Another Book Review, Part 1 of 3

Well, since I have no new photographs to share, it's time for another book review. This one I am not done reading yet, though, so this is part one of the review, I guess.

Eat, Pray, Love is the autobiographical story of the author's life over the span of one year. You are allowed glimpses into her past to better understand the choices she is making during this year, but mainly it is the chronology of her year of self-discovery and self-healing. (I know that sounds cliche-ish, but trust me, it's OK!)

A successful writer and journalist, the author goes through a drawn-out and ugly divorce, and decides to spend a year of her life exploring three countries she has felt drawn to during this tough period of her life - Italy, India, and Indonesia. The book is written in three distinct parts. I just finished part one, Italy, which (no surprise here) is also the "eat" section of the book. After I finished that part, I felt the need to set it down and digest (no pun intended but there you are) the first section.

This woman has a wonderfully wacky sense of humor that I relate to so very well. I tend to read pretty late at night, on the couch with the dog curled up next to me. I giggled, snorted and laughed so many times while reading this that Colby would frequently raise his head and look at me, clearly wondering what in the world was going on with his noisy owner.

Early on in the book she talks about praying for the first time as an adult. She found herself crying on the bathroom floor, night after night, while still married but trying to come to terms with the idea of divorce. One night she looked up, and through her sobs, and with tears streaming down her face, she thought maybe she should turn to God. It seems, she thought to herself, that she had heard somewhere that people did that in times of despair. OK, so I guess you have to read the book yourselves to get the full force of that scene, but here she is telling about the lowest point of her life but she still has the ability to see, and point out unselfconsciously, the humor in it.

I am truly loving this book. Hmm, I'm feeling a bit deja vu-ish here as I seem to remember writing "I love this book" once or twice before on this blog. This book is different, though. Yes, it's entertaining, but it's also thought-provoking and challenging in that you can't help but examine your own life and your own choices as you read about hers.

So, stay tuned for parts two and three, as I travel to India and Indonesia with the author.