Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert

This is basically my new favorite book.

Depressed Liz divorces the husband who is making her unhappy, losing everything. She falls in love with another man during this time, but he can't keep her out of depression all the time. Learning Italian has made her feel better, so she wants to go to Italy for a few months. She loves Italian because it sounds beautiful, not because there is a practical reason for knowing the language. She has been following a yogi guru, and want to explore her spirituality at the ashram. She had been to Indonesia once before, and a medicine man told her to return and stay with his family for four months. So she decides to spend the year abroad in those countries. She gets an advance for the book she plans to write.
In Italy, she learns the art of pleasure. She gains a lot of weight, takes Italian classes, uses her favorite word to cross the street a lot, and meets people. She also goes off her mood-altering medication. Food is basically what these 36 chapters are about.
In India, she meditates for hours, does selfless service, and does yoga. She finds it hard to meditate at first, but the more she does it, the easier it becomes. She becomes comfortable with her thoughts, and occassionaly has experiences where she transcends this world. She befriends some Indian natives, and also Richard From Texas. These 36 chapters have a completely different feel from the Italy chapters.
In Indonesia she manages to find her medicine man, Ketut Liyer, and she witnesses how much he gives. She loves how cheap and beautiful everything in Indonesia is. She still meditates a lot, as she is looking for balance. She meets Wayan, who she starts spending a lot of her day with. Wayan prays for her to find a man. Wayan discovers she needs to move out (she is a divorced mother), and doesn't know what to do. So Liz raises $18,000 to buy a house for her. Unfortunately, land is super expensive in Bali. Liz meets Felipe, an older Brazillian man. They spend a lot of time together. Wayan is being slow about buying land, but after Liz threatens to take the money back, she buys it. Felipe and Liz sleep together. She found balance in Bali.

And the best part is that it is a true story! Looks like you can have a good time when you don't have to do real work for a year. It's being made into a movie with Julia Roberts.