The latest books on my bedside table
It's been a while since I shared what books I've been reading. To be honest, my reading slowed down a bit and I had a lot of books in my queue.
But I've got some fresh momentum now and I'm excited to share!
One incredible theme throughout all these books - making room for the "both/and" of life.
Life is full of seeming contradictions and impossibilities.
Conservation + Consumption, Past + Future, Creativity + Practicality, Science + Spirituality....
These books show all the incredible ways it's possible to widen our minds & our hearts to make room for it all.
Here's what's new and happening on my bedside table:
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer who is a "mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation." Each chapter stands alone - like an essay - so it's an excellent book if you squeeze your reading in between other things. (Ahem, 🙋♀️) Her teachings about the natural world in North America, weave together science with beautiful First Nations wisdom and traditions. She inspires me to connect with the natural world in new and fresh ways.
Scarcity by Eldar Shafir & Sendhil Mullainathan. Two social scientists explain decades of research to discover the cognitive basis for a "scarcity mindset." Plus, how & why we get stuck there, implications for helping others & ourselves get out of it. The authors tackle social issues like poverty and also the concerns of the time-strapped middle & upper middle class.
Outlander (Book 1) by Diana Gabaldon. I tried to read this novel a few years back and it didn't take. But I picked it up again because some friends raved about it at dinner a few weeks back. I am so glad I did. Dennis and I also started watching the Starz series (now on Netflix) together. Warning?/Enticement? - Lots of nudity & great accents.
Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard. A mother tree is an older tree in the forest that communicates wisdom and instructions to younger plants through an underground mesh system of fungi & chemicals. The work of the mother trees turns on the head old rules of forestry (and biology, for that matter) that assumed plants were governed by competition rather than cooperation. Simard was one the scientists to discover this truth and her book shares the science intermixed with her memoir. There are some other fascinating nuances to her story - for instance she is from a multi-generation family of loggers in Canada PLUS an advocate for conservation.
Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. A book about writing & creativity. Written beautifully by a Buddhist spiritual teacher. Yes, please. At the risk of sounding like I have the attention span of nat - I (once again) love that the average chapter is two pages long. If you are interested in exploring the writer within...pick up this book!
What are you reading? I always love to hear back from you!
Much love,
Marijke Ocean
P.S. Where do you get your reading material? Library? Used book stores? Indy book stores in your home town? Anyone tried bookshop.org? Amazon? Just curious what everyone is doing...