Stir: My Broken Brain and the Meals That Brought Me Home

Written by Jessica Fechtor

Narrated by Jessica Fechtor

At twenty-eight, Jessica Fechtor was happily immersed in graduate school and her young marriage, and thinking about starting a family. Then one day, she went for a run and an aneurysm burst in her brain. She nearly died. She lost her sense of smell, the sight in her left eye, and was forced to the sidelines of the life she loved.



Jessica's journey to recovery began in the kitchen as soon as she was able to stand at the stovetop and stir. There, she drew strength from the restorative power of cooking and baking. Written with intelligence, humor, and warmth, Stir is a heartfelt examination of what it means to nourish and be nourished.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Feb 16, 2016
• ISBN: 9781494589806

Reviews for Stir

[nyiper · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Even without the recipes, what a memory Jessica has! The detail in everything she experienced and described gave a full color mental picture to everything she was doing---recipes included! It sounds like a terrible series of medical events to endure but what an amazing husband and family and collection of friends she has!

[pgchuis · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was recommended to me by a friend and I really only skimmed it. I found the non-linear way the backstory was slotted in around the narrative of her aneurism and recovery confusing. I did not read the recipes. I did not feel I got to know Eli, her husband, to any great extent. I would have been more angry than she seems to have been about the various medical complications which ensued after each of her surgeries.

[karen59_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Six months ago I had a stroke. I am young, a mother and of course this was completely unexpected and my life was upended. I was scared and in a very dark place. Then I was lucky enough to read "Stir" by Jessica Fechtor. Finally I had a companion, a voice guiding the way a bit. In Yiddish, Jessica would be called a mensch, just a good person. I was uplifted by her voice, by her smarts, by her everyday decency and by seeing how she kept the rhythm of her life going as much as possible, allowing others to help when needed, doing what she could for herself. Her writing is strong and descriptive and I felt part of the fabric of the community that enveloped Jessica and Eli as she moved in and out of recovery. I could imagine myself at a Shabbat dinner or just hanging out doing nothing but "being." Her intellect, her faith and her family held her. This is a book about hard times bringing out the best in each other, which is usually a cliche and not true. Here it is true and I loved witnessing the the love between Jessica and Eli and the way that her parents, though divorced came together for their daughter.

Stir is also a book about food. While I sometimes found the placement of the recipes distracting many of her recipes were so familiar. They reminded me of home, of the deli and bakeshops in my neighborhood where I grew up in Brooklyn. There was such a sweetness for me in that and I took pleasure in thinking about how I could cook some of them when I was better. I loved that she was able to be true to herself and shift gears when she realized what was most important to her. This is a true act of courage, and one thing we know from reading this revelatory and eloquent book is that Jessica has plenty of that.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to review this book for an honest opinion

[amandacb_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Baked ziti, oatmeal cookies, potato salad, and pan-roasted salmon recipes, among others, are peppered throughout Jessica Fechtor’s new memoir, Stir. After suffering an aneurysm that nearly killed her, Fechtor wrestles with regaining her muscles, sight, and cooking prowess by coming back home to the recipes throughout her life that have inspired and comforted her. She relays her marriage, friendships, and career through the sieve of food—the foods that bring people together and those that make a statement. Fechtor’s journey through multiple cranial surgeries is inspiring, and the recipes mouth-watering.