In this post, I’ve curated some of the best cozy books to enjoy on a quiet night in when all you want to do is retreat into the pages of a good book and de-stress.

These books ooze comfort and wholesomeness, offering a balm for the soul in troubled times and a reminder of the beauty and goodness of life.

They’re perfect to read in your favourite cozy place, whether that’s by the fireplace, on the sofa, in bed, or soaking in the bath. Read on to warm your heart and ease your nerves…

The most cozy books to read during a quiet evening at home

1. The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

The Shell Seekers is one of the most cozy and wholesome books ever written, and it will always make me think of summer on the beach in Cornwall and quaint English villages just like the one I grew up in.

It’s a book that’s touched the hearts of millions of readers worldwide, about one family in Southern England and the passions and heartbreaks that have held them together for three generations.

The world that Rosamunde Pilcher created is so warm, rich, and immersive that you can’t help but tumble into its country lanes, delicate artwork, and family tiffs and quirks. It’s a warm and enduring classic that offers the kind of reading experience that only comes along once in a while.

2. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

Described by Martha Wells as “an optimistic vision of a lush, beautiful world”, Becky Chambers’s delightful Monk and Robot series is full of feel-good vibes and hope for the future.

If you love Studio Ghibli-inspired books, I’d recommend grabbing a copy of the first book in the series, A Psalm for the Wild-Built.

In its unique world where nature is adored and respected, it’s been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness, laid down their tools, wandered together into the wilderness, and faded into myth and urban legend.

But one day, the life of a tea monk is turned upside down by a robot at their door, asking “what do people need?” And that is a very good – and difficult – question. Here’s my review of A Psalm for the Wild-Built.

3. Still Life by Louise Penny

“Peter swept aside Yogi Tea and Harmony Herbal Blend, though he hesitated a second over the chamomile. …. But no. Violent death demanded Earl Grey…”

Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Gamache series oozes cozy fall vibes. The first book in the series, Still Life, is the coziest murder mystery you will probably ever read.

It’s set in October in Quebec with families gathering for Thanksgiving, characters sitting by the fire as night falls, and friends meeting for meals at the local bistro.

At least on the surface, life is incredibly idyllic in the village of Three Pines, but long-buried secrets are starting to reappear. This cozy book is best read with a cup of hot tea and a crumbly pastry.

4. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

The four March sisters couldn’t be more different. But with their father away at war and their mother working to support the family, they have to rely on one another – whether that’s putting on a play, forming a secret society, or accepting and forgiving each other exactly as they are.

As one of the most wholesome comfort reads ever written, Little Women is Louisa May Alcott’s classic story of four sisters: grown-up Meg, tomboyish Jo, timid Beth, and precocious Amy. It’s the perfect book to read or reread on a cozy night in.

5. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Each time I think back to The Ocean at the End of the Lane, I imagine cozy autumn days in rural Sussex in England, which is where I grew up and the book is also set.

This is one of Neil Gaiman’s most delicate yet terrifying books, centered on a mysterious farm at the end of the road, the unremembered past, and children who are wise beyond their years.

6. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

For a warm and cozy hotel feeling, read A Gentleman in Moscow. This bestselling book is a beautifully transporting novel about Count Alexander Rostov, a man who, in 1922, is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal and ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel.

Rostov, who has never worked a day in his life, must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors.

Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery – and towards a far deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.

7. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

In Garden Spells, an enchanting novel that feels like a warm blanket of a book, we meet the Waverley family; curious and endowed with peculiar gifts that make them outsiders in their hometown of Bascom, North Carolina.

Claire Waverley is known for the dishes she makes with her mystical plants—from the nasturtiums that aid in keeping secrets to the pansies that make children thoughtful.

Although Claire’s rebellious sister, Sydney, fled Bascom the moment she could, she now suddenly returns home with a young daughter of her own. In this captivating book, Claire’s quiet life is turned upside down and the sisters are left to deal with their common legacy.

8. A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami

Whenever I think of A Wild Sheep Chase, I think of snowy countryside. Some of that is because I read it on a winter train journey to Chamonix, France, but it’s also because of the book’s setting.

In this trippy and quasi-detective tale that’s a perfect book for winter, we follow an unnamed, chain-smoking narrator to snowy Hokkaido in Japan.

The reason for the narrator’s adventure is to search for a strange sheep with a star-shaped birthmark, accompanied by his girlfriend who possesses magically seductive and supernaturally perceptive ears. (What can I say, it’s a Murakami novel.)

9. The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan

The Bookshop on the Corner is a wonderfully cozy book about books. Set in a sweet little Scottish town that you’ll soon want to move to, Nina is a literary matchmaker: a librarian with a gift of finding the perfect book for her readers. However, after losing the job she loves, Nina must make a new life for herself.

Determined and ready for a new start, Nina moves to a sleepy village where she buys a van and transforms it into a mobile bookshop. She drives her bookmobile from neighborhood to neighborhood, changing one life after another with the power of storytelling.

Nina discovers there’s plenty of adventure, magic, and soul in a place that’s beginning to feel like home… a place where she just might be able to write her own happy ending.

10. The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller

This full-hearted novel is a cozy book about Olivia Rawlings, a big-city pastry chef extraordinaire who discovers the true meaning of home when she escapes from the city to the most comforting place she can think of – the idyllic town of Guthrie, Vermont.

This is meant to be just a short getaway, until Margaret Hurley, the cantankerous owner of the Sugar Maple Inn, offers Livvy a job. Broke and not sure what else to do next, Livvy accepts – and realises that the most unexpected twists and turns in life can be the best things to happen to you.

So, which cozy book will you read next? Take your pick and treat yourself to a warm cup of tea, a cozy blanket, and freedom from notifications and distractions for some relaxing time to unwind.

For more cozy books, you might also like my favourite books for winter, wholesome books, and feel-good books.

The post 10 of the best cozy books to snuggle up with on a quiet night in appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

Making coffee in the morning, watching birds fly overhead, sitting with a loved one, observing the seasons change from green to orange… the little things can be the most precious parts of life.

The humble and quiet slice-of-life books I’ve compiled in this post are some of my favourites about the beauty of life in all its everyday (and even mundane) details.

The best quiet slice-of-life books about everyday life

1. Stoner by John Williams

Stoner, the quiet and unassuming story about the life of a solitary English professor, has become an iconic classic. Sent to the state university to study agronomy, William Stoner instead falls in love with English literature and embraces a scholar’s life, so different from the hardscrabble existence of a dirt-poor Missouri family that he grew up with. In this heartbreaking yet beautiful novel, William Stoner emerges as an unlikely existential hero.

2. Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

If you could go back in time, who would you want to meet? In this heartwarming and quirky book, a small back alley in Tokyo is home to a café that has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. Local legend says that this shop offers something else besides coffee – the chance to travel back in time.

