And Another Book Down.

I was sitting by the pool today listening to my children protest the rumbling thunder that was keeping them out of the pool and somehow I managed to read the last 15 pages of my book.  That makes 33.

I have learned something about myself through this process.  I am drawn to books that are full of imagery.  Under the Tuscan Sun (yes the Diane Lane movie) was one of these books.  By the way, the movie was not at all "based" on the book.  The story line is not even remotely the same except for the fact that it was a newly divorced woman renovating a Tuscan villa while learning to cook authentically Italian.  As for all the romance?  Yeah, not so much.

The book is more of a memoir of the renovations and life in Tuscany but what drew me in and stole my heart was the language of the imagery.  The colors of the sun rising against the house.  The hues of roses planted along the front walk.  The depiction of the vines rambling over abandoned wells and terrace walls. 

And then the food!  Oh, to be able to cook with olives pressed from your own trees!  To have such a diverse collection of cheeses and pastas and varieties of vegetables to grace your table.  Did I mention that it was a rustic "fixer upper"  in Tuscany? 

If we have learned nothing about me in the two on and off years I have been blogging, we have established that I love home improvement and cooking.  And she is a professor of the written word as well?  This book was written for me!

So I guess if I was reviewing a book this would be a five star, but I don't review books because I really feel that every book has to be read with your eyes only.  No one knows your likes, dislikes and passions.  No one knows your story and back story.  How can they say that the book they adored would be perfect for you?  No.  Every book and every recipe in life must be tried and tested by individuals without the coloring of other people.

Books and recipes are not paint with water books.  They colors aren't already there.  You have use your own paints and brushes.

(Coming soon: The Grapes of Wrath)