November Gratitude Shorts, Day 18
Yesterday I meant to post about books! There are so many, how can we ever read them all? Thank goodness for all these authors, who take the time and expend the energy to create and publish for the benefit of us all!
I keep a list of my favorites:
- The Art of Possibility, Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander
- Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting, Jon and Myla Kabat-Zinn
- Healing From the Heart, Mehmet Oz, MD
- Now, Discover Your Strengths, Buckingham and Clifton
- The Power of Mindful Learning, Ellen Langer
- A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink
- The Five Love Languages, Gary Chapman
- On Gratitude, Aaron Jensen
- Complications, Atul Gawande, MD
- Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell
- Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath
- Positive Psychology in a Nutshell, Ilona Boniwell
- Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather’s Blessings, Rachel Naomi Remen, MD
- The Inner Game of Tennis, W. Timothy Gallwey
- The Heart Speaks, Mimi Guarneri, MD, FACC
- Proof of Heaven, Eben Alexander, MD
- Peaceful Piggy Meditation, Kerry Lee Maclean
- The Timekeeper, Mitch Albom
- The Social Animal and The Road to Character, David Brooks
- Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engaging With Everyday Life, Mihalyi Csikszentmihaly
- The Mind’s Own Physician, ed. Jon Kabat-Zinn, Richard J. Davidson
- Daring Greatly and Rising Strong, Brené Brown
- Resonate, Nancy Duarte
- Start With Why and Leaders Eat Last, Simon Sinek
- Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert
During visits with patients, many of these titles routinely come up either in my mind or in conversation. I found myself sharing them so often that I finally decided to keep them on a Word file to share electronically, and I add to it regularly. Often, people have already read one or more, which is when I know I am connected with a like soul. I love when that happens!
There are so many books I have yet to read, indeed that I am dying to read–I have bought most of them already! My bookshelves are almost out of space, and the books are spilling out onto most other horizontal surfaces in the house. Here are some titles I plan to read in the next year (the next few months, ideally!); please feel free to suggest others:
- The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
- Being Mortal, Atul Gawande
- Drive, Daniel Pink
- The Book of Forgiving, Desmond Tutu & Mpho Tutu
- How the Body Knows Its Mind, Sian Beilock
I have yet to read most of the ones on this shelf, though I have dipped into many of them a few times. I like to dig deep, mark them up, and take them down over and over again when I make connections between them.

The book post was meant to be lighthearted… Books bring joy, wisdom, knowledge, connection, learning, laughter, pictures–it’s all good!
Today feels heavier, and my focus on reading and writing takes a serious turn… More on that for Day 19…