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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http://www.thespottedduck.com Shelley Greenberg
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http://www.thespottedduck.com Shelley Greenberg
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http://paragraphsonspi.blogspot.com Joni@Paragraphs
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http://paragraphsonspi.blogspot.com Joni@Paragraphs
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http://www.kimwerker.com Kim
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http://www.kimwerker.com Kim
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http://tstcpublishing.wordpress.com mark long
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http://tstcpublishing.wordpress.com mark long
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http://kristinasfavorites.blogspot.com Kristina
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http://kristinasfavorites.blogspot.com Kristina
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http://www.subliminalintervention.blogspot.com Dreamybee
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http://www.subliminalintervention.blogspot.com Dreamybee
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http://taueret.typepad.com/ Taueret
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http://taueret.typepad.com/ Taueret
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ann
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ann
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http://donstuff.wordpress.com donstuff
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http://donstuff.wordpress.com donstuff
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http://www.pumpkinspun.com/musings/ Sadelle
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http://www.pumpkinspun.com/musings/ Sadelle
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http://bookworm.typepad.com Laura
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http://bookworm.typepad.com Laura
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http://kcdyer.blogspot.com kc dyer
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http://kcdyer.blogspot.com kc dyer
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http://www.readerbuzz.blogspot.com debnance
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http://www.readerbuzz.blogspot.com debnance
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http://www.booksonthenightstand.com ann
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http://www.booksonthenightstand.com ann
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