Oprah’s Book Club Pick: Love Warrior

Oprah announced this week that her latest Book Club Selection is Glennon Doyle Melton’s Love Warrior. Melton is a popular blogger and philanthropist who blogs at Momastary and founded Together Rising, which runs events such as “Love Flash Mobs” raising money for women and children in need. Her essays have gone viral, including “Don’t Carpe Diem”, which lead to a 10-way bidding war and subsequent publication of her bestselling book, Carry on Warrior.

Readers of Melton have come to appreciate her no-holds-barred approach to truth telling. She lays out life in all its messiness. She has rejected the social media trend of curating a perfect life that hides any flaws, replacing it with a bold honesty that can border on uncomfortable. Love Warrior is no exception, as Melton revisits many of the life events she glosses over in Carry on Warrior, such as the termination of her first pregnancy and her struggles with bulimia. She delves deep. Her honesty is refreshing, if not a bit scary, as she walks the reader through the dark days of her life with particular focus on her disintegrating marriage.

Love Warrior will strike a chord with anyone who has faced down their demons, fought hard for what matters most in life, and has come out stronger because of it, and will resonate with those who wish they had the courage to do so. With brashness she invites the reader into every corner of her marriage and the struggles with intimacy they experience as individuals and a couple. Even in darkness Melton maintains her signature wit, and her self-deprecation shines through the pages.

At one point she tries to explain to her new therapist that she thinks she might be Gandhi. The therapist doesn’t miss a beat and replies “You’re Gandhi? Tell me more”. Melton relishes the absurdity of the everyday without diminishing the seriousness of the situation. Love Warrior is a gripping, nakedly honest, and voyeuristic read that leaves the reader thinking about the “bruitiful”, a Melton-ism for brutal yet beautiful, parts of each of our lives yet encourages us to be brave.