Julie and Elizabeth

I so enjoyed Eat Pray Love in audible form - surprised actually, by how much the engagement in the narrative encouraged me to head on out everyday. I hadn't thought the audio stories would replace music as a driving force. But they did, or at least so in Liz Gilbert's case. That book was so satisfying to hear in her own voice, what would be the follow-up? I've got too many books already on my Next list, what would make sense to spend the extra money on for the audible experience? Today, I figured it out. Catching up with an older Newsweek Q&A with Julie Powell. Right, author of Julie/Julia. I always meant to read that book that evolved from her blog. Hmm, yeah, she's from Austin! That's good! My friend Irene even wrote recently recommending it, mentioning that her voice reminded her of me. And the clincher? In her perfect dinner party, one of the 12 invited would be her good friend Liz Gilbert. Of course. 30 year olds who met their "don't really want to have kids right now" crisis with one year self assigned-assignments that turned into best selling books. Of course. I imagine they must have met criss crossing the country on their book tours, or sitting on panels at writer fests. Don't you think? It's a tempting form, that one year what I learned...I keep mulling it. 40 minutes into to Julie/Julia, I'm delighted as a listener. Unfortunately, demoralized as well.