A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle
Blurb: In this witty and warm-hearted account, Peter Mayle tells what it is like to realize a long-cherished dream and actually move into a 200-year-old stone farmhouse in the remote country of the Lubéron with his wife and two large dogs. He endures January’s frosty mistral as it comes howling down the Rhône Valley, discovers the secrets of goat racing through the middle of town, and delights in the glorious regional cuisine. A Year in Provence transports us into all the earthy pleasures of Provençal life and lets us live vicariously at a tempo governed by seasons, not by days.
My Thoughts: This was a sweet, humorous read. I listened to the author-narrated audiobook, and I think the British accent added to the story and English humor. This book was published in 1989, so it was nice to hear a story from simpler, pre-social media times.
Serious Eater: A Food Lover’s Perilous Quest for Pizza and Redemption by Ed Levine
Blurb: James Beard Award-winning founder of Serious Eats Ed Levine finally tells the mouthwatering and heartstopping story of building–and almost losing–one of the most acclaimed and beloved food sites in the world.
My Thoughts: I loved this book! Ed Levine started the food website Serious Eats in 2006, and it made me so nostalgic for those golden days. Learning how he got started and the entrepreneurial spirit that motivated him really resonated with me. It had me reminiscing on my own blogging journey that started in 2012, and how mesmerizing and hopeful it all felt. I appreciated him detailing all the failures and roadblocks he experienced along the way. As someone with a bad habit of trying to avoid failure, it was a nice reminder that there are always roadblocks on the path to success.
Like This, But Funnier by Hallie Cantor
Blurb: TV writer Caroline Neumann is thirty-four and mired in professional envy and self-hatred. Even Harry, her usually supportive therapist husband, thinks it’s time for her to press pause on her career ambitions and focus on getting pregnant, despite Caroline’s serious ambivalence about having children.
When Caroline accidentally stumbles on Harry’s patient session notes and offhandedly mentions what she finds in a meeting with a producer, the momentum of Hollywood takes over. Before she knows it—and unbeknownst to Harry—Caroline finds herself pitching a TV show about the deepest, darkest secrets of her husband’s favorite patient, a woman known to Caroline only as the Teacher.
Amid the indignities of the Hollywood development process, Caroline must balance her burning desire for professional validation against her own morality and the health of her marriage. And when Caroline forms a real-life relationship with Teacher herself, the lines between art and life begin to blur further, shaking up Caroline’s understanding of what it means to be the “likeable female protagonist” of her own life.
My Thoughts: I resonated so much with the description of this novel. Someone my age who writes comedy, who’s weighing big personal decisions while trying to balance career pursuits. While I enjoyed aspects of this story, other areas fell a little flat for me. The aspects I enjoyed, I really enjoyed! Pitching a TV show and the countless email exchanges to set up a meeting for drinks were very funny to me.
The Force of Such Beauty by Barbara Bourland
Blurb: One sunny afternoon in an idyllic kingdom by the sea, a princess named Caroline pretends to sleep. When her keepers strike up a card game, Caroline sneaks into her maid’s car, turns the key, and drives right out of the palace. Alone for the first time in years, she gets on the next flight—only to land in the waiting arms of her guards. As she’s forcibly escorted back to her marble prison, something in Caroline breaks for good. It’s not her first failed attempt, and it won’t be her last. Caroline suspects that she’ll never escape. But she might find a way to be free.
My Thoughts: This one was a hit for me! I’ve followed the various royal families since my pop culture-obsessed brain could read. It felt like inspiration was taken from the experiences of Princess Diana, Kate Middleton, and Meghan Markle. The strongest correlation that stuck with me throughout this novel was Princess Charlene of Monaco. I felt engaged the entire time and finished this one pretty quickly because I liked it so much.
