October books

There were a few days when I thought I wasn’t even going to have read enough to warrant a report, let alone devouring 12 books!  Here’s what I read and enjoyed in October:

Clutterfree with Kids: Change your thinking. Discover new habits. Free your home by Joshua Becker

This one is only $5 on Kindle! Becker writes that though children add many wonderful things to our lives, they also add clutter.  His main idea is “live more by owning less.”  He says, “clutterfree is not just the removal of unnecessary physical possessions. It is also the intentional promotion of the things we value most. It is about deciding what is most important in your life and removing the things that distract you from it.”  This gives me the reassurance to own only a few dolls, not 100, and to donate things my daughter hasn’t played with in awhile.

We can invest our lives into creating a more sustainable planet, beautiful art, moments of joy for others, causes we believe in, or raising responsible children. We can help others overcome fear, heartache, or significant obstacles to joy. We can trade our finite resources for the desires and values held deep within our hearts—the purest passions unspoiled by the culture around us. We were created to live for pursuits far greater than comfort, luxury, and competition. We were created to trade our lives up, not down.

Love, friendship, hope, integrity, trust, compassion… These are the things that bring substance, fulfillment, and lasting joy to our lives. And these are the attributes that bring lasting security to our children’s lives.

Margot: A Novel by Jillian Cantor

OMG this book is sooooo good! It is set in 1959 as “The Diary of Anne Frank” is being released in movie theatres.  Taken from the Author’s note: “… as an older sister myself, I was interested in what happened to [Margot], in how her experience in the annex was different from Anne’s, and what their sister relationship was like.  So I set out to learn more about Margot, only to discover that virtually all that is known of her today is the little that Anne wrote within the pages of her diary.  I began to wonder about the two sisters, both of whom were teenagers during the Holocaust, both Jews, both hiding in the annex, both keeping diaries.  How is it that one sister and her diary have, in the aftermath, become an icon of the Holocaust, a symbol for a whole generation, while the other sister is today virtually unknown? And thus the idea for Margot was born.”  Highly recommend.

Euphoria by Lily King

This is one of those novels that creates a world unto itself that you don’t want to leave.  It’s about three young anthropologists of the ‘30’s studying the river tribes in New Guinea who find themselves in a love triangle.  I found it fascinating to learn about how an anthropologist lives and works (the main character is based on Margaret Mead).  King writes movingly and has well-developed and believable characters.  I was so sad that the book ended the way it did and thought about it for days afterward… truly the sign of a good story!  Highly recommend.

Minimalist Parenting: Enjoy Modern Family Life More by Doing Less by Christine Koh and Asha Dornfest

Since these days it seems there are an abundance of choices in parenting about education, safety gear, activities, entertainment, etc., our kids can end up over-scheduled and over parented.  These women are advocating that doing less is actually far better for us and them in the long run.  You don’t have to attend every birthday party or fill your schedule to the brim.  By tuning into your family’s core values, you can find the most important things and eliminate the rest.  This excellent guide showed me how to better spend my time and energy and how to eliminate the crazy from our lives.  I liked their calendar/to-do list idea, their description on how to find the ideal number of weekend activities for your family, the idea of doing your most important work when you are most refreshed and energetic, and how to simplify different aspects of family life.  There are lots of gems in this book.

Larger Than Life (Novella) by Jodi Picoult

This novella is set on a game reserve in Botswana, where a researcher studying memory in elephants ends up caring for one.  With parallels to the main character’s own history and relationship with her mother, it is such a sweet story about the love a parent feels for her child.

There is a reason people say being a mother is the hardest job in the world: You do not sleep and you do not get vacation time. You do not leave your work on your desk at the end of the day. Your briefcase is your heart, and you are rifling through it constantly. Your office is as wide as the world, and your punch card is measured not in hours but in a lifetime.

