I love quotes and I love mantras: bite-sized phrases and sentences with big impact. Here are a few that have been on my mind and heart lately:
- Less is more.
- 20% of our actions give us 80% of our results.
- Present is better than perfect.
- The small stuff is actually the big stuff.
- Minimize to maximize.
The Law of Attraction says you find what you are looking for, that the energy you put out is the energy that finds you, so it seems that I’m looking to minimize the ‘should do’ and ‘must do’ tasks in my life for the ‘want’ and ‘wish’ items instead.
The Universe is right.
This month, I’m focusing on one word to help me decrease stress, anxiety and clutter to make space for the things that matter most: MINIMIZE.
It’s time to minimize the mental chaos, to declutter the home and to let go of what’s not important so that there is space, mental energy and bandwidth for what is. And the best way to do that?
Through books and reading, of course!
This month, I’m sharing 20 adult, young adult, middle grade and picture books to help us minimize physical and mental clutter and maximize living. As always, there’s a mixture of adult fiction, non-fiction and children’s literature to learn from. Here they are with a blend of my own reviews and the descriptions from Goodreads.
Just click on the image or title to see the book on my Amazon link or browse my collection on Bookshop instead.
And remember…if you’re a member of my Get Lit(erate) community, you’ll get exclusive access to a special podcast episode where I talk through all the books so you can choose which ones to add to your TBR stack.
Adult Literature:
Present Over Perfect by Shauna Neiquist
I read this book with a sense of disbelief. How was it that Shauna pegged my current way of living so perfectly? It’s like she saw right through the pages and into my mind and heart, inviting me to truly live her words into being and choose present over perfect. I’ve never read ANYTHING that so perfectly captured my day to day struggles with busyness, perfectionism and yes, anxiety. And because I felt seen and understood, I devoured the book in a way that I couldn’t otherwise. I explored many hard lessons that I’m still grappling with today and gained many incredible insights that instantly changed how I think about my purpose. Filled with my sticky notes, this is a book that will sit front and center in my office so I am reminded of the magic within it.
The Joy of Missing Out by Tanya Dalton
Overwhelmed. Do you wake up in the morning already feeling behind? Does the pressure of keeping it all together make you feel anxious and irritable?
Tanya Dalton, CEO and productivity expert, offers you a liberating shift in perspective: feeling overwhelmed isn’t the result of having too much to do — it’s from not knowing where to start.
Doing less might seem counterintuitive, but doing less is more productive, because you’re concentrating on the work you actually want to be doing. Through this book, you can learn how to identify what is important to you and clarify your priorities, develop ways to streamline your specific workflow and discover your purpose.
I Didn’t Do the Thing Today by Madeline Dore
Madeleine Dore has long felt a pressure to be productive. In the pursuit of getting things done, she tried every way to optimize her day, only to keep falling short and feeling behind. She turned to interviewing hundreds of creative thinkers and experts to find the secret to productivity. What she discovered instead was far more enriching: There is more to value in each day than what we did or didn’t do.
For anyone who has struggled with worrying about wasted time or felt caught in the busyness trap or stifled by indecision, I Didn’t Do the Thing Today shares how to take productivity off its pedestal and find more connection, creativity, and curiosity in its place.
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Around the time Elizabeth Gilbert turned thirty, she went through an early-onslaught midlife crisis. She had everything an educated, ambitious American woman was supposed to want—a husband, a house, a successful career. But instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she was consumed with panic, grief, and confusion. She went through a divorce, a crushing depression, another failed love, and the eradication of everything she ever thought she was supposed to be.
To recover from all this, Gilbert took a radical step. In order to give herself the time and space to find out who she really was and what she really wanted, she got rid of her belongings, quit her job, and undertook a yearlong journey around the world—all alone. Eat, Pray, Love is the absorbing chronicle of that year.
Separation Anxiety by Laura Zigman
Six Walks by Ben Shattuck
On an autumn morning in 1849, Henry David Thoreau stepped out his front door to walk the beaches of Cape Cod. Over a century and a half later, Ben Shattuck does the same. With little more than a loaf of bread, brick of cheese, and a notebook, Shattuck sets out to retrace Thoreau’s path through the Cape’s outer beaches, from the elbow to Provincetown’s fingertip.
Along the way, Shattuck encounters unexpected characters, landscapes, and stories, seeing for himself the restorative effects that walking can have on a dampened spirit. Over years of following Thoreau, Shattuck finds himself uncovering new insights about family, love, friendship, and fatherhood, and understanding more deeply the lessons walking can offer through life’s changing seasons.
The Conscious Closet by Elizabeth L. Cline
This book is not just a style guide. It is a call to action to transform one of the most polluting industries on earth–fashion–into a force for good. Readers will learn where our clothes are made and how they’re made, before connecting to a global and impassioned community of stylish fashion revolutionaries. In The Conscious Closet, Elizabeth shows us how we can start to truly love and understand our clothes again–without sacrificing the environment, our morals, or our style in the process.
What We Carry by Maya Shanbhag Lang
This book was a beautifully written, highly addictive avalanche of emotions from cover to cover. I came into this book expecting to gain insight into Maya’s life and relationship with her mother, hopeful that I could learn from her stories to better write my own. Instead, I gained an insight into my own life, my own expectations, my own relationships, my own sense of motherhood and mothering. I laughed, I cried and I cried some more as Maya seemed to speak directly to me, leaving me with lessons on the page that I could not escape. I do not have the words to adequately state how much this book has truly impacted my heart, so I’ll just leave it at this: This book has forever changed how I view myself, my mother, motherhood and the tangled bonds woven between each.
