After going through a difficult divorce, writer Elizabeth Gilbert set out around the world for a year to find pleasure, prayer and balance.

She first travels to Italy where she indulges in pizza, pasta, wine and conversation. She learns to speak Italian and falls in love with the language. The next four months are spent in an ashram in India. There Gilbert wakes in the early morning hours to meditate and continue to heal from her divorce. She learns to quiet her mind and to forgive herself for past mistakes. Gilbert spends the final months of her year abroad in Bali. In her quest to lead a more balanced life, she continues her meditation and befriends a medicine man and woman. She also finds love again, leading her to finally recover from the pain of her divorce and past relationships.

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia is a deeply spiritual book, but rarely gets preachy or treacly. The highlights of the book are Gilbert's at-times wry humor, the friends she makes - particularly Richard from Texas - and her descriptive writing style, which effectively conveys her many travel experiences.

This is a touching book about pain and the possibility to heal through self-love and spirituality. It's a good read for those going through tough times or people interested in traveling the world through the eyes of Gilbert, who possesses incredible self-insight and an openness to other cultures.

- Ashley