Spaghetti for the Soul

Spaghetti for the Soul
A Feast of Faith, Hope and Love
by Kathy Troccoli and Ellie Lofaro
2008
Waterbrook Press
Non fiction/Christian living
ISBN 978-1-4000-7162-3

Reviewed by Cindy Loven

Do you ever have expectations of books before you start them and then find yourself surprised, pleasantly surprised. That was how I was with this book, I was expecting a devotional type book and it was so much more than that. This book is deep, though provoking and a definite faith builder.
Two Italian women discuss how their ethnicity affects their views of spiritual matters. I should have known by the titles of the chapters that this was not a devotional book, but a book for Christian Living.
They break the chapters into the courses of an Italian meal, beginning with the appetizers and ending with dessert. Each chapter is interspersed with life stories of the authors that just grab you and make you realize these ladies know and understand what they are writing about, faith, hope and love. You will find yourself giggling over funny family antics, and stories, and wiping a tear as they share their deep struggles. They get real. Kathy shares her struggle with bulimia and depression. Ellie shares her sorrows over her parents divorce, and the difficulties she faced when she broke her back.
Woven into each chapter are family recipes for favorite Italian dishes, and a segment called “Let's Dish about......” where they ask each other questions about the topic and how it plays out in their personal lives. At the end of the chapter are discussion questions, cleverly titled “Thoughts to Noodle On” which easily makes this book a book you could use for a group study.
We have all read books about Faith, Hope and Love, maybe not combined into one book, but this book is a fresh and thought provoking book on these topics. Faith that translates is one of the chapters, and it shows us how our faith translates into our every day life, through patience, humility and a active prayer life. I promise this book will not disappoint. I find myself wanting to read it over and over again to make sure I have gotten all the gems and treasures from it. I rate this book a 5 star read. 211 pages 13.99 US