Hello Fellow Quarantinians!
I don’t know about you but I’ve been reading a heck of a lot while on lockdown. Although this time feels crazy, it has provided some much-needed time to chill and read a dang book. #brightside
As I’ve been doing some deeper writing, I find myself returning to the same few books to reference. This inspired me to create this reading list to share with you in case you are also taking advantage of this time to read.
This isn’t just any ole reading list though. This is my ULTIMATE list – the 11 books that changed my life. I encountered them at the right time and they act as markers for personal transformations I have undergone. As you peruse this list, listen to which ones call to you most and think about picking up that book from a local bookseller. Even during lockdown, many local booksellers will ship books to your home.
Powell’s Bookstore in Portland is in danger of closing. If you don’t know which local bookstore to order from, Powell’s may be a good option. If you make a purchase at the link below then 7.5% of your purchase will go toward the worker’s relief fund to support laid off workers.
https://www.powells.com/?partnerID=35751
If you like to sip a cup of good tea while you’re reading, please consider supporting the Jasmine Pearl Tea Company. They are a local Portland business and their tea is amazing! My favorite is the lemon ginger green tea. They currently offer free shipping for orders over $25.
Who knows…maybe one of these books listed will mark your next transformation.
Emily’s Ultimate Reading List – The 11 Books That Changed My Life
In no particular order.
The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway
By Ernest Hemingway
This book is on the list for more reasons than one. Its acquisition bookmarks one of the most synchronous, weird, and magical moments of my life.
I was a creative writing major in college and stuck on a writing assignment – write a story using mostly dialogue. I struggled with dialogue and spent a lot of time reorganizing my closet than actually sitting at my desk and doing the work.
At the 11th hour I was desperate for any spark of inspiration. I closed my eyes and asked to channel the best dialogue writer to help me with my assignment. As soon as my pen hit the paper, I wrote in a frenzy and it was done. Just like that.
I submitted my paper online and when I came to class two days later, I saw my short story was printed and on every desk in the class. When I looked at my teacher incredulously, she said something along the lines of “this is a great example of writing dialogue in a Hemingway reminiscent way – it is just the perfect reimagining of Hills like White Elephants.”
First of all, I must have been the only creative writing major that had not read Hemingway at that time so I had NO idea what she was talking about. I had never read that short story or any Hemingway short story for that matter. With my curiosity peaked, the next day I went to the used bookstore and picked up, The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway.
It wasn’t until I got home that I noticed someone had scrawled “This one is for you, Emily,” on the inside cover.
My jaw dropped when I read Hills like White Elephants. My story was VERY reminiscent of this story – almost as if the female character was meeting a new date years later. I still feel the tingles when I think about this and so it merits a spot on this list.
Format Recommendation: Printed, physical copy. I have the paperback version.
2. The Essential Lenormand
by Rana George
Hands down, this is the best Lenormand book you will find out there. It includes detailed card meanings, personal stories, and how to read spreads up through the Grand Tableau. You truly can’t go wrong with this book. (If you don’t know what Lenormand is, they are sassy, to the point divination cards that tell it like it is).
I received a copy of this book when it came out. At the time, I had been reading Lenormand for friends, family, and donation. I was at the precipice of becoming a professional reader but my confidence wasn’t quite there.
After I had been playing with this book for a while I went to the Northwest Tarot Symposium in Portland, OR and met the fabulous Rana George. #starstruck. I am truly blessed because Rana has taken me under wing and assisted in nurturing me into the professional I am now. Her book continues to serve as a highly useful reference and reminds me of that exciting, synchronous time when Rana and I met – where Emily Rose Divination truly began.
Format Recommendation: Printed, physical copy.
3. Awaken Your Genius
by Dr. Carolyn Elliott
If you’re ready for a radical shift in your life, then Carolyn Elliott is your person. Not for the faint of heart, this is a self-help book on fire. She has some exercises and ideas to expand your consciousness and improve your life that are wonderful, magically devious, and deeply transformative.
