wicked: The Grimmerie was a Solstice gift from Alan and it was AWESOME! I loved all the Oz books when I was a kid (especially Ozma of Oz) and the movie. Remember when the movie was on TV once a year, every year and it was a big event? When Gregory Maguire's book came out I loved that too. And then a few years ago I was in NY for business and I saw all the billboards for the musical. A musical! I had no idea! I tried to get a ticket to a show, but they were completely sold out so all I got was a poster and the soundtrack. I FINALLY got to see the show when it came to Atlanta and it was even better than I expected. Now I have this beautiful book with all kinds of back story about how they created the musical. My only wish is that it had more info about the costumes. I loved the costumes and I would have loved to see detailed photos of every one of them.

I also finished Julie and Julia, about the year that Julie Powers spent cooking every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Lots of fun! I thought it was going to be the actual blog, reprinted as a book. Instead it's a memoir of the period during which she wrote the blog. How can you not enjoy an author who describes Poached Eggs in Aspic (ugh!) like this. . .

The crosses of tarragon over the snowy-white poached egg centers were like the negative images of chalk marks on the doors of quarantined houses. But we sallied forth, Eric and Gwen and I, and with a single tap of our forks cracked open our Oeufs en Gelee. I suspect the aspic was not quite so solid as it should have been, for it slipped off and puddled on our plates with almost indecent eagerness - like silk lingerie, if silk lingerie was repulsive. When the (cold, runny) poached eggs were cut, their innards inundated the aspic remains, The resulting scene of carnage was not, let us say, that which Gourmet covers are made of.
Also, it tasted slightly of hoof.

Jo and I have been reading a lot together too, finishing the next two Secrets of Droon books. Now she's back on Magic Tree House, but I know we'll be back in Droon again soon.