"Eat, Pray, Love"

I can picture in my mind the exact type of person who may enjoy this book. That person, however, is certainly not me. I wasn't sure what I would get out of reading this book, being a firm atheist and all, but my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to give it a try. One might think it was the religious aspects of the book that would turn me off, but in fact those may have been the best parts of the book.

The book starts off terrible and then proceeds to only get worse. The pages of this book are filled with whining sob stories of a woman who dotes on herself and tries to coo the reader into feeling sorry for her. It's hard to feel sorry for a woman who has everything she could ever want, including a husband who treats her wonderfully and does not a single thing to harm her and yet she complains and cries over how terrible her marriage was. She cries about as often as a new born baby who has yet to received a single drop of milk in it's first days of life. Maybe I personally just can't understand how hard it must be to be rich in money, love, and life, but I cannot find it in myself to feel an ounce of sorrow for her.

One would have to search high and low to find a more arrogant writer as Gilbert. There was no empowerment in this book and even less focus on any signs of maturity or growth during her "journey." The memoir feels not like a memoir at all but more like a glorified business trip (which in fact it was).

I could go on for pages about the things I hated about this book (mainly the author), but i'd rather spend my time reading something of worth. In conclusion I do not recommend this book to anyone who is not completely head over heels with feeling sorry for themselves and making people believe that their lives are much much much worse than they really are. This book will not give you any empowerment and will definitely not give you insight on the places she travelled to (Italy, India and Indonesia). I wish luck to anyone who tries to pick up this book and read it from start to finish.

Marley & Me by John Grogan

***I tried to write this without giving away any spoilers***

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I had no idea what to expect going into this book, other than a story about a man and his dog. Honestly I must say I did kind of judge the book by it's cover which (as you can see in the picture above) displays an adorable yellow Labrador, which looks almost exactly like my dog (who resides at my parents house) Reed. As I began the story I was laughing just a few pages in, little Marley had almost the same exact personality and "spunk" as Reed.

The story doesn't just focus on the life of Marley but about the journey his owners embark on as well. Through hilarious and often misfortune events I felt as if I was part of the Grogan family as well in some parts. His description is wonderful and the story is so much more than just a man and his dog.

I recommend this book to anyone who has ever loved an animal (or a person for this matter) for simply what they are, despite their faults.

You have to say it right.

OH-PIN-YAAWN = OPINION (pronounce with a horrible french accent)

So I felt it necessary to rip off miss Miss Bitz. She had this awesome idea of creating a "journal/blog" to record the books she will be reading over the next year and give her "oh-pin-yaawn" thoughts and reflections on each book. I loved this idea so much....well I just snatched it up and decided to make one myself. Isn't that swell? I sure think so!

Please watch out for next blog (hopefully will be out this weekend) on my "review" of John Grogan's "Marley & me" which I just finished this morning!