Pippa Middleton startled by worldwide attention

"It is a bit startling to achieve global recognition before the age of 30 on account of your sister, your brother-in-law [Prince William] and your bottom," she writes in her party-planning book "Celebrate," excerpts of which appeared in a 24-page supplement Sunday in the British newspaper the Daily Mail.

"One day I might be able to make sense of this," she continued. "In the meantime I think it's fair to say that it has its upside and its downside. I certainly have opportunities many can only dream of -- but in most ways I'm a typical girl in her 20s trying to forge a career and represent herself in what can sometimes seem rather strange circumstances. I am by nature an optimist so I tend to concentrate on the advantages."

She reportedly received the equivalent of almost $640,000 for the book from publisher Michael Joseph.

"Celebrate" features recipes for home entertaining, and includes anecdotes of her and Kate Middleton's childhoods in the British village of Bucklebury.