Over the course of one summer, four customers visit the café in the hopes of making that journey. But time travel isn’t so simple, and there are rules that must be followed. Most importantly, the trip can last only as long as it takes for the coffee to get cold.

3. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award, Gilead is one of the most comforting and quietly moving novels of this century so far.

A beautifully-written book with gorgeous prose, here Marilynne Robinson illuminates life and spirituality through the point of view of an elderly priest reflecting on his life.

This is Reverend John Ame’s hymn of praise and lamentation to the God-haunted existence that he loves passionately and from which he will soon part. It’s not without its bittersweet elements, but overall it’s an uplifting book.

4. The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama

In The Samurai’s Garden, a graceful novel that will remind you of the beauty and goodness of life, Stephen, a 20-year-old Chinese painter, is sent to his family’s summer home in a Japanese coastal village to recover from a bout of tuberculosis.

Here he is cared for by Matsu, a reticent housekeeper, master gardener, and samurai of the soul; above all, a man devoted to doing good and finding beauty in a cruel world.

Over the course of a year, Matsu helps him not just to recover his physical strength, but also to realise profound spiritual insights.

5. Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

Like my favourite Japanese writers, Banana Yoshimoto has the unparalleled ability to turn something so ordinary and everyday into otherworldly magic.

Can cooking help you to cope with the despondency of loss? Yes, this introspective and soothing story of two free-spirited young women in contemporary Japan suggests. Perhaps it can.

6. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Elizabeth Strout is one of the very best slice-of-life authors, carving stories around her characters’ everyday lives and thoughts without always following much of a plot. Her books are so quietly poignant, honest, and real.

To get started with Elizabeth Strout, read her Olive Kitteridge series for some of the most down-to-earth books you can find. As one fan on Reddit shares about this series, “as a reader, you can read without needing to expect much out of it, and so it’s refreshing and thought-provoking”.

7. The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa

The Travelling Cat Chronicles works its way into your heart as a warm-hearted and life-affirming celebration of how the smallest things can provide the greatest joy.

As a book with Studio Ghibli vibes, author Hiro Arikawa gives voice to Nana the cat and his owner, Satoru, as they take to the road on a journey with no other purpose than to visit three of Satoru’s longtime friends. However, the plan turns out to be different than Nana was led to expect.

As they witness the changing scenery and seasons of Japan on their travels, they will learn the true meaning of courage, gratitude, loyalty, and love.

8. A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler

I discussed with Iain whether to include A Whole Life in this list of slice-of-life books. On the one hand, it’s a beautifully quiet book in which simultaneously not much happens and life happens.

However, in a similar way to Stoner (which also made this list), it’s heartbreaking and might move you to tears, if you’re anything like me. I decided it can stay. It’s a gorgeous book about the course of one man’s life, lived out in solitude by the Austrian Alps.

9. The Housekeeper and The Professor by Yoko Ogawa

One of the true masterpieces of Japanese fiction, Yoko Ogawa turns mathematics into an elegant art in this beautiful, unpretentious and clever novel.

Each morning, the Professor and the Housekeeper are introduced to one another. Although the Professor’s mind is alive with mathematical equations, his short-term memory is a mere eighty minutes after a car accident threatened his life and ended his academic career some years ago.

With the clever maths riddles he devises – based on the Housekeeper’s birthday, her shoe size, or other little details – the two are brought together in a beautifully geeky classic love story that forms a bond deeper than memory.

10. Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa

Sweet Bean Paste is a delightfully wholesome book that speaks volumes about the power of connection and friendship.

Sentaro’s life hasn’t gone to plan. His dream of becoming a writer has long been forgotten, and now he has a criminal record, drinks too much, and spends day after day in a tiny confectionery shop selling dorayaki, a type of pancake filled with sweet bean paste.

However, when Tokue, an elderly woman with a troubled past, comes into his life, everything changes for both of them.

11. All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

All Creatures Great and Small is a true balm for the soul. In this classic feel-good book, meet the world’s most beloved veterinarian – and his menagerie of heartwarming, funny, and tragic animal patients – as he takes up his calling and discovers the realities of everyday life in his veterinary practice in rural Yorkshire.

One reader on Reddit shares that “James Herriot has been my comfort author for my whole life, everything is so cozy, warm, and light”. I couldn’t agree more: he’s one of the all-time best feel-good writers.

12. The Corfu Trilogy by Gerald Durrell

If you love James Herriot’s books, you might also like this joyful and lighthearted autobiographical trilogy by Gerald Durrell, the British naturalist, writer, zookeeper, conservationist, and television presenter.

The Corfu Trilogy shares Gerald’s story of growing up on Corfu in the 1930s as a budding naturalist, sharing his observations of the flora and fauna surrounding his sun-soaked home as he discovered his passion for animals.

I love this review by the New York Times: “A delightful book full of simple, well-known things: cicadas in the olive groves, lamp fishing at night, the complexities of fish and animals – but, above all, childhood moulded by these things.”

13. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

Murakami is the master of blending slice-of-life everyday events like cleaning, cooking, drinking whisky, and doing laundry with the supernatural – think cats, deep wells, and otherworldly meetings with people who aren’t quite who they seem. 

Norwegian Wood is a great starting point if you haven’t read any books by Murakami yet. It’s a magnificent coming-of-age story steeped in nostalgia, in which the iconic author blends the music, the mood, and the ethos of the sixties with a young man’s hopeless and heroic first love.

14. Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry

As she goes through her quiet days alone in this delicately beautiful novel, Hannah Coulter, now in her eighties and widowed twice, reminisces about the love she has had for the land, her community in a tight-knit rural town, and her time building a home and a family.

Hannah Coulter is part of the Port William series, a quietly beautiful collection of novels by the American novelist, poet, environmental activist, cultural critic, and farmer, Wendell Berry.

For more gorgeous books, you might like my collections of the most beautiful books to treasure for years to come, the most beautifully written books, and the best books to remind you of the beauty of life.

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Since then, we’ve been slowly working our way through the rest of the Ghibli catalogue and adding more favourites to our list.

Studio Ghibli movies share much of what I love in my favourite wholesome books – a gentleness that helps me to breathe deeper and slow down, respect and admiration for wild nature, and that feeling of being caught up in a moment and fully experiencing its beauty.

To accompany movies like Hayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and my own current Ghibli favourite by Isao Takahata, Only Yesterday, here are some of the best books I’ve read with a Studio Ghibli vibe.

Books to remind you of Studio Ghibli

1. The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh

The cover of this New York Times bestseller for 2022 is stunning – and so is the story. Axie Oh’s The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea is an enthralling feminist retelling of the classic Korean folktale “The Tale of Shim Cheong,” in which a young girl is swept away to the Spirit Realm to try and bring an end to the storms that have been ravaging her homeland for generations. But a human cannot live long in the land of the spirits. And there are those who would do anything to keep the Sea God from waking.

