Customer Reviews

I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti: A Memoir

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I'm normally not a fan of memoirs or even most non fiction. Unless I have to read a book for school, you can usually find me with a fiction book in my hands. However, this book was totally able to capture my attention and may have made a convert out of me. Reading it was like reading about my own life. It made me laugh, cry, cringe, and be hungry all at the same time. Giulia's writing makes you feel like you're sitting at the table after dinner with a glass of wine and catching up on old stories. As Giulia goes through each relationship, my heart ached for her and I really felt like I was there and needed to console her. There are times when you want to be like "No! He's a jerk, get away!!" and others where you're in love with the guy too because he's so sweet and kind. There are some scenes where I just burst out laughing at how Giulia attempts to win the guy over because it was exactly how I used to act. They're so reminiscent of my life that it's almost painful to read.

The highlight of the book is all the food that is mentioned. The recipes are interwoven into each relationship as Giulia talks about the different meals and dishes she would make for each guy. Never one to eat a same meal twice, Giula takes pride in the way she cooks and each dish has a special meaning. The food mentioned in here are to die for. They are simple to make, with easy ingredients that aren't hard to find, yet they are a step above the norm. You can make them for a dinner party and will totally impress your guests. The titles of the dishes range from normal (Grilled Marinated Flank Steak) to fancy (Linguine with Friendly Little Fish) to hilarious (Spaghetti and Meatballs for Cooking Sluts and Those Who Love Them). They all sound delicious and I'm eager to try out a few of these in the future.

This really was an enjoyable book to read. It's perfect for both chick lit and foodie fans. It's a charming, relatable and mouth watering read. Do not read this book on an empty stomach and be prepared to whip up a feast when you are done reading. HIGHLY recommended.

Sorry. I really wanted to love this book. But, this woman makes intelligent women everywhere look really naive (or, should I just say "stupid".) The recipes look great and I will try some...eventually. I was just so disappointed in this book that I can't bring myself to open it back up. I wouldn't even call it a good beach read for the summer. There were a couple of instances of witty writing that made me laugh out loud, but for such a slim book, those were few and far between.

This book is worth buying for the recipes -- but the narrative didn't work for me. There are FAR too many minute details about each relationship. For me, it bogged things down and prevented it from being the funny, light-hearted book I was expecting.

Another thing that surprised me ... Giulia Melucci is obviously a very pretty, stylish, intelligent woman (at least as far as I can see in the jacket bio and photo) -- but she comes off as desperate and very, very naive about what she wanted, or thought she wanted. That's ok, if it's coupled with some funny self-reflection ... but that seemed to be missing.

I found this personal journey repetitive, depressing, humorless, and annoying self-deprecating. I could find no warmth, just neediness in the main character. And the recipes were not unusual enough to add interest.

This is a cute book, but it has the feel of a journal more than a book. It doesn't clip right along, making me want to turn pages. It's more like a record of what happened, and could have benefited from some judicious editing, because there's good stuff here. She just goes on too long, like a friend who tells long stories. You're interested, you care...but you wish she'd get to the point.

For example: "The weekend was cloudy, and I was trapped in that mental prison known as waiting-for-the-phone-to-ring. I checked my cell phone every two minutes. Saturday night, I called him. He had groused about my never calling, after all. I got only his voice mail. Sunday morning, I went to Mass to try to get some peace, but nothing worked. I scratched and scratched at a mosquito bite I probably got at that silly game."

She goes on to describe what she did the next day, the day after, and the day after, finally getting to the interesting part: the bad breakup email from the boyfriend on Wednesday.

I'd like to hear more from this author as I think she has real promise, and I love the focus on the food. But the narrative needs to be tighter. I liked the book, but I was not thinking about it during the day and looking forward to getting back to reading it each night. It just kind of sat there on my nightstand.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars.

I liked the book in the beginning and then I was bored and got tired of the relationships and sadness. The recipes were worth reading, but this was too much of one person's life that wasn't that interesting. I wanted something good maybe just being happy being single but I felt nothing good. I think more of her youth and family would have saved it for me. Too much self pity. Read it for the recipes. That is the reason for the 3 star rating the recipes.

Interesting enough to read through to the end. Nothing satisfying in the finish, as the story really isn't finished. I won't comment on the main character, since she is the author, except to say that she doesn't seem to learn from her experiences. Half the recipes are from epicurious.com which comprises the recipes of Gourmet and Bon Apetit magazines. The chapter titles and recipe names try too hard. I like memoirs that read like novels and include relevant recipes, but this book is not an appealing addition to the genre.

After hearing a little about this book, I expected to be exasperated with the writer and her poor choices in men. But Giulia Melucci writes so engagingly, with such honesty and humor, that she came across as a person I would genuinely like. The men were, in fact, poor choices but that didn't detract from how she comes across as a sympathetic character, how good the recipes sound, and how thoroughly entertaining a read this book is.

Giulia comes across as someone I'd like to know; both brave and intelligent. She's very good at sharing -- a great quality in a friend, writer and cook.

Was looking for a quick, fun read but all I got were some recipes and a woman droning on about her very pathetic love life. Not all that humorous. I could have read a good cookbook and enjoyed it more.