Wild

Okay people, stop what you're doing and read this book right now. RIGHT NOW.

Remember how I've mentioned that if a book is being adapted to a movie I have this condition where I have to read the book? Well I heard that this movie called Wild is coming out in December starring Reese Witherspoon (omg love her) and it's based off a memoir. So naturally, I had to read it.

I was kind of nervous to read this book. It's the first nonfiction that I've read in a long time. I spent the past four months rereading Harry Potter and before that I read The Giver and before that I read some Khaled Hosseini and before that... you get the idea. So as I was saying, I was nervous to pick up a nonfiction book again. I thought it might bore me or be too dry. Which, I know, is totally stupid. 

But thankfully, I had nothing to worry about. This book is awesome. Cheryl retells her journey hiking the Pacific Crest Trail for three months. She encounters bears, learns to hitchhike, has to deal with her period without tampons and goes weeks without bathing. In the midst of her present physical journey, she flashbacks to moments and stories in her life that led her to hike the PCT. After her mother died, her infidelities lead to a divorce, she got hooked on heroin and the remaining family that she did have, fell apart. So she sold all her possessions and stopped paying rent in order to buy a high quality backpack and small tent. She hiked the PCT alone to "find herself".

I typically read on my lunch breaks at work. I find a corner of Starbucks or the student union and read while I eat whatever kind of leftovers I packed for the day. And almost every day I looked like an idiot because I was laughing out loud at this book. Sometimes uncontrollably. This book is so funny. Her voice is strong and humorous. Just a warning that you'll risk looking like a fool if you read this in public.

It's a tale of redemption. I was really looking forward to the part where she finds Jesus on the trail. In the end, I'm still a little confused as to how she goes "from lost to found". The terms Christianity, Jesus and God are never mentioned. But it's like she tells the story and just omits their names. The only way she could have found this redemption is through Jesus. Maybe she left these terms out so as not to hinder her sales. Maybe she left them out because she doesn't yet realize that redemption's beautiful name is the same name as Jesus. But regardless, it's beautiful and totally worth the read. 

And the movie comes out December 5th so go read it before it's released!