June 2024 Reading List

Summer is here so, there is reading in the pool, reading on the porch, reading in the gazebo and listening while walking, biking, sewing and even while knitting or crocheting. I read SO many good books this month. I will continue to divide them between fiction and non-fiction and hope that I inspire you to pick up a book and read.

Non-fiction
Emotional Blackmail: When the People in Your Life Use Fear, Obligation and Guilt to Manipulate You
by Susan Forward, Donna Frazier
Do you have people in your life that keep you in a FOG by threatening to punish you or ignoring you if you don’t give them exactly what they want? This book is about improving communication and having healthy relationships.

The Peace: A Warrior’s Journey by Romeo Dallaire
This is a very personal story of a journey through horrible trauma to a place where this amazing Canadian public servant does his best to give back and make the world a better place.

Tools To Regulate Your Nervous System: 9 Somatic, Cognitive and Lifestyle Techniques To Create Calm, Relieve Stress and Reduce Anxiety by Learnwell Books
Living a calmer and healthier life is NOT a quick, one-shot deal. You have to incorporate new habits, make better choices and understand how your body connects. The mind-body connection is everything and finding balance between body/mind and spirit will change your life.

The Vagus Nerve Reset: Train You Body to Heal Stress, Trauma and Anxiety
by Anna Ferguson
With practical, immediate ways to establish a mindful connection with our bodies, this book helps us tap into our body’s innate capacity to process and return to a state of safety, transforming the way we respond to every kind of challenge in life. Bring your nervous system into balance and feel connected and positively change your mood. This books has LOTS of research and LOTS of practical applications.

Calm Your Thoughts: Stop Overthinking, Battle Stress, Stop Spiraling and Start Living by Nick Trenton
This is a book about controlling the negativity that you allow in your life – it gives strategies for seeing opportunities and possibilities and avoid getting trapped in anxiety and stress.

Everything is Fucked: A Book About Hope by Mark Manson, Peter Peschke and Max Limper
I did not agree with a lot of what was said in this book. It is more of a blog post than a well-researche book. When I read non-fiction, I prefer research and facts, rather than opinion. He gives you lots to think about but, it is important to keep in mind that it is all HIS opinion.

Thoughts of the Heart: Releasing the Unspoken by Annette Lewis
This is a diary of someone’s life and their hidden thoughts. It has a religious spin.

FICTION:
Quiet in Her Bones by Nalini Singh
A mystery that occurs in a cul-de-sac of rich people. Who actually knows what happened to the victim?

The Longings of Women by Marge Piercy
Three women, three stories, three lives unfold. A story of decisions and fate and how life unfolds, with a direct commentary on the plight of women in society.

Leaving by Roxana Robinson
Can you really walk away from your life and marriage because you find true love?

Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane
A story of love and secrets and finding your way amidst the hard climb of life.

The Summer I Met Jack by Michelle Gable
A little historical fiction, a little politics, cheating and bribing and using people to get what you want.

The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
You could be reading Bridgerton or Downtown Abby – just a story of aristocracy and secrets and life in a different time.

Other People’s Children by Jeff Hoffman
A gut-wrenching story of adoption and family and trying to do the right thing.

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
Some of us are good, others are bad, and some just unfortunate.