Favorite Books of 2011

I want to first want to thank www.goodreads.com for being such an awesome website and helping me organize all my books as well as give me great ideas about what to read.  I love to read sooooooo much and am so grateful for the tremendous amount of books to choose from and the richness of talent out there.  This year I got my first kindle.  I was not sure how that would affect my use of the library.  My love of or use of the local library has not diminished one iota.  I still borrow the book first if I can and use my kindle for books I cannot find there.

Libraries are going through tough times with budget cuts.  I encourage you to donate to help support your local library if you are not doing so already.  It is a wonderful service that deserves our support.  A special thanks and shout out to my local Rohnert Park library.

If you are thinking about buying a kindle, I have several suggestions for you.  First of all, you definitely want to get 3G.  It is very convenient.  You will also want a cover, but do not get a regular cover because it will drain the battery.   Get a cover with the light.  That is also handy to have at night.  You can still underline all your favorite parts and they will keep them for you all in one section.  It is so easy to just throw in your purse of backpack and you can read three or four books at the same time.  I love that you can adjust the font to any size.  If you like to read romance novels like I do, it is wonderful because you don't have to shlep around books with all those awful covers of bare chested men kissing women.  You can read what you want in peace without being embarassed or judged.  I do have to put myself on a monthly budget because it is too easy to buy at the touch of a button.  I must say I really love my kindle.  I highly recommend getting one.

Now on to my favorite books of 2011 (in no particular order):

 

1. The Book of Awakening:  Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have by Mark Nepo

 

 

This book has been keeping me company all year long.  There is an entry for each day of the year.  Written by philospher, poet and cancer survivor, Mark Nepo, it is a refreshing, uplifting and inspiring read.  I turn to it every morning to start my day and I will miss it when I finish it on December 31st.  It will be like losing a good friend.  Mark's words resonate with me and make me think about things long after I am finished reading.  He also has an exercise after each reading that you can do to help you receive more insight into your own life and personal growth.  Mark is able to take the inner spiritual journey and turn it into words that ring true.  Because my inner work is such an integral part of my life, I really enjoy his work.

 It is so essential to me to have an inspiring book to read on a daily basis.  This will be  a tough one to replace.

 

 

 2.  The Paleo Diet by Loren Cardain

I have tried many diet books including the book Intuitive Eating which says you can eat anything you want as long as you do it in moderation. I tried that and gained 12 pounds.  Believe me, I am not a big fan of diets, but when you are over fifty you just can't eat like you used too unless you want to grow out of all your clothes and live in tights and mumus. Exercise alone does not work. Believe me, I have tried it. I also want to live a long life and have a healthy Body Mass Index (BMI).  This book helps you figure out your BMI and set a goal for weight loss.  It also talks about common sense ideas like eating natural foods that we were designed to eat like fruits, vegetables, and lean meats and not eating all the rest of it.  The hardest part is staying away from sugar, dairy and bread.  I tell them to take away the bread basket at the restaurant table.  It has been two months and the weight is slowly coming off.  I have lost 11 pounds and have about 15 more to go.  My knee is hurting less and I feel better in my own skin.  It still isn't easy (I don't think it ever will be), but it is worth it.

 

 3.  Two Kisses for Maddy:  A Memoir of Loss and Love by Matthew Logelin

This book started out as a blog written by Matthew when he lost his wife in childbirth.  It is an incredibly heartwarming and moving story about his life as a widower raising his child alone and grieving for his wife.  The book has been on the bestsellers list and just won for best memoir and autobiography of the year on Goodreads. 

It is wonderful after reading the book, to follow along on his blog and see Maddy grow up.  Matthew also has a special fund in his wife's name to help other widows and widowers. 

 

 

4.  Life is a Verb:  37 Days to Wake Up, Be Mindful and Live Intentionally by Patti Digh

When Patti's stepfather was told he only had 37 days to live, she wondered how she could make those 37 days count for him.  She realized that living your best life means living every day with intention.  Patti provides 37 inspiring life stories that illustrate how to love more, slow down, trust yourself, be generous, say yes and speak up.  This book also comes from her blog where she had a contest for illustrations and got so many entries that she ended up finding a way to put in as many of them as possible. 

This is one book you do not want to buy on kindle.  She has wide margins for you to make notes and beautiful illustrations throughout.  She also includes action challenges, movement challenges, and prompts for free-writes.  I have done many of her challenges and still have many more that I want to do.  My favorite so far, was writing haiku everyday for 37 days.  This is a book to treasure.

 

5. 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back:  Natural Posture Solutions for Pain in the Back, Neck, Shoulder, Hip, Knee and Foot (Remember When It Didn't Hurt) by Esther Gokhale

 This past summer, my back started hurting and it would not stop.  I was told about this book by my therapist.  Esther Gokhale had back surgery and was in pain for a long time before she traveled the world and did her own research about how people avoid back pain.  She found out that it all comes down to good posture while you are sitting, standing, walking and lying down.  She also teaches you how to bend from the hips corrrectly and introduces you to your "inner corset".  

I was fascinated that by simply having correct posture you can heal your back while you are doing regular activities everyday. Again, you want to buy the real book for this one, not the kindle version. The pictures showing correct posture are exquisitely beautiful.  I still want to take her workshop, but it is a bit pricy at $450.00.

 

6.  Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult

 

I wanted to include one fiction book in the mix.  It was a tough choice, but Sing You Home is a book that is hard to put down.  This a story of Zoe, a music therapist, and her husband Max and their desperate attempts to battle infertility and have a child.  It encompasses love, gay rights, healing with music, legal battles, christian right, alcoholism, 12 step programs, miscarriages, and infertility treatments.  It runs the gamut of the emotional spectrum from the depths of despair to the heights of joy.

I also like how she tells the story from different characters perspective.

If you are looking for a good read, you will not be disappointed.

 

Feel free to check out my favorites and/or find some of your own, but be sure to take the time to read.  My dear friend had a stroke a couple of years ago and can no longer read.  Don't take it for granted.  Take some time during the holidays and curl up with a good book by the fire.

Comments

[jen]

LOVE Goodreads!! Thanks for sharing your love of books. And your wisdom. <3