That said, sometimes it can be difficult to pay attention to a book when you’re stressed. One way around this is to choose a gripping page-turner you can’t put down. But you can also just take the pressure off yourself and pick up a book with no goal other than to flick through a few pages, read a paragraph, or look at some beautiful illustrations.

Here are some of the best books to read when you’re stressed – some are soothing, others are page-turners, and a few are self-help books to give you tools to reduce your stress.

The best books to help you de-stress and find more peace

1. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

I recently came across a Reddit thread titled, When I am stressed or anxious, I read Haruki Murakami. What about you? I love this. Haruki Murakami is one of the best writers to read when you want to escape from the real world into a strange new universe.

Aside from the talking cats and fish falling from the sky, Murakami is also one of the best writers for slice-of-life descriptions of everyday life… making pasta, drinking whisky, enjoying coffee. Once you read one Murakami book, you know what you’re getting. His books are so distinctive. Kafka on the Shore is my favourite.

2. Slow Down: 50 Mindful Moments in Nature by Rachel Williams

Spending time in nature is one of my best ways to deal with stress. Slow Down is a beautiful reminder of the mindful moments we can find in the outside world if we take the time to watch them unfold: a honeybee hive getting to work, a sunflower tracking the sun, or a shooting star lighting up the night sky. For more wild reads, you might like these novels set in nature.

3. The Relaxation & Stress Reduction Workbook

What about a practical book to deal with stress? This stress reduction workbook is one of the best self-help books for stress, including simple step-by-step directions for worry delay and defusion, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) techniques, and a body scan. It’ll also help you to explore your stress triggers and symptoms and create a personal action plan for stress reduction.

For another practical tool for stress relief, this mindfulness-based stress reduction card deck is also great.

4. A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver

For one of the most relaxing books to read when you’re stressed, read A Thousand Mornings. Mary Oliver’s poetry is some of the most perceptive and gently wise writing on the natural world and our place within it.

In this collection, Mary Oliver transports us to the marshland and coastline of her beloved home, Provincetown, Massachusetts to show us with clarity and kindness how the greatest teachings are to be found in the smallest moments.

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

If you struggle to read when you’re stressed, try a page-turner you won’t want to put down. One of the best authors to binge read is Taylor Jenkins Reid, especially here in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more surprised (and confused) than Monique herself. As secrets are revealed, she was right to feel surprised… and should also be concerned.

For more page-turners, here are some other gripping books to binge read when you want some time to unwind and escape, plus some of the best unputdownable non-fiction books.

6. The Anxiety Journal: Exercises to Soothe Stress and Eliminate Anxiety Wherever You Are by Corinne Sweet

With this grounding and soothing journal for stress and anxiety, psychologist Corinne Sweet helps you to manage your anxiety with inspiring quotes, mindful exercises, helpful coping mechanisms, and writing prompts backed by cognitive behavioural therapy.

It’s a beautiful little book that’s perfect to carry on the go, complete with a heavy cover to endure wear and tear and lined pages to record your thoughts and track your progress.

7. The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim

Read The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down to ease your stress, breathe deeply, open your heart, and calm your anxiety.

It’s one of my favourite self-help books for gentle, soothing, and beautifully illustrated writing. I’ve shared some of the simple and timeless wisdom of Haenim Sunim here.

8. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

What was your favourite childhood book? Sometimes the best book to read when you’re stressed is an old favorite. Think about books you loved as a child, especially adventure tales with happy endings, or feel-good classic favourites such as Pride and Prejudice.

One book I sometimes turn back to when I’m stressed is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I love crossing back into the magical land where four adventurous siblings discover the frozen, bewitching land of Narnia under the power of the White Witch.

9. The Corfu Trilogy by Gerald Durrell

If you love the soothing, feel-good writing of authors like James Herriot, you might also like this joyful, sun-kissed, 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 home as he discovered his passion for animals.

10. The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama

The Samurai’s Garden is a graceful novel that will remind you of the beauty 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.

For more books to help you de-stress, head over to my collection of the most relaxing books to read next. For some low-key and mindful time for creativity, you might also like my list of the most calming coloring books.

The post 10 of the best books to read when you’re stressed to rebalance appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

Often I have a dedicated audiobook on the go that’s just for bedtime reading; something relaxing and peaceful that I can turn to when I’m struggling to unwind and fall asleep.

I think there are two main qualities of a good audiobook to listen to before bed. One, the audiobook needs to be soothing and peaceful (no Swedish thrillers). And secondly, you don’t want to think too hard (no War and Peace). This is one of the reasons why listening to books you already know well is a great idea for bedtime.

How to listen to audiobooks before you sleep? With audiobook apps like Audible and Libby, you can use the sleep timer to pause after a certain amount of minutes, or use the bookmark function to mark where you get to. Then you can find more or less where you left off the next day. The best option is to choose books with no pressure to follow and pay attention to, though.

Based on my criteria for the perfect audiobooks to fall asleep to, here are some of the best bedtime audiobooks for adults that I’ve enjoyed listening to before bed. I hope you’ll enjoy them too.

P.S. You might be able to find some of these audiobooks for free via the Libby app, which you can access through your library. Otherwise, they’re all available on Audible.

You can start a 30-day trial of Audible Plus to get your first book free and unlimited listening to the Plus Catalog.

The best audiobooks to listen to before bed

1. English Pastoral: An Inheritance by James Rebanks

English Pastoral is a quietly poignant history of family, loss, and the land over three generations on a family’s Lake District farm, from the beloved author of The Shepherd’s Life. James Rebanks learned how to work the ancient land the old way from his grandfather, but by the time he inherited the farm, the landscape that was once teeming with wildlife had profoundly changed.

It’s a love letter to rural landscapes and a story of inheritance, full of hope despite what is lost, as one farmer begins the process of restoring vanishing life to leave a legacy for the future.

2. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse is an incredibly comforting book to read, and even more so as an audiobook to listen to.

It’s a short and wholesome book that’s perfect to listen to as you drift off to sleep. It’ll only take an hour to finish, but it’s an audiobook you can listen to again and again. Told as a simple fable, it’s full of gentle life lessons and tender reminders of what a good life consists of.

Fall asleep listening to the book’s soothing words read by the author, accompanied by a beautiful music score by Max Richter and Isobel Waller-Bridge and with real wildlife sounds of rural England.

3. Mythos by Stephen Fry

Stephen Fry’s Mythos perfectly captures the Greek myths for the modern age in all their rich, timeless, and human relevance. This is a world of magic, mayhem, monsters and maniacal gods, delivered in a vivid retelling to immerse yourself in as you fall asleep. You might also like the follow-up books Heroes and Troy.

If you want more audiobooks narrated by Stephen Fry, scroll down to #8 in this list. Also, he narrates some excellent sleep stories on the Calm app, which I’ve loved in the past when I was struggling with insomnia and anxiety and in need of both guided meditations and soothing sleep audio.

