'French Women for All Season' Audiobook Review

Audiobook: French Women for All Seasons by Mireille Guiliano
Read by: Mireille Guiliano
Genre: Memoir / Self-help

I'll admit it. After finishing French Women Don't Get Fat I missed Mireille's common sense wisdom, anecdotes about growing up in the French countryside and her accent. So, I was delighted to find my little library had her sequel.

Listening to her thoughts about eating in season and for pleasure was such a relaxing way to spend my commute.

Sure, some of her advice is a little crazy or not at all based in reality. Her most outlandish story is about savoring one banana. Eating it for dessert ... on a dainty plate ... with a knife and fork ... and being too full/satisfied to eat the whole thing. So the second half goes into the fridge for later. Huh?

And I do so wish I had a weekly farmer's market to go to, packed with goodies from a large assortment of farms. I don't. And certainly not in walking or peddling distance. But I do agree with her about eating seasonally and locally. And I'm really trying to cultivate my eating pleasures and compensating when I've over indulged. Really! I'm trying!

Awww, Mireille! I miss her already.

Grade: Green Light

'French Women Don't Get Fat' Audiobook Review

Audiobook: French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano
Read By: Mireille Guiliano
Genre: Diet / Memoir

I've already mentioned my Francophile-ness. And a place where women eat bread, cheese and yogurt and manage to stay thin is someplace I want to be. Plus, it's the new year, so it's time to examine my diet. I checked it out.

This book is half diet tips and half memoir. The harrowing tale of teenage Mireille who spends a year in a Boston suburb eating brownies, gains 20lbs and is told by her father "you look like a sack of potatoes" when she gets off the boat. The family doctor, known as Dr. Miracle, puts her on a diet (leek soup!) and explains to her the habits most French women have cultivated to stay slim -- despite all the bread and cheese. Oui!

Then, the time-worn secrets of French women are revealed in chapters of tips and practical stories. Most are common sense, some are just great to consider or be reminded of, including: all things in moderation, eat real food, keep track of your pleasures and compensate for them, and being active.

The main theory is centered around the concept that French women spend time thinking about their next fresh, delicious meal -- good food is a passion. While American women obsess over food they can't eat and eating meals that are quick, nearby and warm. Taste or quality? No time. It's a theory I believe is mostly true. It's not easy to get fresh, quality produce and we are less equipped to cook it given our busy schedules and low confidence in the kitchen. (Or am I just speaking for myself?)

Mireille lives in New York and Paris -- so her tips are more appropriate for city gals. She talks about the fresh market in Union Square, walking to work and taking the stairs in her apartment building. Suburban girls are on our own to figure out parallels.

The audiobook is read by Mireille in a charming French accent that I enjoyed mimicking on my drive. She's talked to many women about her dieting tips, views on life and passions -- and she's very good at it, persuasive. I'd like to turn her on every few months and be reminded to eat more like a French women.

Grade: Green Light