While the list of books I’ve read is nowhere near as long as Rory Gilmore’s, I have compiled a few of my favourite reads of the year in hopes that they can be yours too in 2017.
1. You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life, by Jen Sincero
While I had never been big into self-help books before, this one completely changed that. The cover caught my attention on the sale table at Chapters, but it kept its hold of me right from the first page. What I love about Sincero’s approach is that it’s honest and relatable – nothing too flowery and over the top. Sincero uses personal anecdotes that are both captivating and humorous, while urging you to wake up and realize your badass-ery. While I have finished reading You Are a Badass, I know I will be picking it up time and time again this year whenever I need that extra bit of motivation and self-assurance.
2. A House in the Sky, by Amanda Lindhout
This memoir was an eye-opener like no other. A House in the Sky follows freelance journalist, Amanda Lindhout, on her fifteen-month abduction in Somalia and her ability to survive unimaginably hostile conditions. I was intrigued by this book for its connection to journalism and travel and after getting a taste of Lindhout’s story, I couldn’t put it down.
3. The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt
The Goldfinch follows Theo Decker as he faces extreme adversity after surviving an accident that leaves him motherless and in the possession of an antique painting. The Pulitzer prize winning novel begins with Theo’s childhood in New York where he is taken in by a wealthy family to his adult life. Fully immersive, emotional, and intriguingly unique, The Goldfinch should be on your reading list this year if you seek a book to sink into for hours.
4. Eat Pretty, by Jolene Hart
If leading a healthier life was on your list of new year’s resolutions, then this book needs to be on your shelf immediately. Not only does it provide nutritious recipes and tips to calm stress, but it helps you learn which foods best attribute to beauty as well. Eat Pretty is a philosophy of eating that will change the way you think about mealtime. The book is split into three sections; one to provide a foundation of “Beauty Nutrition 101,” another that outlines how to stay radiant throughout each season, and a third to outline habits “beyond the plate” to keep in mind like sleep and proper digestion. Read this book to learn that what you put in your body will have outside effects as well. My new mantra? “Beauty in, beauty out.”