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The 2000s was the golden age of Food Network. I didn’t cook, but I loved watching people do it, and few people remind me as vividly of that time as Ina Garten, whose show Barefoot Contessa aired all the time. Her penchant for using the finest quality ingredients launched a thousand memes (see slide 2 😆). Listening to Garten narrate the audiobook of Be Ready When the Luck Happens instantly transported me to her bright kitchen where I spent so many hours. The title, which Garten addresses in the epilogue, is a bit self help-y and not really indicative of her journey, as her story isn’t one of luck so much as hard won success: growing up in a stifling and abusive home, navigating a society that told women they couldn’t play squash or learn to fly, let alone build a business empire, and trying just about everything before finding her path. I loved listening to Garten talk about the sweepingly beautiful (and challenging) love story of her relationship with Jeffrey — they’ve been married almost 60 years! — and I especially enjoyed hearing about her meandering path to cooking (she worked in Nuclear Energy policy at the White House, among other things). I expected most of her memoir to focus on her books, show, and fame, but she takes readers on a journey through it all, and those things are just one part of that journey. She doesn’t shy away from discussing the struggles and failures she’s experienced, but in a “it’s all tuition in the school of life” way. I think a lot of memoir fans would enjoy this one, whether you’re a fan of Ina Garten or not. Toward the end of the book, Garten quotes her friend and fellow chef Erin French in a “wow, that quote really found me at an appropriate time” moment: “Sometimes you have to trust that the hard times, the pain and the tragedies in life have purpose. They may make no sense at the time, may bring you to your knees and you will wonder why this hell is happening and if you’ll ever get through it. But trust it is your trajectory, sending you along your path, and if you listen, learn, heal and grow along the way, things will one day make sense.” via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/DCO9EMVSNAd/