It’s the perfect enchanting next read for you if you’re a fan of Uprooted by Naomi Novik and Miyazaki’s Spirited Away.

2. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

If anyone is adult Studio Ghibli in book form, it’d be Haruki Murakami. Kafka on the Shore is probably my overall favourite Murakami novel, although I feel like Norwegian Wood has more of a Ghibli feel to it.

Murakami is the master of blending slice-of-life everyday events like cleaning, cooking, and laundry with the supernatural – think cats, deep wells, and otherworldly meetings with people who aren’t quite who they seem. Norwegian Wood is a great entry point.

3. Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

What can be more Ghibli than the book version of Howl’s Moving Castle? Published in 1986, over a decade before the animated film was released, this is Diana Wynne Jones’s imagining of one woman’s stumbling upon an ever-moving castle in the hills, belonging to a mysterious wizard with plenty of demons.

4. Ronia, the Robber’s Daughter by Astrid Lindgren

I mean, look at how fantastic this book cover is. Ronia, The Robber’s Daughter is another book adapted into a Studio Ghibli movie, originally imagined by Astrid Lingren, author of Pippi Longstocking.

As the only child of Matt, the chief of a clan of robbers living in a castle in the woodlands of early-Medieval Scandinavia, Ronia is expected to become the leader of the clan someday. But alone in the forest is where Ronia feels truly at home. And one day, Ronia meets Birk, the son of Matt’s arch-enemy.

5. Miyazakiworld: A Life in Art by Susan Napier

Okay, this book has a different type of Ghibli vibe. It’s a recent biography of the co-founder of the studio, Hayao Miyazaki – one of the greatest living animators, with an impressive oeuvre that only someone with otherworldly focus and a substantial amount of workaholism could really cultivate.

This is Napier’s story of the themes crisscrossing Miyazaki’s work at Studio Ghibli, from empowered women to environmental disasters to dreamy utopian meadows – and the life story that influenced them.

6. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

If you imagine a Russian spin on Spirited Away, The Bear and the Nightingale would come close. At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn’t mind – she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her siblings, listening to her nurse’s fairy tales.

The family honours the spirits of house, garden, and forest that protect their homes from evil, but when Vasilisa’s mother dies, her father brings home a new wife who forbids her family from honouring the spirits. More hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows, and as danger circles, Vasilisa must call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed to protect her family.

7. A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

In this magical and wholesome book, Tree-ear is an orphan who lives under a bridge in Ch’ulp’o, a potters’ village known for its delicate celadon ware. The local craft fascinates him, and he wants nothing more than to watch the master potter Min at work – and perhaps make a pot of his own one day. When Min takes Tree-ear on as his helper, Tree-ear is elated. That is, until he sees the obstacles in his path that he must encounter to prove himself.

8. Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa

Sweet Bean Paste is a delightful slice-of-life book that speaks volumes about the power of connection and friendship.

Sentaro’s life hasn’t gone to plan. His dream of becoming a writer has long been forgotten, and now he has a criminal record, drinks too much, and spends day after day in a tiny confectionery shop selling dorayaki, a type of pancake filled with sweet bean paste. But when Tokue, an elderly woman with a troubled past, comes into his life, everything changes for both of them.

9. The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa

A warm-hearted and life-affirming celebration of how the smallest things can provide the greatest joy, The Travelling Cat Chronicles works its way into your heart like the best of Studio Ghibli.

Author Hiro Arikawa gives voice to Nana the cat and his owner, Satoru, as they take to the road on a journey with no other purpose than to visit three of Satoru’s longtime friends. However, the plan turns out to be different than Nana was led to expect. As they witness the changing scenery and seasons of Japan on their travels, they will learn the true meaning of courage, gratitude, loyalty, and love.

10. The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

Can a robot survive in the wilderness? In this bestselling illustrated middle-grade novel that’s also a wholesome treat for grown-up readers, Wall-E meets Hatchet when robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time and discovers that she is all alone on a remote and wild island.

Roz has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is – but she knows she needs to survive. And that depends on adapting to her surroundings and befriending the island’s unwelcoming inhabitants.

11. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

With the whimsical fantasy that readers love about Neil Gailman’s books, they’re a great choice if you’re looking for a Studio Ghibli vibe. In The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Gaiman transports us to Sussex – my own home county in England – where a middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral.

The house he lived in is long gone, but he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, which reminds him of a past too strange, frightening, and dangerous to have really happened. Delicate and menacing, Gaiman summons the haunting and beautiful nostalgia of childhood like no one else really can.

12. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

I love this review from Cory Doctorow of this childhood classic: “A book that every young person should read, a book that provides a road map for seeking knowledge and compassion even at the worst of times, a book to make the world a better place.” If you loved the sibling adventure theme of My Neighbour Totoro, this is another great pick.

If you want more tender and gentle books like Studio Ghibli, you might also like my post of recommended wholesome reads that feel like a warm hug, as well as my list of books with a cottagecore vibe.

The post 12 books with a Studio Ghibli vibe that are full of magic and beauty appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

I had a bad burnout back in 2018, just before leaving my full-time job to never go back (you can read about this in my book, Mountain Song). I made a lot of positive changes back then, including a conscious effort to cultivate environments that support me and allow me to just be me, as a woman with autism spectrum disorder.

Unexpectedly if you follow this blog, books have been a big part of my recovery from burnout – and a way to prevent it from returning. Books have helped me through anxiety, trauma, accepting myself as a woman with autism, and so much more. I knew they had some wisdom to share with me now.

While recovering from burnout, I’ve been choosing books that let me retreat into worlds that intrigue me, reduce my stress levels, and show me windows of opportunity in my own life.

I’ve also made my reading time as sacred as possible. There’s nowhere else I’ve needed to be, all I’ve had to do is grab a blanket and a cup of tea and immerse myself in words.

Here are my suggestions of the best books for burnout that can help to guide you towards peace, balance, and energy on the other side. If you’re facing burnout at the moment, I hope they can help you too.

8 books that helped me recover from burnout

1. Lean Out: A Meditation on the Madness of Modern Life by Tara Henley

I loved this book (and shared more thoughts here). Tara Henley, a Canadian journalist, navigates her own burnout in a society that can feel like a surefire recipe for anxiety and exhaustion.

In this memoir, Tara shares the story of her time off from the frantic newsroom to look for different ways of living. In Lean Out, she explores the worlds of self-sufficiency, homesteading, and financial independence and retiring early (FIRE) among other options for a slower, simpler way of life.

More books like Lean Out:

• Meet the Frugalwoods: Achieving Financial Independence Through Simple Living by Elizabeth Willard Thames – If you also love books about frugality combined with financial independence (think Your Money Or Your Life by Vicki Robin), this book is a fantastic next choice. It’s the author’s story of how she and her husband, Nate, retired to a homestead in rural Vermont in their early thirties.

2. Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig

It’s not just you: the world we live in is exhausting and anxiety-inducing, and lately it’s felt like it’s only getting more so. Notes on a Nervous Planet is Matt Haig’s exploration of how modern life feeds our anxiety – and how to live a better, calmer life that prevents burnout and anxiety.

“We often find ourselves wishing for more hours in the day, but that wouldn’t help anything. The problem, clearly, isn’t that we have a shortage of time. It’s more that we have an overload of everything else.”

Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig

More books like Notes on a Nervous Planet:

• Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig – You should absolutely read this bestseller if you’re experiencing depression as well as burnout. Matt Haig’s popular fiction book, The Midnight Library is a great choice too.

3. Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa

Sometimes when you’re recovering from burnout, a wholesome and magical book is just what you need. Think about some of your favourite childhood or feel-good books, or start with Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa, a delightful slice-of-life book about the power of friendship.

Sentaro’s life hasn’t gone to plan. His dream of becoming a writer has long been forgotten, and now he has a criminal record, drinks too much, and spends day after day in a tiny confectionery shop selling dorayaki, a type of pancake filled with sweet bean paste. But when Tokue, an elderly woman with a troubled past, comes into his life, everything changes for both of them.

More books like Sweet Bean Paste:

• For more books like this, you might like my recommendations of the most wholesome comfort reads that feel like a hug, as well as my list of books with a Studio Ghibli vibe.

4. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Sometimes during burnout you just want to escape for a while – and a binge-worthy book is a great place to start. You can read my list of the best books to binge-read here, but one of my go-to author suggestions is Taylor Jenkins Reid.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is the perfect book to immerse yourself in during a laid-back, hygge weekend. It’s about an ageing and reclusive Hollywood movie icon who’s finally ready to tell the story of her glamorous and scandalous life: a story that has a lot more to it than anyone could’ve expected.

More books like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo:

• Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid: In this bestselling new novel for 2022, a tennis star legend supposedly past her prime at thirty-seven, is brought back to the tennis court for one more grand slam. 

5. Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver

Prodigal Summer is one of my most treasured books, about a single summer in bloom by the Appalachian Mountains. As new life and the sensuality of nature blossom, we’re swept into three different yet interconnected lives in the Appalachian mountains.

Deanna is a local girl turned biologist turned forest ranger, living reclusively in a cabin in the woods. Lusa is a city girl turned entomologist turned farmer’s wife. And Garnett is a grumpy old man, fed up with neighbour Nannie Rawley, everyone else’s favourite eccentric old woman and organic apple farmer.

Each time I re-read this book, especially when I’m feeling burned out and in need of an escape, I remember how much I love all of these characters.

6. Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski, PhD and Amelia Nagoski, DMA

This isn’t just a groundbreaking book about burnout, but also a book about why women experience burnout differently than men. Emily Nagoski, author of the bestselling Come As You Are, provides a simple, research-based plan to help you minimize stress, manage emotions when you’re already operating at 110%, and live a more joyful life in an often sexist world.

More books like Burnout:

• When the Body Says No by Gabor Maté. In this illuminating book, Gabor Maté shows us that emotion and psychological stress aren’t just temporary problems, but also play a powerful role in the onset of chronic illness.

7. Closer to the Ground by Dylan Tomine

Just flicking through the pages of Closer to the Ground is enough to soothe my nerves and calm me down. It’s a deeply personal story of a father learning to share his love of nature with his children, not through stories or pictures, but directly and palpably in their wild surroundings.

Through each of the seasons in the Pacific North West, they forage, cook and eat from the woods and sea. When I first read the book, I looked forward to returning to the book’s beautiful pages every evening and letting the slow and quiet way of life soothe me before bed.

More books like Closer to the Ground:

• You might also like my post on the best books set in nature to imagine escaping into the wild.

8. Down to Earth: A Guide to Simple Living by Rhonda Hetzel

During burnout, I loved settling down in the evenings to spend an hour reading Down to Earth. Rhonda Hetzel writes like the Australian friend you wished you had, offering neighbourly guidance on how to encourage your carrot seeds to germinate, save cash on groceries, knit your own dishcloths, and brew ginger beer.

While taking some time off from work, I’ve been exploring how I can steer my life further in this direction. I loved growing my own vegetables last summer, and already have pots of carrots, radishes, peas, spinach, and kale emerging from the soil on our balcony here in Copenhagen.

Down to Earth has been a wonderful treasure trove of ideas to accompany my urban vegetable garden and help me to slow down, focus mindfully on small projects and tasks around the house, and disconnect from online life.

“Simple living is not about buying a lifestyle, it’s about building a life – using what you already have.”

Down to Earth: A Guide to Simple Living by Rhonda Hetzel

More books like Down to Earth:

• Animal, Vegetable, Mineral by Barbara Kingsolver – If you love Barbara Kingsolver’s fiction, give her non-fiction a go with this collection of essays. The book charts her decision to move from Arizona to the Appalachians in pursuit of fertile earth and local, seasonal food – much of it fresh from her own garden. She navigates the line between environmental call to action and celebration of simpler living wonderfully.

The post 8 books to read during burnout when you feel exhausted appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

“Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields…Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.”

Ah, the beauty of early mornings… the sun hasn’t quite risen, the day is undisturbed as most are still in their beds, and the birds are starting to chatter outside.

For some of us, it’s the most precious time of day: a period of peace, creativity, and contemplation. And for some authors, too

Hemingway aspired to “write every morning as soon after first light as possible,” when “there is no one to disturb you and it is cool or cold and you come to your work and warm as you write”.

My favourite description of morning writing may be from Toni Morrison, though, whose ritual was to rise around 5:00, make coffee, and “watch the light come.” This last part was crucial to her:

“Writers all devise ways to approach that place where they expect to make the contact, where they become the conduit, or where they engage in this mysterious process. […] For me, light is the signal in the transaction. It’s not being in the light, it’s being there before it arrives. It enables me, in some sense.”

Toni Morrison

It’s not always easy to keep up with the rituals we aspire for, but when we do – such as with the help of some beautiful writing – it can make for a magical day.

Here are some of my favourite books that celebrate the beauty of morning and waking early, featuring authors and characters who get a headstart on the day and recognise the preciousness of those early hours.

6 books about waking up early and enjoying morning

1. A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver

As the queen of early mornings, I could put every book of Mary Oliver’s poetry and writing on this list. In her gorgeous essay collection, Long Life, she reasons:

“This is to say nothing against afternoons evenings or even midnight. Each has its portion of the spectacular. But dawn—dawn is a gift. Much is revealed about a person by his or her passion, or indifference, to this opening of the door of day. No one who loves dawn, and is abroad to see it, could be a stranger to me.”

