Hiatus

I have been very neglectful of this blog so I am taking a hiatus from it to focus on my other blog and also a new writing gig I have.  You can find views of books from me at http://www.i-zeen.com/. 

Review: Anastasia's Secret by Susanne Dunlap

Anastasia's Secret by Susanne Dunlap

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Anastasia Romonova has always been somewhat of a mystery. The youngest daughter of the last Tsar of Russia and a descendant of Queen Victoria, Anastasia lived a sheltered life with her older sisters and sickly younger brother. History paints her as the joke maker of the family and the one who was in charge of keeping spirits up. Until recently, there had been speculation as to whether or not the Russian princess could have survived her family's slaughter and there have been many theories.



Susanne Dunlap's debut novel is told from Anastasia's point of view and starts from the beginning of the first world war when Anasasia's life really started to change and her privilege was slowly taken away. The central focus is on Anastasia's friendship and later brief romance with a soldier whom she meets and sneaks out with. Sasha (the young soldier) isn't a particular fan of her father but is intrigued by the princess who seeks his conversation and company. Anastasia appears to be starved for company outside her family circle. As the Romonov's situation and treatment becomes more desperate, Anastasia seeks comfort and information from Sasha, who becomes one of the guards essentially keeping the family prisoner.

Sasha does whatever he can to protect Anastasia - pretending he does not know her as anything more than the princess and at times being purposely sharp tongued towards her. When the situation gets dire and Sasha believes her life really is in danger, he tries to convince her to let him smuggle her, and only her out of Russia and to safety.



Susanne Dunlap has definitely done her homework and used the materials and information already known about the family well: it is known during their capture that the Romanov children formed a friendship with the soliders and Susanne Dunlap has worked this into the novel, giving the soliders personalities and names and showing kindness to the girls.



She has rounded out Anastasia's personality so that she becomes a character rather than some intriguing mysterious historical figure.



I have always had a fascination with Anastasia so this book was perfect for me, all the way through the last chapters I was rooting for Sasha to whisk her away and save her even though I knew that's not how it would happen. The only negative comment I have about this book is I wish the Sasha/Anastasia relationship had been developed a bit more and fleshed out a bit and made more of a feature than it was, while it is always in the background, the book focuses more on Anastasia's everyday life than the romance.



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book vlog

Here is my first ever v.log! I was really nervous making this so please be kind! :)

Review: The Murderer's daughters

The Murderer's Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


How deep does the parent/child relationship go? If you saw your father kill your mother in a drunken argument then plunge a knife into your little sister's chest or you were the sister whose chest he plunged the knife into - could you or would you forgive him? Could you still love him? How would it shape the rest of your life?



These are the questions posed in The Murderer's Daughters.



Lulu believes she is the reason her family fell apart: she opened the door to the apartment - she let her father in on the fateful day he murdered her mother and stabbed her sister. The sense of guilt haunts her through out her life and causes her to feel the need to protect her baby sister who she both loves fiercely and resents for her carefree lifestyle and her need to maintain a thread of a relationship with her father.



Merry, the youngest and Daddy's little girl has vague, blurry memories of what happened. She knows it happened but at the same time can't/won't quite believe all the negatives about her daddy. While Lulu insists their father is as good as dead and maintains the story that their parents were killed in a car accident Merry continues to visit her father in prison.



I wasn't sure about this book to start with because of the subject matter - it's an interesting concept to explore but at the same time needs to be handled delicately and with respect as for many people this scenerio is their reality but the author had obviously done her homework and research because this book was a rollercoaster of emotion and so intricately written. I loved how it was written in the first person and switched from Lulu to Merry and portrayed each of their differing emotions and issues.



Not exactly a light read but definitely a great read.



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Book blogger hop

It's that time of week again!  The time to discover new and exciting blogs to follow.  This week's funfilled question is:

In honor of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, let's take time this week to honor our favorite book bloggers and why we love them!

