Small Town Therapist on Benevolent Bedside Books

 

One of the not fun thing about menopause was waking in the middle of the night in a sweat and being unable to get back to sleep. I tried all kinds of remedies but without qualification what worked best for me was reading. Sometimes it was foolish to start a particular compelling murder mystery or heaven forbid and action adventure series. I wished I had figured out sooner that the best prescription for when you happen to awake in middle of the night is to read literature is soothing or amusing. 

Now beside my bed are six books that meet that qualification.

1. Brian Doyle's One Long River of Song: superb little essays that can be read over and over again and feel comforting, funny and oh so bright. I treasure his insights and his writing prowess.

2. Ross Gay's Book of Delights  Surely I'm not the only one who was engaged and enchanted by Gay's small stories on what delighted him every day for a year. One of my dictums to my clients [and for myself] is to be aware and amused every day and share that which amuses me. His observations are rich, dear and delightful. 

3. John O'Donohue's Anam Cara  My darling brother in law uses this as his go to book whenever he's needing inspiration of having a hard time. I took Mr. O'Donahue into the bathtub with me during Covid and learned so much and now it's a bedside staple for midnight reading. Soothing and wise.

4. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice  I cannot even estimate how many times I've read this book, the feeling I get is like being wrapped in a warm blanket and being served tea and biscuits by a very kind and good friend. Intelligent, loving and amusing Jane peppered her trail blazing book with refreshing and  interesting characters. When I read P& P it quickly calms me,  a very important part of relaxing my sometimes overly busy mind.

5. Isak Dineson  Seven Gothic Tales and Out of Africa  Mind you, I haven't re read these two in years but I'm reluctant to part with them to the thrift store in case I might need them as an emergency read. Engaging and brilliantly written and always good qualities in a woman.

6. Niall Williams This is Happiness  I have only read this once but I loved the book so much that I bought several copies in hardback and gave them to my sons. It sits beside my bed awaiting another read.

We both love to read and most of the time have wildly different tastes but concur on Brian Doyle and John O'Donohue.

I urge you to try both and please report back.

susansmagicfeather 2023 Susan R. Grout