Long Life by Mary Oliver

For a beautiful book to accompany your early mornings – or a compelling incentive to roll out of bed a little earlier – pick up a copy of Mary Oliver’s poetry to keep on your bedside table.

Why I Wake Early and A Thousand Mornings are both perfect collections to choose, or enjoy a wider diversity of her poetry in Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver.

2. Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid by Lemony Snicket

Horseradish is a lovely little collection of Lemony Snicket’s happy observations on life, including this wonderful take on mornings:

“Morning is an important time of day, because how you spend your morning can often tell you what kind of day you are going to have. For instance, if you wake up to the sound of twittering birds, and find yourself in an enormous canopy bed, with a butler standing next to you holding a breakfast of freshly made muffins and hand-squeezed orange juice on a silver tray, you will know that your day will be a splendid one. If you wake up to the sound of church bells, and find yourself in a fairly big regular bed, with a butler standing next to you holding a breakfast of hot tea and toast on a plate, you will know that your day will be O.K. And if you wake up to the sound of somebody banging two metal pots together, and find yourself in a small bunk bed, with a nasty foreman standing in the doorway holding no breakfast at all, you will know that your day will be horrid.”

Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can’t Avoid by Lemony Snicket

3. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami

If Mary Oliver is the queen of mornings, then Haruki Murakami must be king. His characters often follow a formula featuring coffee, jazz, whisky, and yes, waking up early. If you read about Murakami’s own intriguing routines and creative rituals, you’ll notice the inspirations from his own life.

In his memoir, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, Murakami shares the routine he adopted after closing the jazz bar he used to run: “to go to bed soon after it got dark, and wake up with the sun”. In the morning he would write, and in the afternoon he would run.

As Murakami realises, we each have our own motivations and rewards for waking up early – be it the rich orange sunrise, a chorus of blackbirds, clear-headed creativity, or something else entirely:

“In the 1980s I used to jog every morning in Tokyo and often passed a very attractive young woman. We passed each other jogging for several years and got to recognize each other by sight and smile a greeting each time we passed. I never spoke to her (I’m too shy), and of course don’t even know her name. But seeing her face every morning as I ran was one of life’s small pleasures. Without pleasures like that, it’s pretty hard to get up and go jogging every morning.“

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami

4. Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami

Okay, I’ve allowed two books by Murakami in this post – but I did have to cut several more. I love Murakami’s imaginings of escaping the world, summoning creative work, and early morning rituals in Killing Commendatore. Here’s a favourite:

“I would get up early in the morning (I generally always wake before six), brew coffee in the kitchen, and then, mug in hand, pad off to the studio and sit on the stool in front of the canvas. And focus my feelings. Listen closely to the echoes in my heart, trying to grasp the image of something that had to be there.”

Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami

5. Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May

Wintering, the stunning celebration of slowing down and allowing our bodies to recuperate by Katherine May, includes this beautifully-penned ode to the wonders of quiet early hours when you can’t sleep:

“I’ve come to love this part of the night, the almost-morning, which feels exclusively mine. Being the only one awake makes it a luxurious space in which I can drink in the silence. It’s an undemanding moment in the 24-hour cycle, in which nobody can reasonably expect you to be checking texts or emails, and the scrolling feeds of social media have fallen quiet. In a world where it’s hard to feel alone, this, finally, is solitude.”

Wintering by Katherine May

May adds, “this is a time in which only a few activities seem right”. Mostly, that’s reading, or “roaming through the pile of books that live by my favourite chair, waiting to offer up fragments of learning, rather than inviting cover-to-cover pursuits.”

6. The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron

It’s in this book that Julia Cameron shares her concept of “morning pages” – or dedicating time every morning to opening a notebook and emptying the contents of your mind into it before starting the day. As Cameron explains, “all that angry, whiny, petty stuff that you write down in the morning stands between you and your creativity.” And once your morning pages are done, you can truly get on with the day.

The post 6 books about the joy of waking up early in the morning appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

Cottagecore (thank the internet for the name) has ascended during covid-19 as more of us have turned to sourdough, craft projects, and container vegetable planting during months at home. Many of us have also just yearned for more comfort, simplicity, and wholesome moments.

Here are some of my favourite beautiful books with cottagecore vibes to imagine a slow-paced, romanticised life close to nature with an abundance of simple pleasures. With both fiction and non-fiction recommendations, fill your reading list with books to inspire your cottagecore life and make more of it a reality.

The cottagecore reading list

1. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

Included in the beautifully illustrated Puffin in Bloom series, this cherished feel-good classic features everyone’s favourite red-headed orphan, Anne Shirley. It’s a wholesome, comforting read that feels like a warm hug in a book.

2. How to be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals by Sy Montgomery

I read How to Be a Good Creature a few years ago and loved it. It’s a wholesome, beautifully illustrated look at the joy and companionship that animals bring us in all shapes and sizes, told by Sy Montgomery as a memoir of her life with animals.

3. The Way Through the Woods: On Mushrooms and Mourning by Long Litt Woon

There are plenty of memoirs surging up bestseller lists by writers who have found their way through grief by hiking, gardening, or the like. But mushroom foraging? That’s a new one to me.

When Long Litt Woon loses her husband of 32 years to an unexpected death, she is utterly bereft. As an immigrant in her country, she feels lost and disoriented before she wanders off deep into the woods with mushroom hunters and is taught how to see clearly what is all around her, make distinctions, take educated risks, and truly pay attention to nature. The Way Through The Woods shares her story of returning to life and to living through foraging.

For an even deeper exploration of mushrooms, read Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake.

4. Embroidered Wild Flowers: Patterns Inspired by Field and Forest by Kazuko Aoki

Before this year, the last time I picked up a needle for anything more than repairing clothes was textiles class at school. But I’ve returned to the quiet joy of making things with needle and thread via a small embroidery project – and now I’m looking for any excuse to embroider rows of wild flowers on pillowcases and any other innocent piece of fabric lying around.

As inspiration, Kazuko Aoki’s books caught my eye – as a textile artist and avid gardener, she shares stunningly delicate patterns of wildflowers in Embroidered Wild Flowers. In another book, The Embroidered Garden, she shares home garden favourites.

5. The Complete Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem

Like The Wild in the Willows and Beatrix Potter, I grew up reading Brambly Hedge – one of the archetypal English children’s books.

Since the first books were published in 1980, the ethos of Brambly Hedge’s community spirit, seasonal cooking, and sustainability is perhaps more relevant in today’s world than ever before. Here’s the complete edition to peruse Jill Barklem’s wonderful illustrations and stories of life in the hedgerow.

6. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Robin Wall Kimmerer is one of the most magical nature writers I’ve read in the last few years. Described as “a hymn of love to the world” by Elizabeth Gilbert, Braiding Sweetgrass is her celebration of indigenous wisdom and the beauty of nature.

