Are you an avid reader like me? Do you get pleasure in being lost in a juicy contemporary drama or gain inspiration from personal development books or would you rather step into the fantasy of period romance novel? There are times I’ve needed fresh suggestions for good reads so I thought I’d share mine with you!
Me Before You, by JoJo Moyes, is by far my all-time favorite book. Over the course of the last 3 years I’ve actually read it three times (and have seen the movie, too). Touching, thought-provoking and by all means, pull out the tissues!
“Young and quirky Louisa “Lou” Clark moves from one job to the next to help her family make ends meet. Her cheerful attitude is put to the test when she becomes a caregiver for Will Traynor, a wealthy young banker left paralyzed from an accident two years earlier. Will’s cynical outlook starts to change when Louisa shows him that life is worth living. As their bond deepens, their lives and hearts change in ways neither one could have imagined.” Amazon.com
The Big Leap, by Gay Hendricks, is one of those books you can read once and it has profound meaning. Then you can read it again a year later and it will affect you in a different, but just as profound way. It has helped me see where my ‘old messages’ have kept me stuck and how I can make big changes just by being aware of them and taking contrary actions!
“In The Big Leap, Gay Hendricks, the New York Times bestselling author of Five Wishes, demonstrates how to eliminate the barriers to success by overcoming false fears and beliefs. Fans of Wayne Dyer, Eckhart Tolle, Marianne Williamson, and The Secret will find useful, effective tips for breaking down the walls to a better life in The Big Leap.” Amazon.com
The Rosie Project, by Graeme Simsion, took me completely by surprise. As I began to read it, I kept thinking… this character is just like Alec (my son), only to find the main character, Don Tillman, is a man with Aspergers looking for love. No surprise it sounded so much like my son, Alec!
“The art of love is never a science: Meet Don Tillman, a brilliant yet socially inept professor of genetics, who’s decided it’s time he found a wife. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which Don approaches all things, he designs the Wife Project to find his perfect partner: a sixteen-page, scientifically valid survey to filter out the drinkers, the smokers, the late arrivers.
Rosie Jarman possesses all these qualities. Don easily disqualifies her as a candidate for The Wife Project (even if she is “quite intelligent for a barmaid”). But Don is intrigued by Rosie’s own quest to identify her biological father. When an unlikely relationship develops as they collaborate on The Father Project, Don is forced to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie―and the realization that, despite your best scientific efforts, you don’t find love, it finds you.” Amazon.com
The Gift of Forgiveness, by Charles Stanley, is dogeared and the cover has yellowed. I’ve highlighted text, written notes in the columns, and suggested it for countless friends and clients. Whether you’re a Christian or not, this book is for you if you are holding on to a resentment against someone else or need to forgive yourself for something!
“Charles Stanley, one of the most influential spiritual leaders of our day, shares the key to personal and even world peace in The Gift of Forgiveness. as Stanley points out that no sin is so shockingly evil it blocks God’s forgiveness nor so trivial it negates the need for God’s mercy, he shares the specifics of how to go about receiving and giving forgiveness.
The Gift of Forgiveness reflects the heart of Stanley’s teaching ministry. In this markedly helpful book, Stanley addresses such questions as how to practice a life of forgiveness in all your relationships and how to make forgiveness an ongoing, practical experience in your life.” Amazon.com
The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, rounds out my top 5. This is another book, I’ve read multiple times. Jeannette’s memoir is a little difficult (emotionally) to read, but her grit, resilience, and positive attitude have inspired me when my life has been challenging. You’ll have a hard time putting this one down.
“The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette’s brilliant and charismatic father captured his children’s imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn’t want the responsibility of raising a family.
The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered.
The Glass Castle is truly astonishing—a memoir permeated by the intense love of a peculiar but loyal family.” Amazon.com
Ok, now I’ve shared! What are your summer reading picks?