Confections of a Closet Master Baker
February 11, 2010
First can I say what happened to this week? To this month? Next week is going to be mid-February. Very, very scary!
I’ll admit it, I read Confections of a Closet Master Baker because the author, Gesine Bullock-Prado is Sandra Bullock’s sister. Well, that’s not entirely true. I read it because she’s Sandra Bullock’s sister, left Hollywood happily and opened a bakery in a town in Vermont I’ve visited many times. (And next time I’m going looking for the bakery.) Even if she hadn’t been Sandra Bullock’s sister I still would have read it because it’s about someone who left a high-powered career in a big city, moved to small town in Vermont and opened a bakery and then wrote a book about it. Let’s be honest, that totally sounds like something I would read.
I really liked how the chapters were set up in this book. Each chapter is an hour of the day. As she goes through the day Bullock-Prado reflects on her life then and now. Each chapter ends with a recipe, and the recipe . It works – it might work a bit better in some chapters than others but overall I have to say that it works. She doesn’t really tell tales about her life in Hollywood, but she doesn’t ignore it either. It’s just another part of her life.
I think what I got the most from Confections of a Closet Master Baker is the feeling of love. The love for her husband, her sister, her mother and for baking. She loves her life and her work and it comes through in her writing. I can only imagine how it comes through in her baking.
It’s a decent food-lit type of book. Warning: may cause craving for cake.
Edit & note: Also being published in paperback as My Life From Scratch.
February 11th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
I really liked this one too. I totally missed that she was Sandra Bullock’s sister until about the 2nd chapter. Then I was like, “duh!”
Chrisbookarama´s last blog ..I Never Liked You by Chester Brown: Review
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sassymonkey Reply:
February 11th, 2010 at 5:01 pm
Ah ha! It was on YOUR blog that I first saw this. I’m horrible at that. I see a book, I add it to my library list (either as a request or save for later) and by the time I read it I completely forgot where I saw it.
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February 11th, 2010 at 9:03 pm
going to add this to my list, sounds fun! I just read a book along the same lines. The Icing on the Cupcake. It comes out late April… might be up your alley
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sassymonkey Reply:
February 17th, 2010 at 8:37 am
Hmm Icing on the Cupcake. I’ll have to check that out. Thanks!
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February 16th, 2010 at 9:27 am
I’m sooo glad to see you reviewing this book because I reallyyyyy wanna read it. It’s on my e-book wishlist, and I feel myself taking the plunge soon.
Andi´s last blog ..The Sunday Salon – A Review and a Happy V-Day!
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sassymonkey Reply:
February 17th, 2010 at 8:38 am
It’s a fun one. Though I will repeat again that it may cause a craving for cake, and quite possibly pastries.
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February 16th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
I REALLY want to read this book – I’m a sucker for anything food related!
Stephanie´s last blog ..Sunday Salon 02.14.10 (Book Love)
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sassymonkey Reply:
February 17th, 2010 at 8:38 am
I love food-lit. It’s one of my favourite genres.
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July 10th, 2010 at 10:15 am
No idea why I got mine under a different title! (A publicist sent it.) “May cause craving for cake,” is right! I don’t usually have a sweet tooth to speak of!
Elizabeth W´s last blog ..Nineteenth Century Fangirl
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sassymonkey Reply:
July 10th, 2010 at 10:23 am
Was your copy a pb? Mine was a hard cover…
It’s most mysterious! Most of the time when I see different titles it’s Uk/Canada vs US titling. There’s a popular knitting book in the US that I read with a completely different title as I had the Canadian/UK version. But I’m positive that other US bloggers read this in hc under the title of this post and not My Life From Scratch.
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