Robin Wall Kimmerer’s earlier book, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses, is also stunning.

8. The Walker’s Guide to Outdoor Clues and Signs by Tristan Gooley

Heading out into nature and hearing the chatter of birds, noticing the rustle of a deer in the forest, or observing a tree shaped by the wind is a balm for the soul. But what does it all mean? Tristan Gooley is my go-to recommendation for learning how to read the signs and secrets of the natural world.

9. Eat What You Grow: How to Have an Undemanding Edible Garden That Is Both Beautiful and Productive by Alys Fowler

Last summer in quarantine at my Dad’s house in England was my year for growing tomatoes, lettuce, and aubergine. Now in Copenhagen, I’m getting more creative. My pea seedlings are shooting up, my spinach is nearly ready for thinning, and I have carrot seedlings and radishes joyfully cohabiting.

As a guide to nurturing a productive and beautiful garden, Alys Fowler released this helpful guide in Spring 2021. For other vegetable gardening books that are both knowledgeable and a joy to read, turn to James Wong’s Homegrown Revolution or The Urban Vegetable Patch: A Modern Guide to Growing Sustainably, Whatever Your Space by Grace Paul.

10. The Wild Iris by Louise Glück

From Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Louise Glück, The Wild Iris is a stunningly beautiful collection of poems that encompasses the natural, human, and spiritual realms.

11. The Wind in The Willows by Kenneth Grahame

The Wind in the Willows has perfect cottagecore vibes – quaint cottages, talking frogs and badgers, and a summer in bloom. I love Robert Ingpen’s illustrations in the popular Sterling Illustrated Classics series.

12. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

The bestselling novel about a young girl’s journey towards healing and the transforming power of love, from the author of The Invention of Wings. 

13. Pilu of the Woods by Mai K. Nguyen

I wanted to add a graphic novel to this list, and Pilu of the Woods earned its place. It’s the gentle story of Willow, who loves the woods near her house.

Unlike her turbulent emotions which she tries to keep locked away, the woods are calm and quiet and provide a sanctuary that one day becomes all too tempting to run away into. There, she meets Pilu, a lost tree spirit who can’t find her way back home. What follows is a growing friendship and shared mission through their natural surroundings.

14. Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim

The Enchanted April is one of the books I recommend most on the blog, but Elizabeth and Her German Garden also makes for a great read with relaxing summer garden vibes.

15. Make Thrift Mend: Stitch, Patch, Darn, Plant-Dye & Love Your Wardrobe by Katrina Rodabaugh

Make your clothes last with Make Thrift Mend. Slow fashion guru Katrina Rodabaugh follows her bestselling book, Mending Matters, with a comprehensive guide to building and keeping a sustainable wardrobe you love. 

16. Homestead Kitchen by Eivin Kilcher and Eve Kilcher

Featuring homesteaders and co-stars of Discovery’s Alaska: The Last Frontier, this cookbook and self-reliance guide by Eve and Eivin Kilcher offers appealing recipes for anyone looking to live more sustainably and enjoy a healthy diet, regardless of where and what they call home.

17. The Simple Home by Rhonda Hetzel

I recently included Down to Earth on my list of books for burnout, but The Simple Home is another lovely book by Australian writer and simple living role model Rhonda Hetzel.

18. Botanicum by Katie Scott and Kathy Willis

As soon as I came across the cover of Botanicum from Big Picture Press’s Welcome to the Museum series, I fell in love with the stunning illustrations by Katie Scott. Offering a feast of botanical knowledge, it’s a spellbinding book to browse while learning something new about our beautiful world.

19. Batch by Joel MacCharles and Dana Harrison

To fuel your self-sufficiency dreams, Batch by Joel MacCharles and Dana Harrison offers more than 200 recipes, tips, and techniques for a well-preserved kitchen. From fermenting to canning, dehydration, and smoking, learn how to make your food last.

20. The Modern Herbal Dispensatory: A Medicine-Making Guide by Thomas Easley

If you want to tell your chamomile from your St. John’s Wort, add a copy of The Modern Herbal Dispensatory to your household library. It’s the perfect companion to books about foraging and growing your own garden, whether beside a cottage, on several acres, or in a window box.

The post 20 cottagecore books to imagine a simple, cozy life in nature appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

In his Meditations, he shares how we seek retreats for ourselves in all manner of external ways, while forgetting that we can instead retreat into ourselves at any time – “into your own little territory within yourself [with] no agonies, no tensions.”

When the world is like nothing we’ve ever experienced, the wisdom of Marcus Aurelius and the power of having a calm and gentle inner landscape couldn’t be more valuable.

I spend a lot of time in my own head, which I don’t see as a bad thing. By choosing what I think about, I can select the furniture of my own mind. I spring clean and dust the cobwebs by gently evicting the thoughts I’d rather not allow to linger. And by encouraging joy and gratitude, I put some fresh flowers in there and open the windows.

Alongside this general upkeep, I furnish my mind by retreating into books. With every book I read, I have new places to imagine. There are Siberian forests, exotic beaches, magical libraries, and houses by the river to visit when I need a break. The journeys are endless – there are always more books to read.

Here are a few of the books I’ve loved retreating into – I hope they’re as soothing and rejuvenating for your mind as well.

“Men seek retreats for themselves – in the country, by the sea, in the hills – and you yourself are particularly prone to this yearning. But all this is quite unphilosophic, when it is open to you, at any time you want, to retreat into yourself. No retreat offers someone more quiet and relaxation than into his own mind, especially if he can dip into thoughts there which put him at immediate and complete ease: and by ease I simply mean a well-ordered life.”

Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, translated by Martin Hammond

Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah

In the world of Glendy Vanderah’s novel, we meet Joanna Teale. After the loss of her mother and her own battle with breast cancer, Joanna returns to her graduate research on nesting birds in rural Illinois, determined to prove that her recent hardships have not broken her.

She throws herself into her work from dusk to dawn, until her solitary routine is disrupted by the appearance of a mysterious child who shows up at her cabin barefoot and covered in bruises.

The girl calls herself Ursa, and she claims to have been sent from the stars to witness five miracles. For the rest of the story, venture into the unique world of Where the Forest Meets the Stars.

“the flower whisperer who made everyone and everything around her bloom. Her light is still with us, growing love across the universe…”

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

One small piece of joy for me in the global crisis has been seeing how more people are searching for tips on reading Tolstoy and finding my writing. I find that so wonderful to see – it’s an excellent time for Tolstoy.

If you decide to jump into the universe of War and Peace, try to immerse yourself in it. Don’t feel you need to remember every name of every character (there are far too many), just let the writing wash over you.

