Yoga Bitch: One Woman's Quest to Conquer Skepticism, Cynicism, and Cigarettes on the Path to Enlightenment

This winning memoir first took shape as a one-woman show that Morrison still performs in her native Seattle, and it translates nicely to written form: the author's voice is thoughtful, honest, and hilarious. Morrison looks back on her younger self with a mix of empathy and exasperation, touching off her story with the intense fear of death that overtook her when she turned 25, just a month after September 11. Her new yoga teacher, the serene Indra, offers her an opportunity to improve her yoga and connect with her spirituality via a two-month retreat in Bali. There, Morrison embraces her yoga practice, improving poses but remaining skeptical of poseurs. Journal entries from that time alternately pulsate with enthusiasm for yoga, Morrison's yoga-mates, and the Earth%E2%80%94and ooze irritation at coffee cravings, self-righteousness, and others' insistence on drinking their own urine. Morrison finds some of what she sought, including the courage to end her sputtering romantic relationship. (Aug.)