Books

Hello all,

It’s been a busy week and I’m still working on my next post about mindfulness.  It’s one that takes a lot of thought and I don’t want to rush it, but I do want to keep in touch somehow.  I have been listening to and reading a lot of books lately.  I absolutely love to read, and I also have a 45 minute commute to work one way, so audiobooks are a good way to pass my time.

One of the most interesting books I’ve listened to is called An Unquiet Mind.  It is written by Kay Redfield Jamison who was a UCLA professor and lives with Bipolar disorder. After we finish talking about depression, we are going to explore what it means to have Bipolar Disorder.

Another really interesting read is called, Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan. It tells the story of a woman who developed an infection which contributed toward psychosis. It was a fascinating story.

I’m one of those people that has seven books on their night stand and reads a little of each at different times.  (Not an exaggeration. AT LEAST seven!). Right now I’m reading A Secure Base by John Bowlby.  John Bowlby is the father of attachment which is a topic that relates to everything in our lives. It’s a bit of a heady read, but worth reading. Attachment refers to how we bonded with our primary caregiver. Whatever type of attachment you have will affect you in many ways.   I’m almost finished with a really great book called The Attachment Effect by Peter Lovenheim.  He’s a journalist who spent 6 years investigating and researching attachment and how it effects our lives. I highly recommend this if you want a basic understanding of attachment as well as some great examples from Lovenheim’s life.

I’m also finishing the book Mending the Soul: Understanding and Healing Abuse.  This book is so healing and is recommended for those who have gone through abuse of any type.  Perhaps you want to help people who have been abused. This book will give you a fabulous look at how the church should be addressing abuse.

Wrapping up, I’ll talk about (of course I’m reading more than this) The Book of Forgiving by Desmond Tutu.  This book is a bit intense as it is very thought provoking. The South African people have gone through so much, and Reverend Tutu not only talks about forgiveness but gives examples of how the principles have been applied in his own life during apartheid. I love this book because there are exercises in the book that help you walk through your own healing process on the journey of forgiveness.

One last thing, yes I do read for fun. My favorite novel this past year was Where the Crawdad’s Sing by Delia Owens.  I hope you all will share with me what your favorite books have you read in the past year or so that you would recommend.  It can be anything! It doesn’t have to have anything to do with mental health. Leave your comments in the comment section and let me know what books you have enjoyed.

I want to refer you to my resource page called Books and Other Media. You can click from here or you can go to the main page and look at the top right hand corner of the page and click on ‘Resources.’

I look forward to bringing you information about mindfulness later this weekend.

Cheers!