So in no particular order - drum roll please - :

Tea Time with Marce - I really just stumbled upon Marce's blog because of the name - I thought it was quirky but she has a great blog to go with it.

Book chick city - one of the first book blogs I really looked at - the features are great such as Where stories are made with author interviews.

These are the two I stumbled upon first and there are so many other blogs which are just incredible which I frequent.

Top Ten Picks - Feel good books

I'm slightly late for this one this week but anyway here it is:  This week's topic is feel good books.  Books which provoke warm, fuzzy feelings.  Random ramblings created this meme so check her blog out.

Now onto my feel good picks:

1)  Winnie the pooh - who doesn't love this loveable little bear.  Even a cynic could sit down and read this book and still be enchanted.

2) The Notebook - Ah, this book just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy - Allie and Noah are just great, their love suffers but stays strong and lasts the test of time.

3) Charlie and The Chocolate Factory - there really isn't anything else to say.

4) The Rescue - this one's a bit soap opera-ish but still a really heartwarming story.

5) Alice in Wonderland - slightly trippy but what's not to love?

6) Hairy Maclary - I worshipped this book as a child and the author is from New Zealand.  The language is just so flowy and Hairy is cute.

7) The Cat in the Hat - Dr. Seuss was a genius - his language was so rhythmic, delicious and funny.

8) Emma - what would a list of feel good books be without a little Jane Austen?  Jane Austen's writing makes me wish for a time past - a time with flowy, romantic language, gentlemen and the lost art of the letter. 

9) Mary Poppins - I always wished for a nanny like her (not that I had a nanny to begin with) - some singing, motherly figure who'd fix all the familial problems.

10) Charlotte's Web - Wilber was so super cute, Charlotte wise just a gorgeous book. 

Book Blogger Hop

Go over to crazy-for-books.com to participate - it's free and it's fun ;)

This week's question/topic is favourite post or review posted in the last three months so here's mine:

authors to dine with

Follow Friday

Follow Friday is a meme hosted by parajunkee:

To join the fun and make brand new shiny book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1.Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { parajunkee.com} and any one else you want to follow on the list
2.Follow Parajunkee's Featured Bloggers http://nymfaux.blogspot.com/

Remember if someone follows you it's generally polite to follow back.  Simple, huh?  So, go on, get following, you know you want to :)

Book Blogger Hop

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by crazy-for-books and is a wonderful way for book bloggers to connect with each other and increase their follows. 

This week's question is:  Do you judge a book by it's cover?

The majority of the time:  yes.  If a cover doesn't jump out at me in the bookshop then I'm not as likely to pick it up and peruse it.  It's not the defining factor on whether or not I purchase a book - there are other factors such as the title itself, if I have read anything else by the same author, if I've read good reviews for it - but the cover is definitely a factor, it's got to intrigue me.

If you want to join in on the hop go over to crazy for books and check it out. 

 

Review: What Alice Forgot

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


When we first meet Alice she is floating in a dreamlike state and all she can smell is lavender. Her eyelids flutter open and she believes she is twenty-nine and pregnant with her sultana - her first baby, her husband and her have an idyllic beautifully loving, passionate marriage and the year is 1998. It's in fact 2008, she is the mother of three children, her husband apparently now hates her and they are getting a divorce and she has turned into the kind of person she never wished to be.



Her eldest child believes she hates her, her sister walks on eggshells around her and can't quite believe she's being so friendly and her husband just wants to know if with her memory loss she is capable of looking after the three children she doesn't remember having.



This is a beautiful book - and just look at that cover- about second chances and reforming your life into what you want it to be and rediscovering the joy in life. Alice's life is now like a blank canvas she can now redesign.



The writing of this book is so intricate that I read it in one day and became so immersed in Alice's story I felt like I was inside her life and head watching it all unfold - I could feel her confusion, her pain and her heart ache. The book is narrated in such a unique way; firstly by Alice, secondly by Alice's sister via her journal and thirdly by Alice's surrogate grandmother through her blog and online comments. This is a really uniquely intriquing book which I just could not put down.



