I went on a bit of a book shopping spree. It was partly spurred by multiple trips to Chapters stores while Christmas shopping – I simply love their curated selection of gifts – and my current mood. In the last part of last year, life felt so unsettled and it disappointed me how small experiences and normal experiences alike could upheave my life so much. I desperately tried to rationalize things but my philosophical arsenal is feeling a bit thin. So I have procured the following books to set in front of myself to read this year …
- Cameraon Diaz’s The Body Book – it’s a refresher on good habits and an easy and light read on food science where Diaz’s voice is congenial, like talking to a knowledgeable girlfriend
- Oprah Winfrey’s What I Know for Sure – I thought I was going to give up on this after excessive name-dropping about dancing in Tina Turner’s concert and hanging out with Quincy Jones but my e-reader progress bar told me I was already 8% of the way in so I’ll kept at it
- Thich Nhat Hanh’s Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life – eating heathily for me has to be a mixture of forces both external and internal
- Deepak Chopra’s What Are You Hungry For?: The Chopra Solution to Permanent Weight Loss, Well-Being, and Lightness of Soul – apparently I’m looking for a soulful way to control my impulses (rather than hating myself after overeating) – only recently have I watched an infomercial starring Deepak Chropra so I’ll give one volume of his work a read
- His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s How to See Yourself As You Really Are – as an audiobook
- Jessica Alba’s The Honest Life: Living Naturally and True to You – what’s with the celebrity reads?!
- J.L. Witterick’s It’s Actually a Good Thing – this book was promoted so much in ads in my work elevator it worked on me
- Lena Dunham’s Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s “Learned” – title got me as I don’t think I’m that kind of girl either
- David Allen Klinkenberg’s On The Origin Of Religion – this is a follow-up read to Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael from last year, although not the usual one (which might be Quinn’s Providence), but I happened to meet the author and he quoted me the prologue and alluded to exposition therein that I haven’t found elsewhere – having not read academic theses in a while and never one that is theological or philosophical, it could be one of the more challenging reads for me.
- Roxanne Gay’s Bad Feminist – I heard an interview with Roxanne Gay (CBC? NPR?) and was intrigued by this volume; recent influences I’ve encountered in social media have me thinking about my brand of feminism after so many years of apathy – do I really want to be lost any longer?
- Thomas King’s The Inconvenient Indian – this book sounds so important for Canadians to read, learned about it from it being a finalist in Canada Reads 2015