Bookclub - "Committed"

Interesting book I chose for bookclub - not!  I finished it 5 minutes before the girls were due to arrive at my house for our monthly get together and that was with a bit of skim reading.

I kept picking it up to read so hoping that the "story" would start but Elizabeth Gilbert spent a lot of the book investigating the concept of marriage.  Some of the facts were really interesting but all I wanted was a good story and I wasn't alone.  One of us even said the book was a bit self indulgent by the author. Most of us finished it with very little time to spare, well except Judy who's still reading.

Having said that we all had turned down page corners to mark spots for the little gems that the book contained and we did manage to answer some of the discussion questions I had printed off from the internet.

I love this one, talking about having children:  "Yes, you lose a lot of your freedoms.  But as a mother, you gain a new kind of freedom as well - the freedom to love another human being unconditionally, with all your heart...." and then asking her mother about the best time of her life - "To be perfectly honest, the best part of my life began as soon as you kids grew up and left the house..."  At the end of a busy day with the boys, work and house I think I know what she means.

The best couple quote would have to be after Elizabeth and Felipe are at the end of their tether with each other and Felipe just says "Let's just be careful of what we say to each other for the next few hours...these are the times, when people get tired like this, that fights can happen.  Let's just chose our words very carefully until we find a place to rest."  So true, haven't we all said things that as soon as they leave our mouth we wish we could take them back.

In hindsight I don't think this book was a good choice for bookclub but more for a solo read.  I also think that if I'd read it at another time I may have enjoyed it more.

And what did we have for dessert?

A very yummy Cherry pavlova...

Next book is "Rescue" by Anita Shreve.