Scan barcode
rworrall78's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
5.0
I didn't grow up quite like Grace Dent but there was so much that was familiar. Brilliantly told. Funny and sad.
marylodge's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful and heartwarming with a little bit of heartbreak, and I love Grace Dent even more than when I started
londonsoph's review against another edition
5.0
This is really not my usual read. But I saw Grace talking about smash hits magazine and ham and cheese crispy pancakes on TV and these random things jogged some of my own childhood memories. A beautiful yet heart breaking trip down memory lane.
stephen_baird's review against another edition
4.0
I was lucky enough to get an advanced reading copy of this from Hachette and was so pleased when it arrived almost the next day.
It was going to be my whole reading for a whole weekend and I was going to savour it to the full, taking bite-sized reads throughout the weekend, but that wasn’t to be as it was so delicious I had to gulp it down in a couple of ravenous sittings.
I will be updating this review when the completed copy comes out as there are several quotes I want to add to the review that made me bark with laughter, especially the one about working class and bohemians in North London.
I’ve always looked forward to Grace’s writings about food (well anything really) as her sense of humour and turn of phrase are so readable, wry, and very perceptive. This book is no different, looking at her and her family’s relationship with food and with each other from her start in metropolitan Carlisle with her normal wit and flowing prose.
The move from Carlisle to London and working in magazines was as hilarious as it was revealing, both of Grace and the industry, how important class, uncles, and other helping hands are to working in media/publishing in London were (and as we all know still are).
Yes it is humorous, yes it takes a fun look at food, but as the book goes on we share her more of her families developing relationships and what goes on with ageing.
The last scene had me in all out tears, this wasn’t really a surprise as they were welling at various points throughout the whole book but that very last scene was a full-on emotional wringer. A really brave book well worth a read.
Out on 29th of September 2020.
It was going to be my whole reading for a whole weekend and I was going to savour it to the full, taking bite-sized reads throughout the weekend, but that wasn’t to be as it was so delicious I had to gulp it down in a couple of ravenous sittings.
I will be updating this review when the completed copy comes out as there are several quotes I want to add to the review that made me bark with laughter, especially the one about working class and bohemians in North London.
I’ve always looked forward to Grace’s writings about food (well anything really) as her sense of humour and turn of phrase are so readable, wry, and very perceptive. This book is no different, looking at her and her family’s relationship with food and with each other from her start in metropolitan Carlisle with her normal wit and flowing prose.
The move from Carlisle to London and working in magazines was as hilarious as it was revealing, both of Grace and the industry, how important class, uncles, and other helping hands are to working in media/publishing in London were (and as we all know still are).
Yes it is humorous, yes it takes a fun look at food, but as the book goes on we share her more of her families developing relationships and what goes on with ageing.
The last scene had me in all out tears, this wasn’t really a surprise as they were welling at various points throughout the whole book but that very last scene was a full-on emotional wringer. A really brave book well worth a read.
Out on 29th of September 2020.
beccajbooks's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this book. It was a lovely memoir told through Grace Dent's relationship with food. We start way back in her childhood and end up in present day. Seeing her come from a little northern girl living in a normal working class street with her family, to the well known food critic she is today. A million miles away from those humble beginnings. The story has information about her father's decline in health, her rise up the career ladder and her evolving relationship with all kinds of foods.
A lovely read, I only wish I had read it over a longer period of time rather than rushing through it for a readalong.
Recommended for readers of non fiction. Memoirs, food memoirs, celebrity autobiographies.
Thanks Harper Collins for my copy.
Www.thebeautifulbookbreak.com
A lovely read, I only wish I had read it over a longer period of time rather than rushing through it for a readalong.
Recommended for readers of non fiction. Memoirs, food memoirs, celebrity autobiographies.
Thanks Harper Collins for my copy.
Www.thebeautifulbookbreak.com
followingcharlie's review against another edition
5.0
Grace Dent is a great storyteller. This is the second book of hers that I have read, and possibly because we are pretty much the same age, the childhood stories really resonate with me. She has a fantastic style to her writing that brings a sense of humour to the mundane and also sometimes even to very emotive subjects; but it works. She is a ‘warts and all’ type of person, which could possibly put you off (it did me to start with) but as the book progresses, I think this really is a tribute to her openness about herself, her upbringing and her failings along the way as well as touching on the subjects of how to cope (and sometimes how you can't cope) with terrible diseases like Dementia and Cancer. The family element of this memoir is also something that is really very touching. Thank you Grace.