4. Nothing Much Happens: Calming Stories to Soothe Your Mind & Help You Sleep by Kathryn Nicolai

Sometimes drifting off is the sign of a bad read, but Nothing Much Happens is designed to help you fall asleep. Think bedtime stories for adults.

Based on the podcast of the same name, this is Kathryn Nicolai’s collection of calming stories taking place in and around a fictional city, each one revealing small moments of everyday wonder in the world and its seasons. From celebrating the joy of being home alone to the pleasures of picking the best end-of-season tomatoes at the farmer’s market, this is a balm for frayed nerves and insomnia.

5. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

This is Louisa May Alcott’s classic coming-of-age tale, told with a modern twist. The audiobook stars a full cast, led by four-time Golden Globe-winner Laura Dern along with veteran narrators. It’s an especially good bedtime audiobook if you already know the plot and don’t mind falling asleep part-way through a chapter, but it’s also soothing for new readers.

“Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will bring few regrets, and life will become a beautiful success.”

Little Women

6. Wild Signs and Star Paths: The Keys to Our Lost Sixth Sense by Tristan Gooley

I have included a few nature-focused books in this list, as one of my favourite types of audiobook to listen to before bed. I knew I also had to add this delightful book about learning to read nature’s signs by Tristan Gooley, author of bestselling How to Read Water and The Walker’s Guide to Outdoor Clues & Signs.

In Wild Signs and Star Paths, Tristan Gooley shows how it is possible to achieve a ‘sixth sense’ of outdoor awareness that enables you to find direction with stars and plants, forecast weather from woodland sounds, and instantly predict the next action of a wild animal.

7. All Things Bright and Beautiful: The Classic Memoirs of a Yorkshire Country Vet by James Herriot

To leave your anxieties about the world aside and relax before bed, take a trip to the Yorkshire Moors with James Herriot, the Yorkshire vet who has entranced generations of animal lovers. All Things Bright and Beautiful is the second volume of memoirs from the beloved author of All Creatures Great and Small.

Now settled into the sleepy village of Darrowby and married to Helen the farmer’s daughter, James Herriot thinks life should finally be quiet and simple. But as a vet in 1930s Yorkshire, he must now contend with the domestic challenges of a grudge-holding dog called Magnus and delivering calves after too much homemade wine, but also the decisions that come as Britain reaches the verge of war.

8. Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Collection by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I thought of adding the Harry Potter books to this list, as some of the most popular audiobooks to listen to on rotation before bed (particularly because they’re just so familiar to so many people). But I’ve chosen another fantastic series of audiobooks that are also blessed with Stephen Fry’s narration, the Collected Sherlock Holmes.

The Audible edition with Stephen Fry’s narration (giving you a whopping 72 hours of audio in just one audiobook) won the AudioFile Earphones Award with this glowing comment: “Fry’s Holmes is crisp and high-handed, his Watson enthusiastic and bemused, and the rest of the narration colorful without being mannered. Have fun.”

9. Love for Imperfect Things: How to Accept Yourself in a World Striving for Perfection by Haemin Sunim

“When we become kinder to ourselves, we can become kinder to the world”, writes Haemin Sunim in this comforting book that celebrates the beauty of imperfection.

I’ve recommended Haemin Sunim’s first book, The Things We Can See Only When We Slow Down, time and again on Tolstoy Therapy. Love for Imperfect Things is another fantastic choice, especially as an audiobook. As you settle down for the evening, let Haemin Sunim’s words of wisdom give you comfort and kindness to bring into your sleep and the day ahead.

10. The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson

Over on Reddit, gnobodyhome shares, “I sleep listening to dry science lectures, or audiobooks about science with very gentle monotone voices. I like Bill Bryson’s voice and his books, I will listen to his books once and enjoy them, then sleep with them playing.”

One good place to start is Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods about his journey on The Appalachian Trail, but I also love The Body: A Guide for Occupants. Described by The Guardian as “a directory of wonders”, the audiobook will have you marvelling at the form you occupy and celebrating the genius of your existence. Let the interesting tidbits wash over to you as you drift off to peaceful sleep.

11. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice is another classic novel that’s perfect to visit (and re-visit) in the cosy time before sleep. Retreat into the English country houses of the Bennett, Bingley and Darcy families and follow one of the best-loved stories of all time in this wonderfully-produced audiobook, performed by Rosamund Pike.

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

Braiding Sweetgrass is one of the most loved books on nature from the last decade, written by botanist, professor of plant ecology, and Potawatomi woman Robin Wall Kimmerer.

In this wonderfully insightful and soothing audiobook, Robin Wall Kimmerer reveals what it means to see humans as “the younger brothers of creation” and plants and animals as our oldest teachers. As Robin explains, it’s only when we listen for the languages of other beings that we can begin to understand the innumerable gifts the world provides us and learn to offer our thanks and care in return.

Want even more bedtime reading recommendations? You might also like my list of the best bedtime books to help you sleep soundly.

The post 12 of the best bedtime audiobooks to help you drift off to sleep appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

“I went away in my head, into a book. That was where I went whenever real life was too hard or too inflexible.”

Ask any fond reader and they’ll probably say the same thing: curling up with a good book can be one of the best ways to ease anxiety.

In their 2021 Public Perceptions Survey, BACP found that 43% of people in the UK found reading helped ease their stress levels during the third national lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Why is this? There are a few reasons why reading fiction helps anxiety that I’ll outline in this post (and anecdotally as an anxious person, I can endorse all of them). They’re all connected to bibliotherapy, or the process of reading, reflecting upon, and discussing literature, including personal narratives and stories.

I didn’t learn about bibliotherapy until a few years after starting Tolstoy Therapy. Reading fiction to feel better was just something so intuitive that I didn’t feel it needed a name. Books had been the most important tool in my mental health toolkit for years; my whole life, even.

Books taught me how to be human and navigate whatever life was throwing at me: crippling shyness, trauma, autism, heartbreak. Everything. But one of the feelings that fiction has helped me most with is anxiety. I was diagnosed with general and social anxiety disorders as a teenager, and alongside therapy and a short period of medication, bibliotherapy was one of the most valuable strategies to ease my anxiety.

For this post, I’ve had a look at the best research into bibliotherapy, especially in light of reading fiction for anxiety. Why do books make us feel better when we’re anxious, and how can we maximise their healing impact?

The act of reading is relaxing

“Reading was my escape and my comfort, my consolation, my stimulant of choice: reading for the pure pleasure of it, for the beautiful stillness that surrounds you when you hear an author’s words reverberating in your head.”

Paul Auster, The Brooklyn Follies

Firstly, the actual act of reading itself can help with anxiety. When you’re feeling anxious, it can be difficult to focus on one thing and just relax, but reading a compelling book can distract you from the world and your worries. Reading forces us to sit still, slow down, and pay attention.

In research carried out in 2009 to measure the effects of yoga, humour, and reading on the stress levels of students in health science programs in America, it was reported that just 30 minutes of reading lowered blood pressure, heart rate, and feelings of psychological distress just as effectively as yoga and humour did.

