A Homemade Life

Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table

By: Molly Wizenberg

Narrated by: Mia Barron

After Molly Wizenberg's father died, she traveled to Paris and - amidst its culinary delights - realized her heart was in the kitchen. So she began Orangette, a highly popular cooking and life blog that eventually led her to the love of her life.©2009 Molly Wizenberg (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"Wizenberg's debut shares the same basic format as her Orangette blog - favorite recipes interspersed with personal reflection - but constructed around a much tighter family narrative. Memories of her father, for example, begin with his cherished formula for potato salad and an attempt to recreate his French toast, but also include a variation on scrambled eggs that spurred a comforting moment as he was dying of cancer. The second half of the memoir focuses on her blossoming relationship with Brandon, who started out as a fan of the blog, became a long-distance boyfriend and eventually moved to Seattle and married her....Wizenberg's directions are laced with a charming voice that strikes a neat balance with the reflective passages." ( Publishers Weekly)

Lovely book!

This book is delightful from beginning to end. Memories are made at every family meal!

Loved it!

Really enjoyed this one. I am by no means a "foodie" but really love these "food memoirs." Funny and touching...Great narrator too.

A Life of Homemade Food

Reading this book made me hungary. The recipes are really good. The potato salad recipe is my favorite especially with the caraway seeds.

It was great BUT

The production recording is... Bass-y? I have played it in several devices and the balance was off, making it hard to listen too...

Just a nice story

What did you like best about A Homemade Life? What did you like least?

My favorite part about A Homemade Life was how I connected with story. I personally did not have the same experience with food as the author, but I could still relate to the stories, thoughts, and relationships. It was a simple story and a light, but enjoyable listen.

What I liked least was the format of the audio book. I listened to this book for a book club and it wasn't until I saw the hard copy of the book that I noticed the audio book did not have the recipes. While I would not have been able to follow along with the recipe while I was listening to the book, it would have been nice to have at least heard them. I felt like I was missing a part of the book.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Truthfully, I felt like the story just ended. I was really getting into it and then it was just finished. However, I really liked the story that the author used to conclude the book.

Have you listened to any of Mia Barron’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not listened to Mia Barron's other performances, but I really enjoyed listening to her with this audio book.

Could you see A Homemade Life being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I could see the premise of A Homemade Life being made into a TV series, kind of like a mix between a cooking show and a sitcom, where you learn a recipe from the star of the show, but then scenes are included that show the back story. I don't know who the stars would be, though.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed this book for the light-hearted feel and the simplicity of the story and I have recommended this book to a couple people, especially to those who have grown up around food and cooking.

Missing the recipes

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I loved the story, however as a cooking memoir I expect the recipes the stories are based around to be included. An experienced cook can get the feel of the recipe by just the ingredients and the flavor by the cooking instruction. A massive disappointment.