Next book choice for WOW Exchange book group

For our next book meeting, we are going to be reading "Year of Wonders" by Geraldine Brooks.

Geraldine Brooks is an Australian Pulitzer Prize winning author and journalist. Brooks is a former war correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Washington Post, and bestselling author of the nonfiction Nine Parts of Desire. Many of you might have also heard of her through her second novel, "March," where she chronicles the war experiences of the March girls' absent father in Alcott's Little Women.

We'll be reading her first novel, Year of Wonders, which follows a young woman's battle to save her fellow villagers and her soul when the plague suddenly strikes the small British village of Eyam.

Eat Pray Love book meeting

Our first meeting discussed the spiritual journey of Elizabeth Gilbert as she traveled for one year to Italy, India and Indonesia. It was a great conservation among women that highlighted our memorable parts in the book, relating it to our present lives. A few of us read out loud parts in the book that impacted us.

Personally, my favourite parts in the book were the author's concept of happiness on pg. 260 and relationships on pg. 286. I also loved the idea of "prayer is the act of talking to God, while meditation is the act of listening." (pg. 131-2)

This book encouraged so many themes in our meeting such as: the simple act of receiving gratitude, your inner voice guiding you, self-reflection and a new idea of what a soulmate is, among others.