If you feel that you’re too busy to read for 30 minutes every day, don’t worry: research at the University of Sussex found that reading for just 6 minutes has the power to reduce stress levels by a huge 68%.

Reading can be especially soothing when we re-read our favourite books. Sometimes the process of choosing a new book to read can mean a new source of stress, but absorbing ourselves in a story we know well offers a quick route to comfort and mental rest.

You can escape reality for a while

“When you read a great book, you don’t escape from life, you plunge deeper into it. There may be a superficial escape – into different countries, mores, speech patterns – but what you are essentially doing is furthering your understanding of life’s subtleties, paradoxes, joys, pains and truths. Reading and life are not separate but symbiotic.”

Julian Barnes, A Life with Books

At the University of South Australia, PhD candidate Elizabeth Wells is carrying out some fascinating research into the power of reading fiction during difficult times. In particular, Wells is exploring the benefits of bibliotherapy for cancer patients, delivered as a read-aloud program.

Wells, who is also a qualified librarian, shared that: “There is something to be said for losing yourself in a book and escaping reality for a while, particularly for people who are facing some very tough battles, including painful health conditions”.

You can better understand your feelings – and develop tools to deal with them

“I spent my life folded between the pages of books. In the absence of human relationships I formed bonds with paper characters. I lived love and loss through stories threaded in history; I experienced adolescence by association. My world is one interwoven web of words, stringing limb to limb, bone to sinew, thoughts and images all together. I am a being comprised of letters, a character created by sentences, a figment of imagination formed through fiction.”

Tahereh Mafi, Shatter Me

A small 2022 study with Turkish high school students suggested that reading fiction might reduce symptoms of anxiety by promoting awareness of our feelings and improving problem-solving skills.

By identifying with fictional characters going through the same challenges as ourselves, we can observe their way of dealing with them and develop our own.

One 2021 paper from Front Public Health shares how it is well-known that literature, as a reflection of human existence, leads us to reflect on ourselves and our environment. The researchers add that:

“[Literature] possesses the richness of confronting individuals with their emotions, values, feelings, and conflicts. It is also a way of helping individuals express, live, and solve these. It is an intrinsic character of literature to serve as therapy, catharsis, and cure for any conflict that disrupts our existence, and that is why human beings have always resorted to it (and, of course, also to the arts) in some way as the best medicine for life.”

Books remind us that we’re not alone

“By comparing what you’ve done to what others have done, and your thoughts and theories and feelings to those of others, you learn about yourself and the world around you. Perhaps that is why reading is one of the few things you do alone that can make you feel less alone; it’s a solitary activity that connects you to others.”

Will Schwalbe, The End of Your Life Book Club

One of the hardest parts of mental health issues such as anxiety and depression can be feeling like you’re alone in facing them. However, books are windows into human experience, and everything we face can be found in a book somewhere. Fiction offers proof that you’re not the only one suffering, and offers a helping hand to get through it.

Front Public Health shared in 2021 that bibliotherapy involves three phases: identification, catharsis, and insight. The researchers explain: “First, the reader creates a bond with the character with whom they identify most; then, this character encounters a conflict and resolves it; and finally, the reader, having experienced the conflict of the character through the text, reflects on personal circumstances and internalizes some behaviors represented in the book that will serve as tools to resolve their own conflicts.”

Similarly, one 2022 study from Japan looked at how reading fiction might help people experiencing hikikomori, or a type of social withdrawal. According to its findings, participants who read fictional narratives reported feeling less emotional stress and more empathy.

—

Therapy is often an important part of treatment for anxiety, and many other tactics are just companion strategies. That said, reading fiction should absolutely be celebrated as one of the most accessible tools to ease anxiety. Even in remote areas, reading and bibliotherapy can be accessed via libraries, access to free audiobooks and ebooks via library apps like Libby, ebooks, low-cost books, and our own bookshelves.

You don’t have to hire a therapist (or bibliotherapist) to reap the mental health benefits of reading a good book. Reading for leisure and seeking out good books as a hobby can be one of the best tools for self-care, mental wellness, and living well.

To top up your reading list, here are 15 of the best books to read when you have anxiety. You might also like my recommendations of the most relaxing books to calm your mind and soothe your soul.

The post How reading fiction helps anxiety, according to science appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

My social and general anxiety disorders were also linked to Asperger’s syndrome, the PTSD I was also diagnosed with, and being extremely introverted. I still have anxious days occasionally, but I’ve learned a lot about dealing with it in the last decade.

One thing that helped my anxiety a lot was EMDR therapy. But, as is often the case with this blog, I also read a lot of great books for anxiety during my adventures in bibliotherapy. In a small 2022 study with Turkish high school students, researchers found that reading fiction might reduce symptoms of anxiety by promoting awareness of other people’s feelings and improving problem-solving skills.

The best books for anxiety to soothe your nerves

I tend to think about three types of books to read when you have anxiety: self-help books about anxiety, books you can’t put down to lose yourself in, and calming books to help you take a deep breath and relax. I’ll share a few from each section below.

So here we go, my selection of the best books for anxiety, which I hope you’ll find useful too.

1. Hope and Help for Your Nerves: End Anxiety Now by Claire Weekes

My heart beats too fast. My hands tremble and sweat. I feel like there’s a weight on my chest. My stomach churns. I have terrible headaches. I can’t sleep. Sometimes I can’t even leave my house…

This bestselling step-by-step guide – based on the author’s years of experience treating real patients – will show you how to break the cycle of anxiety and feel more calm and balanced every day, no matter what life throws at you. With Dr Weekes’s simple guidance, you can analyse your own symptoms of anxiety and understand exactly how to overcome them for good.

In a Reddit post on the best books for anxiety, amanda_l3ee shares that, “Claire Weekes’ Hope and Help for Your Nerves helped me a great deal. She talks about how your brain can trick your body into feeling things and then those things make your brain spiral deeper until you are caught in a loop of anxiety. Just understanding that this happens and I’m not crazy has helped me manage my anxiety.”

2. Zen: The Art of Simple Living by Shunmyō Masuno

This isn’t a guidebook for anxiety per se, but it is extremely peaceful and soothing – and simple pleasures can be a powerful antidote to slow down and feel less anxious. Find them in Shunmyō Masuno’s gorgeous little book, Zen: The Art of Simple Living. Here are some more of my thoughts on this beautifully illustrated book for self-care.

Read more: 12 relaxing books to calm your mind and soothe your soul

3. The Anxiety Journal: Exercises to Soothe Stress and Eliminate Anxiety Wherever You Are by Corinne Sweet

With this grounding and soothing journal for anxiety, psychologist Corinne Sweet helps you to manage your anxiety with inspiring quotes, mindful exercises, helpful coping mechanisms, and writing prompts backed by cognitive behavioural therapy.

It’s a beautiful little book that’s perfect to carry on the go, complete with a heavy cover to endure wear and tear and lined pages to record your thoughts and track your progress.

