Chronicles of Chaos

April 15, 2007 | Print

Why I’m reading Eat, Pray, Love

I’m not usually a you gotta read this book kind of person. I love to read, it’s sort of my sanity. Still I’m not terribly well read, seem to prefer the mysteries and NYT notable books.

A friend recommended a book to Michael, who then went to a book store and bought it for me (which he’s never done).

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.

The book’s been around for awhile, on a bestseller list and all that, mine’s a paperback. It’s a memoir of sorts, a transition year in the life of a mid-thirtysomething writer. She was married, then not, in love and then heart broken so she goes to Italy to eat pasta, India to pray and I’m assuming (cause I haven’t gotten that far) Bali to fall in love.

I like her humor, her sense of self (as I too have control issues) but most of all I like how she describes making choices–what to do, where to live, what thoughts to let run through her mind and how to stop the other ones in their tracks.

I love books that I can take back into my own life for a new perspective–it’s like hitting the refresh button.

And I realize that with young kids, the built up fatigue and daily level of dealing, it can be hard to find those openings. Or else I have lots of emotional openings (as in moments of sobbing), but no framework for how to assimilate them for a smoother, lighter ride.

So I thought I’d pass this one along.

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