Lit: A Memoir by Mary Karr

I'm slowly working through the books I got last year at Book Expo, and since I panned "Worst Nightmares," I feel I have to take the time to heartily recommend the book "Lit" by Mary Karr. The book is the third in a series of memoirs of her life. I haven't read the first two, but the third stands on its own merits. It relays Mary's turbulent adult years, from alcoholism into faith.

Her new-found in G-d does play a major role in the story, but what I enjoyed was that it was a real faith. So many books that contain elements of faith either mock beliefe as for the weak-minded or make G-d sound like a personal genie who will instantly solve all your troubles. Mary's book takes a stumbling, disbelieving trek towards faith. No, it doesn't immediately make her into Saint Mary (in fact, one of the things I like about the book is that she never gets close to sainthood - she remains a real person, warts and all, throughout the book). But it does have a profound effect on her life, one that any real person should be able to relate to.

Her path is meandering but definitely worth the read.