Books are a huge part of my life and my “clutter”.

When I saw Virginia Woolf’s home in “The Hours” filled with books all over the place, I could so relate to that. Thus, To put some semblance of order into my cluttered reading list (I like going through three-four books at a time, taking forever to finish! Right now it’s an Obama biography, a book on running and a memoir…) I’ve decided to pledge to completely finish one book a month and put together this reading list for 2009. Some of the books are already on my shelf (half of them are, actually) the others, I still have to purchase. Some are new, some published a few years ago.

“Tell me what you read and I’ll tell you who you are…” Below is my 2009 selection which more or less is a reflection of my interests, currently, at this point in time. I’ve included brief reviews that I culled from various sources throughout the worldwide web.

The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan

We earn our livings and raise our children, but our parents continue to shape us. So when are we really grown-ups? Kelly Corrigan, 40, answers that question in her insightful, often funny memoir about surviving breast cancer only to find that her adored father has been diagnosed with cancer too.

Outliers: The story of Successs by Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell poses a more provocative question in Outliers: why do some people succeed, living remarkably productive and impactful lives, while so many more never reach their potential? Challenging our cherished belief of the “self-made man,” he makes the democratic assertion that superstars don’t arise out of nowhere, propelled by genius and talent: “they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot.” Examining the lives of outliers from Mozart to Bill Gates, he builds a convincing case for how successful people rise on a tide of advantages, “some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky.”

Prayerwalk by Janet McHenry

Life today is busy and full of demands, and often the very things that are vital to daily life, such as prayer and exercise, are moved to the bottom of the priority list. In PrayerWalk Janet shows how to connect the sacred act of prayer with the everyday act of walking. Three years ago, depressed and overweight, McHenry found a simple plan for her life: she would pray while she walked. Little did she know, it would change her life personally and open her eyes to the needs of her community. Mc Henry says — “Prayer walking is not an easy way to ‘take care of prayer’ while you get good exercise. It is a call to spend rich time with God, carrying others’ loads. The walking is only a means to make it all happen.”

Why Good Things Happen To Good People by Stephen Post, Ph.D. and Jill Neimark

“Stephen Post and Jill Neimark make the scientific case for generosity eloquently, humanely, and compellingly. This book meets Nietzsche’s criterion for good philosophy: ‘Change your life!’”
—Martin E. P. Seligman, PhD, Fox Leadership Professor of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, and author of Learned Optimism and Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment

“Stephen Post and Jill Neimark have brought together the main findings from the new science of genuine love and translated them into helpful, practical advice that the reader can easily apply. Those who take this book to heart will surely make their lives better, and will help to make the world a better place as well.”

—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, PhD, professor of psychology, Claremont Graduate University, and author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women by Gail McMeekin

Sparked by her long search for inspiration in her life and work, Gail McMeekin has worked closely with some of today’s most highly creative women for her one-of-a-kind guide to maximizing creative energy. “For many women,” she writes, “breaking free of our societal and psychological chains is a prerequisite to truly creating a life that expresses our genuineness and uniqueness.”
The dynamic women sharing their secrets for the first time include Sarah Ban Breathnach, who channeled her creativity into the book she was “born to write” (the best-selling Simple Abundance); interior designer Chris Madden; and software tycoon Brenda Laurel. From interviews and conversations, McMeekin distilled the common themes in these innovators’ lives and work into practices any woman can use.

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

In these eight exquisitely detailed stories, Pulitzer Prize-winner Lahiri lights on private moments of sadness that come in the aftermath of painful family conflicts. In “A Choice of Accommodations,” Lahiri writes refreshingly about an aging body: A man puts his hands on his wife’s hips, “over the stretch marks that were like inlaid streaks of mother-of-pearl that would never fade, whose brilliance spoke only for the body’s decay.” Subtle and wise, Lahiri captures a universal yearning. — Carmela Ciuraru

To be continued…