Books I'm reading

I read a lot of books, fiction and non-fiction. I thought I’d list the non-fiction books I am “in the middle of” reading.

The Wonder of Boys: What Parents, Mentors and Educators can do to Shape Boys into Exceptional Men by Michael Gurian. I got this book because I was extremely frustrated with my boys for doing what I was pretty sure was normal boy stuff. I wanted to find something that would help me understand the what and why of boys so that I could love them for who they are. This book has helped. After I was about 1/3 of the way through, I made my husband read it. He has finished, so now I have an obligation to finish it too.

Thinking In Pictures: My Life with Autism by Temple Grandin. This is an amazing book by an amazing person. The most compelling non-fiction read I think I’ve ever had pleasure of laying eyes on. I hate putting it down. I got a little stuck (because of emotions) in an early chapter when she discussed the different kinds of autism and the prognosis of each. I don’t like reading it when I am by myself because then there is nobody for me to read excerpts to. I used to doubt whether Aspergers and Autism were really on the same spectrum. I don’t have those doubts any more. I look forward to reading her next book on Autism (“The Way I See It”), which I already own.

Monkeyluv and Other Essays on Our Lives as Animals by Robert M. Sapolsky. I started this maybe three years ago. It keeps getting pushed down in my pile of stuff until something reminds me and I pull it back out. I enjoy the essays. Sapolsky is a great writer, and I’d hoped to read more than this from him. I also keep trying to read Scientific American Mind, which creates its own “read me!” pile.

When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold S. Kushner. A few years ago someone on one of the lists I was on wrote that this book was very good and not at all what she had expected. I’d heard of it before then, but assumed, I don’t know, maybe that it would be too reliant on putting one’s faith in God. This book is almost anything but that. I’ve been reading it in chunks, when I see it sitting there and I say “yes, I want to keep reading that.” Then life changes a bit and I pick up different books instead. I’ve learned from this book.

How We Choose to Be Happy: The 9 Choices of Extremely Happy People – Their Secrets, Their Stories by Rick Foster & Greg Hicks. I think I bought this from a book club when it was new, back in 1999. I shelved it and was never inclined to pull it out until ½ a year ago. When I did pick it up, I wanted to absorb its messages. It was the right book at the right time. Now I’m slowly chunking away at the rest of it …

Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal by Rachel Naomi Remen, MD. I’m thinking I’ve only had this for a year. I saw it on the shelf when I was buying a different book (one that should be on this list …) I was thinking a lot about being bipolar and how much that had damaged my life and my relationships. There are almost too many gems in this book of short vignettes (2-5 pages each). As with the other books, I tend to read it more when I feel I need the help it offers.

I have many more non-fiction books that I have started, but they’ve been shelved for so long I am not at all sure I’ll ever finish them. I do tend to start them and not finish them! At least I don’t do that for the fiction ones. (Most recently read, in reverse order: An Irish Country Doctor, D is for Deadbeat, Miracle and other Christmas Stories by Connie Willis, Morality for Beautiful Girls (in the First Ladies Detective Agency series, and Julie and Julia).