10 Books — Jólabókaflóð, for a “Christmas Book Flood”
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash
Books open the door every time we knock. They inspire us to live, dream, and change the world. On their pages, we can find a guardian, a fast-friend, or a person who understands without expecting anything. Sometimes, we come to a time in life when we want a book to speak to our hearts.
Some books possess a unique, transcendental quality that carries through to the ages, with messages that speak to the core of a shared human experience. I have come across a few of these books in my lifetime, and I want to share them each month, hoping they might inspire someone else. This list includes more teaching-style books, but I will revisit it with fiction recommendations next month.
There is a tradition in Iceland of forging gifts and instead giving each person a unique book intended for them. This tradition, called Jólabókaflóð, or “Christmas Book Flood,” is a practice of giving books on Christmas Eve and is rooted in the Nordic culture’s deep appreciation for storytelling. Consider starting this tradition with your family this holiday season or sending a special book to someone you love.
Each month, I research and share books in different categories to inspire you to find joy, love, and personal growth. This month I have chosen 10 books that provide life-changing lessons. Each month I’ll try to update the newsletter with new recommendations.
1. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
This book is about finding one’s life purpose and talks about how the universe conspires to help us in our journey. The story is told from the eyes of a young shepherd who starts on a journey to seek worldly riches and see the world, but along the way, he finds something much more significant — himself. This book explores self-reliance, love, and the importance of chasing our dreams. This book illuminates what it means to find our true purpose in life, because if the entire universe is with you, then who could be against you?
2.When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chodron
I read this book at one of the lowest points in my life, and it gave me the resolve to realize that painful experiences can teach us something great. Pema draws from Buddhist teachings to teach how drawing closer to pain can help us be at ease with challenges in our life and allow us to grow and develop a sense of compassion. The book begins with a quote about a universal experience tied into difficult experiences,
“Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to truth.”
She goes on,
“Embarking on the spiritual journey is like getting into a very small boat and setting out on the ocean to search for unknown lands. With wholehearted practice comes inspiration, but sooner or later we will also encounter fear. . . Like all explorers, we are drawn to discover what’s waiting out there without knowing yet if we have the courage to face it.”
-Pema Chodron
3.One Day My Soul Opened Just Opened Up by Iyanla Vanzant
Iyanla is well-known in the self-help genre. Before I knew her in this light, I discovered this book one day in a bookstore. Upon reading the dedication in the book, it struck me that there was something unique about this book; the dedication reads,
“This book is dedicated to the Ego, the part of us that continues to worry, lives in doubt, is afraid, judges other people. . . “
The book presents a 40-day challenge of 30 minutes a day of self-reflection to explore themes of spiritual awakening and personal growth. It is extremely successful in considering how we think about ourselves and what barriers exist to our personal empowerment.
4. The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere by Pico Iyer
I love the book, “The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere” by Pico Iyer because it reminds me we can find stillness anywhere. The author left his busy life in NYC as a successful writer for Time magazine to simplify his life and, as he explains,
“learn how to make those joys less external and ephemeral.”
He spent a year in a small room in Kyoto, Japan. Still, he then discovered that finding himself was less about a destination and more about an internal shift in his mind influencing his attitudes and perceptions. Iyer explains,
”The idea behind Choosing to sit still long enough to turn inward is at heart a simple one. . . our solutions, our peace of mind within.” Iyer describes why stillness is so important in modern day life: “The need for empty space, a pause, is something we have all felt in our bones; it’s the rest in a piece of music that gives its resonance and shape.”
In the first chapters, Iyer describes visiting Leonard Cohen, who was living as a monk at Mt. Baldy Zen Center, as a practical experience to live a better life:
“Leonard Cohen had come to this Old World redoubt to make a life-an art-out of stillness. And he was working on simplifying himself as fiercely as he might on the verses of one of his songs, which he spends more than ten years polishing to perfection. . . Being in this remote place of stillness had nothing to do with piety or purity, he assured me; it was simply the most practical way he’d found of working through confusion and terror that long been his bed follows.”
5.Make Your Bed: Little Things that Can Change Your Life and Maybe the World by Admiral William McRaven (RET)
This book is based on Navy Seal Admiral William H. McRaven’s commencement speech that went viral with over 10 million views, you can see here.
In the title of his book, McRaven talks about his habit of making the bed each morning as a way to get a small win that builds momentum, leading to more success. Admiral McRaven discusses the value of teamwork, perseverance, respect, and hope. He gives examples from his Navy Seal training, which he refers to as a lifetime of lessons crammed into six months. The book is aspirational in providing the reader with a true sense of how McRaven developed a sense of grit. From his recollections, we gain a deeper understanding of the true meaning of success, which includes overcoming failure and respecting & working with others.
6. The Last Lecture
“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.” -Randy Pausch
After discovering he has terminal cancer, Randy Pausch gives a lecture titled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” This book, titled after the reflective lecture often given by professors imparting their wisdom, reminds us that achieving our dreams is about how we lead our lives. Randy Pausch believes that
“if you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, the dreams will come to you.”
The Last Lecture is a book of life lessons Randy Pausch wanted to leave his children.
7.Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl By Anne Frank
The soul needs human stories about triumph and people whose lives changed the course of history. My favorite childhood, coming of age book, is Anne Frank. This book gives a personal account of the Holocaust, and its account will stay with you and, upon rereading, can change how you see your place in history. The words in her journal give a face and a name to the historical evil that embodied this period in history. In college, I had the incredible opportunity to meet Hannali Goslar, Anne Frank's childhood friend. Goslar talked about her life and her relationship with Anne Frank. Her strength, tenacity, and perseverance inspired me. I admired her for sharing her story to the world; she taught me that true strength has many layers.
8.The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
This book presents a life philosophy of living in the present moment, as a way to handle life’s problems and engaging more fully in living each moment. The book is life-changing in that it presents a different perspective on how to handle day to day life situations, and gives techniques that are very easy to implement. Although the method is easy to learn, the changes it can produce on life-changing. Although I did not agree with everything in the book, I felt the premise provided a new way of seeing things and created a way to add mental space in a fast-moving world.
9. The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler
This book is based off Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. It has been used to formulate many of the most famous screenplays in Hollywood, and self-development courses. It poses the hero on an epic journey and defines different archetypes and challenges he encounters along the way by framing this journey through the lens of world mythology. This book is invaluable for writers, readers, leaders in diverse fields and people looking for meaning.
10. Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces
Joseph Campbell (1904–1984) was a comparative mythologist. His work inspired many screenwriters, such as George Lucas in the creation of the Star Wars trilogy.
Campbell’s book offers artists an interior analysis of their views concerning physical, intellectual, and spiritual planes, making his work a unique resource. He believed that stories connected and united us through the transcendental quality of myths across centuries. I have come across excerpts of his work, but have not read these yet, so I am excited to consider them. His quotes, like the one below, intrigue me enough to want to learn more.
“People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances with our own innermost being and reality so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive. That’s what it’s all finally about, and that’s what these clues help us to find within ourselves.”
Books provide a window into answers to life’s most significant questions. For a brief time, we can forget the daily grind of our lives and feel immersed in the life of another human being, or take a time machine to observe life in a different time period. Their pages can transport us into the lives of different people, and offer a glimpse of hope and strength. Feel free to share other life-changing books in the comments below. I will revisit this topic soon. Have a beautiful holiday season.
