Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl

Is it fiction? Is it nonfiction? This interesting book blurs the line of text types. Ruth Reichl is the food critic at the New York Times. She writes of her attempts to dine out without being recognized through various disguises she uses to be anonymous. Ruth also vividly describes her eating experiences at some of the swankiest restaurants in New York City. Her descriptions are so clear, I could almost taste the food. Amidst the narratives, she also includes the column which appeared in the New York Times Foods Section following her dining experiences. Interwoven among these are also stories of favorite times with her husband and son and some recipes she creates for them. The descriptions of the disguises becomes a little tedious, but the variety of text including the food descriptions and recipes keeps the reader from getting bored.

Julie & Julia by Julie Powell

This is a fun book if you like to cook! Since I just like to eat and not to cook so much, it was an okay book for me. A young woman is unhappy in her dead-end job and is looking for a distraction. She comes across her mother's Julia Childs' cookbook and came up with a plan to cook all of the recipes within a year. She writes about her experiences on a blog. It wasn't until half way throough the book that I realized it's based on a true story and the blog can still be seen on the internet. It's a cute story, and the relationship difficulties Julie faces with friends, family, and her husband are interwoven through her cooking escapades.

The Greatest Experiment Ever Performed on Women: Exploding the Estrogen Myth by BArbara Seaman

I definitely wouldn't call this a beach book, but it's a very interesting book for anyone who is taking estrogen for whatever reason. Did you know that birth control pills were invented for use in the concentration camps during the Holocaust? The book describes the history of estrogen and how influencial the drug companies have been in getting women who may not have really needed estrogen to use it through making false claims about its benefits. Alternatives to estrogen are also described, such as natural hormones, which are not controlled by drug companies because they do not make money off of them. My review sounds a little cynical. I guess that is because of two statements that stood out to me. One is that women should take as little estrogen as possible for a short of time as possible. Hmmm, didn't know that! Also, doctors and drug companies recommend estrogen to women for purposes it was not intended or researched for - such as osteoporsis, have women use it, then see if it works. That's the experiment and I have been a part of it for years!