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Top Ten Picks: Book Covers

Top ten picks is a meme hosted by Random Ramblings.  This weeks topic is book covers for her entry go here: Random ramblings top ten picks

Now onto mine:

1) Twilight - this is the version of the book I first bought and I love the cover.  The hands holding the apple are just the perfect representation of the temptation Bella is for Edward.  It represents the push/pull of good and evil as shown in the bible.  And the pure white arms against the black background just pop.

2) Fallen:   This book cover is part of what attracted me to the book without even knowing the premise.  The dark looming background is mysterious and a little bit dangerous.  The standing side on in such dark colours almost blends into the background and not being able to see her face adds to the mystery and makes you wonder who she is and what her story is. 

3)  Charlie and The Chocolate factory:  I was just so in love with this book as a child that any cover for it would do it for me.

4) To Kill a Mockingbird - This is the 50th anniversary edition which I actually own - it was given to me as a gift and I absolutely love it, the hardcover grey cover with the symbolic mockingbird and the white lettering is gorgeous.

5) Tomorrow when the war began:  This was a book I read as a teenager and I keep going back to it.  The cover represents everything the book is about.  The ferris wheel lit up coming out of the dark background, the barbed wire representing the town being caged in and held prisoner. 

6)  PS, I love you - Again this is the version of the book I own, I just adore this cover with the bundle of letters - I love letter writing it's such a lost art and in the concept of this book it's such a beautiful healing thing.  A bundle of letters on the cover perfectly represents the concept of the book.

7) The Lovely Bones - This was such a haunting book for me.  Because of the subject matter I couldn't decide if I wanted to/was going to read it.  In the end I did and it was so beautifully and delicately handled and while Susie's actual death was a bit graphic the rest of the book - as narrated by Susie was more about the aftermath and the pain of letting go.  The cover is beautiful, the blue like the sky or the ocean and the bracelet floating at the top to me represents Susie's soul floating somewhere in the place between life and death.

8) Ink exchange - While the book itself didn't really do anything for me, the cover is gorgeous - the tattoo, the girl looking over her shoulder and the purple background as if it were the ink.

9)  Hush, Hush - This is the perfect cover for this book - the image of an angel literally crashing through as he falls to earth and from grace and the feathers of his wings flying out as he falls.  The grey background is like the stormy skies. 

10) The last letter from your lover - while I didn't particularly enjoy the story, the cover appeals to my fascination with letter writing and love letters, it's what attracted me to the book in the first place. 

favourite fictional character #4

Favourite Fictional Character is a weekly meme by the blog : http://wordsmithonia.blogspot.com/. It's where we discuss our favourite fictional characters from books, tv, movies.

Peter Pan:

What child at some point or another didn't wish desperately to be Peter Pan.  The boy who never grew up? 
Peter was the leader of a gang of mis-fits or lost boys who were lost by their parents and went to neverland never growing up.  Why would they?  Their adventures in neverland were much more impressive than any a grown up seemed to have. 

I also adored Tinkerbell, Peter's best friend who just happened to be a little bit in love with him.  Peter was the hero of the story but at the same time he was very self-indulgent, self centred and carried around a huge ego.  But why wouldn't he - after all those in Neverland (with the exception of Caption Hook) worshipped him and put him above everyone else. 

The ability to fly was Peter's most attractive quality - but it had it's weakness as it was a combination of fairy dust and happy thoughts.  He can also mimic voices and the dreaded crocodile which terrifies Caption Hook so immensely. 

For me, Peter Pan represents all which is great about being a chid:  the joy and the sense that the world is a place filled with fun and adventure, the sense that you can do and be anything you want....

Top ten picks

Top ten picks is a meme by Random Ramblings, this week is top ten book quotes.  Here's a link to hers:  Top ten picks: book quotes

And now here's my favourite book quotes:

1) You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view--until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.