4. How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie

In a Reddit thread about books for anxiety, IntrovertiraniKreten shares that, “Dale Carnegie’s ‘How to stop worrying and start living’ tackles [this] problem more than any book I have ever encountered. That is the go to book I would [advise for] anyone struggling with anxiety, worry or similar mental struggle.”

5. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

If you’re looking for a wholesome and comforting book to soothe your anxiety, The Enchanted April is one of my all-time favourite recommendations. An advertisement in The Times addressed to “Those who Appreciate Wisteria and Sunshine” is the impetus for a revelatory month for four very different women in The Enchanted April.

Mrs Wilkins, Mrs Arbuthnot, Mrs Fisher and Lady Caroline Dester, each quietly craving a break from rainy England, come together to unwind and enjoy the Mediterranean spirit, building friendships they had all longed for in a medieval castle high above the bay on the Italian Riviera.

The Enchanted April is a perfect novel to help you to unwind and ease your anxiety, wherever you are in the world.

6. Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig

One of the best authors to read when you have anxiety or depression is Matt Haig. He’ll ease your worries, help you be kinder towards yourself, and show you a gentle way of improving your mental health.

Notes on a Nervous Planet is one of the best books for anxiety, and Reasons to Stay Alive is one of the best books for depression. I’d recommend them both to anyone who is human.

Here’s one of my favourite pieces of advice for anxiety from Notes on a Nervous Planet:

“Panic is physical as well as mental. For me, running and yoga help more than anything. Yoga, especially. My body tightens, from hours of being hunched over a laptop, and yoga stretches it out again.”

Read more: Finding balance in an anxious world: Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig

7. The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook by Edmund J. Bourne, PhD

When I first started therapy for anxiety when I was about sixteen, my therapist told me to buy this book. It was an earlier edition than the one pictured below, but I remember it being a useful part of my toolkit for managing my anxiety.

That said, overall I found more comfort and guidance for my own anxious feelings from fiction. But therapeutic books for anxiety like this one can make all the difference for a lot of people. I’d definitely recommend getting your own workbook for anxiety and spending some time with it each day.

8. Don’t F*cking Panic: The Shit They Don’t Tell You in Therapy About Anxiety Disorder, Panic Attacks, & Depression by Kelsey Darragh

If you don’t mind bad language, Kelsey Darragh’s aptly-named Don’t F*cking Panic is probably the most laid-back and informal book you can read for anxiety.

9. How to Relax by Thich Nhat Hanh

Oh, all the things we can learn from Thich Nhat Hanh… I love the Buddhist monk’s “How to” books, especially How to Love – which improved my relationship in so many ways with its timeless wisdom – and this book, How to Relax.

On Reddit, Kj_90 recommends for anxiety: “You Are Here by Thich Nhat Hanh, or any other of his books. His teachings are really grounding and helpful for anxiety.”

10. Wabi Sabi: Japanese Wisdom for a Perfectly Imperfect Life by Beth Kempton

Life isn’t always perfect. But for those of us with anxiety, sometimes we think it should be… and that causes even more anxiety. This beautiful book is an ode to the gifts of imperfection. Relax and unwind with the best Japanese wisdom for a perfectly imperfect life in Beth Kempton’s lovely little book, Wabi Sabi.

11. Dare: The New Way to End Anxiety and Stop Panic Attacks by Barry McDonagh

If you’re tired of just “managing” your anxiety through self-help tactics or medication, Barry McDonagh aims to help you actually break free from anxiety. Based on science and his years of coaching, DARE offers a new way to overcome panic and anxiety disorders. There’s also a popular and well-regarded anxiety workbook by the author to accompany this book if you want some more practical exercises.

One Amazon reviewer says of the book, “Coming from the worst of the worst and a non-reader, this book changed my life overnight”, adding that: “It completely changed my perspective on anxiety and even life. It’s true–YOU are the cure. You just need the right tools. And this book is it”.

12. The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim

I’ve talked a lot about this book on the blog, and I know a lot of my readers love it too. Read The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down to slow down, breathe deeply, open your heart, and calm your anxiety.

It’s one of my favourite self-help books for anxiety: gentle, soothing, and beautifully illustrated. I’ve shared some more about the simple and timeless wisdom of Haenim Sunim here.

13. The Hobbit: Illustrated Edition by J. R. R. Tolkien

When you’re feeling anxious, sometimes one of the best things to read can be the books that have brought you comfort before. Maybe for you that means re-reading Harry Potter or listening to it as an audiobook before bed, or perhaps there’s a feel-good novel you loved reading a few years ago that you can return to.

When I’m anxious, I love to head off on an adventure into new worlds and leave my anxieties behind with The Hobbit. For an extra dose of relaxation, choose this illustrated edition by Jemima Catlin for beautiful images to take in alongside Tolkien’s timeless words.

14. A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson

When looking for books for anxiety, it’s hard to go wrong with Bill Bryson. A Walk in the Woods is his feel-good story of hiking some of the most breathtaking terrain in America, spanning towering mountains, peaceful forests, and sparkling lakes from Georgia to Maine. Pick up a copy to hear about Bill’s time on the trail and the memorable faces – human and otherwise – he meets along the way.

15. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

“If life could write, it would write like Tolstoy,” wrote Isaac Babel. War and Peace will forever feature on most of my lists of recommended books, especially when they’re books for anxiety. I first read it during the most anxious part of my life, and it unexpectedly brought me so much peace and timeless guidance.

Read War and Peace to learn about life, appreciate its details, and glimpse new dimensions of our humanity. It’s a huge book that can be intimidating, but my comparison of the best translations (short answer: I love the Anthony Briggs version) and guide to getting started with War and Peace should make it easier.

Read more: What Leo Tolstoy Can Teach Us About Overcoming Anxiety

The post 15 of the best books to read when you have anxiety appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

Generally I sleep well – and a lot. But not always. And it doesn’t take long for mild insomnia to start stressing me out.

My sleep tactics cover all sorts of bases: including a warm bath with a few drops of neroli oil, a bedtime tea blend, the Calm app, and especially reading or listening to a relaxing book. If you haven’t tried it already, the Audible app has a great sleep timer to turn off after a set amount of time – I give it 40 minutes on a day I’m struggling to wind down.

If you’re not sure what to read before bed, here are some of the most relaxing books to help you sleep if you need a little help drifting off.

(Looking for audiobooks to help you fall asleep? You might like my list of the best bedtime audiobooks to help you drift off to sleep.)

The best books to read before bed

1. How to Read Nature: Awaken Your Senses to the Outdoors You’ve Never Noticed by Tristan Gooley 

Tristan Gooley is one of the best guides to the details and patterns of the natural world. He’s also one of my favourite authors to enjoy via audiobooks, especially How to Read Nature; one of my go-to recommendations of books to help you fall asleep. You’ll drift off dreaming about country fields, mountains, and trickling streams.

