Julie Julia is the story of Julie Powell's attempt to revitalizeher marriage, restore her ambition, and save her soul by cooking all 524recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, VolumeI, in a period of 365 days.The result is a masterful medley of BridgetJones' Diary meets Like Water for Chocolate, mixed with a healthy dose oforiginal wit, warmth, and inspiration that sets this memoir apart from mosttales of personal redemption.When we first meet Julie, she's a frustrated temp-to-perm secretary whoslaves away at a thankless job, only to return to an equally demoralizingapartment in the outer boroughs of Manhattan each evening. At the urging ofEric, her devoted and slightly geeky husband, she decides to start a blogthat will chronicle what she dubs the "Julie/Julia Project." What follows isa year of butter-drenched meals that will both necessitate the wearing of anunbearably uncomfortable girdle on the hottest night of the year, as well asthe realization that life is what you make of it and joy is not asimpossible a quest as it may seem, even when it's -10 degrees out and yourpipes are frozen.Powell is a natural when it comes to connecting with her readers, which isprobably why her blog generated so much buzz, both from readers and mediaalike. And while her self-deprecating sense of humor can sometimes dissolveinto whininess, she never really loses her edge, or her sense of purpose.Even on day 365, she's working her way through Mayonnaise Collee and endingthe evening "back exactly where we started--just Eric and me, three cats andBuffy...sitting on a couch in the outer boroughs, eating, with Juliachortling alongside us...."Inspired and encouraging, Julie and Julia is a unique opportunity tojoin one woman's attempt to change her life, and have a laugh, or ten, alongthe way. --Gisele Toueg