To Kill a Mockingbird

Atticus Finch to daughter Scout, Chapter 3.

2) The problem isn't finding out where you are gonna go-its figuring out what you are gonna do once you get there that is. - Jaime - A Walk to Remember

3) Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us. - Pride and Prejudice

4) Love lends wings to our desires.
ALEXANDRE DUMAS, The Count of Monte Cristo

5) "We walk alone through this world, but if we’re lucky, we have a moment of belonging to something, to someone, that sustains us through a lifetime of loneliness" - The Bronzehorseman

6) "Humans are vulnerable because they're capable of being hurt - Patch in Hush Hush

7) Isn’t it supposed to be like this? The glory of first love, and all that. It’s incredible, isn’t it, the difference between reading about something, seeing it in the pictures, and experiencing it? - Edward Cullen - Twilight

8) "It's hard keeping everything the same when the same things look and feel so different" - Leaving Paradise

9) "I guess by now I should know enough about loss to realize that you never really stop missing someone-you just learn to live around the huge gaping hole of their absence." - Ever in Evermore

10) "how many lives do you need to live, before you find someone worth dying for?" - Fallen

One Moment, One Morning by Sarah Rayner

One Moment, One Morning by Sarah Rayner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


One Moment One Morning explores the relationship between three women who witness a tragedy on the morning train from Brighton to London and how it affects their lives.



Karen is the wife of a man who suddenly goes from laughing with her to collapsing from a heart attack. Lou is the women who is sitting opposite on the train and witnesses the whole painful moment. Anna is Karen's best friend and god mother to her children and is in the train a few carriages away and shares a taxi with Lou before she knows what has happened.



This is a slow moving story with not a lot of action and I've read a few reviews stating it was boring and lacking but for anyone who has experienced grief first hand it is a intriguing exploration of the mixed up emotions, the wondering why, the wondering if there was more you could have done, the split personality you suddenly become trying to maintain some semblance or normality and then falling apart the next minute.



It's not exactly and exciting page turner but the characters are well developed and the writing is fluid and beautifully composed and the author captures the pain of grief beautifully.



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I tried....really I did...

I just couldn't do it.  I tried, I really and truely did but I just couldn't take it any more.  I had to abandon trying to read Eat, Pray, Love.  It is probably one of the first if not the first book I've ever abandoned and I've struggled through quite a few. 

To me she just sounded plain whiney.  She was married to a man who seemingly loved her, didn't treat her badly, didn't hit her and seemed to only want to have a loving wife and make some babies.  She decided she didn't so she divorced him then complains he wants to take her for all she's got.  I felt more sorry for him, he was just some unsuspecting chump. 

It was just all about her, I thought it was going to be a journey of learning new cultures, languages, cuisines and love but it seemed to be a forum for her to complain about how miserable her life was....I just found it a little too self indulgent and can't really see what all the hype was about....sorry. 

Favourite fictional character #3

Favourite Fictional Character is a weekly meme by the blog : http://wordsmithonia.blogspot.com/. It's where we discuss our favourite fictional characters from books, tv, movies.

Willy Wonka! 

Willy Wonka from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory is this week's pick.   The Gene Wilder version not the creepy Johnny Depp version.  I loved Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - I believe it was the first if not one of the first chapter books I ever read and I was mesmerised by the idea of winning tickets to a tour of a chocolate factory and then being gifted the entire factory. 

Willy Wonka was eccentric and funny and delightfull in the way he dealt with the children and was so nonchalant about the different mishaps which befall the children one by one. 

He had all the joy of a child himself and he owned a chocolate factory. 

Struggling, struggling, struggling.

I am officially struggling with books which there seems to be a huge amount of hype about.  Couldn't stand Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  Found Breaking Dawn ridiculous.  Now am struggling my way through Eat, pray, love. 

