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littletaiko's review against another edition
4.0
For those of you who loved The School of Essential Ingredients like I did, this book is a must read. Her second book Joy of Beginners was good but this one is better. Maybe it's because she returns to some of the characters from School and it involves food - what is not to love? This book hits on the theme of the importance of actually talking to those people who you love. So many of the problems the characters encountered could have been alleviated by actually saying what they feel - hence the title. Good character development. The easiest characters for me to understand were Al (got to love the accountant in any book!) and Abby (the uber organized daughter). Oh Abby - how I understand you and think you're being mistakenly cast as a bad guy.
louise56637's review against another edition
5.0
I love her characters, even the ones I want to smack.
shiloniz's review against another edition
5.0
I knew reading the sequel to The School of Essential Ingredients would feel like a warm hug.
lizaroo71's review against another edition
3.0
This story involves several characters, but never gets confusing or slows down. Lillian is a chef that owns a restaurant and employs both Chloe (sous chef) and Finnegan (dishwasher). Chloe lives with Isabelle (an elderly woman with early onset Alzheimer's). There are more characters, but they are all central to these characters.
The back stories are interesting and engaging. The pace moves quickly and takes care of the motives in the story. Enjoyable read.
The back stories are interesting and engaging. The pace moves quickly and takes care of the motives in the story. Enjoyable read.
ashley1686's review against another edition
3.0
Not as good as the first one. I would give it 3.5 stars as it was still a good book but seemed to drag on in several places. Great author that leaves you thinking!
pattydsf's review against another edition
4.0
“She had built her restaurant kitchen out of scents and tastes and textures, the clean canvas of a round white dinner plate, the firm skins of pears and the generosity of soft cheeses, the many-colored spices sitting in glass jars along the open shelves like a family portrait gallery. She belonged there.”
A friend here on Goodreads says “Reading one of Erica Bauermeister's novels is like settling down with a bottomless cup of your favorite tea.” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/499431809?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1)
I whole heartily agree. I sit down with a Bauermeister novel knowing that there will be good characters, food, friendship and love. I look forward to each of her books and wish there were many more.
A friend here on Goodreads says “Reading one of Erica Bauermeister's novels is like settling down with a bottomless cup of your favorite tea.” (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/499431809?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1)
I whole heartily agree. I sit down with a Bauermeister novel knowing that there will be good characters, food, friendship and love. I look forward to each of her books and wish there were many more.
katharinem's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely loved The School of Essential ingredients when I read it in a single day a year or two ago. My mother gifted the sequel to me for Christmas this past year. I wanted to dive into this book the day I got it, but circumstances prevented it. I finally got to reading it in March and I flew through it.
The author does a wonderful job of spinning a variety of stories together and showing how peoples lives all impact each others. Through seeing particular events through one character's eyes, followed up with someone else's point of view of overlapping events, you get a great sense for their community as well as each individual character. I wish I could say who my favorite character was, but I don't think I could make that decision. Even though some time, and many books, have passed between my reading of Essential Ingredients and this book, I was able to jump right into the story without having to pause and remember prior events. Partially, I will have to admit, that is because the previous book stuck with me and I could easily recall particular details. But also, those that I didn't were seamlessly re-introduced and explained without feeling like a "Hey, Remember this thing that happened, it's important here" re-introduction. I strongly dislike when books re-cap things in an obvious way.
This was well-written, engrossing, and enjoyable. Definitely a book to recommend to a friend.
The author does a wonderful job of spinning a variety of stories together and showing how peoples lives all impact each others. Through seeing particular events through one character's eyes, followed up with someone else's point of view of overlapping events, you get a great sense for their community as well as each individual character. I wish I could say who my favorite character was, but I don't think I could make that decision. Even though some time, and many books, have passed between my reading of Essential Ingredients and this book, I was able to jump right into the story without having to pause and remember prior events. Partially, I will have to admit, that is because the previous book stuck with me and I could easily recall particular details. But also, those that I didn't were seamlessly re-introduced and explained without feeling like a "Hey, Remember this thing that happened, it's important here" re-introduction. I strongly dislike when books re-cap things in an obvious way.
This was well-written, engrossing, and enjoyable. Definitely a book to recommend to a friend.
amchris's review against another edition
4.0
A good sequel, but I wished for more depth from some of the established stories. Bittersweet knowing each person had one chapter to tell their story, and then that's it!