Be Ready When the Luck HappensBe Ready When the Luck Happens
What it's about
Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, tells the story of her life: a lonely childhood with a harsh father, marrying Jeffrey at twenty, a job in the White House budget office working on nuclear energy policy, and the day she saw a newspaper ad for a specialty food shop in the Hamptons and bought it on impulse. From there came the cookbooks, the television show and, by her own account, a life built on taking chances.
Why it's worth reading
It hit #1 on the New York Times list and spent months there. Garten is warm and candid, including about her difficult early years, and it's an encouraging story about starting over.
You'll love it if you liked
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
Crying in H Mart
I'm Glad My Mom DiedGood to know
It's a memoir, not a cookbook, with only a few recipes. It's light and quick.
By the numbers
- Readers73 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics0 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Bestseller62 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Buzz34 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #104 of the 290 memoirs and biographies we rank
- #100 of the 481 new books we rank
- #556 of the 2,816 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
True story
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Quick answers
Is Be Ready When the Luck Happens worth reading?
Yes. It hit #1 on the New York Times list and spent months there. It ranks #556 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 77.7 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Be Ready When the Luck Happens about?
Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, tells the story of her life: a lonely childhood with a harsh father, marrying Jeffrey at twenty, a job in the White House budget office working on nuclear energy policy, and the day she saw a newspaper ad for a specialty food shop in the Hamptons and bought it on impulse. From there came the cookbooks, the television show and, by her own account, a life built on taking chances.
How long does it take to read Be Ready When the Luck Happens?
About 8 hours (307 pages), or about 2 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after Be Ready When the Luck Happens?
If you liked it, try Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain, Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner or I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy.