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Kiss My Tiara and Eat, Pray, Love
May. 27th, 2007 07:44 amThese books were both terrific in different ways. Kiss My Tiara was referenced in The Body Sacred, which I recently reviewed. I like to read books on a thematic arc, and this definitely continued the arc started by The Body Sacred - funny nonfiction for and about women. My favorite part of this book was a chapter explaining that women should apply their shopping prowess to all areas of their lives in order to rule the world. A brief excerpt:
"In a store, we know how to study our options, assess our budget, and make authoritative decisions.
In a store, we can discern what's of lasting quality and what's not, what's worth our money and what's not, and what's worth waiting in line for - and what's not.
In a store, we don't hesitate to ask for help when we get what we want.
We know a good deal when we see one.
And we know how to drive a hard bargain, need be.
So why not apply those skills to our lives beyond the cash register?" (p 132)
I found the book a refreshingly irreverent look at the life of the modern woman, and I totally recommend it. If nothing else, it will make you laugh out loud on the bus. Three stars.
Now, most of you probably already saw my initial post about Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I would have resisted the temptation to write that post if I had known that I would simply DEVOUR the book. I started it Friday and finished it Saturday, and it was so good that I was actually a bit sad that I couldn't read it more slowly. (I'm also sad that I'll never get to read it again for the first time.)
The first thing that I noticed about this book is that it's hilarious. The second thing I noticed is that it's extremely real. I loved the sensuality of the book. For the most part, it's not sexually focused, but the author conveys very well how things smell and taste and look and how she feels about her experiences.
It's really hard to choose a favorite part of the book. I wrote already about the one page that I felt gave me the most new insights. My favorite sensual passage is a description about pizza, in the Italy section.
"Sofie and I have come to Pizzeria da Michele, and these pies that we have just ordered - one for each of us - are making us lose our minds. I love my pizza so much, in fact, that I have come to believe in my delirium that my pizza might actually love me, in return... Meanwhile, Sofie is practically in tears over hers, she's having a metaphysical crisis about it, she's begging me, 'Why do they even bother trying to make pizza in Stockholm? Why do we even bother eating food at all in Stockholm?'" (p 79)
I also very much enjoy the author's descriptions of her spiritual seeking and experiences. They resonated for me, and made me want to do more with my own spirituality, which is a wonderful result. This book gets FIVE STARS AND TWO THUMBS UP, and if I had more stars or thumbs, I'd use 'em. If you have even a small interest in food, spirituality, or travel, you should read it.
Anyway, summer is often the time of year when I feel inspired to read nonfiction, and right now, I feel I'm not so much reading it as gobbling it up. Do YOU have some nonfiction to recommend? Tell me, please!
( What kind? )
"In a store, we know how to study our options, assess our budget, and make authoritative decisions.
In a store, we can discern what's of lasting quality and what's not, what's worth our money and what's not, and what's worth waiting in line for - and what's not.
In a store, we don't hesitate to ask for help when we get what we want.
We know a good deal when we see one.
And we know how to drive a hard bargain, need be.
So why not apply those skills to our lives beyond the cash register?" (p 132)
I found the book a refreshingly irreverent look at the life of the modern woman, and I totally recommend it. If nothing else, it will make you laugh out loud on the bus. Three stars.
Now, most of you probably already saw my initial post about Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I would have resisted the temptation to write that post if I had known that I would simply DEVOUR the book. I started it Friday and finished it Saturday, and it was so good that I was actually a bit sad that I couldn't read it more slowly. (I'm also sad that I'll never get to read it again for the first time.)
The first thing that I noticed about this book is that it's hilarious. The second thing I noticed is that it's extremely real. I loved the sensuality of the book. For the most part, it's not sexually focused, but the author conveys very well how things smell and taste and look and how she feels about her experiences.
It's really hard to choose a favorite part of the book. I wrote already about the one page that I felt gave me the most new insights. My favorite sensual passage is a description about pizza, in the Italy section.
"Sofie and I have come to Pizzeria da Michele, and these pies that we have just ordered - one for each of us - are making us lose our minds. I love my pizza so much, in fact, that I have come to believe in my delirium that my pizza might actually love me, in return... Meanwhile, Sofie is practically in tears over hers, she's having a metaphysical crisis about it, she's begging me, 'Why do they even bother trying to make pizza in Stockholm? Why do we even bother eating food at all in Stockholm?'" (p 79)
I also very much enjoy the author's descriptions of her spiritual seeking and experiences. They resonated for me, and made me want to do more with my own spirituality, which is a wonderful result. This book gets FIVE STARS AND TWO THUMBS UP, and if I had more stars or thumbs, I'd use 'em. If you have even a small interest in food, spirituality, or travel, you should read it.
Anyway, summer is often the time of year when I feel inspired to read nonfiction, and right now, I feel I'm not so much reading it as gobbling it up. Do YOU have some nonfiction to recommend? Tell me, please!
( What kind? )
