This seems to be a Love it or Hate it book with a variety of very different comments here on BookCrossing. From the reviews I've seen, I'd pretty much decided that it wasn't really my 'thing', but now it's been suggested as a Reading Group choice*, so it looks like I'm going to be reading it after all! When my friend and next-door-neighbour offered me anything I fancied from a whole collection of books another friend had given her for passing on, I was pleased to receive this one in readiness! I guess I'll have the chance to make up my own mind soon!

Amazon Editorial Review: "This beautifully written, heartfelt memoir touched a nerve among both readers and reviewers. Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the trappings of modern American success (marriage, house in the country, career) and find, instead, what she truly wanted from life. Setting out for a year to study three different aspects of her nature amid three different cultures, Gilbert explored the art of pleasure in Italy and the art of devotion in India, and then a balance between the two on the Indonesian island of Bali. By turns rapturous and rueful, this wise and funny author (whom Booklist calls “Anne Lamott’s hip, yoga- practicing, footloose younger sister”) is poised to garner yet more adoring fans."

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*Later: I realised I'd miss the reading group discussion through holidays but decided to read the book anyway :-)

This entertaining book recounts the author's adventures when she takes time out after a rather painful divorce to go travelling. It's in three separate sections. So far I've accompanied her as she's Eaten her way through Italy and Prayed in India. I believe she'll be finding Love in Indonesia next!

This weekend, 23 to 25 September, I'll be one of a hundred or so BookCrossers at the 2011 UK BookCrossing Unconvention in Nottingham. I plan to take this with me as my current read. If I finish it, which seems unlikely as I'll probably be far too busy enjoying myself to read much, I'll release it there!

To be released in and around the BookCrossing gathering in Nottingham, if I finish it before I leave for home :-)

Well I didn't finish it over the weekend - there was far too much going on at the Unconvention in Nottingham to find time to read - but I've finished it now and left it for the staff at South Otterington CoE Primary School in their box swap box!

What a weird woman she is and what a weird life she's led!