Take Off Your Shoes is August Group Read

[Meryl]

Hi all:

I hope you're getting some good yoga reading in this summer! (If you've discovered any hidden gems, please let me know.)

For August, the Yoga Folks group will read Take Off Your Shoes, by Ben Feder.

The subtitle, One Man's Journey from the Boardroom to Bali and Back, pretty much describes it. Ben Feder and his wife and four kids leave Manhattan and their upscale lives to spend a year in Bali. Ben takes up yoga, meditation, and other introspective pursuits and, of course, it changes him.

I've read about a quarter of the book so far, and while it's clear he's not a professional writer, the prose is engaging and keeps me wanting more.

You can get the hardcover on Amazon or local bookstores (alas, there' s no paperback yet as it just came out), or on Kindle for around $8. You may be able to get it from your library, but since it's a small publisher, they may not have it.

It's a short book, just 200 pages, so I'll post prompts on the first half around August 10th. (Look for those prompts in the book's folder in the Yoga Folks group.)

If you think you might want to join us (acknowledging that life may intervene and you may not be able to), please let us know by posting in this thread.

NOTE THAT THERE ARE A NUMBER OF BOOKS CALLED TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES. The one we'll be reading is by Ben Feder, described here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

Looking forward to sharing a fun August read with some of you.

XO
Meryl

Meryl Davids Landau
co-moderator, Yoga Folks
author, Downward Dog, Upward Fog

[Jill]

I hope to join in later this month. Just purchased on Kindle (99 cents today!).

[Meryl]

Hi Jill:

I thought this was going to be a reading group of one—me! Glad you bought the book. I’m almost halfway through and it’s really enjoyable.

[Jill]

I'm just about 1/4 way through the Handmaid's Tale - want to finish that first, but hopefully next week sometime will start on this one. I think I'll need it after the "darkness" of Handmaid's!

[Kelly]

I've finished it and ready to discuss!

[Meryl]

Sorry for the delay, Kelly. Since nobody responded that they were reading it for August, I allowed myself to get distracted by the other books I’m also reading. I’m just about halfway done with Take Off Your Shoes, so I’ll post Qs to discuss the first half by Thursday, and the whole book by early next week.

[Jill]

I just started it this morning.

[MaryAnn]

I’m just over halfway through. Thanks for all of your efforts!

[Jill]

I'm halfway through now, myself. On vacation, so plenty of reading time.

[Meryl]

Check out the prompts for the halfway discussion in the next thread!