Thought I was going to hate it, surprised myself by how much I liked it and I was left hungry enough for more to think about trying the follow up Committed.

HOWEVER... while Gilbert can write wonderfully well with more than a few examples of thought-provoking and mind-soothing prose, what is with her use of parentheses!?!? It's shockingly saturated and occurs on almost every page and often for multiple sentences. Why did an editor let her get away with it? It was off-putting and messy and frankly, detracted from the otherwise easy flow Gilbert is clearly capable of.

Back to the positive, I loved the snippets of stories, fact and research about the places she travelled and how well they intertwined with her own story, but I have to be honest and say I skipped a few chapters in the Ashram. Simply put, I don't own enough linen or incense sticks to feel attached to all elements of her spiritual journey, but I definitely feel somewhat enlightened by reading Eat Pray Love.