Books to Help with Healing

 When I was younger, I did not like reading. May be because I was forced to read and then write summaries and character analysis. 

As a young adult, my then boyfriend introduced me to a series of books about animals. I love animals and so I loved reading those books. From there, I found other books I could delve into.

Then came motherhood, divorce, and college. Time to read for pleasure became a thing of the past. I was helping with homework, doing my own homework, and trying to make it as a single parent. Depression crept back into my life (if it ever even left). 

Fast forward to quite a few years later... my school was done, my kids were grown and gone, but time for reading was still eluding me because I was always preparing lesson plans, lessons, charts, IEPs (if you work in the Special Education field, you know what I'm talking about) and a myriad of other things that come with teaching.

It wasn't until last July that I was able to start reading again. And what a pleasure it has been. Some books I have devoured in a couple of days. Others took me a little longer. I am now reading a series that I am finding captivating. The main character is a former librarian turned book shop owner and "therapist." She is not the typical therapist. She talks to her customers and then finds books to help them deal with what they are experiencing and that is causing them pain. 

I want to share one of the quotes from one of her books (it is the first one in the series The Secret, Book, & Scone Society).

“Stories don’t change much across continents and centuries. Hearts are broken. Pride is wounded. Souls wander too far from home and become lost. The wrong roads are taken. The incorrect choice is made. Stories echo with loneliness. Grief. Longing. Redemption. Forgiveness. Hope. And love.” Now it was her turn to point at the bookstore. “That building is stuffed with books that, once opened, reveal our communal story. And, if you’re lucky, the words in those books will force you to grapple with the hardest truths of your life. After reducing you to a puddle of tears, they’ll raise you to your feet again. The words will pull you up, higher and higher, until you feel the sun on your face again. Until you’re suddenly humming on the way to the mailbox. Or you’re buying bouquets of gerbera daisies because you crave bright colors. And you’ll laugh again—as freely as champagne bubbling in a tall, glass flute. When’s the last time you laughed like that?”
― Ellery Adams, The Secret, Book, & Scone Society

I am really liking her main character Nora, and I feel that if I were to follow Nora's book list suggestions to the pained customers, I too would find a way to handle (or deal) with what life has thrown at me in that particular moment. 

Pick up a book. Give it a try.