I have been a big Elizabeth Berg fan for quite some time. During my pregnancy, I went through a period during which I read all of her adult novels. I've also spent a good four years writing novels of my own, so it should come as no surprise that I picked up and devoured Escaping into the Open, the Art of True Writing.

Back in the days when I wrote all the time, I read every book known to man on writing. Anne Lamott, Lawrence Block, Natalie Goldberg. You name it, I read it. And while this book may be a bit more about her than writing compared to some other books, a bit less inspiring than Anne or Natalie, a bit less instructional than Lawrence, it's actually a balanced combination of all. It's inspiring. It's full of good, practical ideas, and it covers all aspects of writing. It talks about fiction and non-fiction. It talks about how to come up with ideas. It gives plenty of prompts. It talks about getting published. It even talks about reactions from friends and loved ones. (while many at amazon thought this was vain, I actually really thought it was pithy to mention it.)

Most importantly, it made me want to write again. And isn't that the point, after all?