I came to this book after hearing Carolyn Elliott on a podcast. I had just started Emily Rose Divination and was running into barriers. I thought these barriers were outside myself, but as I discovered, they were all within me. It was like I was in a dark room and kept bumping into the same dang table over and over again and wondering why the world was out to get me. This book taught me how to turn on the light.
I began to recognize WHY I had resistance to things I knew would help me succeed. It ultimately came down to my subconscious desire to stay small and undetectable. By shining a light on these things, without judgement, we remove the stigma and can begin to work through our blockages.
Later, I decided to take her course called Influence because of the success I had with her book.
This book is really about shadow integration/making the subconscious conscious and tapping into the divine flow of potential that all of us have. I have gifted this book the most out of any book ever because it really is the ultimate wake up call to all who seek “a high sort of seeing,” as Emerson would say.
Format Recommendation: I don’t believe this is available on audiobook but it would be a good one if it was. The paperback copy was great.
4. Beloved
by Toni Morrison
This book is the absolute potential of literature manifested. It is hard to say anything about it other then it is the gift that a literary goddess decided to grace us mere humans with. This is a book about the deep-rooted effects of slavery and ancestral grief and lineage. Truly one of the best books ever written.
Format Recommendation: physical, printed book.
5. Daring Greatly
by Dr. Brené Brown
If you haven’t heard of Dr. Brené Brown yet, go watch her TED Talk.
She is making shadow integration accessible to all through normalizing and promoting vulnerability. Her books, this one included, helped me see how my default setting was to shame myself when things don’t go my way and taught me how to work my way out of these spirals.
Often, when we do new things, spoiler, we don’t get things right. When this happens, it can trigger what Dr. Brown calls shame spirals. These spirals can send us down an isolating, dark path that can be hard to come back from. She provides strategies for avoiding these spirals and how to conjure the courage needed to get out there and do the work we are called to do while managing our minds.
This book came to me at the perfect time. I was about to go on the Biddy Tarot Podcast and was nervous about coming out of the witch closet. Although many people knew I read cards, many didn’t. Although continuing with my work felt aligned, I was in a constant shame spiral about what so and so would think and what would I do if this person doesn’t like me anymore?! These were all thoughts that had NO ACTUAL BEARING on what I do but I let infiltrate my creative space. This book truly helped me to separate what is important from noise.
All her books are helpful but this one is especially helpful if you are wanting to start, finish, or generally create something but can’t seem to get around to do it. If this is you, read this book.
Format recommendation: I don’t recommend the audiobook for this one – the audiobook narrator was not my favorite. I would get a print version.
6. Do Nothing
by Celeste Headlee
If you are someone who works, you need this book. Truly, it is about the history of work in the world and how our efforts to make things more efficient are probably contributing to unhappiness and less productivity. The author tries different experiments on herself and begins to listen to her inner cues and heart (although she wouldn’t use these words) to work in alignment with her natural rhythms. Although this book can be frustrating if you have a job and don’t currently have the ability to change the structure of your workplace, it will change the way you think about work and productivity. This should be required reading for workaholics.
Format Recommendation: I highly recommend the audiobook.
7. The Emerald Tablet – Alchemy of Personal Transformation
by Dennis William Hauck
If you spend any length of time talking to me about spirituality, I will probably bring up the Emerald Tablet within 5 minutes.
I came to this book through a dream – I had a recurring dreams of green stones. Green jewelry. A giant green slab with engravings on it. I mentioned my dreams to several of my friends in the cartomancy community and one said, “sounds like the Emerald Tablet.” This was the first book I picked up on the subject and I STUDIED this book. I have a full 120 page notebook filled with thoughts, exercises, and imaginings based on the Emerald Tablet.
The Emerald Tablet is one of the pillars of Western spirituality and it is fascinating to trace its lines throughout time back to this ancient, legendary document. Dr. Carolyn Elliott’s work also revolves around Hermeticism and the Emerald Tablet.
