--- title: Be Ready When the Luck Happens: 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 description: Find out why "Be Ready When the Luck Happens" is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year. canonical: https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172757/be-ready-when-the-luck-happens-a-memoir/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-11-13T13:23:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-03T00:43:18.068Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 'Be Ready When the Luck Happens' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 og:description: Here's why it made the list og:url: https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172757/be-ready-when-the-luck-happens-a-memoir/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96469c32829ef753/698a8d0a18689297c36cd8f3/Be-Ready-When-the-Luck-Happens-Ina-Garten.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 'Be Ready When the Luck Happens' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Be Ready When the Luck Happens' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 twitter:description: Here's why it made the list twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96469c32829ef753/698a8d0a18689297c36cd8f3/Be-Ready-When-the-Luck-Happens-Ina-Garten.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 13, 2024 # Be Ready When the Luck Happens by [Shannon Carlin](https://time.com/author/shannon-carlin/) ## Shannon Carlin Carlin is a contributor for TIME.  In her debut memoir, best-selling cookbook author and food TV icon [Ina Garten](https://time.com/4198968/ina-garten-making-goals/) admits she has a “low threshold for boredom.” This, she writes, has made her more than willing to take wild risks “just to get out of that miserable state.” In _Be Ready When the Luck Happens_, Garten lays out her journey to becoming the Barefoot Contessa, and the difficult, sometimes questionable decisions she made to get there. The biggest being to leave a stable, if not dull, job at the White House to pursue her passion for food—with the support of her husband and biggest fan of more than half a century, Jeffrey, who is well represented throughout the book. Garten also gets vulnerable, detailing a rough childhood filled with emotional and physical abuse and describes how that influenced her decision to not have kids. With humility and heart, Garten shares all of the ups, downs, and [delicious cooking tips](https://time.com/4838671/ina-garten-fantasy-dinner-party/) that got her where she is today. **Buy Now:** _Be Ready When the Luck Happens_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780593799895) | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3YA5RPY) | [Barnes & Noble](https://fave.co/3TA1qmx) These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172757/be-ready-when-the-luck-happens-a-memoir/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172757/be-ready-when-the-luck-happens-a-memoir/"},"headline":"Be Ready When the Luck Happens","datePublished":"2024-11-13T13:23:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:43:18.068Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172757/be-ready-when-the-luck-happens-a-memoir/","keywords":["Books","E-Commerce","list","franchise"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96469c32829ef753/698a8d0a18689297c36cd8f3/Be-Ready-When-the-Luck-Happens-Ina-Garten.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shannon Carlin","jobTitle":"Carlin is a contributor for TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/shannon-carlin/"}],"creator":"Shannon Carlin","articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96469c32829ef753/698a8d0a18689297c36cd8f3/Be-Ready-When-the-Luck-Happens-Ina-Garten.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172757/be-ready-when-the-luck-happens-a-memoir/","name":"Be Ready When the Luck Happens"}}]}] ```