This week’s list is all non-fiction. I’m busy working on my next novel, so it’s nice to get out of the fantasy world for a while and ground myself in some real world ideas. Funnily enough, this week’s haul seemed to come with a theme (unplanned) which is, “Looking on the bright side of life and being happier.” I’ve got a book about gratitude, one about being creative and happy, and one about looking at the funnier side of mental illness. Given that it’s been raining for over a week and is supposed to rain for six more days, I need all the happy I can get.
- Furiously Happy, by Jenny Lawson. I read her first book, “Let’s Pretend This Never Happened” as part of my 05/01/15 reading list. I found it funny and weird and I’m hoping for more of the same from this book. It’s billed as a look at the funnier sides of depression and anxiety, topics that I can relate to.
- The Gratitude Diaries, by Janice Kaplan. This is another entry in the, “Year of…” genre where the author spends a year doing something and then writes about how it transformed her life. In this case the topic is gratitude. Since we can always practice being more grateful for the good things in our lives, I am interested to see if it brought about any real changes in the author’s life, besides just feeling better about herself. I hope this isn’t just a rehash of “The Secret.”
- Big Magic, by Elizabeth Gilbert. I never understood the hype over “Eat, Pray, Love.” I thought it was good, but not great, and one of the rare instances where I thought the movie was better. This new book is about living a creative life and opening yourself up to the magic that can ensue. It will be interesting to see if she has anything new to offer in the field of creativity, or if this is just a collection of platitudes that those of us who study creativity have heard before.