Young Adult Literature:
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
For popular high school senior Samantha Kingston, February 12—”Cupid Day”—should be one big party, a day of valentines and roses and the privileges that come with being at the top of the social pyramid. And it is … until she dies in a terrible accident that night.
However, she still wakes up the next morning. In fact, Sam lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she ever imagined.
The Gospel According to Larry by Janet Tashjian
Josh Swensen is not your average 17-year-old. At the age of two, he was figuring out algebraic equations with colored magnetic numbers. He is a prodigy who only wants to make the world a better place. Josh’s wish comes true when his virtual alter ego, Larry, becomes a huge media sensation. Larry has his own Web site where he posts sermons on anti-consumerism and has a large following of adults and teens. Meanwhile, Larry’s identity is a mystery to everyone. While it seems as if the whole world is trying to figure out Larry’s true identity, Josh feels trapped inside his own creation. What will happen to the world, and to Larry, if he is exposed?
Middle Grade Literature:
The Thing I’m Most Afraid of by Kristin Levine
The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
It’s 1947, and India, newly independent of British rule, has been separated into two countries: Pakistan and India. The divide has created much tension between Hindus and Muslims, and hundreds of thousands are killed crossing borders.
Half-Muslim, half-Hindu twelve-year-old Nisha doesn’t know where she belongs, or what her country is anymore. When Papa decides it’s too dangerous to stay in what is now Pakistan, Nisha and her family become refugees and embark first by train but later on foot to reach her new home. The journey is long, difficult, and dangerous, and after losing her mother as a baby, Nisha can’t imagine losing her homeland, too. But even if her country has been ripped apart, Nisha still believes in the possibility of putting herself back together.
Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate
Jackson and his family have fallen on hard times. There’s no more money for rent. And not much for food, either. His parents, his little sister, and their dog may have to live in their minivan. Again.
Crenshaw is a cat. He’s large, he’s outspoken, and he’s imaginary. He has come back into Jackson’s life to help him. But is an imaginary friend enough to save this family from losing everything?
The One Thing You’d Save by Linda Sue Park
When a teacher asks her class what one thing they would save in an emergency, some students know the answer right away. Others come to their decisions more slowly. And some change their minds when they hear their classmates’ responses. A lively dialog ignites as the students discover unexpected facets of one another—and themselves. With her ear for authentic dialog and knowledge of tweens’ priorities and emotions, Linda Sue Park brings the varied voices of an inclusive classroom to life through carefully honed, engaging, and instantly accessible verse.
Picture Books for All Ages:
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charles Mackesy
I finished this book on National Hugging Day. And that’s a pretty cool coincidence because I hugged this book when I was finished. Well, first I dried my eyes and then I hugged it. The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse by Charlie Mackesy is a treasure. The line and watercolor illustrations are instantly soothing and the handwritten words are heartfelt, introspective and loving. This book soothes the soul, reminds us of the good in the world and fills that hole in your heart that hard times can bring. This book is now propped up in my office and I read it often. Every home should have a copy.
Thankful by Elaine Vickers
Stunning, diorama illustrations bring to life this lullaby of a picture book about celebrating everyday things that make life wonderful.
When the first snow falls, a little girl writes down the things she’s thankful for on strips of paper and links them together. As one idea leads to another, her chain grows longer. There’s so much good in her life: a friend, things that are warm, things that are cold, color, things that can be fixed.
This beautiful story is a much-needed reminder to observe and honor life’s small joys.
Too Much Stuff by Emily Gravett
Meg and Ash are a pair of magpies who are building a nest for their perfect eggs. Although they begin their nest construction using the usual mud, sticks and grass, Meg and Ash are soon convinced that their nest doesn’t have enough stuff and begin to seek out more things to collect and add to an ever-growing pile. From cuckoo clocks to mops and socks, a stroller and even a car – their need for stuff doesn’t seems endless. Until – crash! – the inevitable happens.
This Plus That: Life’s Little Equations by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
From the beloved New York Times bestselling author of I Wish You More, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, a delightful book of fanciful equations.
Whether it’s “wishes + frosting = birthday” or “birds + buds = spring,” each equation is a small delight. This Plus That proves that life’s total experience is always greater than the sum of its parts.
Ten Beautiful Things by Molly Beth Griffin
Lily and her grandmother search for ten beautiful things as they take a long car ride to Iowa and Lily’s new home with Gran. At first, Lily sees nothing beautiful in the April slush and cloudy sky. Soon though, Lily can see beauty in unexpected places, from the smell of spring mud to a cloud shaped like a swan to a dilapidated barn. A furious rainstorm mirrors Lily’s anxiety, but as it clears Lily discovers the tenth beautiful thing: Lily and Gran and their love for each other.
What Matters Most by Emma Dodd
What matters most of all to you? What matters most to me? Let’s take a look around us, and maybe we will see.
A small horse and a large horse celebrate their unconditional love in a sweet story full of gentle rhymes and foil-embellished illustrations. Beloved children’s book creator Emma Dodd explores important themes of identity and belonging in this warm and uplifting story of love.
There you have it! A bibliotherapy book list full of titles designed to help you minimize the unimportant and maximize your quality of life. Tell me: What are your favorite books to help you realize what matters most? Share them in the comments below!
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