Parenting

• 10 Spiritual Practices For Busy Parents by Jacqueline Kramer – Simple and so helpful.
• Brain, Child – “the magazine for thinking moms”
• Literary Mama – “reading for the maternally inclined.” Sign up for weekly emails with links to their book reviews, poems, essays, and more.
• Momma Zen by Karen Maezen Miller explores how parenting is a spiritual journey, how parents are human, and tired, and having kids requires presence and understanding of ourselves as well as the small people trusting in our care.
• Playful Parenting by Lawrence Cohen, a  psychologist who specializes in children’s play. Offers suggestions, anecdotes, theory. My favorite parenting book because he talks about how to meet kids in their world, not try to make them into little adults.
• Language of Listening – Say What You See Model for communicating with kids is simple but not easy. Validates kids’ experience by reflecting what you see happening rather than labeling behavior.

Self Care

• The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. Rubin combines her research of happiness theory with her personal experience testing it out. Want to be happier? She’ll give you some ideas. Check out her blog.
• The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal by Renee Trudeau – A year’s worth of self reflection and exercises to help you balance meeting your own needs as you parent.

Spirituality

• Hardcore Zen: Punk Rock, Monster Movies and the Truth About Reality by Brad Warner – an irreverent memoir and Zen primer.
• Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott – essays on faith from a recovered alcoholic and the least likely born-again Christian ever. Followed up by Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith and Grace (Eventually)
• Long Quiet Highway by Natalie Goldberg. Memoir of her crossroads between Zen Buddhism practice and writing.
• Seeking Peace: Chronicles of the Worst Buddhist in the World by Mary Pipher explores Pipher’s move toward a contemplative life after she is overwhelmed by fame.
• When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chödrön helped me survive my divorce. How do you handle it when your life falls apart? Don’t run. Another by her that I like quite a bit is – The Wisdom of No Escape

Divorce

• Falling Apart in One Piece: One Optimist’s Journey Through the Hell of Divorce by Stacy Morrison follows Morrison after her husband leaves and she tries to build a new life while reevaluating the one she thought she had.

You can read my reviews of some of these books here.