I haven’t shared an updated reading list in a while, and now felt like the right time to do so.
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Educated by Tara Westover. Tara shares of her experience as a Mormon living with her six siblings in the mountains of Idaho as they escape the modern world and prepare for the “end of times” according to her survivalist parents. She draws on memories of life threatening injuries without being allowed to ever receive medical attention, and goes on to detail how without any former education, taught herself enough to be accepted into college and later attend Harvard. I hope you find this entertaining; between working the scrap yard with her father, the herbalist concoctions she made alongside her mother, and her struggle with boundaries, confusion and guilt as she moved forward with a new life.
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Shoe Dog by Phil Knight. I love memoirs! And this one did not disappoint. There was no mention of a ghost writer, but I have a feeling he had some help. Phil Knight is the founder of Nike, and shares about his journey to launch his empire from the ground up. I loved reading about his early business interactions, struggles and intimate relationships. It is always fascinating to learn more about the story and heart behind a brand.
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Everything Happens for a Reason by Kate Bowler. A divinity professor and new mother, Kate finds herself staring at death when she learns she is diagnosed with stage 4 cancer colon cancer. This heartbreaking, yet often comical book gave me a sobering look into surrendering control, wrestling with God, and challenged my own beliefs regarding Christianity and mortality.
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Primal Wound by Nancy Newton Verrier. I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in adoption, knows an adoptee, or is in relationship with a birth mother. It presents concrete answers to the questions of difficult adoptee behavior, and why validating the wound that adoption creates is also the key to healing it. If you want to support or encourage a person in the adoption triad, and if you want to extend empathy and expand your own knowledge base on this topic, reading this book is one way to start.
Most recently, I pulled out an oldie that I tend to return to every year or so. It is called The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo. Mark Nepo is a poet and teacher whose work gently reminds me of what matters most. Every morning I read a page from this daily devotional over coffee. Most recently, he shared this:
“The mind is a spider that, if allowed, will tangle everything and then blame the things it clings to for the web it wants to be free of.”
I took some time to digest that statement… have you felt yourself clinging and hustling more lately? more anxious? more overwhelmed? I get it, it is so easy to pick up more “things” when we are used to the hustle and are forced to slow down. It is also easy to blame those “things” or “people” for the web we ourselves have created. Maybe it doesn’t have to be this way? Let’s untangle. Let’s give ourself permission to do less, to have grace, to rest.
I am always on the hunt for new reads. Please share with me what you are enjoying right now in the comments below.
Yours in healing,
CB
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