I enjoyed reading Erin's American Celebration
928725
I enjoyed reading Erin's American Celebration. I like how she broke down the holidays and explained the why we are celebrating. It was also very interesting to learn some of the histories that make up our holidays.
2256287
I enjoyed it very much.  Gave a bit of insight into the immigrant's experience in the early 20th century.  I know it wasn't easy because my family history is Irish and they had a difficult time also.  Law enforcement and politics were not the best during those days also.
177342
I loved reading this book to my girls the day before St. Patrick's Day!  I had forgotten what exactly St. Patrick had done to cause us to celebrate him every year so this was a great book for me as well.  It was fun and entertaining and kept my kids interested throughout.  They have asked me to read it many times since first reading it a week ago.
3636310
"How to Celebrate Everything" is more than a cookbook.  The author, Jenny Rosenstrach. intertwines the themes of her family history, repeated events, e.g., rituals, and of course the preparation of food. Her family is particularly interesting in their multicultural and multireligious background. This gives the author the opportunity to provide recipes for disparate ethnic foods, challah and ham, for example.

The book is a celebration of rituals associated with secular and religious holidays:  Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Rosh Hashanah, New Year's, as well as family celebrations with an emphasis on birthdays.  There are recipes associated with all of these events.  The book is filled with attractive photographs.  The combination of family history with food is seamlessly integrated.  Descriptions are well written.

I am a potato lover. I grow several varieties in my vegetable garden. Some varieties are well suited to frying, others for making mashed potatoes. One of my friends can take all of my varieties and turn them into sliced baked potatoes.  I approve of the author's potato recipes.  She adds a few twists that I had not thought of.

The entire book is successful in its approach. We are presented with not just food recipes, but a recipe for happy living.
3044230
Having lived for a time in New Jersey, I enjoyed remembering all the working class Italian Catholics I knew in years gone by.  This book captures the wonderful outlook of the real families I knew then and I chuckled a lot at the ethnic dialog so familiar to me. Lucille is not a woman one would expect to deviate from her traditional role to solve a crime and Agatha Christie's legendary status isn't at risk but this is a fun book.  I was also reminded of why I always wished I'd been born into a loud, noisy, food-obsessed Italian family instead of the rather staid Irish/German heritage I got.  I didn't know of this author prior to finding this book so I'm looking forward to reading more of Lucille's (mis)adventures.  And, yes, I'd love to slap Bernadette!
4248254
Read (audibly) this lovely book before my trip to Ireland and felt I had a more personal and "full" experience while I was there.  I enjoyed the reader very much, and the way the history was told as stories was delightful.  The story behind the histories was interesting and clever, too, and helped pull together the stories... though that was not my favorite part of the book.  What I liked best about the book was the way the author presented history as an oral story passed down by a storyteller... a very personal way to talk about something more dry and detailed.

I "listened" to this book, but it is a good one to have a hard copy if you are traveling so that you know the spellings of the names (they don't always look like they sound, so aren't always recognizable if you haven't seen them before).  However, the fact that I could pronounce many of the Irish names (having heard them while listening to the book) impressed some of the locals.  :-)  Also, the audible book gave me the joy of feeling like I was truly listening to the traveling story teller.
886556
We all know you don't have to be Irish to celebrate St Patrick's Day, especially if you have a liking for Guinness, Irish Cream or Whiskey, and thanks to this book I'm now hungry and thirsty.

There are some recipes in this book that don't contain alcohol, too.

Most of the recipes are quite simple, if not all of them for a non-cook like me, and I'm sure I can have a great time on the 17th with just the simplest recipes in the book - especially the cocktails.

