It’s been a trying and stressful couple of weeks for many people, and reading the newspaper just seems to add to the anxiety. I’m headed off for a weekend in Maine, where I will have no television, no internet, and only my family, a couple of books, and my knitting. I realize that I’m very lucky. For those of you who can’t get away from it all, I offer you these books, as an alternative to hitting the Oreos.
Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gibert
Have you ever noticed that the thing you think will make you the most happy is somewhat of a letdown when you finally get it? Or that something you dread turns out to be actually less terrible than you anticipated? Daniel Gilbert, a professor of psychology at Harvard University, looks at the reasons that we are so terrible at predicting what will make us happy. This is easily one of the best nonfiction books I’ve read in years, and though it is not likely to make you a happier person in general, will both inform and entertain you as learn a little bit about how our predictions about our happiness are almost always wrong. The book is a lot of fun, as evidenced by Gilbert’s appearance on The Colbert Report. Take a minute to watch the segment, if you’d like to learn a bit more about the book, and have some laughs at the same time.
Finding Beauty in a Broken World by Terry Tempest Williams
Williams is primarily known as a nature writer, and I had never read her prior to this book. When I opened the book, I had no idea what to expect, but I was quickly captivated by her lovely language and gorgeous writing style. The book opens in Ravenna, Italy, where Williams is taking a class in the art of mosaic. There, she learns that beauty can be created from the broken. We follow this metaphor from the artisans of Italy to the prairie dogs of Utah, who are on the verge of extinction, and then to a village in Rwanda, where she joins the survivors of the 1994 genocide to build a memorial that inspires healing and social change. Thoughtful and uplifting, this book is a stunningly beautiful read, and was a book that forced me to slow down, breathe deeply, and think about the good things that often come from sadness.
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
This is without a doubt one of the funniest books I have ever read. It’s not hyperbole — this is a book that makes you laugh out loud, and causes you to read passages aloud to family and friends. Bryson, returning to his native United States after spending 20 years abroad, decides to hike the 2,100 mile Appalachian Trail as a way of reconnecting with America. It matters not that Bryson is an out-of-shape 40-something couch potato who has very limited hiking experience. Accompanying Bryson on this trip is his longtime friend Katz, an overweight, ex-alcoholic whose primary provisions for the trip are Snickers bars and nail clippers. The pair’s run-ins with people and creatures of all types provide much of the comedy, but the book is also a love story to nature and a plea to preserve the wild spaces of the country. If you can’t take a vacation, A Walk in the Woods is about as close as you can come to getting away through the pages of a book.
Give us Your Recommendations
What book(s) do you recommend for tough times? Do you prefer escapist reading, or do you prefer to confront your worries head on? Please tell us in the comments.
Oh, and you can have an Oreo, if you promise to eat one for me.
image credit: Jill Greenseth via Flickr
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We encourage you to write down or print out the title information and shop at your local bookstore. Titles link to LibraryThing, a social networking site that allows you to catalog your home library. LibraryThing also links to various online purchasing options. Here are the books from this post:
Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert, Vintage trade paperback
Finding Beauty in a Broken World by Terry Tempest Williams, Pantheon hardcover
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, Broadway trade paperback
(all information is for the U.S. editions).
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‘A Walk in the Woods’ is one of my all-time favorites.
Recommended to everyone!
Oreos, hmm. I may need to go to the store. A change of pace might prove helpful. My vice of choice and how I recognize stress is when I find myself eating peanut butter out of the jar. Oops, just realized I’m out of peanut butter so now I have an excuse to go to the store for Oreos.
I almost always find more insightful truth in fiction than in non- (of the happy or the totally depressing sort). In times like these, I think sci-fi would be the best metaphorical escape (double meaning intended).
When things get too overwhelming I can always read the Larry Brown novella “92 Days” from _Big Bad Love_ given that it’s about a guy, Leon Barlow, sacrificing everything to keep doing what it is that he loves. Leon is by no means an overly sympathetic character but he does show how little you really need (vs. just want) to do what you are driven to do.
(There was a pretty good movie adaption called _Big Bad Love_ with Arliss Howard and Debra Winger that came out a few years ago.)
I think I might have to start eating oreos lol. Thank goodness I’m not much for cookies! Anyway, if I get overwhelmed, I find it a good time to read the fluff! Not that fluff is bad because there is a lot of good fluff out there. You just don’t have to think about it too hard. Beach reads, chick lits things like that. Harry Potter even because it’s such a fast read….not fluff tho lol.
I never thought much about this before, but I noticed the other day as I was going through my TBR list, trying to decide what to request from the library, that I was ready for something…real, I guess?
It was time for stories of doctors working in Africa, Peace Corps volunteers and their journeys, stories of faith and survival. I think this speaks to a desire to be reassured, to know that no matter how bad things are here in America with our fears of plummeting stock markets, the possibility of having to get a second job, even the fear of foreclosure, most of us still have it pretty good. I’m not talking about reveling in how much worse other people have it, but seeing how much good and happiness can often come from very little means. (Officially, I’m looking for uplifting; secretly, maybe a little survival training!) In that light, all of your recommendations sound like just what I need right now!
Enjoy your vacation!
omg Ann, is that you? You look so cute! Go on, have an Oreo.
LOL, no that’s not me! I wouldn’t have that many oreos left on the plate!
How about The Oreo Cookie Counting Book?: http://www.amazon.com/Oreo-Cookie-Counting-Book/dp/0689834896
I’m remembering back about 9 yrs ago when I was going thru some personal hard times and what I found comforting was curling up with a whole lot of fiction and non fiction set in India, believe it or not… kinda took me away for awhile. The big tome I read thru during that period was “A Suitable Boy” by Vikram Seth. Outstanding story, but you have to not be put off by alot of history backstory and 1300 pages. I was sad when it ended, frankly.
The other kick I was on then was reading anything by Anne Lamott… I love her writing style and voice, and found her work soothing and funny at the same time.
OK, I’m not proud of this, but I have literally eaten a stack that size of Oreos today. You’ve nailed my stress eating to a “t”. lol
And I completely concur regarding A Walk in the Woods — it’s great as a regular book or as audio read by Bryson himself.
I not only do escapist reading — that’s how I do my writing, too! But my current favourite reading for tough times is really anything by PG Wodehouse. Jeeves and Wooster just do it for me, somehow…
~kc
Having had a hurricane hit my town last month, I feel I can be a reliable recommender of books for tough times.
I found I had a difficult time reading light fiction; I kept thinking, What’s she so upset about? It’s not like she’s going through a hurricane. I had trouble reading very sad stories as I would find myself deeply upset. Books others found funny struck me as cruel.
I didn’t read much. I’m just now starting to read again.
Thank you all for sharing this with me. I appreciate hearing about books that help you get through hard time. I hope that others will benefit from your comments as much as I have.
–Ann