Whew!
Another election season is over, at least for a few weeks. No matter what happens from here, we encourage you to take a little bit of time to kick back and relax. We have a lot of fun holidays coming up as we approach the coldest, darkest time of year; and you will want to be ready to enjoy them!
My Year of Rest and Relaxation, by Ottessa Moshfegh “Our narrator should be happy, shouldn’t she? She’s young, thin, pretty, a recent Columbia graduate, works an easy job at a hip art gallery, lives in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan paid for, like the rest of her needs, by her inheritance. But there is a dark and vacuous hole in her heart, and it isn’t just the loss of her parents, or the way her Wall Street boyfriend treats her, or her sadomasochistic relationship with her best friend, Reva. It’s the year 2000 in a city aglitter with wealth and possibility; what could be so terribly wrong?
My Year of Rest and Relaxation is a powerful answer to that question. Through the story of a year spent under the influence of a truly mad combination of drugs designed to heal our heroine from her alienation from this world, Moshfegh shows us how reasonable, even necessary, alienation can be. Both tender and blackly funny, merciless and compassionate, it is a showcase for the gifts of one of our major writers working at the height of her powers.”
A Calm Brain: Unlocking Your Natural Relaxation System, by Gayatri Devi “Our ancestors used the fight-or-flight mechanism to protect themselves from predators. We use it to fend off daily crises. In a world filled with too many toys, too much technology, and too many choices—how can we possibly keep up? Our bodies have been trained to react to the beeps and alarms of all our different technologies, be it the ever present cell phone, an angry text message, or a frantic voicemail. The result is chronic stress and a learned inability to relax.
With a warm, lucid voice, Dr. Devi shares stories from her medical practice of ordinary people—suffering from migraines, neck pain, gastrointestinal upsets, and sleep deprivation— trying to work through life’s difficulties. With practical advice she shows just how to promote a higher “vagal tone,” and delivers the best news yet: you don’t need more drugs. Here are the keys to more tranquil, productive, and enjoyable life.
Dr. Devi explores a paradigm shift in our understanding of the brain’s relaxation mechanisms. It is hard for our brains to talk our bodies into feeling calm, but our bodies have strong wiring that makes true enduring calm possible. The body does this through the vagus nerve, a powerful conduit that taps directly into our brain’s built-in relaxation system. This revolutionary science can transform your work life and your home life.”
Garden Paths & Forest Trails · Easy To Color Illustrations of Forest Plants and Animals for Stress Relief, Relaxation and Creativity, by Action Publishing “Each drawing in the Garden Paths & Forest Trails Quick Coloring Book is designed to make your coloring experience a little easier. 26 easy to color illustrations of flowers and leaves, birds, deer and more – all on 90 lb acid-free smooth card stock. Printed on thick, single-sided, professional-grade paper. A bonus moveable plastic protector stops any marker bleed through. Top-bound for both right and left-handed artists, with wire binding that allows your coloring book to lay completely flat.”
The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction, by Meghan Cox Gurdon “A miraculous alchemy occurs when one person reads to another, transforming the simple stuff of a book, a voice, and a bit of time into complex and powerful fuel for the heart, brain, and imagination. Grounded in the latest neuroscience and behavioral research, and drawing widely from literature, The Enchanted Hour explains the dazzling cognitive and social-emotional benefits that await children, whatever their class, nationality or family background. But it’s not just about bedtime stories for little kids: Reading aloud consoles, uplifts and invigorates at every age, deepening the intellectual lives and emotional well-being of teenagers and adults, too.
Meghan Cox Gurdon argues that this ancient practice is a fast-working antidote to the fractured attention spans, atomized families and unfulfilling ephemera of the tech era, helping to replenish what our devices are leaching away. For everyone, reading aloud engages the mind in complex narratives; for children, it’s an irreplaceable gift that builds vocabulary, fosters imagination, and kindles a lifelong appreciation of language, stories and pictures.
Bringing together the latest scientific research, practical tips, and reading recommendations, The Enchanted Hour will both charm and galvanize, inspiring readers to share this invaluable, life-altering tradition with the people they love most.” (This one is due out in January, 2019!)
Letting It Be: Mindful Lessons Toward Acceptance is a step-by-step guide authored by Dr. Lisa Templeton, a clinical psychologist, to help learn about your own inner process, manage thoughts and emotions more effectively, and to be a better friend to yourself and others. Each chapter is about being with a certain focused energy to aid with self-awareness and ultimately with acceptance. Dr. Lisa offers her own experiences through personal stories, spiritual experiences, first-hand interpretations, poems, and guided meditations to aid others in working through suffering to become a victor in moving through the difficulties of life. ”
Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life, by Thich Nhat Hanh “In the rush of modern life, we tend to lose touch with the peace that is available in each moment. World-renowned Zen master, spiritual leader, and author Thich Nhat Hanh shows us how to make positive use of the very situations that usually pressure and antagonize us. For him a ringing telephone can be a signal to call us back to our true selves. Dirty dishes, red lights, and traffic jams are spiritual friends on the path to “mindfulness”—the process of keeping our consciousness alive to our present experience and reality. The most profound satisfactions, the deepest feelings of joy and completeness lie as close at hand as our next aware breath and the smile we can form right now.”
Each week we look at a collection of a few books on a topic. You can explore the books on your own, or use them as a foundation for building a display in your library! 