2. The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Although Donna Tartt is best known for The Goldfinch, her earlier novel The Secret History is an incredible book about a group of classics students with a cult-like following. It also contains one of my favourite quotes about insomnia (and some motivation to try reading The Great Gatsby to help you sleep, too):

“Nothing is lonelier or more disorienting than insomnia. I spent the nights reading Greek until four in the morning, until my eyes burned and my head swam, until the only light burning in Monmouth House was my own. When I could no longer concentrate on Greek and the alphabet began to transmute itself into incoherent triangles and pitchforks, I read The Great Gatsby. It is one of my favourite books and I had taken it out of the library in hopes that it would cheer me up; of course, it only made me feel worse, since in my own humorless state I failed to see anything except what I construed as certain tragic similarities between Gatsby and myself.”

The Secret History

3. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

In a thread about the books to read to fall asleep, Reddit user qiuel writes: “Bit of a weird one, but Norse Mythology. I can’t quite explain it but, as violent as it is at times, there’s something so comfy about Gaiman’s writing.”

This is Neil Gaiman’s retelling of the great Norse myths, breathing new life into the captivating ancient tales of Odin, Thor, and Loki among others.

For other cosy reads (without murder and aggression) to help you fall asleep, head over to my recommendations of the most wholesome comfort reads for a hug from a book.

4. The Bear by Andrew Krivak

I’ve been reading The Bear before bed recently and it’s been the perfect book to help me fall asleep. The book reads like a dream, even though it’s ultimately about loss: it’s a story of the last two humans on earth, a father and daughter living in an Edenic future close to nature. Drift off dreaming of lone mountains, whispering forests, handfuls of foraged herbs, and bears with poignant life lessons if we only stop to listen.

5. The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry

Wendell Berry’s poems are gorgeous love letters to the land that offer the perfect nighttime reading. Before bed, delve into these short, simple, and profoundly wise hymns to the cycles of nature and hope, love, healing, death, friendship, and belonging. If you already love Mary Oliver’s writing, I think you’ll adore Wendell Berry too.

6. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

When I decided to reread Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, Northern Lights did a fantastic job at helping me to fall asleep more easily. Read about Lyra’s adventures, mythical beasts, and the beautiful aurora in the North as you wind down from the day and prepare for sleep.

7. Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

“Deliberate rest,” as Pang calls it, is the true key to productivity, and will give us more energy, sharper ideas, and a better life. Rest offers a roadmap to rediscovering the importance of rest in our lives, and a convincing argument that we need to relax more if we actually want to get more done.

8. The Collected Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

It’s hard to beat a visit to the world of Sherlock Holmes for bedtime reading. Talking about favourite books to read before bed on Reddit, eleganthaunt shares: “Sherlock Holmes is my favorite. I have a volume with all the stories in it, so if I feel like a short story I’ll read that, but if I have more time I’ll start a novel. Takes me back to the wonderfully cozy world of 221b Baker Street every time.”

9. What I Know For Sure by Oprah Winfrey

I read this back in the summer of 2018 after leaving my job and adored it. What I Know For Sure is a compilation of the wisdom shared in Oprah’s widely popular “What I Know For Sure” column, a monthly source of inspiration and revelation.

While it’s inspiring, it won’t make you too motivated and excited to take action like many other self-improvement books. So it’s a great book for relaxing with before bed.

10. Nothing Much Happens: Calming Stories to Soothe Your Mind & Help You Sleep

If you struggle with insomnia, you might have heard of the podcast Nothing Much Happens. It’s one of those excellent creations with a title that lets you know exactly what you’re getting: in this case, stories where nothing much happens.

Creator and host Kathryn Nicolai has created this companion book of calming stories to soothe your mind and help you sleep as a wonderfully relaxing bedtime book for adults.

Accompanied by cosy and relaxing illustrations, the unnamed, gender-neutral narrators recount their days and evoke the distinct comforts offered by each of the four seasons as they gently guide you towards sleep.

11. The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot by Robert Macfarlane

I’ve been recommending Robert Macfarlane quite a lot recently, and The Old Ways is one of the best starting points for one of Britain’s best-loved nature writers.

Before falling asleep, immerse yourself in his journeys on foot following the ancient routes that crisscross the landscape of the British Isles and its waters and territories beyond. The Old Ways was chosen by Slate as one of the 50 best nonfiction books of the past 25 years.

12. Gratitude by Oliver Sacks

I would give everyone a copy of Oliver Sacks’s essays if I could. Gratitude is my favourite book by neurosurgeon and writer Oliver Sacks, available as a lovely hardcover which I’ve given to several friends I wanted to thank.

Written during the last few months of his life, this set of essays was Oliver Sacks’s way of exploring his feelings about completing a life and coming to terms with his own death, offering an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the gift of living.

It’s a lovely book to read in small moments, especially before bed. Sacks’s autobiography, On the Move, is also fantastic.

“My predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved. I have been given much and I have given something in return. Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.”

Gratitude by Oliver Sacks

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“The misery of nations is caused not by particular persons, but by the particular order of Society under which the people are so bound up together that they find themselves all in the power of a few men, or more often in the power of one single man: a man so perverted by his unnatural position as arbiter of the fate and lives of millions, that he is always in an unhealthy state, and always suffers more or less from a mania of self-aggrandizement.”

If you tell someone that you’re reading War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, you tend to get a reaction. People are impressed by it: the book is renowned as being very long and, generally, very difficult. People tend to praise your efforts, but at the same time refrain from envying your reading choice.

I’ve been told…

• It’s too long
• There are too many characters
• The character names are impossible to remember
• It’s difficult to understand
• Tolstoy is depressing
• Why would I want to read about war or peace?

I find it a shame when people tell me this. I wish I could reply, “no, you’re missing out on one of the best books ever written!” There’s a reason why writers such as Nabokov and Proust regarded Tolstoy as a favourite author. So why should you read War and Peace?

Yes, at roughly 1300 pages it is a long book. But the first time I read the Anthony Briggs translation, I was shocked at how quickly I got through it. On my second reading in 2013, I finished it in twelve days. I struggled intensely with Cloud Atlas, but I seemed to fly through War and Peace.

To make it easier to read, check my guide to reading War and Peace (and what to know before you start). And for reasons why I read it – and why you should give it a chance – read on…

The truly incredible writing. I frequently find myself thinking “God, this is good!” when reading Tolstoy.

The intricate portrayal of characters and their connections. The characters’ lives weave and separate, and they reflect on each other’s situations in such a clever way.

The love stories. Some of my favourite literary matches are in War and Peace.

The great explorations of life and death. Read the book and savour its words. “A sense of remoteness from all earthy things, and a strangely joyful lightness of being…”

Pierre Bezukhov is a truly remarkable character, and one in which I can see so many aspects of myself. His transformation is great to follow. Pierre learns that “man was created for happiness, and happiness lies within”, and goes on to state that as there is “a limit to suffering and a limit to freedom”, “there is nothing in the world to be frightened of”. This latter phrase means the most to me – it helps me realise that my anxiety is entirely meaningless and trivial.

It demonstrates a true passion for living.