The reason I picked up this book in the first place was because I'd seen the trailer for the movie and it looked good.  And because I have a slight adoration for Julia Roberts.  But I'm finding the book rather self indulgent...does it improve...did anyone else enjoy it?  Thoughts?  Comments??

Question/literary tours.

As you know I am from New Zealand and am living in the Uk.  As much of the days out I do are to places with historical or literary connections I was wondering if I made videos of my days out and posted them on my blog and on youtube if anyone would be interested in watching them.  Please comment and let me know or tweet me.....

Book review: The last letter from your lover

Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes


My rating: 2 of 5 stars


The good:










The cover is a collage of letter envelopes held together with a ribbon. It's a beautiful nostolgic cover, it reminds me of bundles of letters I used to find in my grandmother's kitchen drawers.










The concept of the book is really what drew me in: the lost art of letter writing. There's just something so much more romantic, heartfelt, sentimental and exciting to receiving a letter. It's the fact that someone has taken pen to paper and taken the time to sit down and write their thoughts and feelings down without the editing tool of the delete button, put it in an envelope, licked a stamp and popped it into the postbox. Having a tangible collection of evidence of a persons thoughts and feelings is intriguing to me. It intrigues me that people could not see each other for spaces of time and maintain this beautiful connected romance through letter.




I liked the idea that a character set in today's time of fast paced technology would find heartfelt love letters from a bygone era and examine what was missing from her own relationship.




The bad:










While the concept of the story was delightful, I found it jumped around a bit too much, it starts with Ellie who finds these love letters then jumps back in time to Jennifer who is having an affair with a man who is unarticulate in person but is so elequent in his letters. We go from Jennifer recovering from an accident back to her meeting her lover for the first time, jump forward again to her struggling with her memory loss then having a screaming match with her husband who knew all about the affair and then somehow it's four years later and she has a child. It's never really explained when she became pregnant, how old the child is or if their's any possibility it's not her husband. For me it was a bit too stereotypical that her husband the rich, powerful business man who gave her everything she could possibly want and who clearly adored her was portrayed as a cold villian and her lover was the man who was coming to save her from it all. While it was portrayed that she was miserable in her marriage, to me it seemed as if she was merely bored.




Overall it was alright but it wasn't the riveting explorations of the lost art of letter writing I thought it would be.




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Booking Through Thursday

Booking Through Thursday is a meme I found through Tea Time with Marce but the actual meme is at booking through thursday.  Here are this week's questions and my answers:

1. Favorite childhood book?


Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
2. What are you reading right now?

The Last Letter From Your Lover by Jojo Moyes
3. What books do you have on request at the library?

None at the moment.
4. Bad book habit?
Buying more books when I already have a to be read pile sky high.
5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?

Nothing.
6. Do you have an e-reader?
No, I prefer good old fashioned books.
7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?

One at a time.  I like to fully experience the world of the book.
8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?

Not really, now I just write down my thoughts rather than keeping them all in my head.
9. Least favorite book you read this year (so far?)
Girl with The Dragon Tattoo.
10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?
Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
Not very often, I should try to do that more.
12. What is your reading comfort zone?
General literature, classics, young adult.
13. Can you read on the bus?
Yes, and I do quite frequently.

14. Favorite place to read?
In my bed.

15. What is your policy on book lending?
I'm a bit obsessive about my books so don't really like lending them out.
16. Do you ever dog-ear books?
That's like blasphemy against the book gods.
17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
See the above answer.

18. Not even with text books?

Nope, never.


19. What is your favorite language to read in?

Ah, that would be English as that's the only language I know.
20. What makes you love a book?

The artistry of the plot, the authenticity of the characters and the flow of the words.

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?

See above.
22. Favorite genre?
Women's fiction or young adult


23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)

Thriller
Favorite biography?
Angela's Ashes.


25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
Nope. Not yet.
26. Favorite cookbook?
Don't have a favourite.
27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?

I don't know that I've read anything I'd call inspirational.


28. Favorite reading snack?

Cup of tea or horlicks or hot chocolate.
29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.

