LIMITED TIME OFFER. Get 3 months for $0.99 a month. Get this deal.
Be Ready When the Luck Happens cover art

Be Ready When the Luck Happens

A Memoir

Preview
Get this deal Try for $0.00
Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm PT.
Amazon Prime member exclusive: get any 2 titles with your free trial. Terms apply.
Just $0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 audiobook per month of your choice from our unparalleled catalog.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Be Ready When the Luck Happens

Written by: Ina Garten
Narrated by: Ina Garten
Get this deal Try for $0.00

$14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime. Offers ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm PT.

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $29.14

Buy Now for $29.14

About this listen

In her long-awaited memoir, Ina Garten—aka the Barefoot Contessa, author of thirteen bestselling cookbooks, beloved Food Network personality, Instagram sensation, and cultural icon—shares her personal story with those hungry for a seat at her table.

Here, for the first time, Ina Garten presents an intimate, entertaining, and inspiring account of her remarkable journey. Ina’s gift is to make everything look easy, yet all her accomplishments have been the result of hard work, audacious choices, and exquisite attention to detail. In her unmistakable voice (no one tells a story like Ina), she brings her past and her process to life in a high-spirited and no-holds-barred memoir that chronicles decades of personal challenges, adventures (and misadventures) and unexpected career twists, all delivered with her signature combination of playfulness and purpose.

From a difficult childhood to meeting the love of her life, Jeffrey, and marrying him while still in college, from a boring bureaucratic job in Washington, D.C., to answering an ad for a specialty food store in the Hamptons, from the owner of one Barefoot Contessa shop to author of bestselling cookbooks and celebrated television host, Ina has blazed her own trail and, in the meantime, taught millions of people how to cook and entertain. Now, she invites them to come closer to experience her story in vivid detail and to share the important life lessons she learned along the way: do what you love because if you love it you’ll be really good at it, swing for the fences, and always Be Ready When the Luck Happens.

* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF of recipes and images from the book.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2024 Ina Garten (P)2024 Random House Audio
Best of 2024 Culinary Editors Select Food & Wine Professionals & Academics Women's Voices Memoir

What the critics say

Be Ready When the Luck Happens is a wildly entertaining and compulsively readable story about curiosity and courage, challenges and coconut cupcakes. It’s also a love story for the ages. Smart and funny, warm and engaging, Ina Garten proves just how lucky a person can be if she’s willing to work hard, get over her past, and be fully and fearlessly engaged with life.”—Ann Patchett, author of Tom Lake

Editorial Review

From nuclear policies to pastries
Ina Garten's memoir is a treat for fans and foodies alike. Narrated by Garten herself, the audiobook brings an intimate charm to her life story. As she recounts her unlikely journey from nuclear policy writer to culinary icon, listeners are treated to personal revelations with her signature warmth and wit. From her early struggles in the food world to an enduring love story with her husband, Jeffrey, Ina doesn’t hold back. Garten's narration adds an extra layer of authenticity, making it feel as if you're having a chat with her. Whether you're swooning over Jeffrey and Ina’s romance or savoring her career milestones, this audiobook is a delightful and inspiring listen that includes a PDF of Ina's cherished photographs and recipes. — Patty R., Audible Editor

All stars
Most Relevant
This was a great book to listen to. I love Ina. She is so insightful, honest, optimistic and realistic- reminding us that passion is such an important ingredient when it comes to life. And what an amazing accomplished life she has had so far.

Such a lovely autobiography

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

An honest, interesting listen about hard work, overcoming your childhood circumstances, and love. Through candid reflections, it captures moments of joy and F U N throughout Ina’s life, illustrating how her experiences shaped her understanding of success and what fulfillment really means for her. It’s a compelling listen that inspires and resonates, reminding us of the strength we find in both struggle and triumph.

Love her even more!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I loved listening to her story…it is about believing in yourself, finding your person but standing tall on your own, not settling, going after what you truly want, and despite encountering a hard start with parents that didn’t know how to be parents … in the end she did not allow them to define her and it was lovely she repaired the relationship with her father.

A fun book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I always love Ina Garten and own all her cookbook. She’s an icon and such an inspiration!
Her relationship with her husband is what most women would aspire to. She also followed her dreams and achieved them.

Best Biography I’ve ever read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I Liked her heartfelt little stories woven in to create an honest and creative memoir

Honest and funny

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

really love a good female chef story. inspiring and wholesome with notes of grit and sensibility that a chef would understand. ,

chef approved

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Ina narrates a comprehensive autobiography, from her childhood thru university and into the world of food. She talks about her heritage, meeting the 'love of her live' in university, their marriage and her drive to owing and running a business. She tells us about day to day storefront and back kitchen stories. It is an unconventional life, foregoing children and the usual trappings of playing the ''supportive wife' to her successful husband. Ina is an independent, hard working woman. Her tag line 'how easy is that' belies the grit and determination she had that which paved the way for her success. I enjoyed this autobiography a lot. Ina's charming manner comes across in her warm, easy to listen to voice.

Ina's life candidly shared

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This is the best memoir or even biography for that matter that I have ever had the privilege to read. Hearing the story in Ina’s own word and voice came off so authentic and “real” I felt like I was listening to her over coffee in her own home. Ina is an amazing storyteller and writer.

Amazing Storytelling with Surprises and Insights

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

It’s everything you’d expect from Ina. She creates her world with her soft spoken way and with just the right amount of details. Her honesty is refreshing and I know I will be listening a second and maybe third time! Well done Ina!

Magical

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This was such a happy listen. There is so much encouragement for the listener, and all sorts of learning opportunities too.

The adventure!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews