I will forever have a very unrealistic “to-read” list. There’s never enough time for all the books I want to read, and these are the few books I finished over the last month or so. Once you begin a book, do you finish it, or do you allow yourself to abandon ship? I have no qualms about moving on if a book doesn’t grip me by page 50. These are the pages I’ve been savoring as of late.
The Course of Love by Alain De Botton
This book completely sucked me in because of how real it felt in its description of married love, despite being a fiction book. My favorite quote from the book described marriage as such: “Marriage: a hopeful, generous, infinitely kind gamble taken by two people who don’t know yet who they are or who the other might be, binding themselves to a future they cannot conceive of and have carefully omitted to investigate.” I’d never thought of marriage that way until Botton described it as such, and it surprised me to agree with him. Goodreads summarizes the book well: “The Course of Love is a novel that explores what happens after the birth of love, what it takes to maintain love, and what happens to our original ideals under the pressures of an average existence.” So many love stories explore what happens before the I Do’s, but this book explores what happens after the vows. I found this book after hearing the author, Alain De Botton, on the On Being podcast in the episode titled The True Hard Work of Love and Relationships. If you’re married, this is a thought provoking read.
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May
When a friend recommended this book last fall I picked it up and enjoyed it throughout winter. Winter is my least favorite season, and in the past I’ve had to push myself to move through it. This year, I embraced winter and noticed the season’s gifts thanks to this book. The writing is beautiful, and finding myself in a personal winter of sorts, I resonated with many of her reflections. My favorite quote from the book is, “Plants and animals don’t fight the winter; they don’t pretend it’s not happening and attempt to live the same lives that they lived in the summer. They prepare. They adapt. They perform extraordinary acts of metamorphosis to get them through. Winter is a time of withdrawing from the world, maximizing scant resources, carrying out acts of brutal efficiency, and vanishing from sight, but that’s where the transformation occurs. Winter is not the death of the life cycle, but its crucible.”
The Heart of the Deal: A Novel by Lindsay MacMillan
This book follows a female protagonist, a Wall Street banker by day but a closet poet by night, on a mission to find love before 30. The finance nerd in me genuinely enjoyed the funny finance puns throughout, and there are plenty of them. This novel explores underlying themes of mental health, capitalism, and success, balanced with love, making the book a worthwhile read for me. I was also intrigued to read this as it is the author’s debut novel, and for that reason alone, I was excited to enjoy and support the book!
Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It by Ethan Kross
I read this one after Dr. John Delony recommended it on his podcast. Years ago, the Enneagram helped me identify my inner critic, that isn’t always kind. Since then, I’ve been aware of it but unsure how to manage it, and this book has already helped me harness that voice. A chapter at the end summarizes all the tools mentioned throughout the book that I plan to return to repeatedly. If you’re an Enneagram 1 or an Enneagram 6, this should be on your list, although I’m sure it’s helpful for all! If you’re wondering, “Enneawhaaaaat” we should chat :)
Have you read any of these, and if so, what were your thoughts? If there are books you’ve enjoyed lately that I should add to my to-read list, I’d love to hear about them in the comments. Happy reading, friends!