Book Review: Under the Tuscan Sun

I bought this book in a thrift store because I'd heard of and wanted to see the movie but never had. When I set down to read the book I noticed it was signed by the author, that made me even more excited.

This is not a a bad book. However, it doesn't follow the typical story arc. It is almost more journal like than anything.

The book follows the author's adventure of  buying and renovating an Italian house. I really enjoyed the book until about midway through and then it struggled to keep my attention. I loved the descriptions of the food, the old house and the renovation process until I realized that was all the book was. Yes, the author has a bit of an internal transformation as well but it isn't expressed much throughout the book and then she suddenly stops talking about the renovation and shifts to her internal changes. However, because she doesn't do this consistently throughout the book it feel disjointed from the rest of the piece, I felt like she was slamming me with the remnants of her internal transformation at the end of the book in order to make the book read a bit more "weighty".

 The author did include her recipes throughout the book and I am excited to try them out once I have my own kitchen to play in. However, I have to mention that the prospect of trying the recipes is the only reason I haven't donated the book yet.

What do you think? Did you read Under the Tuscan Sun or see the movie? Was the movie pretty similar to the book or was there more action?

*This post brought to you by a Mama Kat prompt.