Thought I would give y’all a brief break from the gift guides and share the books that have recently been on my nightstand—plus, I always love giving books as gifts so it’s still relevant to the season.
Two of the books I’m currently reading are new releases that I ordered as soon as they came out and one that is a couple years old but I just hadn’t gotten around to buying it until recently and yes, I’m always simultaneously reading multiple books at once. I like to have one that’s a quick read, easy to pick up and put down, one that brings about some deeper thought and self-analysis, and then one that is just wonderful writing.
Elizabeth Gilbert Big Magic I love Elizabeth Gilbert. Her voice is thoughtful, entertaining, relatable, and strikes a spiritual yet grounded chord. I will be honest, when I first started reading this book I thought that she might have been straying too far into hippy-trippy territory (and my tolerance for that is HIGH), yet I quickly found myself referring back to this book in conversation again and again. It’s inspiring, regardless of whether your pursuit of creativity is through your career, your hobbies, or just in living your day to day life in a happy and meaningful way. As a precursor this this book, her 2009 TED talk is still a classic.
Garden & Gun The Southerner’s Handbook Reading the latest issue of Garden & Gun while I was home over Thanksgiving not only reminded me I need to renew my subscription that expired who knows when, but also that this book had remained on my Wish List for long enough. It’s a beautifully curated collection of essays written by Southern writers on all those unique and quirky facets of Southern life. You can see, hear, taste, and feel the south through these words.
Mindy Kaling Why Not Me? And now the book that’s a quick and hilarious read. While I am not sure anything can be quite as funny as Mindy’s first book, this one has the same self aware humor and almost as many laugh out loud moments. Mindy seems like the best friend you’ve known forever who happens to have a knack for poking fun at her own failures and successes.
What’s currently on your reading list? As a general rule, I don’t tend to read much fiction unless it’s a classic, but do you have any great novels I should pick up this winter?
Also, if you’re curious what I was reading earlier this year, here’s my last reading list post from back in June—I’m impressed with myself that there’s only one of those I didn’t make it through this summer!
