I’ve been doing some soul searching, reading everything I can on the power of joy and happiness and devouring fiction stories where the characters can teach me a thing or two about reclaiming our lives and finding joy in the process.
I’ve found some excellent tiles and I’m here to share them with you.
Below, you’ll find a collection of books that have made their way to my bookshelf because they are sparking joy. And not in the get-rid-of-everything-we-don’t-need-with-Marie-Kondo sort of joy, but the let’s-remember-what’s-important-and-have-the-confidence-needed-to-make-important-changes-and-celebrate kind of joy.
You’ll find links to my Amazon and Bookshop affiliate stores below. Thanks for your bookish support!
Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness by Ingrid Fetell Lee
In Joyful, designer Ingrid Fetell Lee explores how the seemingly mundane spaces and objects we interact with every day have surprising and powerful effects on our mood. Drawing on insights from neuroscience and psychology, she explains why one setting makes us feel anxious or competitive while another fosters acceptance and delight–and, most importantly, she reveals how we can harness the power of our surroundings to live fuller, healthier, and truly joyful lives.
Laundry Love: Finding Joy in a Common Chore Hardcover by Patric Richardson
This delightful book shines some love on an often under-loved aspect of our lives…the laundry. Patric Richardson so delightfully convinces readers that changing our relationship with laundry can change our lives. It’s full of shockingly helpful tips, but it’s so much more. It’s full of story and memoir, is a testament to the power of family and love and is just a whole lot of fun. It’s the book you didn’t know your life needed.
Don’t Overthink It: Make Easier Decisions, Stop Second-Guessing, and Bring More Joy to Your Life by Anne Bogel
I am plagued by decision fatigue by the end of each day and it has really taken a toll on my physical and mental well-being. I overthink EVERYTHING. But Anne finally made me realize I can actually do something about that. Filled with important information, compelling quotes and vignettes that instantly reminded me of my own life, this book was a breath of fresh air. Sure, it was focused on a pretty intense topic, overthinking, but rather than shame and correct, Anne sympathized and encouraged. I’m leaving this book armed with the tools I need to tackle my overthinking and am eager to get started. I’ll start by shifting my routines to rituals and embracing simple abundance. So, while Anne started as a mentor for my reading life, she is now a mentor for living a life well lived.
In Five Years: A Novel by Rebecca Serle
Oh, my. This book. This book needs to be read. In a single sitting. With comfy pants. And a beverage. And some Kleenex. Maybe a life coach on stand-by, too. It’s incredible. In it, we meet Dannie, a high-powered young woman set to achieve all of her dreams in her 5 year plan: the job, the apartment, the man. But when she falls asleep after a dreamy night of getting engaged, she wakes up next to a different man in a different apartment 5 years into the future. And nothing is as planned. After one shocking hour, she awakes in her real life right on schedule. Except that nothing is on schedule anymore and she’s questioning every decision she thought she’d make for herself. This is a must read.
Eat Pray Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert
Around the time Elizabeth Gilbert turned thirty, she went through an early-onslaught midlife crisis. She went through a divorce, a crushing depression, another failed love, and the eradication of everything she ever thought she was supposed to be. To recover from all this, Gilbert took a radical step. In order to give herself the time and space to find out who she really was and what she really wanted, she got rid of her belongings, quit her job, and undertook a yearlong journey around the world—all alone. Eat, Pray, Love is the absorbing chronicle of that year.
Love & Saffron: A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Love by Kim Fay
This epistolary novel will have you yearning to break out your old-fashioned note cards and get writing. I promise. It all begins when Joan, a young aspiring writer writes to her long-time mentor, Imogene with gratitude for her inspiration and a pouch of saffron as a token of her appreciation. This single letter starts a long distance friendship bound by their love of words and delicious food. Their new connection helps them experience new ideas and flavors and opens their eyes to new possibilities in their own lives, too. Joan said it best: the less we cement ourselves to our certainties, the fuller our lives can be. This book showcased how we can do just that through writing, food, friendship and love.
Hello Sunshine by Laura Dave
Sunshine Mackenzie is living the dream—she’s a culinary star with millions of fans, a line of #1 bestselling cookbooks, and a devoted husband happy to support her every endeavor.
And then she gets hacked.
When Sunshine’s secrets are revealed, her fall from grace is catastrophic. She loses the husband, her show, the fans, and her apartment. She’s forced to return to the childhood home—and the estranged sister—she’s tried hard to forget. But what Sunshine does amid the ashes of her own destruction may well save her life.
