
Life can be hard: your lover cheats on you; you lose a family member; you can't pay the bills--and it can be great: you've had the hottest sex of your life; you get that plum job; you muster the courage to write your novel. Sugar--the once-anonymous online columnist at The Rumpus, now revealed as Cheryl Strayed, author of the bestselling memoir Wild--is the person thousands turn to for advice. Tiny Beautiful Thingsbrings the best of Dear Sugar in one place and includes never-before-published columns and a new introduction by Steve Almond. Rich with humor, insight, compassion--and absolute honesty--this bookis a balm for everything life throws our way.
Fascinating book and must read particularly if you are feeling little down in life. I was initially skeptical of the genre, but one of the great books I have read.
Another one is "The power of vulnerability" by Brene Brown, actually it's an audiobook, I think the book has no equivalent written version but it might be something on the line of "Daring greatly" (same author).
These books will challenge you in many ways.
I noticed something funny about myself after reading Ayn Rand - I found her writing influenced my mindset and made me (personally - not casting this on all Rand fans) more isolationist, individualist, and just a little bit more of an asshole.
Interested by that phenomenon, I've been on the lookout for books that might subtly influence my perspective in ways that would make me warmer, kinder, more sympathetic/empathetic.
Two of these recommendations look spot-on for that. Purchased:
The Road to Character
"Focuses on the deeper values that should inform our lives. Responding to what he calls the culture of the Big Me, which emphasizes external success, Brooks challenges us, and himself, to rebalance the scales between our “résumé virtues”—achieving wealth, fame, and status—and our “eulogy virtues,” those that exist at the core of our being: kindness, bravery, honesty, or faithfulness, focusing on what kind of relationships we have formed."
Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar
"Cheryl Strayed was an advice columnist called Dear Sugar, and this collection of her essays is a guide to finding inner strength through tenderness. She masterfully links the problems of her readers to her own painful experiences, and the result will cling to you with its vulnerability, sweetness, and intimacy. I’ve been in love with this book all fall."
