Book Review: Be Ready When The Luck Happens by Ina Garten

Oh, wow. Just whoa. I pressed play on this audiobook — a book that I would never have expected to read, as I don’t know much about Ina Garten, other than the fact she’s a world-renowned chef and business owner — and immediately was transfixed. I loved this book. I loved her storytelling. I loved how she told the story of her life and her business. Her story is so fascinating!

Anyway, scroll for my review.

Synopsis:

Here, for the first time, Ina Garten presents an intimate, entertaining, and inspiring account of her remarkable journey. Ina's gift is to make everything look easy, yet all her accomplishments have been the result of hard work, audacious choices, and exquisite attention to detail. In her unmistakable voice (no one tells a story like Ina), she brings her past and her process to life in a high-spirited and no-holds-barred memoir that chronicles decades of personal challenges, adventures (and misadventures) and unexpected career twists, all delivered with her signature combination of playfulness and purpose.

From a difficult childhood to meeting the love of her life, Jeffrey, and marrying him while still in college, from a boring bureaucratic job in Washington, D.C., to answering an ad for a specialty food store in the Hamptons, from the owner of one Barefoot Contessa shop to author of bestselling cookbooks and celebrated television host, Ina has blazed her own trail and, in the meantime, taught millions of people how to cook and entertain. Now, she invites them to come closer to experience her story in vivid detail and to share the important life lessons she learned along the way: do what you love because if you love it you'll be really good at it, swing for the fences, and always Be Ready When the Luck Happens.

My Review:

So I don’t normally give a memoir anything less than five stars. It’s become my rule with memoirs — these are people’s lives and experiences. Yes, it’s in the way they write and share their life with the world, and how they craft a memoir (this was written by her). But why would I give someone’s life less than five stars? Because I didn’t like how they shared their life’s moments?

Anyway. I loved this book. So much. From the moment I pressed play, I was transfixed. She started out with advice, not just business advice but advice that was really profound. (I won’t share it here, because then you wouldn’t feel the need to buy the book!) From that moment on, she talked about her business, her marriage and the incredible romance she started when she met her now-husband, Jeffrey, and everything in between. I didn’t think there was anything to her, before reading this book, if I’m being honest. I thought she was a bestselling cookbook author, notable TV chef personality, and a business owner. But what a life she lived! She lived in Paris, she lived in New York, she lived in Washington D.C., she lived in the Hamptons, where she started her business/empire, Barefoot Contessa.

The stories she had! From serving notable public figures at her store in the Hamptons (like Steven Spielberg and Gloria Steinem) and cooking with Taylor Swift on her TV show (and then attending the 1989 world tour, and then playing beer pong with the U.S. women’s soccer team after), to traveling all over the world and trying new foods and recipes. She is a savvy businesswoman who doesn’t take no for an answer. When she has an idea she wants to commit to, she commits to it and always finds a way to reach her goal. Loved her determination.

Of course, the food. The food she talked about! The recipes she tried. When she got to talking about food in her book, I knew that was her passion by the sound of her voice (in the audiobook). I am on my way to pick up all of her cookbooks.

This was an incredible book with many life lessons to be learned. She wove in important advice for not only people in their 20s (like always take a chance on yourself) but for people of all ages. She talked about her childhood and growing up with her parents, who weren’t the nicest parents around. She talked about her decision not to have children, but that was a short part, and I liked that. She didn’t need to gloss over it — she explained why and that’s that. No need for explanation. She also talked about her important business decisions, including the times when she failed. That was very refreshing to read. Failure is a part of life, and she wasn’t shy to talk about that. Although, she always concluded talking about her failures by saying she got back up.

I am ready to cook all of her recipes. Bring on the cookbooks!

Rating: 5/5

Buy “Be Ready When The Luck Happens” by Ina Garten on Amazon, Bookshop.org.