nomadreader

The backstory: Laura Dave is one of my favorite novelists. I've loved all three of her novels: London is the Best City in America , The Divorce Party , and The First Husband . After four years of waiting, I was thrilled to read her latest novel. The basics: Set in Sebastopol, part of California' Sonoma County wine country, Eight Hundred Grapes  is the story of the Ford family, told from the perspective of their daughter, Georgia, who is a powerful Los Angeles attorney about to marry a British architect and move to London. Set against the grape harvest and the week before her wedding, each of the Fords, Georgia, her two brothers, and her parents, face challenges in their romantic and professional lives. My thoughts: Laura Dave is such a smart writer. This novel is part family saga, part drama, part romance, but it's all smart. Through her characters and storylines, Dave imparts immense wisdom about life and love: "Synchronization, my father would say. This was a...

The backstory: While chick flicks aren't normally my first choice of films, I thought the trailer for this film was fantastic. Seriously, I cried all of the four times I saw it. It's set in Verona, a city I happen to love, and it stars Amanda Seyfried, whom I have adored since Mamma Mia!   The basics: The trailer is pretty awesome in its own right, but Amanda Seyfried plays Sophie, a fact-checker for The New Yorker  who dreams of writing for it instead. She's engaged to Victor, played by Gael Garcia Bernal, a restaurateur who doesn't really prioritize their relationship. The two set off on a pre-honeymoon a few weeks before their wedding to Verona. Victor is more interested in meeting vendors and going to a wine auction than spending time with the delightful Sophie, who soon makes friends with the women who answer the letters to Juliet.  Sophie happens to find a very, very old letter and writes back. My thoughts: Most of this film is cute and fun to watch...

New York Times writer Julia Moskin, a good writer who enjoys cooking and wine, offers her test kitchen up to the debate about whether better wine makes better cooking wine this week. It's an entertaining story, slightly reminiscent of Julie and Julia (one of my favorite books so far this year), and it's one I completely agree with. Although I've never conducted such a scientific test, I wince when I pour good wine in a pot. I have become a believer in drinking the good stuff, then after two glasses, switching to the not-as-good stuff that I cooked the meal with. For Moskin's in-depth take on cooking with wine: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/21/dining/21cook.html?ref=style