The best translation I’ve found for that is the Anthony Briggs, which you can read in this beautiful hardbound edition from Penguin Clothbound Classics:

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

A retreat to the Italian Riviera, where everything is in full bloom, soothing, and gleaming with freedom.

“That evening was the evening of the full moon. The garden was an enchanted place where all the flowers seemed white. The lilies, the daphnes, the orange-blossom, the white stocks, the white pinks, the white roses – you could see these as plainly as in the daytime; but the coloured flowers existed only as fragrance.”

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Pick up The Great Alone to head back to 1974, when Cora Allbright and her husband, Ernt – a recently returned Vietnam veteran scarred by the war – uproot their thirteen-year-old daughter, Leni, to start a new life in Alaska.

Utterly unprepared for the weather and the isolation, but welcomed by the close-knit community, they fight to build a home in this harsh, beautiful wilderness.

“Books are the mile markers of my life. Some people have family photos or home movies to record their past. I’ve got books. Characters. For as long as I can remember, books have been my safe place.”

How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals by Sy Montgomery

Retreat into a book that celebrates the joy of sharing a life with animals, learning from them how to be a good creature ourselves. Heartwarming and wholesome, it makes for a perfect gift for animal lovers (am I alone in sending myself more book gifts recently?)

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng

This book shaped everything I read afterwards. It’s so beautifully crafted. When I think back to Tan Twan Eng’s writing, I think of light rain over trees, gentle birdsong at dusk, and sitting quietly alone in a garden that’s well-tended without keeping the wild out.

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Journey to Rivendell and the Shire, whether for the first time or as a repeat visit, to appreciate the best of what life has to offer in a world that isn’t always wholly good.

“Elrond’s house was perfect, whether you liked food or sleep or story-telling or singing (or reading), or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all. Merely to be there was a cure for weariness. … Evil things did not come into the secret valley of Rivendell.”

The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd

Even if you can’t venture out and explore right now, reading The Living Mountain is one of the next best things. Divided into chapters about the elements of mountain adventures – Frost and Snow, The Plants, Senses, Being – The Living Mountain marks Nan Shepherd as one of Scotland’s finest nature writers.

Nan Shepherd is remembered on a Scottish banknote with her wonderful quote, “It’s a grand thing, to get leave to live.”

“This is the river. Water, that strong white stuff, one of the four elemental mysteries, can here be seen at its origins. Like all profound mysteries, it is so simple that it frightens me. It wells from the rock, and flows away. For unnumbered years it has welled from the rock, and flowed away. It does nothing, absolutely nothing, but be itself.”

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Murakami is a master of creating universes. Most readers fall into categories of adoring his writing, despising it with a soaring passion, or feeling utterly indifferent and unable to get past a few pages.

If you’re new to Murakami, there will be cats, whisky, inexplicable truths, and wonder. Kafka on the Shore is my favourite and high up the queue on my re-reading list.

“It’s like Tolstoy said. Happiness is an allegory, unhappiness a story.”

Norwegian Wood: Chopping, Stacking, and Drying Wood the Scandinavian Way by Lars Mytting

A fun outlier on this list, Lars Mytting’s book is part guide to chopping wood and part philosophical pondering. It’s a window into Scandinavian culture that’s ideal for kindling your imagination on a lazy afternoon.

Epic Hikes of the World by Lonely Planet

This is one book I’m retreating into often while spending more time at home. Walking the Arctic Circle Trail in Greenland last summer was one of the most transformational achievements of my life – I didn’t realise quite how strong I was until I completed it.

Now I’m looking to this beautifully-designed Lonely Planet book to help inspire my next adventure. Will it be Sweden, New Zealand, or one of the great American trails? Time will tell. In the meantime, my imagination can enjoy all of the great wildernesses on our beautiful planet.

Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane

To retreat into the depths of the earth and venture many millions of years before we existed, read Robert Macfarlane. His other books are incredible too – I love Mountains of the Mind – and will have you planning your next adventure.

More hand-picked book recommendations:

• 12 of the best audiobooks to enjoy now
• 8 books to appreciate how beautiful life really is
• 7 self-care books for relaxing and unwinding with
• 12 calming books to help you take a deep breath and relax
• The 10 best books I read in 2019

The post 13 soothing books to retreat into and relax with appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

It can seem counterintuitive that we get more done when we work less. But it’s not really a surprise at all. We can’t perform well with a depleted engine. We need to balance exertion with rejuvenation, otherwise we’re running off an empty tank – which isn’t going to get us far at all.

Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang is a wonderful reminder of the power of rest. And it’s a reminder I needed.

“If you want rest, you have to take it. You have to resist the lure of busyness, make time for rest, take it seriously, and protect it from a world that is intent on stealing it.”

I first came across Alex Soojung-Kim Pang via his masterclass on the Calm app; an app I use most days to help me unwind, meditate, or fall asleep. I listened to the masterclass as I closed my laptop for the day, put my coat on, and headed out for a walk around Glasgow where I was spending the last few weeks.

The author talked about how the creatives and scientists we look up to generally balance their impressive work output with deep rest and distance away from their work. They don’t sit at their desk for twenty hours a day, five days a week. They head out for a run, read a book, or hit the climbing gym with friends.

In a world where overwork is increasingly normal (and even expected), rest is more sacred than ever.

We can’t expect ourselves to produce our best work – in our careers, families, relationships, and creative projects – if we’re not taking our need for rest seriously.

After reading this book on a Friday, I ran a bath, soaked for half an hour, and had a relaxing evening of bedtime tea, yoga, and music before bed. I slept better than I had in weeks. That weekend I went to stay with my boyfriend’s family for a Burn’s Night dinner and didn’t touch my work.

On Monday, I got back to my desk and raced through an article I’d been seriously struggling to write the previous week. I poured a cup of tea and worked through more of my to-do list with far less resistance than I was expecting.

I needed the weekend of rest a lot more than I thought. At two o’clock, after getting enough done for the day, I closed my work tabs, called my boyfriend, and started the resting process again.

I’m more aware than ever that I need to keep this habit up. After all, if I don’t say no to overwork, my body will. (For more on this, read When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress by Dr. Gabor Maté.)

Are you getting enough rest? Are you giving your body the relaxation it needs, and your mind the variation it thrives on, to help you feel your best?

Get a copy of Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less as a reminder of the power of rest throughout our lives, especially the busiest moments when we need it most.

The post A reminder to rest (and why we get more done when we do) appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

In Zen: The Art of Simple Living, Shunmyo Masuno draws on centuries of wisdom to apply the essence of Zen to modern life in clear, practical, easily adopted lessons–one a day for 100 days.

Like The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim – a book I’ve celebrated before on the blog – Zen: The Art of Simple Living is a delicately stunning little hardback that is just as loveable for its beautiful illustrations as its wise and gentle words.

