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somanybookstoread's review
4.0
When I first picked up this book, I knew it used a structure that weaved recipes into a story and I LOVED the idea. In fact, I actually had the idea for a book of my own, but Wizenberg beat me to the punch. So it would suffice to say that I had high expectations. But, in truth, they weren't quite met. While I haven't tried any yet, the recipes sound great, and I look forward to trying a few. But the story didn't have enough of an arc. And it ended too much like a fairy tale, which made me think the narrator is naive. Life doesn't actually conclude when you get married. All that said, this book was totally me. It's about a young woman who likes to travel and cook who loses her father suddenly and shortly thereafter gets married. But while the story was similar to mine, the voice of the narrator was not (and in fairness, I probably don't have as great of recipes up my sleeve, either). LOVE the concept, liked the book.
novelideea's review
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
3.75
coming of age,
sexual nature of some memories
sexual nature of some memories
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content
yelizaveta_a's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
5.0
I've been a fan of Molly's for years via Orangette and Spilled Milk—I can't believe it took me so long to read this book. This book is warm, sweet, reflective, and endearingly earnest. For people who love the intersection of food and memoir, it's bound to be an instant classic.
themarnacle's review
4.0
Ok, so I didn't finish this so I shouldn't say that I read it. I did really like the essays that I did read out of it and I liked a good many recipes within the first 20 so I think this book should go on my "To buy" list. This is the type of book that needs to be savored little-by-little instead of read all at once which is what one must do with a library book.
juliasilge's review
3.0
In this cross of a cookbook, personal blog, and memoir, Wizenberg (of Orangette fame) writes about food, cooking, and life in a lush, articulate, dramatic voice that struck me as over the top at the beginning of the book but reflective and meaningful by the end. The book is much stronger when it focuses on the loss of her father and falling in love with her now-husband, and of course in the recipes.
nekreader's review
2.0
With this book, I am officially over the essay/cookbook form as reading material, and food as a vehicle for memoir in general, which has now gone about three stages past medium rare. I get it. Just yesterday, in response to another unbelievably snowy day, I made grilled cheese and cream of tomato soup and catapulted right back to childhood and happy memories of sledding and mom, but is cake really the cornerstone to every good relationship? How harmonious are family get togethers when this one is a vegan who lectures everyone else on the morality of eating meat while simultaneously having to defend his protein consumption, while the lactose intolerant and the gluten-free struggle with the mac and cheese or risotto. Sometimes food and feeding people and being fed is just exhausting. That said, the chapters in this book probably work fine as a blog, light and enjoyable, but there's nothing new or profound; it's fine. But if you want to read something in this genre, I'd go for Ellen Kanner's Feeding the Hungry Ghost
eveak's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this book and found it a nice relaxing read. Nice, accessible, human. I didn't play with the recipes since it is a friend's copy and I should return it to her ... but there are several that caught my eye ...
edingmann's review
4.0
Essays and recipes from Molly Wizenberg, my favorite food blogger: orangette.blogspot.com. A light read with a chatty tone; perhaps a little too sweet for some but I can forgive her for it. I can't wait to start digging into the recipes, because so far Molly has never led me astray in the kitchen.