My Summer of 2019 Reading List

Oh, for “those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer” … they’re finally here! Many of you will be taking time for well-deserved vacation. But even if we are working, and taking our vacation later in the year, we still feel the urge to pick up a book and read. I love making Summer Reading Lists – all the hope of New Year’s Resolutions, with that niggling thought that I am taking on more than I can chew. But I do it anyway.

In the spirit of hope and optimism like that I experience each January, here’s my 2019 Summer Reading list:

1. “The Power of Kindness” by Brian Goldman – I picked this up last weekend browsing in a Chapters bookstore. I try to be kind to others. And I share with my clients how simple kindness at work can go a long way to creating workplaces of joy, in which people flourish (and produce results). I’m looking forward to this scientific journey into what I already know – how powerful kindness is.
2. “Work As A Spiritual Practice” by Lewis Richmond – I’ve had this on my bookshelf for awhile and picked it up a few weeks ago. Our view of work as separate from “life” bothers me, and I am eager to explore a view of work as spiritual practice. It’s in line with a blog I wrote awhile back – “Do you take your practice to work” – https://margueriteorane.com/vol104/
3. “Eats, Shoots & Leaves” by Lynne Truss – I’m looking forward to this humourous treatise on punctuation that will hopefully make my writing more fun and reduce the work of my editor!
4. “The Monks and Me” by Mary Paterson – I’ve done short retreats and love them. I yearn for longer time spent in meditation and solitude. If I’m missing for 40 days in the next few months, you can credit this book for it.
5. Pablo Neruda – my daughter Victoria LOVES Pablo Neruda. I always wondered why, until I came across one of his love poems a few weeks ago. I now have 3 of his books in which I lose myself each evening.

Having set the intention to read these books, what’s my plan to make sure that by the end of summer my life has been enriched by these authors’ words? Here are 3 steps I am taking, and that you might consider:

1. Dedicate time each morning and evening to read;
2. ALWAYS have one of these books in my bag, so that waiting or travelling time is not wasted;
3. I have started a journal “Summer Reading” in which I reflect each day on what I have read.

Wish me luck! Please share what’s on your Summer Reading List and consider including my 2^nd book – “Forget It! What’s the Point? Letting Go and Claiming Joy” (click HERE) – we can all use a little more joy, even during summer.