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alicebme's review
4.0
Read when I was sick. It punches straight through, then waxes poetic. As a woman of a similar age and some similar experiences, I find my own life is the reverse. Many true things are written here. The love story is my jam.
book_concierge's review
3.0
Digital audiobook read by the author
3.5***
Donovan is a chef and award-winning essayist who has worked in a number of celebrated restaurant kitchens throughout the South. This is her memoir.
Her passion and focus has been on desserts but she knows her way around the entire kitchen. Her journey from Army brat to single mother to just-another-restaurant-worker to pastry star is interesting, and she tells her story with insight and honesty. She recalls the hard work and the discouraging way she was treated by men who didn’t value her contributions because she was a woman (and yet, were quick to give credit to their own mothers, grandmothers, and aunts who nurtured their own love of food and cooking). And she relishes in the memories of her successful endeavors and reflects on the lessons learned.
One of the more telling events in her career is outlined on the book jacket: “…she had made the perfect dessert at a celebration for food-world goddess Diana Kennedy. When Kennedy sked why she had not heard of her, Donovan said she did not know. ‘I do,’ Kennedy said. ‘Stop letting men tell your story.’” I’m so glad that she listened to that advice.
Donovan narrates the audio book version herself. I cannot imagine that anyone else could have done a better job.
3.5***
Donovan is a chef and award-winning essayist who has worked in a number of celebrated restaurant kitchens throughout the South. This is her memoir.
Her passion and focus has been on desserts but she knows her way around the entire kitchen. Her journey from Army brat to single mother to just-another-restaurant-worker to pastry star is interesting, and she tells her story with insight and honesty. She recalls the hard work and the discouraging way she was treated by men who didn’t value her contributions because she was a woman (and yet, were quick to give credit to their own mothers, grandmothers, and aunts who nurtured their own love of food and cooking). And she relishes in the memories of her successful endeavors and reflects on the lessons learned.
One of the more telling events in her career is outlined on the book jacket: “…she had made the perfect dessert at a celebration for food-world goddess Diana Kennedy. When Kennedy sked why she had not heard of her, Donovan said she did not know. ‘I do,’ Kennedy said. ‘Stop letting men tell your story.’” I’m so glad that she listened to that advice.
Donovan narrates the audio book version herself. I cannot imagine that anyone else could have done a better job.
amelie_rose's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
amanda_y8s's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.25
mcinkdrinker's review
5.0
If I could add a sixth star, a heart emoji, and that gif of Kristen Bell ugly-happy crying because of a sloth on Ellen, I would do it. This memoir reached deep down into my (more battered and hungry than I realized) soul and woke some things up, banished others, and made me so ravenous for buttermilk biscuits that I can barely stand it. [a:Lisa Donovan|6485388|Lisa Donovan|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] has such a beautiful, resonant, and inspiring voice. And her tale, which she lays brutally naked for us to consider, is a remarkable one. I am torn between recommending this book to every single human I know and keeping it clutched privately to my chest so that I can keep it protected and sacred in my heart for always.
Long story short: read this book immediately and be all the better [if hungrier] for it.
Long story short: read this book immediately and be all the better [if hungrier] for it.