Books That Changed My Life
I hate new year’s resolutions. It gives the impression that something is wrong with me or the way I’ve been living my life. What I do love is making goals. Goals don’t give the implication that I’m changing something about myself, but simply improving where I’m already at. One of my favorite goals to make at the beginning of the year is my reading goal.
When I was growing up, I loved to read. My favorite Disney princess is Belle and one of my favorite TV characters is Rory Gilmore. Huh. I wonder why. Somewhere along the way, I lost that love of reading. I blame college. College reading is exhausting and doesn’t leave much time for recreational reading. But over the past few years, I have found ways to incorporate reading back into my everyday life and I have loved it.
Everyone has their own book preferences, but I want to share a few books that have changed my life (in a variety of ways).
The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*** by Sarah Knight
I listened to this audiobook at the end of 2022 and it was fantastic. The author narrates the book, which makes it a little more personal. I love when authors read their own words because it really makes me feel their message. The book approaches the topic of learning how to say no and working on knowing the parts of life where it is okay to simply not give a f***.
On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam
This book was recommended to me by one of my best friends before I had my daughter in 2019. It is a fantastic aid for sleep training and understanding those first few months with the new bundle of joy that won’t let you sleep. Except, if you read Babywise you might have a little more luck with infant sleep. After following the Babywise method, my daughter was sleeping 8+ hours a night by three weeks and my son was sleeping 10+ hours a night by 7 weeks. Seriously. Read it. It’s magic.
Intuitive Eating by Elyse Resch and Evelyn Tribole
Full disclosure, I’m still reading this book. It’s taking me a while, not because I’m not into it, but because the steps to take to get back to eating intuitively are so deep that I’m taking the time fully ingrain them in my lifestyle. Since beginning the process of learning how to eat intuitively again (intuitive eating is the only way we know how to eat when we’re children), I have felt a much healthier relationship with food.
Twisted Tales, a series by Liz Braswell, Elizabeth Lim, Jen Calonita, and Farrah Rochon
The Twisted Tales books take a look at well-known Disney stories and explore a “what if” situation and how the story would be different and what would stay the same. So far I have read Conceal Don’t Feel (Frozen), Reflection (Mulan), and A Whole New World (Aladdin). I’m a huge Disney fan and these books are a strange reminder to me that everything happens for a reason and that if just one thing was different, the whole world around you could look different too.
This year I have a goal to read at least 52 books: one per week. I think it’s pretty doable, but only time will tell. ITAV has a lot of readers and we’re always looking for new book recommendations. What are some books that have changed your life?