Girl with the dragon Tattoo
30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
It's a bit 50/50
31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
I don't really like doing it but I can't say a books good if I didn't enjoy it and it's only my personal opinion.

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?
Latin or Polish.

33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?

James Joyce's Ulysses but I didn't finish it.
34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?

Don't have one at the moment
35. Favorite Poet?
Wilfred Owen and Shakespeare.
36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
Whatever the limit is (usually ten)
37. How often have you returned book to the library unread?
Not often I usually renew them.
38. Favorite fictional character?

Probably Elizabeth Bennett she was just so fiery and fiesty and didn't want to settle for anything less than love and knew who she was within her self and wasn't prepared to change or sacrifice.
39. Favorite fictional villain?
Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer - not from a book but I had the biggest thing for him.
40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?

The Notebook, The Time Traveller's Wife, The Bronzehorseman.
41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.

Maybe a week.
42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
Can't think of one off hand.  Ohhh, The Shining scared the heck out of me.  I later went back and finished it.

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
People trying to talk to me.

44. Favourite film adaption of a novel?

The Notebook.
45. Most disappointing film adaptation?
The Time Traveller's Wife.  It was terrible.
46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?

Probably over a hundred pound.
47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
Not very often, sometimes I'll read the first chapter in the shop to see if i want to buy it.
48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?

If it was moving too slow or was confusing or if I couldn't connect to the characters.

49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
Yes, in genre and then in alphabetical order by author.

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
Keep them.

51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?

Breaking Dawn.

52. Name a book that made you angry.

Girl with The Dragon Tattoo.  It was terrible.


53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
The Time traveller's wife.

54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
Girl with the dragon tattoo.
55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
Anything by Jane Austen.

Favourite Fictional Character #2

Favourite Fictional Character is a weekly meme by a blog I've just discovered: wordsmithonia. It's where we discuss our favourite fictional characters from books, tv, movies.

Jem!  Jem and the Holograms.

Jem

jem is excitment

ooh ooh jem

jem is adventue

ooh ooh

glamor and glitter, fasion and fame

jem

jem is truly outrajous

truly truly truly outrajous

whoa jem

jem the musics contajous, outrajous

jem is my name no one else is the same

jem is my...

but we're the misfits

our songs are better

we are the misfits

the misfits

and we're going to get her

but we're the misfits

our songs are better

we are the misfits

the misfits

and we're going to get her

jem

jem is truly outrajous, contajous

jem is my name no one else is the same

jem is my name

jem

From wikipedia: Jem, lead singer and frontwoman of the rock group Jem and The Holograms, is in fact the alter ego of Jerrica Benton, owner/manager of Starlight Music. Jerrica adopts this persona with the help of a holographic computer, known as Synergy, which was built by Jerrica's father to be "the ultimate audio-visual entertainment synthesizer" and is bequeathed to Jerrica after his passing. Jerrica is then able to command Synergy to project "the Jem hologram" over herself by means of the remote micro projectors in her earrings, thus disguising her features and clothing and enabling her to assume the Jem persona.  Throughout the series Jem tries to keep her identity secret and protect Synergy.

I love, love, loved Jem as a kid, I'd sit in front of the tv and sing away to the theme song.  My mum would hire videoes from the store just to shut me up when I'd complain there was no Jem on tv.  Jem was the inspiration for my first idea of a career as a singer.  And the Misfits were just perfect as the bitchy, badass rivals.

Looking back now, Jem was way ahead of it's time (it ran from 1985-88). From the animation to the fact Jem had a boyfriend, their was a funeral in one of the episodes (which was rare for a cartoon), one of the characters even got slapped.  It was such an entertaining show - I always wanted to own a pair of earrings which would transform me into a much cooler version of myself.  Oh well, one can dream. 

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at http://breakingthespine.blogspot.com/ that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

I've just ordered the book 'Eat, pray, love' off amazon:

 

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.’ ”