Lately I’ve been reading here and there and mostly a hodgepodge of things. Honestly, I think I lost track and forgot to include something here. It’s been a different couple of months and I haven’t been writing things down. Oh well… this is the best of my memory. 🙂
This one I’m reading a second time with our Facebook group and going through the 8 recommended stages. It is absolutely life changing! You can read my latest post about it here. Highly recommend.
This novel created an entire other world unto itself and it was very absorbing. It’s about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. The characters were so well-developed that I thought they were real. Recommend.
This was a humorous and reassuring book by an author I love. If you ever think about the nature of time and reality or whether our souls continue living after our earth time, this book is for you. I kept thinking, “OH! That makes total sense” as I was reading. The idea that we are all part of creation and God was reinforced. Recommend.
SUCH a great story. Unfortunately, the entire time I was reading, I felt like I’d read this story before. Perhaps I had. It was enjoyable nonetheless and I was quickly absorbed in this love story. I thought it was well-written and I felt for the characters. Recommend for a fun read… and you learn a little about art history too.
A lighthearted guide toward a simple life. Nothing earthshaking here. However, she has a ton of tips and ideas that I think are great. I like her “STREAMLINE” method and that she breaks down each step of the process.
Kondo is a Japanese consultant who makes tidying an art form. Rather than straighten up and then have to do it all again the next day, Kondo describes a process of gathering like items, culling through the keepers, and then organizing them. Once you have far less possessions and a logical place for each item you own, it is easier to put things away. Highly recommend.
I’ve always enjoyed Lamott’s essays and these are no exception. She writes about spirituality, pain, forgiveness, finding joy in hopeless situations… all the biggies! I have to say that I like her irreverence. No matter what page you open to, you’ll find humor, wisdom and grace. Recommend.
I thought it’d be fun to read Mark Zuckerberg’s first bookclub pick. This was a dense but fascinating read about how power is shifting and ending due to three main cultural changes of the 21st century. I learned a great deal about finance, governments, and education. Much of it was above my head but I’m glad I read it.
Emmanuel is a spirit who humorously answers questions about our world. Ram Dass, in the introduction, says: “Being with Emmanuel, one comes to appreciate the vast evolutionary context in which our lives are being lived . . . And at each moment we are at just the right place in the journey. As Emmanuel points out, ‘Who you are is a necessary step to being who you will be.'”
I read this at the suggestion of a friend and I enjoyed it. It’s basically about not resisting who you fundamentally are. It was a little too Christian for me, but I appreciated the message. I love the idea that something we may be ashamed of or try to hide could in fact be the best thing about us.
I loved The Ten Year Nap, but I didn’t like this as much as I thought I would. However, the characters and what happens to each of them as they age intrigued me. It’s about a group of friends who meet at summer camp and grow in various ways together. At one point, on page 221, I decided to see what would happen if I skipped 100 pages. I truly don’t know that I missed much. From 321 to the end, I enjoyed it much more. It was smartly written and the characters were well-developed.
What have you been reading lately? And are you on Goodreads? I’d love to connect there.
Everything I’ve Ever Read (I think) – OMG I haven’t updated this in a few months. Aaargh!
Well you really have some interesting books here Naomi…and you peeked my curiosity about a few…one the Interestings….I’ve had that on my bookshelf for a few years…I might have to finally dust it off knowing that I can skip 100 pages and not feel the pinch..
Anne Lamott Small Victories…might get read also…she write a column on Facebook sometimes and I’ve gotten away from here…it just seems like the same stuff, different words…but maybe not this time…
Your books are very diversified and I always love these posts of yours…gets me charged up…I need to do a list of my own soon…so many books so little time…
Cheryl recently posted…Winter Tea
Thank you for sharing all of these … I really must get a copy of Soul Space 🙂
Kama recently posted…Comment on An Uncomfortable Lesson in Non Awareness and Saying No by Kama
Always love your book recs. in awe that you are rebel enough to skip 100 pages of a book. Go you. I do abandon books I don’t love but have never skipped a chunk like that. Awesome xx
Deb @ inner compass designs recently posted…Taking the path of ease
It FELT rebellious too! Hee hee.