The book is introduced in a charming and lighthearted way and the recipes all sound delicious!
4641820
This is a memoir of humor, tragedy, and the trappings of culture and religion.  Not being Irish but raised as a Catholic, Angela's Ashes brought back memories of catechism classes taught by strict rules adapted to the  culture of the times.  I remember being taught that only Catholics went to  heaven and that any and all sexual thoughts or deeds would damn one to  Hell. This is not to undermine, however, the book's trajic story about  poverty, alcoholism and growing up in a culture where the "drink"  is associated with many social activities.  Additionally, Frank McCourt  writes a memoir that personifies the American dream.  It touches a chord  inside all of us because we have all heard similiar stories passed on to us  by our own parents and grandparents.  Angela's Ashes makes us both proud  and sad to be Americans, lets us snicker at some silly long-held beliefs,  and forces us to question the wisdom and the teachings of our religious and  societal rules.  It is a book that stays with you for a very long time.
589889
I really enjoyed Erin's candidness and perspective into how to find happiness in a life that is ever moving quicker and quicker.
793797
Great fun. If you are Irish, almost Irish or near somebody who is Irish it is a great fun read. Stories, jokes, limericks and food. There are even Skit-tles, little plays to invite your guests to partake in at a ST. Patrick's Day party. The last chapter: Miscellaneous Malarkey.

You can see the author on YouTube in a program called The Better Part Being Irish.

Cheers and Peace! Phil
348704
Ramblings in Ireland was probably the book I read fastest this year which says a lot of how I enjoyed it: a lot. Catchy, funny, flowing and mainly obviously written with heart, soul and guts, which makes it a very special book. I happened to have read "A Catcher in the Rye" from Salinger just before this and I couldn't help thinking of the narrator's way of judging if a book is good: a good book is when you want to meet the author. After reading Ramblings in Ireland, you feel like meeting the author, her husband, her friends and visiting Ireland of course !
2084187
I just finished the book and loved it! As a family member, it was fun to read about these 'characters' that I was related too; however, it I would have enjoyed it nonetheless if I weren't. The book depicts the memoir of a man struggling with his responsibilities and unexpected decisions. It gives a clear idea of how life was during the depression in Montana and North Dakota; and even though it is the story of one family, it likely resembles MOST families in that vicinity during that time period. Historically accurate with tongue and cheek moments and real events that will make you smile while being thankful for today.
3524402
WHile it is somewhat rambling, I found it entertaining and a change from many of the books I have read recently. I actually was touched more by the last segments of the book than  all the stories about her showbiz history even if I did enjoy them.
Thank you Amy Phoeler
4729088
In addition to creative recipes and encouragement via available substitutions, TLK is a delight to read and Erin's story has you cheering on her accomplishments with each page. What a treat of a book, and a new destination for my next road trip!
3425904
I really enjoyed this book. I also had been in Ireland in the 70s and again recently so I related to the changes in the country that the author described so well. Good insight into the Irish culture and outlook. A fun read.
1987195
I am familiar with this author's articles in America Magazine, so it was very enjoyable to read about more of her personal life experiences.
3420651
Amazon has asked me to review this book that I never received from the seller: Bonita Flores. "A Lucky Irish Lad" .
  I started off my life by being born at an Army Air Base during World War Two in Oscoda, Mi. My Dad was away in Iwo Jima with the B-29's and so I grew up on my Grand Parents farm near Hale, Mi.
 Theirs was a hard scrabble existence and they had 9 children which was necessary for tending to all of the farm chores. My Grandpa was half American Indian - Oneida, I think from New York State and his other half was English. My Grandma was Scots- Irish.
My dad was a mixture of Irish and German/Dutch. You could always see it in my dad, he had the hardheadedness of a German, the frugality of a Dutchman and the love of drink of an Irishman.
 He was a mean spirited son of a bitch and I don't think that he ever really liked me at all. I got dragged out of my warm and loving Grand Parents home and was brought down to Grand Rapids at about age 12 and only saw the Grand Parents after that for the summers, when I would work on their farm until school started again in the fall. When I was 16 I hitchhiked up to Traverse City and picked cherries for the summer.
  In 1963 I joined the US Navy a month after high school as a way to get away from the old man,  I got shipped out to Scotland to a Submarine Base and I didn't come back to America until January of 1966.
 I spent 10 years in the Navy trying to figure out what I was going to do for my life's work. As luck would have it, I hired into an auto plant in Grand Rapids as a Millwright and spent my next 32 years doing basically the same thing I did in the Navy. After taking a buyout retirement from GM, I went back to school and got licensed as a USCG charter boat Captain and I have been growing the company steadily. Last year I made enough money to cover my slip fees and fuel costs. I'm hoping to break even this year and hopefully, with my "Irish"  luck, I will. My website is [...] Who knows, maybe I will get lucky enough one day to actually read "A lucky Irish Lad". Lance Timmer