You learn a bit about history. Napoleon is described from so many perspectives, and you can experience the historical context for yourself from a really great angle.

Tolstoy was a fascinating yet very flawed man. He first visited a brothel at fourteen, was watched by the Russian secret police, and had a game with his brother that involved standing in a corner and not thinking of “anything white” for thirty minutes. What more can I say? If you’d like to learn more about him, you might like The Last Station film about his life.

The characters are never static, but constantly developing. We see how they grow and change because of events, feelings, and other characters.

Tolstoy manages to put everything into the grander scheme of things, and you find yourself appreciating life rather than worrying without reason. As one of my favourite quotes reads, “Yes! It’s all vanity, it’s all an illusion, everything except that infinite sky!”

Characters lift each other from depression with their own joie de vivre. Happiness is presented as contagious, and it’s remarkable to see how characters regain their love of life because of others.

“Here I am alive, and it’s not my fault, so I have to try and get by as best I can without hurting anybody until death takes over.”

I’ve learned so much from War and Peace. It became an antidote to the anxiety I had been suffering from for years. I first read it when I was fifteen, and it wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that it changed my life.

If you want to try reading it, check my guide to reading War and Peace in the most laid-back, low-struggle way. You might also like my comparison of the best translations of War and Peace.

My favourite translation is by Anthony Briggs, which is published by Penguin and available as a paperback, audiobook, or this beautiful clothbound hardcover:

The post Why read War and Peace? The reasons why I love Tolstoy’s masterpiece appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

Carving out regular reading time with a good book (even if you have to force yourself to sit still) can be one of the best ways to help you rebalance and get back on track when you’re stressed out.

Note to self-improvement junkies: business books and most personal development books aren’t calming. I love these books, but I know they’ll make me want to start a new project and feel bad about sitting doing nothing. They don’t help me to wind down before bed and sleep soundly, so I save them for my morning reading time and other breaks during the day.

When we need to chill out, especially before bed, we can turn to calming books that slow our heart rate, reduce anxiety, and help us to check in with ourselves.

The selection below is a mix of relaxing fiction, memoirs, non-fiction, and poetry. I hope you can calm your mind and unwind with these peaceful books too.

12 of the best calming books to help you relax when you’re stressed

1. The Bear by Andrew Krivak

I’m reading The Bear at the moment and want to recommend it to everyone (including my husband, who I’ve been reading sections to aloud at every opportunity). It’s a gorgeous book set in an Edenic future of calm streams, towering forests, and windflower-covered mountainsides that offers a wonderfully poetic tribute to nature’s dominion.

This relaxing fiction book is about the two last inhabitants on Earth, a girl and her father living in the shadow of a lone mountain. The father is preparing his daughter for adulthood close to nature, teaching her how to fish and hunt, the secrets of the seasons, and how to read stars. But when the girl finds herself alone in an unknown landscape, it is a bear that will lead her back home through the vast wilderness. His greatest message to her is that there are lessons all around, if only she can learn to listen.

“One morning, they found a patch of goldenrod in a meadow, blooming like the sun, and the bear stopped and watched as bees drifted from flower to flower, then flew off with their lading of pollen. Each one he followed with his snout and stared in the distance after them, as if content with observing their labor alone, until he said to the girl, This way.”

The Bear

2. The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down: How to Be Calm and Mindful in a Fast-Paced World by Haemin Sunim

In this relaxing book that you’ll want to return to again and again, Haemin Sunim, a Buddhist meditation teacher born in Korea and educated in the US, shares his advice for wellbeing, mindfulness and joy in eight areas, including love, friendship, work, and spirituality.

The book is beautiful, and not just for its writing: it contains over thirty full-page colourful and calming illustrations to help you slow down. To best enjoy these, get the little hardback edition if you can.

“What our mind focuses on becomes our world. Seen this way, the mind does not seem so insignificant in relation to the world out there, does it?”

The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down

3. Consolations of the Forest: Alone in a Cabin on the Siberian Taiga by Sylvain Tesson

Walden is easily on my shortlist of calming books to help me relax. But what about other books that talk about escaping into the woods and leaving society for a while? My top vote is Consolations of the Forest by Sylvain Tesson, “a meditation on escaping the chaos of modern life and rediscovering the luxury of solitude”.

Sylvain Tesson takes it to the extreme by exiling himself to a wooden cabin on Siberia’s Lake Baikal. He lives a full day’s hike from any neighbour, with his thoughts, his books, a couple of dogs, and many bottles of vodka for company.

Writing from February to July, Sylvain Tesson celebrates the ultimate freedom of owning your own time, recording his impressions, struggles, and joy in the face of silence.

“As long as there is a cabin deep in the woods, nothing is completely lost.“

Consolations of the Forest

4. Collected Poems by William Wordsworth

When you’re feeling stressed, take a step into the world of the English Romantics. Join them in marvelling at the powerful natural world and take a big deep breath. Alongside W. B. Yeats and Edward Thomas, Wordsworth will always be one of my go-to poets; I find so much magic in his writing.

I’ve also memorised a few of his poems to mull over on train journeys, while hiking in beautiful places, or when I need some time out – I think there are far worse ways I could use up my mental space.

My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety

William Wordsworth

5. How to Love by Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh has a selection of these “Mindfulness Essentials” books – including How to Relax, How to Focus, and How to Fight – and I think they’re perfect for relaxing reading when you’re stressed.

How to Relax would have been a more obvious choice to include in this list, but How to Love has got to be my favourite (read more of my thoughts here). I think Thich Nhat Hanh’s writing will always be calming, and I especially enjoy it when he’s talking about our connections with others.

“Our true home is inside, but it’s also in our loved ones around us. When you’re in a loving relationship, you and the other person can be a true home for each other. In Vietnamese, the nickname for a person’s life partner is ‘my home.'”

How to Love

6. A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver

The podcast On Being with Krista Tippett has a lovely episode with poet Mary Oliver called “Listening to the World”. I would recommend giving it a listen and then diving into the universe of Oliver’s poems – her work is some of of the most perceptive and gently wise writing on the natural world and our place within it.

In any case, try to get a copy of one of Mary Oliver’s anthologies and head outside, find a lovely spot to sit, and take in her peaceful words surrounded by fresh air and with the sun on your face.

I Go Down To The Shore
I go down to the shore in the morning
and depending on the hour the waves
are rolling in or moving out,
and I say, oh, I am miserable,
what shall—
what should I do? And the sea says
in its lovely voice:
Excuse me, I have work to do.

Mary Oliver

7. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers 1) by Becky Chambers

Becky Chambers is writing some of the best feel-good books today, both in her new Monk & Robot series and in this earlier Wayfarers series.

Commenting on the first book of the series, The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Reddit user Synney writes: “I can’t recommend this enough. It leaves you feeling incredibly warm and wholesome and like everything will be ok”.

“Humans’ preoccupation with ‘being happy’ was something he had never been able to figure out. No sapient could sustain happiness all of the time, just as no one could live permanently within anger, or boredom, or grief.”

