Julia Child: A Life

At my mother’s recommendation, I just read the book Julia Child: A Life, by Laura Shapiro. This was a great book, and not just because I learned a few new facts. It showed me a real person. I read a book about Amelia Earhart near the beginning of this year and was disappointed. Even though Amelia Earhart was a fascinating person, I never connected with her through the book. The book gave a bunch of facts about her life, and completely neglected showing a bit of personality. Unlike that boring book, Julia Child gave me a real idea of who Julia Child was: a master chef, a passionate lover of her husband, a friend to millions of people. I wanted to hear more about Julia, not less.

 

Hearing about a woman who inspired so many, and did so much in her life inspired me. Julia was constantly learning, from learning basic

My croissants right before they went in the oventechniques to trying many different recipes for a dish to find the best one. I want to learn like that. I want to be open to new ideas, and to hard work. Julia was also daring, publishing Mastering the Art of French Cooking at age 49, refusing to accept anything less than the best from the book. This inspired me to make croissants, which wasn’t nearly as daunting as writing a book, was still a scary 12+ hour process.

 

 

 

Julia Child: A Life was a fantastic book which I would highly recommend. If you get the chance to read it, you will not be disappointed.

Pompeii (A Harp Cover) – Anne’s Earworms Episode 25

Last week I found Lara Somogyi’s pop covers on harp through Kurt Hugo Schneider’s YouTube channel. I love this song because it is unique and interesting. I don’t listen to much harp music, so Pompeii was a refreshing change. Enjoy!

 

 

If you want to hear the original Pompeii, you can listen to it on YouTube here. 

Audiobooks Surprised Me

For the past six months I’ve been doing a self-made challenge to read an audiobook every month. I thought that it would be really hard to motivate myself to listen to books rather than look at them, but I’ve ended up reading more books than I planned so far. I’m realizing that audiobooks have some traits that are really cool.

They are portable. When I read a paper book, that’s pretty much all I’m doing except for eating. When I listen to audiobooks, I can workout, or draw, or even get groceries (that was a fun day). I really enjoy the freedom to listen to a book while being productive.

I can hear the correct pronunciation of words. I have the occasional habit of picking up words from books, using them in the correct context, but then saying the word entirely wrong. With a good audiobook, I can properly hear how to pronounce new words and names.

There are some downsides to audiobooks. It can be really hard to re-find information or reference parts of an audiobook. In a paper book, you can just turn the page. Also, technology just can’t replace the smell and feel of books. Physical books each have their own personality, and audiobooks don’t have that. But the downsides don’t always have to limit me from enjoying a new experience.

I used to not read audiobooks because they “just aren’t books,” but now I’m starting to appreciate them, not just to replace paper books (because that’s not happening anytime soon), but to compliment them. Books can remove you from the world. Audiobooks can give you new worlds even while your feet are still are the ground. If you don’t read audiobooks, give them a try. They might surprise you.