Eat, Pray, Love

I meantioned a little while ago that I really wanted to re-ignite my love of reading. I was a little afraid that this would be a hard task. And there have been times when it has been, especially when I can't seem to find anything I want to read. But lately things have been going really well and I have been devouring books in a way reminisant of my childhood. I even added a link to my sidebar in order to keep reading at the forefront of my mind. On it I listed many books I would like to read, as well as a list of books I have read so far this year. It's over there if you want to take a look. ----->

Anyway, the last book I read was Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.

For a long time I was hesitant to read this book (or see the movie!) because I knew it contained beliefs that I don't share or endorse. However, after reading The Happiness Project, I was really interested in the whole "taking a year to find yourself" concept as well as interested in reading another memoir-type book. I'm so glad I did. I loooovvveeedd this book. Yes, the parts I don't agree with were still in there, but I was able to look into them and see truths that the author probably didn't even realize she was writing. And I was able to pick out the things that I don't believe and put them to the side. My faith is solid and will not be shaken by a book.

Anyway, for anyone who doesn't know, this book is about a women who, after a rough divorce and a patch of depression, decides to take a year and travel to Italy, India and Indonesia to pursue pleasure, devotion and balance and find out who she is. The book is fascinating and I found myself wondering how someone could really have a life like this: one that sounded so much like a story. I was able to pull a lot from it and enjoyed it (pretty much) the whole way through. Probably what I liked the most was her writing style. Elizabeth Gilbert is (apparently) amazing at creating word pictures. This is my favorite quote from the book:

"We sit on the beach and watch the dangerous waves, watch the lean brown and white Indonesian and Western surf-cats slice across the water like zippers ripping open the backs of the ocean's blue party dress."

Looking forward to seeing the movie now!