11 Books (and Audio!) I'd Recommend

The 500 Things Project Ep. 27

pre script: As promised last week, today we are talking about books. If you aren’t a book person, you might stop here, so I wanted to start with some recommendations related to the authors below if you prefer audio.

• This TED Talk from Kelly McGonigal about stress 

• Tim Ferriss’ interview of Anne Lamott

• The Lazy Genius podcast (Click the link and odds are moderate you will see an episode title that resonates.)

• The audiobook version of 5, 6, 7, or 8 below (The others may be good but I only listened to these ones and can’t speak for the others.)

On to the books!

I’ve been listening to Tim Ferriss’ podcast where he interviews world class performers to dissect their methods. He frequently asks not about someone’s favorite books, but about the books they recommend most often. Usually, recommended books are particularly helpful, impactful, or influential in a way that favorite books aren’t. Favorite books aren’t to be discounted, but tend towards more subjectivity and recency error.

Book recommendations are in the same category as advice giving, which should be done, if at all, in very particular context. The books I recommend won’t be for everyone. Some of the books below helped me in a particular season, some brought about a critical shift in mindset, while others are full of wisdom and deliver new ideas at every reading.

Books on a fulfilling life

These first two are the only fiction on the list, which isn’t to say I don’t love fiction - just that differences in taste make it difficult to make blanket recommendations. These books, though, make me want to be a better person and at the same time feel more at home in my own skin.

1. The Secret Garden / Frances Hodgson Burnett

I need to read this again, so take this as a recommendation to myself. I read TSG a few years ago when I was feeling generally ill for no reason (ok the reason was stress which is a perfectly adequate reason especially if you have not yet learned that stress can be good for you) and the story helped get me through it and also remember to go outside.

2. Hannah Coulter / Wendell Berry

Hannah reminds me that living a small life is not just ok, it’s worthwhile and deeply meaningful. She reminds me that I can and should soak in time with my family and community and put my head down and get to my own work. Reading about her life - which reads almost like a real memoir rather than a novel - makes me want to do the work in my family, home, and self that will make me feel as strong and capable as Hannah is.

Books on being a person

3. The Lazy Genius Way / Kendra Adachi

I reference Kendra’s ideas (and recipes) often, because she is the real deal. Her first book walks through thirteen principles to help you live like a lazy genius: someone who is “a genius about the things that matter, and lazy about the things that don’t.” She is especially helpful in giving you permission to focus on what matters to you. 

4. The Upside of Stress / Kelly McGonigal

Bottom line up front: Stress is only as bad for you as you think it is. This book caused a paradigm shift for me just a few months ago but it has already been so powerful in how I think about and live my life, full of stress, but also full of meaning.

5. Try Softer / Aundi Kolber

Aundi writes about trauma (both what she calls “little t” and “big T” trauma), how it plays into our relationships, and what we can do to live emotionally healthy and balanced. I read this about a year before The Upside of Stress and I would be interested to revisit and see how they might complement each other or not. I highly, highly recommend this book for Enneagram 1’s (if you know you know) and women generally.

Books on family and friendships

6. Take Back Your Family / Jefferson Bethke

Jeff challenges the often unrealistic status quo of the nuclear family with the expansive and empowering vision of a multigenerational family team on mission. His book is full of thought provoking questions and ideas on how to build a team up as a family on mission. I listened to the audiobook - fantastic - and got a hardback copy to use as reference as we work to implement some of the practices and rhythms Jeff writes about.

7. Share Your Stuff, I’ll Go First & 8. The Life Council / Laura Tremaine

Laura’s books go hand in hand. I listened to them both in the same week. In the first, Laura encourages us to connect with others by, wait for it… sharing our stuff. She offers prompts to work through with friends and opens the door to vulnerability by going first, exploring the questions in her own life. In The Life Council Laura talks about friendship itself, including how to take stock and appreciate the friends we have, while also becoming aware of when and how we might add new friends to our circle.

Books on creative encouragement

9. This is Marketing / Seth Godin

I read this in the spring of 2018. It’s been a second, but I remember that because it was Seth Godin, it was likely about life and creativity and being a decent human as much as it was about marketing, and I know that I referenced it as an invaluable source of inspiration to my honors college capstone project, which, despite (or because of?) my degree in engineering, was a gallery show of mixed media artwork.

10. Big Dreams Daily Joys / Elise Cripe

I pull this book out when I am in a creative funk or on the rare days when my head feels too quiet. Elise walks through goal setting from the ground up, starting with putting everything we already do in its place so that we can have space to do the things we love. It’s well illustrated and written in perfect bite-sized chunks. I can flip through it and find one small thing to try to get out of a rut or open the floodgate of ideas.

11. bird by bird / Anne Lamott

Do you know, I think this is the only book I’ve read by Anne Lamott. In any case, bird by bird is the writer’s manual for sitting in one’s chair and getting to work, and is no small reason I’m on this year’s current writing quest. Plus, Anne Lamott is just spunky. This is another book where it’s hard to tell if it’s a book about craft or about life (because it’s definitely both).

I’m so curious: what do you recommend? Are there any books you keep multiple copies of just to give them away? Let me know -

Until next week,

Amy