Ina Garten Just Revealed She Wrote a Memoir—Here's How to Preorder

The Barefoot Contessa just announced in her latest Instagram Reel that her next book is coming out this fall. But you won’t find tonight’s dinner recipe in this one. 

“I wanted to tell you that I’ve written a different kind of book,” says Garten in her trademark soothing voice, wearing a signature scarf around her neck. “It’s a memoir.”

Garten admits that writing something that wasn't a cookbook was really scary—yet much more interesting than she expected. “You know, I tend to look forward in my life, not back. And connecting the dots between when I was in my 20s and 30s and building things, to now, made me realize I spent my entire life preparing myself to do what I love to do—which is write cookbooks.”

Reaching for the book, she reveals the title: Be Ready When the Luck Happens. “That’s it,” chuckles Garten, since the book has no subtitle. 

According to a press release from her publisher, the book is written in Garten’s “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.”

The book appears to leave no stone unturned, as Garten recounts her difficult childhood, marrying her lifelong love, Jeffrey, while still in college, and the numerous jobs she had before she became known as the Barefoot Contessa (including a bureaucratic job in Washington, D.C.).    

The beloved cookbook author’s memoir will be released on October 1, two years after her last cookbook, Go-To Dinners, was published, and is available for preorder now wherever books are sold (you can get a signed copy by going to her website). 

“I hope you love it and maybe even be a little inspired,” says Garten to end the Reel.

The comments on the post lit up after the announcement with nothing but love for the Barefoot Contessa and excitement for getting a sneak peek into her life through her memoir. 

Several of her fans even requested that she record an audiobook for the memoir since Garten’s “voice is so soothing and therapeutic”. The generous author personally responded, “I will be reading the audio version of the memoir! Thanks for asking. ❤️❤️”

What she doesn’t announce in the Reel but includes in the post is that she’ll also be going on a book tour after the memoir is released this fall, landing in eight major cities across the U.S.: Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Dallas, Costa Mesa, Boston, Chicago and Hartford. 

If her memoir is anything like her cookbooks, we know it’ll be a hit—and yes, inspirational. As Garten says, “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.”