As the Top Ten Things Dead People Want to Tell You book, is one of the things: “I will take vengeance from beyond the grave!”? Because I am not too keen on the soppy stuff some authors try to pawn off on readers as messages from the beyond.
SKJAM! recently posted…Book Review: The Dead Riders
I find your pick of books very intriguing. Some of them I may actually look into:)
Especially the book on decluttering. I am drawn to Japan. Maybe this will finally motivate me to do it.
Thank you:)
Good luck, Beth! I’m reading two more decluttering books now… one is called Breathing Room and is more spiritual. Loving it.
You are quite the reader and I love the eclectic collection of books you chose. As much as I love books, I don’t read a lot and sometimes wish I made more time for it.
Michele Bergh recently posted…Living Inspired By Design
Thanks for sharing your reading list Naomi. I am an avid reader and it’s always fun to see what others are reading. Not sure if you are into mysteries but here are a few of my favorite mystery authors. Deborah Crombie, Elly Griffiths, Jacqueline Winspear and Ann Cleeves. I am in a book club and we just finished an interesting book called the “Kashmir Shawl” by Rosie Thomas. It’s set in India around the time of WWII and I enjoyed it.
I always love your reading list! I recently read Anne Lamott’s latest book, as has half our known galaxy, and I loved it. Glad to see it made your list. The book on the wonderfulness of weirdosity is intriguing, too. I might add that to my list for future reading. Thanks for the heads-up on its religious content. I’m always glad to read things written from specific points of view, but with overly-religious texts, I’m always happy to have a warning in advance. 😉
Harmony Harrison recently posted…Dreaming Big in Harmonyland: A State of the Human Address
I found some great books here to add to my tbr pile which is already a mile long! I don’t know if you’d like any of the books I’ve recently read: Help for Frazzled Moms (this is my first time here, so I don;t know much about you yet), and The Kill Order (dystopian YA). I’m about to start Relational Apologetics later today, which is a Christian book. We do have some overlap in reading taste, but I’m not sure with what I’ve been reading lately 🙂
Melissa recently posted…Day 8 Photo Challenge: A Bad Habit
Hi Naomi,
A great list! I am clearing OUT books so not sure how many of these I will read but you certainly have given me some food for thought here. Clearing out my books has made me realize a new way to look at books – instead of keeping books and having the ownership of one mean something about me, I am deciding to let go of books and allow myself to just use them as a tool. Some tools I want around me in case I want to look something up and other tools I want to just have while I am using them.
Going through my books also made me consider that I may want to do a book study of a particular Taoist book on my blog. That might be fun. Right now, I am doing the I Ching as a whole (with many interpretations) but perhaps I could go through a few others as well. This would be fun.
Amy Putkonen recently posted…A Bit of Silence
Amy, excellent point. All the books I’m reading (except SoulSpace, which you gifted me) are library books. Last week I did the same thing you’re doing… really really thought about why I was hanging on to so many books and for so long. Once I decided to part with a few, it became easier to part with more. Then my well-loved favorites got donated to Goodwill.
Thinking of books as tools or resources was a shift for me too. Plus, while I would see the spine of a book and remember how much I loved it, I don’t think that in itself is enough reason to keep it. Remember how I made that painting of my favorite books? That’s enough for me. Plus, I like the idea that their content is already a part of me so why keep the physical copy?
I always enjoy reading your reading lists 🙂 I have All the light we cannot see on my kindle waiting to be read. I’m reading The women’s room by Marilyn French right now…not sure what to think of it. It’s was written in the 70’s and is a story about women who gave up their educations/jobs to be traditional wives during the 50’s and 60’s. Well written, but kind of tedious.
Thanks, Stacie! That sounds like an interesting read.