Recommended Books

I’ve read some great books in the last year or so that I hope could be helpful to you as well.

The Social Animal - David Brooks
I love almost everything David Brooks, who writes for the New York Times, writes. He is insightful and thoughtful and writes beautifully. This book is especially interesting as he explores how people form relationships with others, evaluating basic human nature from an objective researcher’s point of view.

Rising Strong - Brene Brown
Brene Brown is the leading researcher and social commentator on vulnerability, shame, and the courage it takes to open yourself up to deep relationship. This book focuses on how to recover after failure, disappointment, and rejection to move toward wholehearted living. Below is a quote from the book in which she defines her concept of wholehearted living:

“I define wholehearted living as engaging in our lives from a place of worthiness. It means cultivating the courage, compassion, and connection to wake up in the morning and think, No matter what gets done and how much is left undone, I am enough. It’s going to bed at night thinking, Yes, I am imperfect and vulnerable and sometimes afraid, but that doesn’t change the truth that I am brave and worthy of love and belonging.”

Journey Through Trauma: A Trail Guide to the 5-Phase Cycle of Healing Repeated Trauma - Gretchen SchmelzerThis is an excellent resource for anyone who has endured repeated trauma, especially survivors of childhood sexual abuse, those coming out of domestic violence, and combat veterans. It outlines a roadmap to healing, focusing on the concept that trauma which occurs in relationships must be healed through relationship. It gives hope that although the journey will be hard, it can be done, and healing can be accomplished.

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption - Bryan Stevenson
I was convicted and inspired after reading this memoir of Bryan Stevenson, a young, idealistic lawyer in Alabama, working to defend poor and minority clients on death row and juveniles incarcerated for life. He details the stories of many of his clients, including their background - usually childhoods in poverty, violence, and hard circumstances, to their experiences in the justice system, to the eventual outcome of their cases. It was an eye-opening book about how to fight for true justice. The quote below, from the title page, sums it up:

“Love is the motive but justice is the instrument.” - Reinhold Niebuhr

It Didn’t Start with You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle - Mark Wolynn
This is an illuminating look into how many mental health difficulties (anxiety, chronic pain, depression, obsessive thoughts, phobias, etc.) have their roots in our family history. These can stem from early childhood experiences, trauma and stress to your mother during her pregnancy with you, or even to the lives of your parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents. The emotional legacies of pain, violence, and trauma can be passed on and inherited. This book is a very well researched and insightful resource.