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leannecoppola's review
5.0
Excellent. I cried, I smiled, and wanted to indulge in good Italian food.
chelseatm's review
3.0
I enjoyed the book for the most part but I felt that the latter half seemed to peter out and repeat itself almost. It just seemed to lose steam and then arrive at a forced-feeling conclusion. The food sounds spectacular and the imagery was awesome but I just wished she had been firmer on the ending.
lastpaige111's review
5.0
So evocative of Sicily that I feel like I’ve been there; so honest about starting over that I have hope for all good women at points of re-invention.
suvata's review against another edition
3.0
#ReeseWitherspoon Book Club May 2019 pick
I’m not much of a “foodie” so all the talk about food was not very interesting to me. Still, I really enjoyed the story of the families and communities from different cultures with their various customs. All in all, a pretty good read.
Bonus: For those who are into it, there a lot of good sounding recipes at the end of the book.
I’m not much of a “foodie” so all the talk about food was not very interesting to me. Still, I really enjoyed the story of the families and communities from different cultures with their various customs. All in all, a pretty good read.
Bonus: For those who are into it, there a lot of good sounding recipes at the end of the book.
rballenger's review
3.0
Type of read: Commuter Read.
What made me pick it up: We were prepping for our trip to Italy and I was looking for books that had a similar Italian theme.
Overall rating: A personal story of grief, growth, and remembrance. I think I've said it before, but I always feel bad rating and reviewing memoirs. These are people literally putting their life, thoughts, and feelings out for all of us to experience with them. I think Locke did a beautiful job telling their story, remembering their love, and finding the light that kept them going. I did feel like it was a very long, drawn-out book. There is a lot of detail that maybe wasn't quite necessary. Additionally, some of the writing was just a little more wordy than it probably needed to be. While I don't think 'From Scratch' is one of that end-all, be-all, I have to go run and tell everyone about memoirs, I am thankful Locke chose to share this beautiful story.
What made me pick it up: We were prepping for our trip to Italy and I was looking for books that had a similar Italian theme.
Overall rating: A personal story of grief, growth, and remembrance. I think I've said it before, but I always feel bad rating and reviewing memoirs. These are people literally putting their life, thoughts, and feelings out for all of us to experience with them. I think Locke did a beautiful job telling their story, remembering their love, and finding the light that kept them going. I did feel like it was a very long, drawn-out book. There is a lot of detail that maybe wasn't quite necessary. Additionally, some of the writing was just a little more wordy than it probably needed to be. While I don't think 'From Scratch' is one of that end-all, be-all, I have to go run and tell everyone about memoirs, I am thankful Locke chose to share this beautiful story.
book_concierge's review
4.0
Subtitle: A memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home
While in Florence Italy as an exchange student Tembi met the man of her dreams. Saro was Sicilian, a chef, and more than a decade older than Tembi. She was an African-American college student, with attorney parents from Houston Texas. It was love at first sight, and the deal was sealed with the gift of a bicycle (probably stolen). This was an impossible relationship, but they made it work.
And then he got cancer.
This is a wonderful memoir full of love and tenderness, grief and frustration, joy and a sense of belonging.
Locke narrates the audiobook herself. I cannot imagine anyone doing a better job. Brava!
While in Florence Italy as an exchange student Tembi met the man of her dreams. Saro was Sicilian, a chef, and more than a decade older than Tembi. She was an African-American college student, with attorney parents from Houston Texas. It was love at first sight, and the deal was sealed with the gift of a bicycle (probably stolen). This was an impossible relationship, but they made it work.
And then he got cancer.
This is a wonderful memoir full of love and tenderness, grief and frustration, joy and a sense of belonging.
Locke narrates the audiobook herself. I cannot imagine anyone doing a better job. Brava!
fdes_817's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
knod78's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars for me.
This story was so much more than the show. I am surprised, completely. I kind of wished they spent more time on the parts around their love and Saro's death. I loved that in the movie, but didn't get it in the book. However, I loved the after parts visiting Sicily as much as they did that we missed in the movie. I loved how her relationship with her mother-in-law developed into something special. I loved the cooking and farming. I want to plant fava beans myself. I loved to see her daughter and her become one with Aliminusa, entrenched into the culture. I loved at the end when her parents came to visit, the mule guy tells them that she is a part of this town. And I especially loved the recipes at the end.
But there was quite a bit of repetitive information and almost gave this 4 stars. I kept reading that she was looking at this with both grief and happiness and moving forward. There are so many times you can read it. Sorry. And I kind of wished there was more story to their love. Yes, it sucks to read the parts of the cancer and the illness, but I felt detached from Saro unlike how I felt in the show. He was a ghost in this book and I didn't really like it.
I do recommend this book and you will get something from the book even more than just watching the show. I can say honestly, it's different. And this book also reminds me why I have repeatedly told my husband that he's not allowed to die before me.
This story was so much more than the show. I am surprised, completely. I kind of wished they spent more time on the parts around their love and Saro's death. I loved that in the movie, but didn't get it in the book. However, I loved the after parts visiting Sicily as much as they did that we missed in the movie. I loved how her relationship with her mother-in-law developed into something special. I loved the cooking and farming. I want to plant fava beans myself. I loved to see her daughter and her become one with Aliminusa, entrenched into the culture. I loved at the end when her parents came to visit, the mule guy tells them that she is a part of this town. And I especially loved the recipes at the end.
But there was quite a bit of repetitive information and almost gave this 4 stars. I kept reading that she was looking at this with both grief and happiness and moving forward. There are so many times you can read it. Sorry. And I kind of wished there was more story to their love. Yes, it sucks to read the parts of the cancer and the illness, but I felt detached from Saro unlike how I felt in the show. He was a ghost in this book and I didn't really like it.
I do recommend this book and you will get something from the book even more than just watching the show. I can say honestly, it's different. And this book also reminds me why I have repeatedly told my husband that he's not allowed to die before me.