Eat, Pray, Love in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Mar 21, 2008 Julie rated it really liked it

Shelves: best-travel-reads

Amazing, really wonderful. Take a peek at your life, is it how you want it? If not, change it! Funny, touching, and eye-opening. Can you tell I liked this book?

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Mar 07, 2008 Debbie rated it really liked it

Shelves: humor, self-help, non-fiction

I loved this inspiring memoir. Gilbert attained the American Dream--great husband, successful career, big house in the 'burbs. However, when she started trying to get pregnant, she realized that not only did she not want a baby, she did not want the life she was living. She divorced her husband, got a book deal, and set out on a year of travel to find herself--Italy for the food, India for the meditation, and Indonesia to figure out how to balance pleasure and spirituality.

Gilbert's memoir is b ...more

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Aug 16, 2011 Kristin rated it liked it

A lot of people recommended this book to me, and though it's outside the scope of my normal reading, I figured I'd give it a try. To be completely honest, after the first third of the book, I wasn't sure I'd finish it. The author divides the book into 3 segments, one for each country she visited on a post-divorce journey to do things that make her happy, each segment relating to one of the words in the title.
'Eat' involves Italy, as the author seeks to learn Italian and travel throughout the nat A lot of people recommended this book to me, and though it's outside the scope of my normal reading, I figured I'd give it a try. To be completely honest, after the first third of the book, I wasn't sure I'd finish it. The author divides the book into 3 segments, one for each country she visited on a post-divorce journey to do things that make her happy, each segment relating to one of the words in the title.
'Eat' involves Italy, as the author seeks to learn Italian and travel throughout the nation. I just didn't feel like it flowed, and she spent a lot of the 36 chapters in this segments bemoaning her failed love life in contrast to the very-romantic nation she was living in. Sure, she talked about the people she met in Italy, all the excellent food she ate with these people, and the sights they saw, but it just didn't draw me in. Thankfully, the chapters were short and I was reading during dinner, so I stuck with the book.
'Pray' was better, with Gilbert traveling to India to study at the ashram of a guru she heard speak back home in New York and whose message touched her deeply enough for her to long to travel overseas and visit the source of her spiritual teaching. I think I enjoyed it more because Hindu meditation and yoga aren't subjects I had much familiarity with, so it was as enlightening to me as it was for her. Unlike other books I've read that focused heavily on spirituality, Gilbert wasn't trying to convert her readers to the faith or explain why this religion was the best and ought to be practiced by all.
Finally came 'Love', and while I wasn't sure how it necessarily related to Bali in the beginning, by the end, it all made sense. Gilbert made Bali sound close to paradise, but realistically enough for readers to realize there is nothing that is truly paradise, and even a place as beautiful as Bali must deal with wars, poverty, and natural disasters. Perhaps what I liked best about the latter two sections was that they had a definitive plot, "Pray" in her journey to spiritual enlightenment, and "Love" continuing that journey while also adding in the relationships she formed with medicine man Ketut, single mother and healer Wayan, and Brazilian transplant Felipe. 'Love' also brings full circle some of the things Gilbert mentions early in the book that seemed disconnected then, but make sense by the end.
There is a sequel to this book alluded to at the end, not sure if I'll read it or not. Since I'd not heard of it before now, perhaps it wasn't as good at this book, and I didn't find this one to be excellent, so it might not be worth my while. ...more

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May 06, 2008 katy rated it really liked it

Shelves: summer-lovin-book-club-book

I thought this book was surprisingly better than I imagined it would be. I expected to be more put off by the story, rather than enjoy it as much as I did. I especially enjoyed the second section of the book, the "Pray" section about being in the Ashram in India. I thought this would be my least favorite part of the book and I would have to suffer through it. Instead I found it to be deeply satisfying and I enjoyed her opinions and story about coming closer to God and spirituality through coming ...more

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Apr 14, 2009 Colleen Gallagher rated it it was amazing

Absolutely brilliant. Everyone should read this book.

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Dec 02, 2008 Megan rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, international-reads, travel, memoirs-biographies, american-stories, feminist-themes, foodie-nonfiction, library-loans

my friend Alison recommended this one to me and i'm so glad she did! i was a little reluctant to read it at first because of all the hype but i really enjoyed it...especially the India & Indonesia portions of the book...i wasn't sure about the Italy section at first but by the end, i was hooked... ...more

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