Summer. A time for rolling down the car windows, thick triangles of watermelon , and enjoying the smell of newly cut grass. It is ripe for rest and for relaxation, and this year staycations rather than vacations. It is also a great time to change our focus away from work and check in with ourselves. Are you happy? Are there areas you could be more productive in? Are you fulfilling your potential? Are you moving in the right direction? Are you living your values?
If you want to grow and be ready for the changes that are waiting to meet us over the coming months, crack one of these books from my library and you will find that there is nourishment for the body and the mind.
Happy reading and happy summer!
The Midnight Library by Matt Haigh
“Every life contains many millions of decisions. Some big, some small. But every time one decision is taken over another, the outcomes differ. An irreversible variation occurs, which in turn leads to further variations.”
There are some books you will push all of your friends and family to read, and hold on to in your library for eternity. This is mine!
It is no secret that Matt Haig has struggled with his mental health over the last decades, experiencing the darkness of depression and the acute pain of anxiety. It is precisely these experiences that have informed this exquisite, inspiring, compassionate and empathetic novel. In this book Haigh creates the concept of the midnight library, a place found in the space between life and death. The midnight library is a space to explore life, the issues that afflict our world, philosophy, psychology and more, endeavouring to tease out what might make life worth living, joyful, and meaningful. In some ways, this is is the book version of It's A Wonderful Life. Many readers might find this helpful for our lock down times, where so many have suffered unbearable loss, have had to face not seeing all those that we love and mean so much to us, whilst being weighed down with worries and concerns about how to cope with fears regarding jobs, childcare, money and health. A beautifully nuanced novel that has found its way into my permanent collection.
Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
“He who has learned to disagree without being disagreeable has discovered the most valuable secret of negotiation”
This book is written by a former FBI negotiator and contains the nine principles he believes that lead to a successful negotiation. Voss explains how to negotiate--not just for the FBI, but in any realm of life. Voss writes well and is a fairly humble expert who demonstrates his techniques throughout the book using engaging and interesting stories. At the heart of it all is tactical empathy – listening as a martial art, balancing emotional intelligence with active listening to get inside the mind of the other person. Whilst I found the book very informative and practical (Ive actually successfully used some of these techniques now) I found myself split. This book is very much written from the male perspective and at times felt like we were dabbling in manipulation rather than negotiation.
Woolfpack by Abby Wambach
“You were never Little Red Riding Hood. You were always the Wolf”
Based on her inspiring commencement speech in 2018 to Barnard College’s graduates in New York City, two-time Olympic gold medalist and FIFA World Cup champion Abby Wambach delivers Wolfpack. This book is an empowering rally cry for women to find and unite with their pack, and emerge victorious together. Woolfpack is a manifesto for everyone who is trying to lead, whether it’s a team, a company, a family, or a meaningful life. This book is a quick and powerful read and it packs a major punch and a profound message.
A Matter of Death and Life by Irvin Yalom
Internationally acclaimed psychiatrist and author Irvin Yalom devoted his career to counseling those suffering from anxiety and grief. In A Matter of Death and Life, Marilyn and Irv share how they took on profound new struggles: Marilyn to die a good death, Irv to live on without her. In alternating accounts of their last months together and Irv's first months alone, they offer us a rare window into facing mortality and coping with the loss of one's beloved. Informed by two lifetimes of experience, A Matter of Death and Life is an openhearted offering to anyone seeking support, solace, and a meaningful life. Ultimately it offers readers lessons for how to live as well as how to die woven through a beautiful love story.
Atomic Habits by James Clear
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
No matter what your goal, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving yourself each and every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results. In his book Clear explains that improving 1% is sometimes not visible but it can be significant in the long term, what he calls the Law of 1%. Therefore, an atomic habit refers to a tiny change, a marginal gain, an improvement of 1%.
Clear is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible.
This is a book for everyone who wants to:
* make time for new habits (even when life gets busy, very busy);
* overcome a lack of motivation and willpower;
* design your environment to make success easier;
* get back on track when you fall off course.
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lorri Gottleib
“But part of getting to know yourself is to unknow yourself—to let go of the limiting stories you’ve told yourself about who you are so that you aren’t trapped by them, so you can live your life and not the story you’ve been telling yourself about your life.”
This memoir pulls back the curtain on therapy, the stigmas, and our hesitancy to open up about mental health. The setup of the book is that Lori, a therapist herself, goes through a life altering breakup and decides to enter into therapy herself. Juxtaposed with that are the stories of Lori’s clients and their own growth. Over the course of therapy Gottleib increasingly understands what it is to be on the “other side of the couch”. The stories that she shares in the book of her own clients are funny, heart-breaking, and touch on relatable topics. Some intimately and others in theory. Honesty and vulnerability are what makes this book stand out. For those who have never experienced therapy (other than on TV), it is a great way to understand how it works and how it might help. Ultimately I found this to be a warm, engaging, and enticing book about a therapist who sees a therapist and appreciate Maybe You Should Talk to Someone for further destigmatizing therapy.