Book Recs

I recommend Wendy Troxel’s book for couples struggling with their shared or family sleep environment or routine. Click here to read my full review.

Read any good books lately? . . . Book chapters, short stories, poems, or articles?

Stories bring validation and a feeling of connection. The chapters and stories noted below authentically grapple with, or merely touch tenderly, aspects of human suffering and emotional pain.

Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed 
     On longing & neediness - "The Magic of Wanting to Be"
     On grief - "The Obliterated Place"
     On making a life-altering decision - "The Ghost Ship that Didn't Carry Us"
Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott
     On working towards a healthier relationship with food -  "Hunger"
     On body image - "The Aunties"

Each chapter of Tiny Beautiful Things and Traveling Mercies stands on its own so you can jump around.

 "Starving" by Elizabeth Strout in the book Olive Kitteridge
Pages 82 - 83, portraying the significance of sex from a man’s perspective: 

      "Something else happened the year Derrick went off to college. While their bedroom life had slowed considerably, Harmon had accepted this, had sensed for some time that Bonnie was 'accommodating' him. But one night he turned to her in bed, and she pulled away. After a long moment she said quietly, 'Harmon, I think I'm just done with that stuff.'
     "They lay there in the dark: what gripped him from his bowels on up was the horrible, blank knowledge that she meant this. Still, nobody can accept losses right away.
     "'Done?' he asked. She could have piled twenty bricks onto his stomach, that was the pain he felt."

Thoughts on these? Suggestions of other books, chapters, or excerpts that have helped you, healed you, or added meaning to your life? Leave a comment below.

Leave a comment