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

8. A Calendar of Wisdom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul by Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy considered A Calendar of Wisdom to be his most important contribution to humanity, a compilation of “daily thoughts to nourish the soul” with one page of wisdom per day. 

Tolstoy gathered, translated, abbreviated and expanded on quotations from a huge range of sources, including the New Testament, the Koran, Greek philosophy, Lao-Tzu, Buddhist thought, and the poetry, novels, and essays of both ancient writers and contemporary thinkers.

It’s Tolstoy’s spiritual guide and collection of the quotes that formed his mind, but it leaves enough space and variety to help us to form our own. A Calendar of Wisdom is a superb book to keep lying around ready to be picked up for some calming reading instead of hidden away on a shelf.

9. Goodbye, Things by Fumio Sasaki

Goodbye, Things is not only a remarkably peaceful book to read, but also a fantastic guide to decluttering your life and making room for what’s most important. Fumio Sasaki doesn’t claim to be a minimalism expert or a decluttering guru – he’s just a regular guy who wanted to say goodbye to everything he didn’t absolutely need. This book is the story of his journey and the results.

“Want to know how to make yourself instantly unhappy? Compare yourself with someone else.”

– Goodbye, Things

10. The Haiku of Bashō

There’s just something about reading a haiku to help to calm your mind and feel less stressed. I keep a collection of Bashō’s poetry near me when I’m working and often read a calming haiku or two when I need a break.

Sitting quietly,
doing nothing,
Spring comes,
and the grass grows, by itself.

Bashō

11. Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness by Dr. Qing Li

How much time do you spend in nature? Do you have a forest near you that you can escape to? Written by Dr. Qing Li, who specialises in forest medicine, this is his definitive guide to the therapeutic Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, or “forest bathing”: the art and science of how trees can promote health and happiness.

Like The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down, it’s another book that’s beautifully designed, in this case showcasing the beauty of trees and the natural world.  

Another fantastic tree-celebration that’s also very relaxing to read is The Hidden Life of Trees: The International Bestseller – What They Feel, How They Communicate by Peter Wohlleben.

12. Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

From the master of aviation writing, Wind, Sand and Stars is one of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s best-loved books (after The Little Prince, that is). It’s a great little book to take with you when travelling, or it can be the source of another adventure – sitting at home and leaping into a book.

I can’t help but feel calm when I read his descriptions of the natural world:

“When I opened my eyes I saw nothing but the pool of nocturnal sky, for I was lying on my back with out-stretched arms, face to face with that hatchery of stars. Only half awake, still unaware that those depths were sky, having no roof between those depths and me…“

Wind, Sand and Stars

For more hand-picked relaxing book recommendations, you might like my lists of books to read when you’re stressed, the best bedtime books to help you sleep soundly, and calming coloring books for creative mindfulness.

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Can a book really help you feel better considering the state of the world right now? And what’s more, will this post seem like encouragement to turn a blind eye to situations we really need to be paying attention to?

Here’s my current answer to those questions. We can strive to do what’s in our power to change, but we also need to take care of ourselves. If we can do that while connecting our own human heart with those of others – and stumbling into the rabbit hole of another culture and worldview – then all the better.

I’ll be honest – my reading has become very low-key lately. I’ve been practicing my Danish by reading Harry Potter og Fangen fra Azkaban at the slowest pace imaginable, and also listening to the audiobook of Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

In the following recommendations, you’ll find a few different angles to relieve your own anxiety at the state of the world – or, alternatively, to just sit with your feelings and learn more about the place humankind is in and where we might go from here.

You might also like: 6 books to read during burnout when you feel exhausted

10 books to read when you’re worried about the world and its future

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

If you’re feeling anxious, what’s in your control that you can change? To begin with, think of the kindness, generosity, and love that are innate parts of you. This beautiful memoir of a life well-lived with animals is a wonderful reminder to do so.

“Thousands of billions of mothers—from the gelatinous ancestors of Octavia, to my own mother—have taught their kind to love, and to know that love is the highest and best use of a life. Love alone matters, and makes its object worthy. And love is a living thing, even if Octavia’s eggs were not.”

3. The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet by John Green

Reddit user beastie_boo described John Green’s new essay collection as “the right balance of ‘everything is pointless but I’m still hopeful about the world'”. That’s just what some of us need right now. It can be the best reminder to notice beauty, appreciate what matters, share our kindness and love with others, and limit what leads to stress, dread, and agonising over hypothetical questions.

In The Anthropocene Reviewed, John Green brings both humour and food for thought via his reviews of different facets of our human-centered life on Earth on a five-star scale. Dive into the book as he charts the contradictions of contemporary humanity with reviews spanning the QWERTY keyboard, sunsets, Canada geese, and Penguins of Madagascar.

4. Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World by Tim Marshall

If your way of dealing with the stress and uncertainty of geopolitics is to learn more about it, Prisoners of Geography is an accessible and intriguing place to start.

Tim Marshall offers a fascinating look at how the world’s political landscape is shaped by its physical landscape: the mountains, rivers, deserts, and terrain of our world. Iain and I listened to it as an audiobook a few years ago, and we’ve just revisited the first chapter (conveniently focused on Russia) this week.

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

What better book to help you to breathe deeper and marvel at the wonder of nature and its seasons than Braiding Sweetgrass?

Admiring the natural world is a first step to protecting it, even in the smaller ways accessible to us via our day-to-day choices about how to live our own lives, alongside the miniature ecosystems we create in our window boxes, balconies, and gardens.

“How do I show my girls I love them on a morning in June? I pick them wild strawberries. On a February afternoon we build snowmen and then sit by the fire. In March we make maple syrup. We pick violets in May and go swimming in July. On an August night we lay out blankets and watch meteor showers. In November, that great teacher the woodpile comes into our lives. That’s just the beginning. How do we show our children our love? Each in our own way by a shower of gifts and a heavy rain of lessons.”

6. Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future by Elizabeth Kolbert

One way to look at human civilization, says Elizabeth Kolbert, is as a ten-thousand-year exercise in defying nature. In Under a White Sky, she examines how the very sorts of interventions that have imperiled our planet are increasingly seen as the best hope for its salvation.

Along the way, she meets biologists who are trying to preserve the world’s rarest fish in a single tiny pool in the middle of the Mojave; engineers who are turning carbon emissions to stone in Iceland; Australian researchers who are trying to develop a “super coral” that can survive on a hotter globe; and physicists who are contemplating shooting tiny diamonds into the stratosphere to cool the earth.

7. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

The House in the Cerulean Sea is one of the most popular “hug in a book” recommendations from the last few years (especially if you frequent bookish parts of Reddit).

It’s the heartwarming fantasy tale of Linus Baker, a 40-year old who leads a quiet life and has a dull job at the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. But one day, he’s summoned by Extremely Upper Management and given a highly classified assignment – travelling to an orphanage where six dangerous children reside, and deciding their future.

