I’m sitting here, in my mildly jet-lagged and highly caffeinated state, reading the disclaimer of Braman’s book where she talks about how she’s not responsible for the water that comes into your life while reading her book. Meanwhile, I can actually feel my hair growing into a flossy, tangled ball of Floridian humidity as my clothes fall into the heavy depression that all clothes succumb to when they pass through the wall of wet that greets them as they disembark the plane. I’m soaking up water. I’m…

Unloved, she continues. Beaten, she continues. Raped, she continues. Forced to convert from Christianity to Islam, she continues. Watching her friends tortured and killed, she goes on. Watching her husband killed and made to go back to prison, she goes on. Released into sorrow and insensitivity, she continues. This woman has an incredible will to live. And she doesn’t just continue or…

While her desire for spiritual guidance is one that I can relate to since I have also had that urge for spiritual completeness and that feeling that something was missing in my life, I don’t think I would be ready for the type of discipline required of a participant in a Vipassana retreat; I can…

When you can’t conceal your laughter on a train full of stern and snippy commuters, you know it’s good. When you consider buying a copy for everyone you know this Christmas, you know it’s good. When you pull it out of your purse on date night and start re-reading parts to your hungry date as he tosses his fork under the table just to be able to hide from your hysterical laughter, and you…

A final lesson is that forgiving others is part of the process to opening yourself up to miracles. An example for me would be my supervisor at work not telling me when my contract was terminating, and having someone else do it instead. Rather than holding a grudge that she…

I was prepared for frivolity intertwined with the occasional philosophical anecdote that would provide the substance for an otherwise relaxing read. Instead, I’m left with yet another reminder that life isn’t easy, or simple, or predictable in any way. The view may be breathtaking, but immersing ourselves in the scenery often causes us to trip on the roots of ancient trees and to scrape our legs against…

I hope I’ll relate to the main character. Perhaps I’ll feel less miserable about myself if I get to know someone else who’s hiding her writer’s identity from the world. I’m hoping her fierce love of good books will encourage me to keep exploring the reader in me. I’m also hoping…

Remarkable! The entire first chapter describes her waiting at the arrivals gate at Charles de Gaulle airport, not knowing a soul, coming to see the guy she met months before and whose face she’s having a touch of trouble remembering. He’s late, she’s oscillating between panic and…