I’ve liked Ina Garten of the Barefoot Contessa for a long time, and some of you longtime blog readers might remember I saw her interviewed live in 2013 (read that blog here). Having cooked her recipes and having followed her for so long, it was a natural I would read her memoir, but it was more compelling and readable than I expected. The audio book here is wonderful because Ina reads it well herself, while the print edition is great too, having some photos.  Either way, I give it five stars.

This is the story about how following what we love with curiosity and courage, as well as tenacity and hard work, creates our luck. It is also a love story about her long marriage with Jeffery, which was not without its challenges, but is strong, sincere and enduring. Ina is smart and warm, and left a soul-crushing job making nuclear policy at the White House to run a small specialty food store in West Hampton. Willing to work as hard as her staff, she wants everyone to have fun, and like her, to be fully and fearlessly involved in whatever they are interested in.

Be Ready When the Luck Happens is relevant to us all and is an example of what can happen when we face difficulties head on with the best we can bring to it. Told honestly and vulnerably, what comes through is her sense of intrepid joy, and indefatigable spirit. She stands up for herself, but is flexible when negotiating. She learns from her mistakes and doesn’t lose her sense of play as she discovers and pursues her purpose.

She come across more of a feminist than I would have expected, while still identifying closely with her simple roots as a home cook, which is a tricky contrast to bridge, but she did and does it remarkably. She is dedicated to making her dreams come true and we come away with more energy for doing the same ourselves. 

We love her approachability and frankness, and her childlike pleasure in what she is doing. It is like she simply agrees with us as she famously quips, “How great is that?”