Love, Loss, and What We Ate
Padma Lakshmi
Genre: Memoir
I became aware of Padma Lakshmi as the host of the cooking competition show Top Chef on the cable channel Bravo. I’ve always liked her and, although I knew she had been a model, I didn’t know much else. So when her book appeared in the Kindle Daily Deals, I added it to my collection.
The book is exactly what the title promises. Her frank expressions of the stories of her life are captivating, heartwarming, and heartbreaking. She has mixed in recipes for some of the dishes she describes preparing and eating. The Kindle format even includes easy links in the table of contents to locate the recipes later.
But this isn’t a recipe book. They only enhances the story that’s being told. It’s a story of a woman between two cultures and finding her way through the puzzle that is life. Her story is complex. Through the stories here, I feel like I’ve gained an insight into her world and the many things that make it different from my own. It’s eye-opening in ways that I didn’t anticipate.
This book is for anyone but I think women especially will find connections with her story.
Musings of an Overgrown Halfling 