The Art of Extreme Self-Care: Transform Your Life One Month at a Time by Cheryl Richardson

This short book consists of 12 strategies to transform your life one month at a time.  I enjoyed her memoir-like writing as Richardson told us how each lesson applied to her own life.  Each chapter is full of substance and excellent recommended resources.  This book is about surrounding yourself with the right people, creating a nourishing environment, and making commitments that feel right (not out of obligation).  Highly recommend.

A Time to Every Purpose: Letters to a Young Jew by Jonathan Sarna

In letters to his daughter about each major holiday, Sarna describes how the way of life that Judaism entails brings meaning and new questions about our obligations to each other, to God, and to human beings in general.  It was a quick and compelling read.

Where’d You Go, Bernadette: A Novel by Maria Semple

I forced myself to finish this one because it was for a book club with friends.  It was so weird, made up of a bunch of emails, letters, and secret files.  It began well, but by about halfway, I was reading every other page because it all seemed rather forced.

My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel
Ari Shavit

Wow.

As the second decade of the twenty-first century has begun to unfold, five different apprehensions cast a shadow on Israel’s voracious appetite for life: the notion that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict might not end in the foreseeable future; the concern that Israel’s regional strategic hegemony is being challenged; the fear that the very legitimacy of the Jewish state is eroding; the concern that a deeply transformed Israeli society is now divided and polarized, its liberal-democratic foundation crumbling; and the realization that the dysfunctional governments of Israel cannot deal seriously with such crucial challenges as occupation and social disintegration.

Sixty-five years after its founding, Israel has returned to its core questions. One hundred and sixteen years after it was launched, Zionism is confronted with its core contradictions. Now the challenge goes far beyond that of occupation, and much deeper than the issue of peace. What we all face is the threefold Israel question: Why Israel? What is Israel? Will Israel?

The Perfume Collector: A Novel by Kathleen Tessaro

This is a must-read in my opinion.  Highly recommend.

Here’s the description from Amazon: A remarkable novel about secrets, desire, memory, passion, and possibility.  Newlywed Grace Monroe doesn’t fit anyone’s expectations of a successful 1950s London socialite, least of all her own. When she receives an unexpected inheritance from a complete stranger, Madame Eva d’Orsey, Grace is drawn to uncover the identity of her mysterious benefactor.

Weaving through the decades, from 1920s New York to Monte Carlo, Paris, and London, the story Grace uncovers is that of an extraordinary women who inspired one of Paris’s greatest perfumers. Immortalized in three evocative perfumes, Eva d’Orsey’s history will transform Grace’s life forever, forcing her to choose between the woman she is expected to be and the person she really is. The Perfume Collector explores the complex and obsessive love between muse and artist, and the tremendous power of memory and scent.

The Conscious Parent: Transforming Ourselves, Empowering Our Children by Dr. Shefali Tsabery

When the Dalai Lama write the preview to your book, you know you’ve got something special.  This is a book that made me think and think again about how my own childhood upbringing and life experiences factor into the day-to-day life of raising my daughter.  When I am mindful of my own internal reactions to her, I am better able pause and respond to her without reacting instinctually and emotionally.  This is helping in virtually every area of my life as well.  I read it twice through and underlined many passages that were spot on.  Highly recommend.

How to Declutter Your Home for Simple Living – Decluttering Tips and Closet Organization Ideas for Creating Your Own Personal Oasis by Judith Turnbridge

This one was free on Kindle Unlimited.  She discusses time and mental clutter. Time clutter is caused when an individual has too much to do and not enough time in the day to do it and mental clutter can often occur as a result of living such a hectic life.

Many experts liken the decluttering process to going on a diet. The logic being that the home will be losing its clutter as opposed to weight, but the important thing to recognize is that the process will take time and cannot be sorted out overnight. Like dieting, the decluttering process involves making a plan and identifying and resolving bad habits, but also acknowledges that a little bit of clutter can be accepted occasionally.

What have you been reading lately? And are you on Goodreads? I’d love to connect there.

Everything I’ve Ever Read (I think)

Currently Reading

More monthly book reports