For Valentine’s Day, I treated myself to finishing COMMITTED by Elizabeth Gilbert, one of our February Top Picks. (Yes, I ate chocolate, too.) I really can’t say enough good things about the book. I liked it even better than EAT, PRAY, LOVE and found Gilbert’s writing and insights into the topic both intellectual and kitchen-table ready. Gilbert is brilliant, yet her conversational writing makes her relatable in the same way that our girlfriends talking about the topic around the kitchen table might be. I’ve often pondered my grandparent’s lasting marriage and my parent’s short-lived one. I thought and thought and thought about marriage as a child after seeing divorce, after divorce, after divorce occur in my family. (My conclusion then was to not get married, though having children was still a strong maybe for me.)

I did find a suitable marital partner and he turned out to be more than suitable. I’d easily call him a soul mate and life partner and we’re seventeen years plus together already. Obviously you know I love the book or I wouldn’t have made it a Top Pick, but if you are interested WHATSOEVER in the topic of marriage around the world and want to look within, then I highly recommend you splurge for the hardcover on this one because I guarantee it’s a keeper. Give it to girlfriends, pass it around and by all means use it as a discussion resource to talk to your own kids about marriage someday.