I love books. This is a blanket statement but a true statement nonetheless. Books make me entirely happy. Find me in a bookstore and you’ll see little cartoon hearts floating above my head. Now, here I sit, Gilmore Girls playing in the background, a cheesy smile on my face and a pile of books to my right. Pure happiness.
I’m going to let you in on a secret: opening up a new book is akin to sitting in a pile of puppies; soft breeze on the weather docket, bowl of strawberries to my left. If Rory Gilmore can live her life, attend years of schooling and end up a happy pile of human greatness: I can achieve the same goals and still read as many books as I please. Here they are, the books I’ve recently purchased that leave me reeling.
What Girls Learn by Karin Cook
I’ve been slowly combing through this book for a while now. It’s not a fast-paced, easy read but instead an in-depth pull at your heartstrings. Musings on family dynamics, parent illness, growing up and the walking on thinning ice feeling of sibling-hood. The book’s strongest point resides in exploring the strong, sometimes shaky dynamic between sisters. It’s magical.
The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan W. Watts
The cover is what pulled me in. It’s this glorious cerulean blue and shining yellow watercolor painting situation. The tagline reads: A Message for an Age of Anxiety and it roams over all the plains that make up humans complex mind. Originally published in 1951, the introduction calls to, “Anybody whose life needs a course correction…” and indeed that is what this book offers.
Dear Fang, With Love by Rufi Thorpe
Honest: I just started reading this one last week but my gosh! It tells the story of Vera, a seventeen-year-old girl, who after experiencing a psychotic break, seeks to find solace in the history of Europe. This vividly enigmatic story of a troubled girl is intertwined with her father's Lucas and his newly “weekend dad” status and the perils of fatherhood. Vera’s psychotic break is mirrored with her journey to connect with her father and understand her family’s history and how they have shaped her.
This Should Be Written in the Present Tense by Helle Helle
Originally translated from the Danish by Martin Aitken this book weaves together one girls journey through Copenhagen. The writing is luminous. The details recounted are funny and awkward. It’s a series of misshapen stories and events that create one true human experience. Everything about this book is simple. There’s no pomp or ostentatious exhibit of lessons learned. The opening line, “I wrote too much about that step.” is intriguing in its originality. Who thinks about the frequency in which they write about a step? Not me but now I do.
Go on and read. Absorb the magnificence that reading offers us. Do you have any must-read books on your list?
