i know that (after this sold a billion copies) there was some controversy about this, but i liked it from the beginning. her writing is good, she reads it well, and it's relatable. i found, in the end, that that didn't hold true throughout, but i still liked this overall. not surprisingly, i liked the italy (eat) and bali (love) portions the best. india (pray) felt like too much god and prayer, but that's not fair, i know. there was someone she was talking to, before leaving for her yearlong trip, who said something like, 'i wish i could want to do this' and that's basically how i felt about the prayer portion. i don't believe in religion and i don't care about spirituality, and mostly i don't want to, but she made it sound really profound and meaningful. her view of religion and god were so welcoming and embracing and it made me think that maybe it's not all bad after all.

so this wasn't all hearts and inspiration for me, but i did like it and i do think she's both a good writer and someone with interesting thoughts. i'd definitely read her again.

"I was not rescued by a prince. I was the administrator of my own rescue." ( )

Loved this book, perhaps because I read it at at time I needed to hear what Gilbert had to say. I love Gilbert's fiction, so I am pre-disposed to listen to her "voice". ( )

I had watched this movie a few months earlier, starring Julia Roberts, but had no idea it was from this book, much less a true experience in the author's search for inner peace and balance, and God. The book is way better than the movie.

Some of us have quiet minds, and some of us don't. If yours isn’t quiet, you may find this book a little slow, stupid and whiney as some of the reviews read. Me? I loved it! I'm so drawn to these spiritual memoirs of self discovery, just like in the books "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed and "Julie and Julia" by Julie Powell. I find it interesting how each one is driven in their search in such totally different ways.

I felt like this author, in "Eat Pray Love", and I are very similar in our personal life and insecurities, except she had the good fortune to actually travel abroad to discover her meaning and purpose in life. While I could only ever dream about traveling abroad.

I love the author's writing style with a little dose of humor, which actually had me laughing out loud at times, and she's actually very knowledgable about the countries she visits and insightful on her quest to find her inner peace and balance, and God. She writes in such a way that when she's in Italy, you feel like you're in Italy as well and eating all the great foods with her. When she's in India exploring her feelings and self through meditation, she brings you along and teaches you as she learns. And when in Indonesia, living freely, but abstaining from personal intimacy, for a while anyway, you learn what she means by finding balance in her life. ( )

journeys to Italy, India & Indonesia

I read this over Christmas break last year but only got through the Eat section with ease. It was tough slogging after that and I just gave up halfway into Pray. ( )