From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home | 
pickA book my younger self would've loathed, but my now-self is very glad that I've read it. It's heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. Also, don't read on an empty stomach, the descriptions of the food are mouth-watering. I hope to carry Tembi in my heart for a long time and to keep on learning from her.
pick7-4-23: My 73rd finished book of 2023! What a beautiful story. I watched the Netflix show starring Zoe Saldana and it was gorgeous and moving and devastating and I cried for hours after. Thankfully, I only cried a little bit with this book. It was still all those things but it showed more of Tembi‘s life after her chef husband passed and how she came to terms with it as opposed to seeing the beautiful love story unfold. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📖#️⃣7️⃣3️⃣
pickThis is a great book and it‘s even better on audio ❤️❤️❤️ I just loved listening to all the Italian ( despite the times I was in tears while I was listening, the Italian was like listening to meditations )
My current audio ( I love the Italian words ❤️) which means I am usually in tears when I get to work each day
“Suddenly I realized that I had three marriages to Saro: the one we had experienced as newly in-love married people; the one we had spent in the trenches of surviving cancer; and the one I had with him now, as his widow“ 239-40).
pickThis was wonderful! Beautifully written memoir about grief, love, and family. I wasn‘t familiar with the author, an actress, but when I realized her sister was Attica Locke, I thought, no wonder. What a talented family. I loved the sense of place in this book, how she honors her husband‘s memory by visiting Sicily, his birthplace, and connecting with his family. #BookspinBingo #20in4 @TheAromaofBooks @Andrew65 #Pantone2023 #mochamousse @Clwojick
Just finished working on February in my planner, time to dive into the next read. I watched the first episode of the show on Netflix, but wanted to read the book before I finish the series. (The food. THE FOOD. 😋🥰) #fromscratch #tembilocke #memoir #food #italy #italianfood #sicily #sicilianfood #booksforfoodies #grief
so-soI really liked the first half or so of this book. I knew the premise, so I went I'm expecting to be sad. The first half interweaves her story before her husband's death and after, spanning their almost 2 decade relationship. I love this style of writing. After his death, though, the book sort of drags, and I found myself trying to just get through it. Worth a read, though, and I can see how her journey could help others going through similar.
Watching the Netflix series is so disappointing. It follows their story chronologically, which takes away so much of the character of the story, and makes the characters much less likable. It‘s watchable but a very different and less satisfying experience than the book.
Y‘all don‘t understand. I‘m so happy over this #netflixreleasedate for #FromScratch by #tembilocke . When I tell you this memoir consumed me, believe it. It will make you cherish your spouse if you have one even more. Such a beautiful vivid journey through travel, adventure, loss and beautiful hope. #readthisbook #zoesaldana
pickMy May #doublespin and it was wonderful! My second book in my Memoir May picks. This one also looked at race relations, but from a very different perspective than Jesus Land. It doesn‘t shy away from the truth, but was more hopeful. A beautiful story about love and loss with a delicious ode to Sicilian food weaved throughout. And the audio narration was excellent. Now does anyone have a good recommendation for a Sicilian cookbook?
May wrap up. Not a bad month! Listened to some great audiobooks! #maywrapup
#bookspin #doublebookspin #bookspinbingo #2#18
This is a mixture of April leftovers & new books for May. Thanks @TheAromaofBooks Such a fun wag to tackle a minute number of books from my ever mounting #TBR #AxetheStacks
pickThis memoir of Locke's love with her husband whom she met on a trip to Italy, their journey through life, the loss of Saro, and her relationship with Sicily really touched me. It found myself fighting tears during parts and smiling through others. I loved learning about Sicily (the culture, the food, etc.,.) through her eyes. All around a well written tribute to love and family.
Thank you so much! I need a little romance in my life! The first chapter has drawn me in! Happy valentines day!!
#bookcupidswap
pickWhat sounds like a depressing and sad story ended up being a story of exploration and renewal. Descriptive without being flowery, she immerses you in Sicilian life, a simpler slower vista of food, smells, and time spent just being Sicilian. Not a hint of spoiled celebrity, she struggles through her grief to find a new life for herself and her daughter after losing her husband to cancer. “The wound of loss had become a scar of love.”
pick4⭐️ I can‘t recall how I first heard about the book but I know it was in early June that I had heard about it. Anyways, I quite enjoyed it and thought the book was poignant and heartfelt. #reesesbookclub #nonfiction #memoir #autobiography #2020 #ownvoices #bookreview #bookstagram
pickI'm actually not even done this book. As a matter of fact, I've only just finished the 2nd chapter but I already have all the 5 🌟 feels while I read parts of this with a lump in my throat. Her ease with adjectives gives every sentence a feeling....and they all have punch. One would think a rating at the onset of chapter 3 would be awfully presumptuous, except for those that have read it.
pickFrom Scratch is a multi cultural / cross continents love story about parenthood, loss, forgiveness and healing all drizzled in lots of love.
