I heard about this book when the author was interviewed on NPR. It's really a food autobiography, or an autobiography with food woven into the author's life story. Alternately laugh-out-loud funny and poignant, the food descriptions are marvelous. The author's account of her father insisting on providing home-cooked Jordanian feasts for her to eat at school instead of the god-awful school lunches everyone else consumed is hysterical.

I loved this one--beautiful language and lots of food. What could be better?

One of the most enjoyable books I've read in a long time... I was going to simply photocopy several of the recipes that intersperse the text before returning my library copy, but then I realized that there was so much more to the book that was going to be re-read. So I decided to buy my own copy.

Probs 3.5

A cute memoir written well. Got me a bit excited for Jordan (except when she talked about the rainy season which isn’t ideal) albeit rendering it a bit of a literary fantasy.

I like memoirs.

This was pretty good. I read it for my Read Around the World challenge for Jordan. It includes multiple recipes. I really enjoyed the writing, and found that I was able to relate to a lot of the author’s stories despite our very different circumstances. Very universal themes of wanting to find your identity while growing up, of conflict within family, longing for a home you’ve left.

This book made me drool the entire time I read it. :) Not only is it filled with great stories from her childhood and adulthood, but it is also full of delicious recipes I am dying to try. A great perspective on growing up part of two different cultures. Plus she grew up in Syracuse, near to where I grew up!

Abu-Jaber's memoir is like velvet with its descriptions; the way she writes is (not to be cliche) captivating. You feel yourself transported to different times, different locations, and different emotions. In my mind I can imagine the people she grew up with, the experiences she had, and the people she encountered.

A good book transports you to a different time and place.

The recipes in here sound delicious, like better versions of some of the heavy Egyptian fare I had while abroad.