“Zen is about habits, ideas and hints for living a happy life,” Shunmyō Masuno writes. “A treasure trove, if you will, of deep yet simple life wisdom.”

It’s a book to remind you how going outside to watch the sunset can make every day feel celebratory, spending time barefoot can strengthen your body, and lining up your shoes after you take them off can offer more than just tidiness.

Turn to a new page every day, read it in one go, or – my favourite option – flick through it when you’re in need of some simple living inspiration.

Just subtle shifts in your habits and perspective

That’s all you need to live simply

You don’t need to go to the ancient Japanese capitals of Kyoto or Nara; you don’t need to climb Mount Fuji; and you don’t need to live near the ocean. With really only minor effort, it is possible to savour the extraordinary.

A renowned Zen Buddhist priest and gardener, Shunmyō Masuno’s unique background shines through in the book.

“I find that encountering a Zen garden can convey far more about Zen concepts than reading any number of texts explaining the philosophy,” he writes as the book begins.

As an accompaniment to reading Zen: The Art of Simple Living, set aside a few minutes to gaze at some of Shunmyō Masuno’s zen garden designs.

Shunmyō Masuno realises that some Zen ideals aren’t all that accessible to the non-monks among us. The Art of Simple Living forges an uncomplicated path around this – such as with “mountain dwelling,” a lifestyle idealized by many Japanese people.

“It is considered the most beautiful way to live, and is sometimes referred to as life sequestered from the world,” writes Shunmyō Masuno. It may seem like a distant daydream, but we can adopt many elements of “mountain dwelling” quite simply:

Reading while listening to the sounds of birds and the rush of water. Enjoying a drink of sake while gazing at the moon’s reflection in your glass. Communing with wildlife. The ability to live with a free mind, accepting things for what they are.

“Consider putting into practice the concept of ‘seclusion in the city’“, adds Shunmyō Masuno. “A place where you can disconnect from other people and spend time by yourself. A place in nature where you can regain mental freedom. A few moments of seclusion can illuminate the path forward.”

Shunmyō Masuno’s other advice is similarly easy to apply to our own lives. The first lesson in the book: make time for emptiness. “Making time for not thinking about anything – that is the first step towards creating a simple life.”

Lesson 2: wake up fifteen minutes earlier. “Are we really so busy? Aren’t we the ones who are pushing ourselves to hurry?” responds Shunmyō Masuno to the common reason against leisurely early mornings. It’s when we’re most stressed and overscheduled that time for ourselves really counts:

Especially when things are hectic, try waking up fifteen minutes earlier than usual. Lengthen your spine, and take slow breaths from the point below your navel – the spot we refer to as the tanden. Once your breathing is in order, your mind will naturally settle into stillness as well.

Then, while you enjoy a cup of tea or coffee, look out the window at the sky. Try to listen for the warbling of little birds.

How peculiar – just like that, you create space in your mind.

When eating, pause after every bite (lesson 11). “There is a direct link between mind and body. When you hone your mind, your renewed vitality naturally shows in the body as well.” “Food is what creates both your body and your mind.”

Some favourite lessons for simple living from Shunmyō Masuno

• 8. Put pen to paper with care
• 13. Seek out your favourite words
• 14. Pare down your belongings
• 15. Arrange your room simply
• 17. Exhale deeply
• 20. Seek out the sunset
• 21. Don’t waste time worrying about things you can’t control
• 23. Breathe slowly
• 24. Don’t think of unpleasant things right before bed
• 25. Join your hands together
• 29. Don’t put off what you can do today
• 30. Try your best to do what you can now
• 31. Discover another you – find your inner protagonist
• 33. Take pleasure in your work – work is what brings out your inner protagonist
• 36. Simply immerse yourself – the tremendous power of being unfettered
• 47. Feel instead of think
• 49. Don’t let things go to waste
• 51. Don’t be bound by a single perspective
• 57. Appreciate your connection with things

If the world is not going the way you want it to, perhaps it is better to change yourself. Then, whatever world you encounter, you can move through it comfortably and with ease.

Zen: The Art of Simple Living is a reminder of the simplicity and beauty of life. This doesn’t mean it will require any less effort – as Shunmyō Masuno writes, “Life requires time and effort. That is to say, when we eliminate time and effort, we eliminate life’s pleasures. Every so often, experience the flip side of convenience.”

With time, effort, and a gentle and conscious approach to each day, we can slow down and take better care of ourselves as we move through life. Zen: The Art of Simple Living is a wonderful guidebook to helping us do just this.

Zen: The Art of Simple Living is available now to pick up, curl up with, lose yourself in its illustrations, and – like all great books – come out slightly different on the other side.

The post Zen: The Art of Simple Living as a beautifully illustrated book for self-care appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

One of my favourite books of 2018 was a very late contender. In fact, it was the last book I read of the year: How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals by Sy Montgomery. I adored it.

Sy Montgomery is an incredible woman. She has explored some of the world’s most remote corners and met beautiful, charismatic and memorable creatures along the way – octopuses, spiders, pigs, emus and, of course, dogs, to name but a few.

How to be a Good Creature reminded me of everything I love so much about animals. It also made me think back to my favourite dogs, rabbits, and other wild friends I’ve met so far. For a lot of my life, I’ve found animals considerably easier to get along with than people, that’s for sure.

But the point of the book is so much more than that; it gets you thinking of your place in the world and the lives you touch every day.

It’s a wonderfully beautiful book, complete with gorgeous illustrations. Without ever telling you how you should be, the book shares heartwarming stories of Sy’s life with animals that make you ponder:

Am I kind?

Do I bring joy to the world?

Do I share my warmth, intelligence, and wisdom with others?

Do I show people the real me?

I talked to my boyfriend a lot about this book during and after reading it. Be a good creature became a frequent comment to one another, especially if one of us was acting out of sorts.

When we’d say it, the underlying message would be: chill out, enjoy life, and be nice. Stop taking yourself so seriously. Be kind. Slow down and just live the life you want to live.

It’s rare that a memoir comes along and teaches you powerful life lessons without seeming preachy, woo-woo, or self-centered.

It also makes for the perfect gift: I read the book before giving it to a friend who’d had a tough year with losing pets, and she loved it too.

“I often wish I could go back in time and tell my young, anxious self that my dreams weren’t in vain and my sorrows weren’t permanent. I can’t do that, but I can do something better. I can tell you that teachers are all around to help you; with four legs or two or eight or even none; some with internal skeletons, some without. All you have to do is recognize them as teachers and be ready to hear their truths.”

How to Be a Good Creature is humble, graceful, and a wonderfully heartwarming celebration of the innate goodness in the world. A life shared with animals is a special kind of existence.

You can get your copy of How to Be a Good Creature here, and find more books to remind you of the beauty and goodness of the world.

The post Pondering how to be a good creature with Sy Montgomery appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.