From The New Yorker
At the age of thirty-one, Gilbert moved with her husband to the suburbs of New York and began trying to get pregnant, only to realize that she wanted neither a child nor a husband. Three years later, after a protracted divorce, she embarked on a yearlong trip of recovery, with three main stops: Rome, for pleasure (mostly gustatory, with a special emphasis on gelato); an ashram outside of Mumbai, for spiritual searching; and Bali, for "balancing." These destinations are all on the beaten track, but Gilbert's exuberance and her self-deprecating humor enliven the proceedings: recalling the first time she attempted to speak directly to God, she says, "It was all I could do to stop myself from saying, 'I've always been a big fan of your work.'"
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

International bookray!
This is a paperback edition that should fit through most letterboxes.

The bookmark is in Swedish and says "Travelling books give people friends" (thanks Fidilur!)

Please PM me to join!
You must be willing to mail internationally to join (surface/economy mail more than fine)
Make a JE when you receive the book
Read the book within a month
PM the person next on the list for their address
Make a JE saying what you thought of the book
Send the book along

Questions? Please PM me!

Participants:

Quantaqa, Germany
UnwrittenLibra, USA
Krl112, USA
Mikavr, USA
Chantie, Canada
Aunt-Sophie, Canada
Hawksgirl, USA/ Africa
Bearyfriend, Singapore
Gillg, Australia
Crestfallen, Portugal
Kbmarsh, UK
Mizuchy, Romania
Lilacwhisper, Italy
Libresco67, Belgium
Justmesam , The Netherlands (wishes to be last on the list)

Let the bookray begin!
Travelling to Qantaqa today!

Arrived today - thanks a lot for the ring. I'll try to be quick!

I just finished reading the book. To sum it up: it was a great and very entertaining read. I very much liked the author's style of writing. Not surprisingly, I liked the last part ("love") the most and the middle part ("pray") the least. I even skipped a few pages of the second part because I wasn't all that interested in this spirituality stuff :).
Thanks a lot for this wonderful ring, Sobergirl! Tomorrow, the book will continue its journey around the world. Bon voyage, book!

Received here in Amherst, Massachusetts. Thanks and happy hanukkah!

I know this is dreadfully late, but I finished the book, finally, this afternoon. What a whirlwind trip this book has taken me on - literally and figuratively.

The preface and intro chapters made me hate this woman. She seemed like a wishy-washy sadsack of a person, all "woe-is-me" spiraling into self pity. This angered me because I've been battling depression for some time and did not want to hear her crap. After my friend Alex (a divorced woman) saw me reading the book at a cafe when she got back to our table after going to the bathroom, she called it her guide to life and, being only in the beginning of the India section, I told her how I felt about this woman and we had a spirited but friendly debate on divorce, depression (Alex is a psychotherapist) and life. Alex has been through so much and stays so perky and happy on the outside - someone I adore and admire - but she says that she constantly feels like pre-trip Liz Gilbert on the inside and has had nights, before her divorce, of bathroom-floor crying. Being male, single, and unmarried, I felt no remorse and little identification with this woman.

As the book went on, however, I sort of began to like Ms. Gilbert. She became proactive, independent, emancipated, eager to learn about life, take chances, and meet new people. She increased her faith in God in a time when so few of us can do it - or openly admit to it - in this world filled with atheism and agnosticism. I must admit that since living on my own, 300 miles north of my parents, I have been caught up in the hustle and bustle of college life, peer pressure and social drama that comes with being 21 years old, and along with my own depression, have been distancing myself from Judaism, God, and spirituality; distancing myself from prayer and ritual. In the month I've been slowly going through this book, I have questioned some important things about myself - my worldview, my philosophy on life, love, and friendship, and my views on God and Judaism. (For the record, switching to another religion is never an option for me. I am innately and unequivocally Jewish, and will be forever, no matter what I believe in and how I show it. There are things I am changing and things I wish I could change.)

Most of all, I became enamored and inspired by Ms. Gilbert's resourcefulness - creative ways of raising money for Wayan in Indonesia, making the best of many awkward situations in India, her philosophy of life, love, and the pursuit of happiness in Italy. The world is a beautiful place and Ms. Gilbert never failed to enlighten and enchant me in her active descriptions of places I wish could visit, places of awe, places that have inspired the greatest minds in history, and hopefully, one day, my own. As I read, I imagined myself sipping cappuccino at a cafe in the Villa Popolo; running around Naples in the rain with Sofie; kicking back and taking on Bali by car with Yudhi; finding serenity in an Indian ashram; jumping off a boat in Gili Meno with Felipe; at a Lazio soccer game with the Spaghetti family; spending quality healing time with Ketut Liyer; speaking Italian at the Trevi Fountains with the twins. There is so much I need to do and see before my time on this planet is up.

On the whole, Eat Pray Love was infuriating, calming, upsetting, enchanting, arresting, arousing, terrifying, titillating, heartbreaking, heartwarming, but in the end, a journey worth enduring.

With that being said, I'll try to mail it ASAP. Not sure when I'll get to the PO next but I am a reliable bookcrosser and will try to be timely as possible.

Received the book today! Thank you for including me. I will start reading this book later this week.

I enjoyed this book. My favorite section was the first--Italy. I found the author to be very brave to share her struggles with depression and the falling apart of her marriage with so many people. I believe that many women (and men) go through these same struggles, but find it difficult to discuss it with even their closest friends and family members. She was very, very brave to share her feelings on not wanting to have children--because many people can become very cruel when these opinions are shared. My life is so different from this author's life, but I found her easy to relate to, mostly because her feelings are somewhat universal. It was great to follow her journey and see her emerge stronger. There were many people along the way that helped, but ultimately, I feel that it was all within her the entire time. The strength to move on and to get to know her true self. This is the kind of book that you would want to read and discuss with many people. And I'm sure every person that reads this book will take something very different from it. I'm sure many more people will enjoy this book.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I finished this book yesterday. Thank you so much for including me in this bookring! I'm mailing this to the next person in line: Mikavr. I would send it out today, but the snow storm here is so crazy. I will send it out tomorrow morning, first thing. Enjoy!

This arrived today! I'm so excited I finally get a chance to read this, it feels like it's been on my TBR (without being in my actual possession) for a long time! Thank you!

ETA: Well, just finshed and OH HOW I LOVED THIS BOOK! This has the potential to be a life changing book... I so hope it sicks with me....

I'm ready to send it off as soon as I get the next addresss.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sent off to the next in line. Boy did I love this book. All three parts. Thanks for having the ray!

JUST RECIEVED TO BE READ

Received today. I should start it right after I'm done with the book I am currently reading.

This book was not so deeply spiritual that it will change my life, but some of Elizabeth’s reflections made me think a bit, I admit - maybe because I’ve already asked myself similar questions. Of course, the parts I liked best were those about the trips as such, the experiences of the author in other countries and cultures, the information on their history, etc., but one must keep in mind they do not make up all of the book, which is mainly about the evolution of the woman through all these experiences. Actually, she writes about many very personal things, and in some parts I was like, “Too much information!”, but in general, it’s an interesting read. The author has some humour, and despite the spiritual theme, some parts actually read like chick lit.

I got Hawksgirl's address, and I should mail the book soon.
Update: Mailed on July 8th.

This book is still MIA.
I've been in touch with Cinderess who has offered her book as a replacement.

Hawksgirl: if the book ever appears, please read it and then wild release it!