I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF THIS BOOK. So much to savor, consider and appreciate. Kornfield‘s clear, simple tone and vast compassion for all of humanity shines a bright loving light on the human experience and how Buddhist psychology can bring perspective and relief to suffering. I can‘t recommend this more highly to those interested in exploring mindfulness and Buddhism.

I am not sure what I expected from this book. Maybe a travelogue, maybe an exploration of Zen Buddhism. It was a deeply personal series of vignettes that highlighted the author‘s four years in Japan, part of that time in a Zen monastery. The author‘s simple, neutral tone took me quite a while to sink into. It helped when I remembered that a key precept of Buddhism is to observe without judgement - exactly what he was doing in written form.

A killing-time-at-the-airport pick that turned out really well. Sympathetic characters at a crossroads with each other. An exploration of friendship, love, connection, the ways these things change over time and the ways that they form a constant in life. The final section is set in the Philippines (how they get there is a little contrived, but a minor complaint). The descriptions of the country and the food make me long to go there myself.

I was curious to see how Rowling would approach a novel for adults that didn‘t involve magic. Loved the characterizations, particularly the teenagers. She has a real feel for how people that age see the world. The plot took a while to get going and got bogged down a bit in the middle. But the denouement moved quickly, decisively to a somewhat harsh ending. She doesn‘t flinch from assigning tragic consequences to thoughtless actions.

My second book by this author, and to be honest it started well. But ‘m only 63 pages in after starting it ten days ago. And it‘s 1,000+ pages long. At this rate, I‘ll finish in July. And my TBR stack is so high that I‘m putting this aside until I have a long plane trip.....looonnngggg plane trip.