A good friend gave me the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. It's not necessarily the sort of thing I'd pick up to read for myself.

Not that I don't appreciate the occasional finding-yourself/self-help book, but I grew up Catholic, so I've heard enough sermons to last a lifetime, thank you very much.

Still, the sub-title of this book is, "One woman's search for everything across Italy, India and Indonesia". Clearly, she didn't limit herself to only finding good food--and friends to share it with, or true love, or even God.

Nope, she went for it all (you go, girl!). I had to admire her sense of commitment to personal exploration. The Pollyanna in me connected with the idea that these things could not only be sought for, but found. And in only one year!

So I read on. Well, it didn't take long to realize that Liz (our author) wasn't starting from zero and aiming to hit ten before the year was through. No, she was closer to minus twenty!

This gal was a complete success at being a total wreck. You can't hang around this planet very long without realizing that there are times it would really help to get away from your life in order to find yourself. In her case, I'd say she had to get away from herself to find her life.

Along the way she is excruciatingly candid about the process. Truly she is having a mid-life crisis (though a little early) of epic proportions, but she does it with so much candor, pathos and, yes, even a lot of humor, that it's hard not to be pulled into her journey. As a reader, I found myself not only rooting for her, but contemplating my own journey, and what I could draw from her experiences to enhance my own.

Well, all the pasta she ate in Italy was definitely appealing, and the idea of practicing Italian on new Italian friends sounded so great I have to confess I figured that, by the time that section of the book was over, I would have gotten the most out of the book I could get, and would simply skim through the rest. I was wrong.

To my cynical surprise, I found the mid-section on her time at the Ashram to be the most-I have to say it-enlightening. It left me with a whole new perspective on meditation, no matter what religion you come at it from. The best part, of course, was the look on my husband's face when I wondered aloud if I might be able to find a Guru in Boulder. (Duh!)

The final section in Bali, while satisfying, isn't nearly as self-exploratory, but really, that's okay. By the time Liz gets to Bali she's earned a little fun and, though there are still lessons to be learned, they are more of the down-to-earth sort.

SPOILER ALERT: Skip the rest if you haven't read the book, or if you aren't the sort of warped personality that likes to read the last page before you decide to buy a book. (What's up with that, anyway?!)

So, I've googled around a bit and discovered that Felipe is really Jose and Liz and her wonderful Brazilian are still together, completing each other in-brace yourself-New Jersey! It's true, they have an import biz that's based out of a quaint little town, and golly, they seem to still be happy.

Do you hate to read when you can buy popcorn and watch the movie? Then you'll be happy to know the book has been optioned as a Julia Roberts project. That'll be fun, but truly, if you'd like to get more out of this book than an hour's entertainment, I'd recommend actually reading it.

It could end up changing your life, if only your attitude toward it. And really, if this woman, who started with such a deficit in her soul, can find happiness and fulfillment in New Jersey, she must have an attitude worth reading about.