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obstinateheadstrongcurl's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.25
This was an interesting memoir, although it didn’t focus on the food as much as I was hoping. I enjoyed the intimate look at life in the USSR, both pre and post dissolution. I listened to the audiobook and wasn’t a huge fan of the narrator. I dislike when a narrator is cast who is putting on an accent for the whole book, it just feels weird not to cast someone with the correct accent. This one felt especially egregious, almost mocking, and I really didn’t enjoy it.
gnrunaway's review against another edition
3.5
I found this book a little bit repetitive. I didn't like the back and forth between present day and the author's memory, I'd preferred a more chronological telling of the events
melissa_who_reads's review against another edition
5.0
Read it on Kindle - loved it. Learned more about Soviet history than I had know before, and loved reading history from the perspective of the people, not the leaders. Loved the food as a way in to understand the culture of the times. Very much enjoyed the memoir of her life - especially given that the author is roughly my age, so it was fun to see the similarity and differences of our lives.
laila4343's review against another edition
4.0
Fascinating memoir about growing up in 1960's USSR and her family's past history as well, told through the lens of food. I learned a lot and really enjoyed her narrative voice.
maethereader's review against another edition
Didn’t like the writing style, felt like she was making it unnecessarily complicated. And didn’t feel any emotional connection.
krobart's review against another edition
4.0
See my review here:
http://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2014/07/17/day-555-mastering-the-art-of-soviet-cooking/
http://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2014/07/17/day-555-mastering-the-art-of-soviet-cooking/
brandifox's review
4.0
Family history, a century’s worth of Russian/Soviet history, food history, immigration and a mother-daughter friendship even as they love differently. This book is definitely worth the time.
beastreader's review against another edition
2.0
I picked up this book with the intent that I would not only learn about a person's life but also about Soviet cooking. I have become even more fascinated by all the different cultures and the foods. I have enjoyed most of the books that I have. Telling a story through food is great.
While I can say that I appreciate Anya sharing her story about ehr family, childhood and the food she grew up with, I was disappointed in this book. Only because after reading several others, you could say that my expectations were way high. The first issue I had with the book was the placement or layout of the recipes featured in this book. I would have liked to have seen them spread out through out the chapters than put in the back of the book. I have found by doing this it helps me to really envision the food as the narrator is explaning the food. Second issue is that there are only 10 recipes in this book. One for each chapter of the book. Not to say that I expect this book to have tons of recipes like a cook book but when I am picking up a book about food, I expect it to have a bunch of recipes.
While I can say that I appreciate Anya sharing her story about ehr family, childhood and the food she grew up with, I was disappointed in this book. Only because after reading several others, you could say that my expectations were way high. The first issue I had with the book was the placement or layout of the recipes featured in this book. I would have liked to have seen them spread out through out the chapters than put in the back of the book. I have found by doing this it helps me to really envision the food as the narrator is explaning the food. Second issue is that there are only 10 recipes in this book. One for each chapter of the book. Not to say that I expect this book to have tons of recipes like a cook book but when I am picking up a book about food, I expect it to have a bunch of recipes.
lilygeller's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75