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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
Gosh this was lovely. A feminist memoir with an incredible side of food, cooking, pastry, and the love of it all. I was gifted this book for Christmas by a dear friend & it couldn’t have been more up my alley.
I feel like I might read this one more than once.
I feel like I might read this one more than once.
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Abortion
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
slow-paced
This was my Book Club’s August pick! Due to schedules we can’t meet until September, but I look forward to talking about this memoir in depth. This is why I love being a part of a book club - this book wasn’t on my radar at all but opened my eyes to the food scene and lived experience that’s so different than my own.
Pastry chef Lisa Donovan chronicles her rise in the culinary world, combating racism and sexism constantly in a male dominated field. Striving to make her place in the world as a mixed race young mother in a grueling career, she shares triumphs and pitfalls with a searing honesty and some well placed swear words.
Donovan narrated the audiobook really well, I highly recommend this format. There is so much she conquered but the tone of this book isn’t everyone was out to get me by any means. She really highlights the inequality in the food industry, something I personally have never worked in. If you love a memoir filled with perseverance by a strong woman, this book is for you!
✨Content Warnings: Rape, Abortion, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Stalking, Animal Cruelty, Mental Illness, Suicide, Racism
Pastry chef Lisa Donovan chronicles her rise in the culinary world, combating racism and sexism constantly in a male dominated field. Striving to make her place in the world as a mixed race young mother in a grueling career, she shares triumphs and pitfalls with a searing honesty and some well placed swear words.
Donovan narrated the audiobook really well, I highly recommend this format. There is so much she conquered but the tone of this book isn’t everyone was out to get me by any means. She really highlights the inequality in the food industry, something I personally have never worked in. If you love a memoir filled with perseverance by a strong woman, this book is for you!
✨Content Warnings: Rape, Abortion, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Stalking, Animal Cruelty, Mental Illness, Suicide, Racism
An incredible book about love, womanhood, motherhood, and dessert. Will be gifting and rereading.
Pastry chef Lisa Donovan tells her story in a well-written and emotional memoir. Lisa is my kind of chef; "uncomplicated and thoughtfully prepared - nothing flashy, just good, just delicious, and ultimately, just comforting." Comforting food is my 'jam!'
Donovan came from humble beginnings and knows tough times intimately. She writes of her life, starting with an accidental pregnancy with an abusive partner and struggling to make ends met, to how she found her feet in pastry in Nashville. She pulls elements of her family background into her work and finds great success. I couldn't help but cheer! I loved her story of survival and passion and success.
Thank you Penguin Press for a review copy of this book. Opinions are my own.
Donovan came from humble beginnings and knows tough times intimately. She writes of her life, starting with an accidental pregnancy with an abusive partner and struggling to make ends met, to how she found her feet in pastry in Nashville. She pulls elements of her family background into her work and finds great success. I couldn't help but cheer! I loved her story of survival and passion and success.
Thank you Penguin Press for a review copy of this book. Opinions are my own.
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.