Y'all, my life has been bananas in the last month with traveling, working, parenting, and trying to sell my house and buy a new one. So my list of completed books is pretty low again this month. Not that quantity matters, it's just a clear reflection that my reading time has been very limited as of late, plus my 3rd grader hasn't read through a full chapter book with me in a while. Here are the four books I've finished in the past month.
Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix by Anna-Marie McLemore: This was a creative, queer reimagining of The Great Gatsby that I liked only slightly more than the original (which, to be clear, I don't like very much). I enjoyed the various plot twists, not all of which I caught ahead of time, but thought some of the story threads didn't quite hang together as much as I would have liked.
Love by Design: 6 Ingredients to Build a Lifetime of Love by Sara Nasserzadeh, PhD: This is one of the better relationship self-help books I've read. For each of the factors that Nasserzadeh cites as research-based "ingredients" for satisfying romantic relationships, she includes detailed explanations, example stories, and exercises to help you self-reflect or put these principles into practice in your relationship. What I found especially unique was that it's not just about how to maintain trust or navigate conflict or have a fulfilling sex life, but actually how to continue to feel deep love for your partner, informed by but not reliant on whatever initially drew you together.
Setting Boundaries that Stick: How Neurobiology Can Help You Rewire Your Brain to Feel Safe, Connected, and Empowered by Juliane Taylor Shore: As the subtitle says, this goes beyond giving you the words to set boundaries with other people or within yourself; Shore uses neurobiology to help you develop practices that will engage with the "lower" parts of the brain so that you can feel safe and grounded enough to keep your prefrontal cortex online in order to be able to ask for what you want and protect yourself emotionally regardless of other people's decisions or emotions. I believe a lot more communication would be productive if everyone read this book!
When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chödrön: I'm glad this book has been helpful to so many people; it didn't do a whole lot for me. There were definitely lines and passages that I found intriguing or captivating, but on the whole, it seemed more like a guide to deeply understanding Buddhist philosophy and living more than anything more universal than that.
Looking back:
One year ago I was reading: The Harlequin Tea Set and Other Stories, Nabokov's Favorite Word Is Mauve, The Bad Guys in the Furball Strikes Back, and McDonald's
Five years ago I was reading: The Warmth of Other Suns and Educated
Ten years ago I was reading: A Suitable Boy and Island Beneath the Sea
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