This is a book that is juicy and demands dedicated time for deeper thought. Also, fair warning, it is apt to lead you down many a Wikipedia rabbit hole.
My daily practice is now centered around the principles this book promotes and also, what sparked me to begin studying Hermeticism. You will also start to see and apply the principles of the Emerald Tablet to your life and the world - this pandemic sure seems like calcination (the first stage of personal alchemy).
Format Recommendation: paperback – I wrote on and highlighted the heck out of this thing.
8. Big Magic - Creative Living Beyond Fear
By Elizabeth Gilbert
Just think of Big Magic as a giant permission slip to create. This book encourages you to follow your curiosities and believe in magic. I love the way that she describes creativity as mercurial nymphs that enter into your life and can leave as quickly as they came. She treats ideas like little beings who are relentless in discovering eager hosts to carry out their bidding.
When a poem or story or idea flies your way, she encourages you to “catch it by the tail” before it finds another to who will.
This wonderfully whimsical approach to creativity enabled me to honor that spark that comes with a new idea and act on it fervently.
Format Recommendation: I listened to this on audiobook and enjoyed it but I think I would have preferred paperback so I can highlight and come back to certain ideas.
9. Tiny Beautiful Things - Advice on Love and Life from dear sugar
By Cheryl Strayed
I listened to this on a long drive to a yoga retreat. At the time, I was clammed up in my own life, withdrawn, and felt like I needed to reconnect to my body and my heart. As I listened to this book, I felt my heart begin to loosen and open. In answering letters for the Dear Sugar column, Cheryl Strayed cracks open what it is like to be a human on this dark, beautiful, crazy planet. Listening really primed me to do the deep listening to myself and others that I wanted to do on the retreat and marks a time in my life when I decided to listen deeper. When you don’t know what to do, listen.
Format Recommendation: Audiobook. There is also a fabulous podcast with Cheryl Strayed and Steve Almond called Dear Sugar. Although they are no longer making new episodes, you can binge listen to the whole series anytime.
10. A Good Man Is Hard to Find and other stories
by Flannery O’Connor
In retrospect, Flannery O’Connor was my introduction to shadow integration. I remember hearing a recording of the author reading her title short story of this collection, A Good Man is Hard to Find. It taught me what I needed to know about writing fiction: don’t shy away from the dark, grotesque, muddled, complex characters and situations. Flannery O’Connor was a devout Catholic and does not hesitate to share the darker sides of Christianity and faith in general. She writes in a southern gothic style that acknowledges the hidden parts of humanity without adding a sugar coated or exaggerated façade.
I have recently reread some of her short stories as I learn to live with Crohn’s disease. Flannery O’Connor had Lupus and many of her stories discuss living with disability and illness as a matter of fact. Rather than the stories revolving around this, they just simply state the symptoms of these conditions as facts that her characters live with.
Format Recommendation: Paperback. There is a recording of Flannery O’Connor reading A Good Man is Hard to Find. The recording is a bit scratchy but it is oh so good.
11. Writing Down The Bones
by Natalie Goldman
If you want to write but don’t know where to start, this is your book.
In my very first creative writing class, I came to this book when writing my first longer story. Although we had been given numerous exercises, I was stuck and couldn’t come up with anything. I’m noticing a theme that when I’m stuck, I pick up a book and it unsticks me!
After absorbing this book, I wrote a short story about a beauty queen who performed a nose job on herself. (You can see why I like Ms. Southern Gothic herself, Flannery O’Connor, now). It helped me embrace the weird, magical process of writing and that a story already is what it wants to be, you just need to get out of the way.
Without fail, this book breaks down my writer’s block and gets my pen flowing. The exercises in here are so helpful and it brings a sense of play and fun and into writing.
If any of these books are calling to you let me know in the comments! I would also love to know which books are currently soothing your soul.
Here’s the link again to support the Powell’s Worker Relief Fund.