Eating in the Light of the Moon

Hostess: Chrissy

Book: Eating in the Light of the Moon

Food: Hummus, cheese and crackers, guacamole and tortilla chips, Pretzel M&Ms, Chocolate-Raspberry trifle

Wine of the Night: Detroit Wine! Montepeluciano, from the California Wine Grape Company in Detroit.

This book was a bold choice; we have never read anything like this book, and I know that Chrissy was a little concerned that people may take her choice as a silent finger pointing at their lives. I know that this is not the case, Chrissy chose this book based on the recommendation of her aunt, who is a counselor for women with eating disorders. While none of us struggle with disordered eating as far as I know, we all still found many passages that spoke to us.

This book is kind of like earth mother meets folk tales meets disordered eating. Dr. Johnston writes about finding balance in our lives, that if we need to have balance between our spirit and our mind, and know the difference between emotional hunger and physical hunger. We all agreed that our favorite parts were the myths, legends and folk tales. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed reading them until I read this book!

I think this was a difficult book for us to discuss- I think what we all took away from the book was personal, maybe too personal to share at book club. For me, one thing that made me think was the need for balance in our lives, and Johnston's comments about women losing touch with their feminine intuition and trying to be wonder woman and doing too many things all the time. This is something I have been working on all year - making more time for my family and friends, enjoying all the moments of my days, and trying not to schedule my entire life away. I don't want to look back and see a lifetime of meetings and work ; I want to see a healthy balance of family, friends, work, and my volunteer work. This book reminded me that what I am doing is good and right and healthy.

Next month's Bottle of Wine Book Club choice is The Help, by Kathryn Stockett.