Food played a significant role from beginning to end & would prove to be a contributing salve to healing and family cohesiveness. Grief clung to three generations of women - memories lapsing and resurrecting. It‘s with the power of love and forgiveness, that Tembi and Zoela will build a home away from home.
“Think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course”. Kahlil Gibran.
Starting another audio book while I rearrange my library.
Starting another #reesesbookclub selection.
How many have you read?
📸@reesesbookclub IG
pickWow! I didnt know anything about this author befire listening to this. I absolutely loved this story, her voice was so soothing and she is a great writer!
Update on this one. It is taking forever but I love the authors voice and words so its all good!
pickI listened to this on audible and so glad I did! I‘m usually a hard back book person and not a fan of audio books but the Italian and Sicilian spoken in this memoir is so beautiful you have to hear it and it‘s an absolutely beautiful story, particularly given our current political climate.
pickEvery once in a while a book comes into your life at the exact right time and shakes you to your core. That is what Tembi Locke did to me. This is one of the most breathtaking, earth shatteringly beautiful things I have ever read. It is a memoir of grief but it is also a profoundly moving love letter to people, places, and food. I could not love it more. 5🌟
SLOWLY making my way through this as it is sad, sad, SAD. But also achingly beautiful.
pickA heartbreaking journey about love, loss, family, an interracial couple and Italy.
https://bookshop.org/a/5164/9781501187667
pickThis book was incredibly beautiful! I did the audiobook, loved listening to the author and her story of heartbreak and finding her new normal life while visiting her in laws in Italy! Great for foodies!!
Almost done this one! I‘ll be sad to see the end of it!!
pickParts were really good, though some dragged a bit, and sometimes it seemed to wander off before regrouping. Several recipes included at the end.
For fun, interviews with the author & her sister, Attica Locke.
Bravery
https://www.shondaland.com/live/a27801429/attica-locke-tembi-locke-from-scratch/
Writing
https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/attica-and-tembi-locke-on-texas-memorie...
pickParts were wonderful, beautifully written, even moved me to tears.But large sections were slow and a little too sentimental.
pickIf you‘re a foodie, romantic, #armchairTraveler, mother or caregiver this book will fill your heart with a swell of emotions. In the most soothing voice Tembi Locke shares her short but intense love story. Audio includes authentic recipes from Tembi‘s kitchen as her husband, Saro was an acclaimed chef. #InfiniteTissueRead
😭😭😭😭😭
👇🏽challenge prompts
#AudioFolding 🧺🎧😭wow! Poetic and visceral/ what a tribute to a lifetime and a love cut short 💔
Jumping right in 🎧
pickThe descriptive text had me salivating and imagining the smells, textures, and tastes with heightened senses. While a love filled marriage is included, the storyline is filled with family, illness, travel, parenthood, language barriers and cultural differences, not just romance. Most of the book is written in English, but many words and portions are in Italian and Sicilian and was beautifully narrated by the author. Glad I swapped over to audio.
pickA warm remembrance. A little too light on the details concerning connecting with her husband‘s family and overcoming the racial and cultural divide, but the love shines through.
pickReally enjoyed this memoir, though that feels odd to say as it‘s so sad. Tembi Locke narrates the story of her marriage to Saro, a charming Italian chef, and his long battle with cancer. After his death, Locke goes back to his native Sicily to keep his memory alive for their daughter. Heartbreaking and beautifully written.
(Also, had no idea until well into the book that her sister is Attica Locke — too much talent in one family!)
#audiobook
pickThis book isn't just about grief as I had expected, but about love. Love for her life before, during, and after her husband. Love for family. Love for food and how that can bind our souls even across culture and continents. This was beautifully written.
so-soI liked this even though I am rating it as so-so. One of the hard things about it was the subject matter. It was heavy and it seemed more about grief so the title was not quite a match. Also the beginning was all over the place (very well written but not cohesive). Just when I thought there was a pattern it changed again. That was annoying. The overall writing is beautiful and that is what kept me reading.
Post Humberto reading. A positive side to being unable to do anything else.
So far this has been a heartbreaking story. She writes about her pain in such a way it makes my own heart ache for her and her daughter.
Sunday morning bright and early with homemade banana pancakes and maple syrup and starting a new book that I hadn‘t heard of before until I browsed the library‘s ebook catalogue. It sounded devastating (bereavement) but because of its Sicilian setting, fascinating and possibly likely to induce pasta cravings. Have you read this yet?
We made pasta sauce from this book‘s recipe & it‘s delicious! Definitely a new staple in our home.
“In Sicily, love, truth, and grief are neither simple nor straightforward. Each runs as deep as the olive trees that have dotted the island for centuries.”
"But what I loved most was that her kitchen showed me how one ingredient can be made into many different dishes. Her food spoke of malleability & resourcefulness in loss, in love, and in life."
