A Uniquely Portable Magic
I was always the child who was caught staying up late at night, buried beneath a blanket reading by flashlight. I was so privileged to have a mom who was also a bibliophile, and always encouraged my love of reading. She never censored what I could read as a child, and because of that, I devoured all the books I could get my hands on at bookstores, libraries, garage sales, and second-hand stores. Unsurprisingly, I grew up to be a bookseller in an earlier life for nearly 10 years before I made the decision to go back to school. Even as an adult, I will likely always consider myself to be a perpetual student, and I hope to always, always be learning. We all have so much to teach one another.
So, for that reason, here is a space for me to show the books that I have most recently been reading, as well as some of my favorite to recommend. This is certainly is not an exhaustive list, but I have included all of the books that I felt have helped me learn and evolve. I try to read at least one book each month that challenges my perspectives. The majority of these books come from non-fiction categories such as the social justice, psychology, self-development, or memoirs, but occasionally I'll also include a poignant and thought-provoking novel.
"The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us."
(Ray Bradbury)
"That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong."
(F. Scott Fitzgerald)
Current Reads: 2025
CURRENT READ
“It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it.”
(Oscar Wilde)
Recent Reads: 2024
"You think your pain & your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive."
(James Baldwin)
Prior Years
2023
"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge."
(George R.R. Martin)
2022
"If you would tell me the heart of a man, tell me not what he reads, but what he rereads."
(François Mauriac)
Beloveds
Asking me to pick my favorite book is like asking me to pick my favorite day of the year; it all depends on when you ask me, what my mood is, & which favorite I think of first when the question comes up.
So these are not just books that I love, but the ones that are beloved - the ones that have worn spines & edges, have slips of paper tucked between their pages, notes written in the margins, & likely have some damage from coffee, tears, or rain. These are the beloveds that I have picked up & read countless times, only to feel them just as deeply as if it were the first time, or the ones I have gifted again & again over the years. These books have my highest recommendations (in no particular order).
"Some books are so familiar that reading them is like being home again."
(Louisa May Alcott)
"Books are a uniquely portable magic."
(Stephen King)
"Reading is essential for those who seek to rise about the ordinary."
(Jim Rohn)
"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends;
they are the most accessible & wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers."
(Charles William Eliot)