Read Instead

Some days you just want to cuddle up on the couch, drink coffee and read a good book. You'd feel the difference when you start picking up books (real ones, with covers and spines) instead of phone at the end of a long day. You'd feel healthier, happier and smarter. Here's some titles I recommend for you that you might want to add into your reading list. Dig in. Enjoy. Happy reading! 

1. Classics are like vitamins, you should have them everyday:

Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank

Their Eyes were Watching God, Zora N. Hurston 

Man's Search for Meaning, Victor Frankl 

The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath

The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

Wise Blood, Flannery O'Connor

Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky 

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

2. Books for bosses:

The Big Life, Ann Shoket

Safe People, Henry Cloud

Make it Happen, Lara Casey

Chasing Slow, Erin Loechner

3. Nonfiction I'll forever keep on my bookshelf:

Wild, Cheryl Strayed

Tiny, Beautiful Things, Cheryl Strayed

Eat, Pray, Love, Liz Gilbert

Always a Bridesmaid (for Hire), Jen Glantz

Modern Romance, Aziz Ansari 

Reclaiming Conversation, Sherry Turkle 

Love Does, Bob Goff  

Scary Close, Donald Miller 

The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion 

4. Fiction picks for 2017:

The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah

The Trespasser, Tana French 

Small Great Things, Jodi Picoult

See Me, Nicholas Sparks

The Wonder, Emma Donoghue

5. For the writer in you:

Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott 

On Writing, Stephen King  

Big Magic, Liz Gilbert 

6. A bunch of books featuring crazy chicks gone psycho:

Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn 

Sharp Objects, Gillian Flynn 

Good as Gone, Amy Gentry 

All the Missing Girls, Megan Miranda 

Swimming Lessons, Claire Fuller 

Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins 

The Woman in Cabin 10, Ruth Ware 

7. Books to grow you spiritually: 

Reclaim Your Heart, Yasmin Mogahed

Meaning of Marriage, Tim Keller

Blue like Jazz, Donald Miller

Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster 

Run with the Horses, Eugene Peterson

8. On my docket for 2017: 

These are books that I've either never read or plan to read for a 2nd (or 5th) time in 2017. I can't speak for all of them since I don't know all the content yet but I compiled this list anyway.

Beloved, Toni Morrison 

The Fran Lebowitz Reader, Fran Lebowitz 

The Mothers, Britt Bennett 

Mad Girl's Love Song, Andrew Wilson 

The Color Purple, Alice Walker 

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou 

Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell