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Posted on Wed, Oct. 07, 2009

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After Child, read these

BY jackie burrell

Contra Costa Times

There's no doubt about it. Julia Child is hot.

Boosted perhaps by the hit movie "Julie & Julia," Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" is selling like hot crepes. It recently topped Amazon's best-seller list, and it's still simmering at No. 27.

Following are a few good reads for foodies wondering "What do we read after 'Julie & Julia'?"

* " My Life in France" —This volume was penned by Child with her great-nephew Alex Prud'homme. Her zest for life fairly leaps from the pages, from her first life-altering encounter with la belle France and Sole Meuniere, through nearly 50 years of marital and culinary happiness, Cordon Bleu frustrations and publishing triumphs. (Random House, $15, 368 pages)

* "Alice Waters and Chez Panisse" — Take one Francophile with an astonishingly refined palate. Add a dash of romantic whimsy, a streak of perfectionism, an obsession with fresh seasonal food and a cavalier disregard for finances. What you get, says author Thomas McNamee, is a romantic, improbable food revolution that changed the way Americans eat and restaurants operate. (Random House, $15, 380 pages)

* "Under the Table: Saucy Tales From Culinary School" — Katherine Darling's much-hyped account of her stint at New York City's French Culinary Institute starts out so very promisingly, with ladlefuls of saucy insider details and the requisite tantrum-prone chefs who regard less-than-perfect mirepoix as a travesty. (Atria, $25, 384 pages)