(let's talk): Books to Read in 2013

I'm grateful to have grown up in a household where I was always surrounded by books. Every night before bed we would read instead of watch TV. When I hit middle school, my best friend and I would have sleepovers that would completely revolve around books. We would take old books and trade them in for new ones at our local bookstore, try to collect full series (hello, babysitters club!), and when we got older, subscribed to "Teen People" and all those other pop magazines (hey, reading is reading right?).

Now that I can appreciate a good story (not to put down Ann M. Martin, of course), I love to read all types of novels. As I've mentioned in previous posts, my mom and aunt are book fanatics. They collect, trade, blog, review and talk books all day long. I am so lucky to have endless stacks of novels to choose from, not to mention, have someone else weed out all the not-so-great ones! So much to read, so little time.

So, I thought when I had finished reading an extremely stellar book, or one that I thought someone else may relate to, I would post a little blurb on here as a new feature, (let's talk): Books to Read in 2013.

Dominique Browning was the editor and chief of House and Garden magazine. Recently I've read two of her novels: "Around the House and In the Garden: A Memoir of Heartbreak, Healing and Home Improvement" and "Slow Love: How I Lost my Job, Put on My Pajamas, and Found Happiness".

I always tend to dramatize and imagine an editors life to be glamorous: full of parties, meetings, and deadlines. What I soon learned, is that even the most glamourous of lives from the outside sometimes don't feel so good on the inside. I started with Around the House and in the Garden, which came about 10 years prior to Slow Love. It was a perfect novel for me at the time, seeing as I was moving into a new home, feeling a bit unsure and stepping into new waters. Reading the book gave me reassurance, and taught me to let my life design my house; how to infuse my home with a real sense of self, and make it something that felt warm and comforting to me, not just something that looked pretty for visitors. 

I praise Dominique for having no shame in putting her bathtub right by her window so she could peer outside at her big tree as the seasons changed, and putting her comfiest couch in the kitchen instead of the living room.

Slow Love came years later when the magazine folded and Dominique found herself without a job, and a whole lot of (unwelcomed) free time on her hands. I felt like the universe conspired to give me this book at this specific time in my life (not only because of the tagline, "How I Lost my Job, Put on my Pajamas, and Found Happiness", which is amazing in itself), but more so as it deals with taking a deep breath and living life more slowly.

It reminds you to take the time to figure out who you are apart from all of the life noise. Quite often, I find all my days meshing together: meeting to social gathering, dinner date, coffee date, sleep, work and do it all over again. Slow Love reminded me to take some me time and how important it is to get to know and love yourself first. 

"Someone once explained to me the difference between an introvert and an extrovert: both can enjoy going to a party, but the extrovert is engergized by society, whereas the introvert has to recover from it. My batteries get drained easily these days, and need recharging in silence. Alone, I am willingly, cheerfully, thrown upon myself"

Slow Love/Dominique Browning

I love the consistency in her writing. In both novels, each chapter becomes it's own short story with it's own simple life lesson. For me, it was enough to just pick it up and take even just ten minutes out of the day to read one of her silly, elegantly written anecdotes. 

If you think we may have similar tastes in books, check out my Goodreads page and add me as a friend here!