7 - The Bread of Angels

Finished The Bread of Angels by Stephanie Saldana. This is a review book; it comes out February 9.

This is the best book I've read all year (and I have read really good books so far already this year) and actually for quite a while before that. The easy (read: lazy) comparison is to Eat, Pray, Love because this is about a year spent in a foreign country and it's very religious and there is love but it's better.

(And I liked Eat, Pray, Love; I am in in no way knocking Elizabeth Gilbert.)

It's hard to tell what books will capture the public. Sometimes it's deserved (Harry Potter) but usually it's not (I'm sure you don't need me to give examples). I hope this book will.

This is a memoir that reads like a novel. Stephanie arrives in Syria as a Fulbright scholar during George W. Bush's first term in office. You might think it'd be scary, but the people there are very nice.

Most of the book is about her struggles with faith and her interest in different religions. She was raised Catholic, so there's a lot of Christianity in there, but she becomes interested in Islam and learns Arabic and studies the Quran. (It's hard not to type "Koran" but she says Quran, so I'll say Quran...let's call the whole thing off?)

But there's a love story, although it comes late. Seriously, read this book the second you can. It's amazing.