8. Peace Is a Practice: An Invitation to Breathe Deep and Find a New Rhythm for Life by Morgan Harper Nichols

Morgan Harper Nichols has a voice of such beauty and comfort, and her writing offers a welcome balm for the soul during difficult times. Her latest book, Peace is a Practice, was published in February 2022 and offers an invitation to breathe deeper and find a new rhythm for your life.

9. Modern Nature by Derek Jarman

In 1986, Derek Jarman was suddenly faced with an uncertain future as he discovered he was HIV positive. To find solace, he decided to make a garden at his cottage on the barren coast of Dungeness in England’s southeast. While some plants perished beneath wind and sea spray, others flourished and created brilliant, unexpected beauty.

Modern Nature is both a diary of the garden and a meditation by Jarman on his own life: from his childhood to his time as a young gay man in the 1960s and his renowned career as an artist, writer, and filmmaker.

“But the wind does not stop for my thoughts. It whips across the flooded gravel pits drumming up waves on their waters that glint hard and metallic in the night, over the shingle, rustling the dead gorse and skeletal bugloss, running in rivulets through the parched grass – while I sit here in the dark holding a candle that throws my divided shadow across the room and gathers my thoughts to the flame like moths.

10. 10% Happier by Dan Harris

After having a nationally televised panic attack on Good Morning America, Dan Harris knew he had to make some changes. On a bizarre adventure of self-discovery, Harris learned that what he always thought was his greatest asset – the incessant voice in his head – was actually the source of his problems (and as he writes, “kind of an asshole.”)

Something he always presumed to be either impossible or useless became the quietly powerful tool to change everything: meditation.

“There’s no point in being unhappy about things you can’t change, and no point being unhappy about things you can.”

The post Books for when you’re worried about the state of the world appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

As a teenager I worked in my village bookshop; a tiny little shop stacked floor to ceiling with books, its shelves overflowing onto every table and windowsill. I loved working there. I’d track down rare books for customers and process purchases when they came into the shop.

My job was also to recommend books. We all had go-to recommendations: mine leaned towards the classics, while the bookshop owner always recommended Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.

Somehow I never read the book back then. I really should have, though.

“According to Shiva, life is in the end about fixing holes. Shiva didn’t speak in metaphors. fixing holes is precisely what he did. Still, it’s an apt metaphor for our profession. But there’s another kind of hole, and that is the wound that divides family. Sometimes this wound occurs at the moment of birth, sometimes it happens later. We are all fixing what is broken. It is the task of a lifetime. We’ll leave much unfinished for the next generation.”

Cutting for Stone tells the tale of two identical twins, Shiva and Marion, who are conjoined until birth but remain “ShivaMarion” throughout life, even after bitter betrayal separates them.

Marion is our narrator of Cutting for Stone, who sets the scene in Addis Ababa’s Missing Hospital (a mispronunciation of “Mission Hospital”). He opens the novel with these first lines:

“After eight months spent in the obscurity of our mother’s womb, my brother, Shiva, and I came into the world in the late afternoon of the twentieth of September in the year of grace 1954. We took our first breaths at an elevation of eight thousand feet in the thin air of Addis Ababa, capital city of Ethiopia…”

It’s a big book at 534 pages and in the ground it covers; from beginning to end, it spans lifetimes, including countless personal, national and international upheavals in those years.

I loved reading Cutting for Stone for a few reasons. I loved how it celebrates knowledge, learning, and especially, medicine. I loved it for the non-traditional home that Shiva and Marion grow up in (“Wasn’t that the definition of home? Not where you are from, but where you are wanted.”)

I loved it for how it made me think about my own life and work. If you want to consider switching careers to medicine, read this for a little push. I had a not-insignificant career crisis while reading this book, lamenting how I could be using my brain for more impactful work.

For me, books that bring up feelings like these are among the very best; causing you to question your life and start making real changes, whether it’s pivoting your career, making changes to look after your body better, or improving relationships and leaving negative ones.

I loved getting to know its characters, not because they’re excellent role models – they have many unappealing moments, especially in the second third of the book – but because they’re so flawed. Not one character is perfect or blameless.

Although the book starts off slow, by the halfway point I knew it was going to be one of my all-time favourites. If there’s a formula for a perfect novel, Abraham Verghese nails it with Cutting for Stone.

“God will judge us, Mr. Harris, by–by what we did to relieve the suffering of our fellow human beings. I don’t think God cares what doctrine we embrace.”

The post Cutting for Stone is a book I should have read years ago appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

Like many of us, I fell out of the habit of reading fantasy books as I grew older. I’ve only started changing that in recent years with books like The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon and revisiting J.R.R. Tolkien.

Why is it that we stop seeking magical worlds when we become adults?

Maybe it’s because of responsibility, or needing to be in the real world, or being too mature and wise for such things.

But oh, it’s such a joy to rediscover fantasy books like His Dark Materials. When we’re experiencing anxiety, low mood or depression, or going through tough times, escaping this world for another – Jordan College, Hogwarts, Narnia, or the Shire – can be a welcome retreat.

When someone asks me about the books I’d recommend for the most difficult days, I often want to shout, read the children’s and young adults’ books you love!

However, you can hardly class His Dark Materials as a trilogy just for children, or even young adults. The BBC & HBO adaptation is very much marketed to adults, especially those who read the books when they first came out. And the themes aren’t exactly easy-going.

Philip Pullman has some big messages at work in His Dark Materials. The church, the government, personal freedom and justice… all come into question as the plot develops.

After watching the 2019 adaptation, which I loved – Dafne Keen, Ruth Wilson, and most others are spectacular – I remembered just how beautifully crafted Philip Pullman’s world is. And I wanted to spend as much time there as possible.

As soon as the first episode aired, I fell in love with Jordan College, Lyra Belacqua, and the world she lives in once again. And oh, how I’d love to have my own dæmon (the BBC website has a quiz where you can find out what your dæmon would be.)

Before season 2 of the HBO/BBC adaptation of His Dark Materials airs (probably this year, they filmed most of the two seasons in unison, so hopefully we won’t have too much of a wait), I’ve decided to reread the books. Iain will join me, he read the series several times when he was younger but couldn’t say no for another round.

The book starts with a quote from John Milton’s Paradise Lost, from which the series gets its name:

“Unless the Almighty Maker them ordain/ His dark materials to create more worlds,–/ Into this wild Abyss the wary Fiend/ Stood on the brink of Hell and looked a while,/ Pondering his voyage; for no narrow frith/ He had to cross.”

We then tumble into the halls and secret rooms of Jordan College with Lyra and her dæmon, Panteleimon, where we join them for disquieting plots, intrigue, and overheard secrets that start the adventure to come.

It couldn’t be a better time for me to read His Dark Materials – my workload has stepped up with some big clients who want a lot of my time. It’s a good problem to have, I won’t complain too much, but it has left me slightly frazzled.

If anything can soothe my soul and help me to breathe deeper, it’s a good book. So bring it on, Philip Pullman.

Top image from HBO

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