Like every year, ‘read more books’ will be on many people’s New Year’s resolution lists. This is one of the best commitments you can make, because reading is a healthy and enriching habit that helps you develop new perspectives, nourish your mind and find inspiration for your goals.
This month we bring you three recommendations we think can lead you to meet your resolutions with renewed energy, motivating you to grow, believe and focus, as well as keeping you company for the whole of 2024.
Paula, Isabel Allende
Non-fiction, memoir
Published: 1994
Pages: 384
Author’s nationality: Chile
This soulful book is pure resilience. Isabel Allende turned the biggest pain of loss into a beautiful long love letter to her daughter. With every word, Allende turns a tragic personal experience into an inspiring story of love, pain, magic and transformation in the face of the inevitable.
Paula died in 1992 after spending months in a coma due to a rare disease called porphyria; at the time, Allende wrote her family memoirs in letters as a method to help her daughter remember when she awoke. Later, she turned those pages into a novel, into which she put her soul.
Allende drops the veils between reality and the spiritual, as she has done so well since The House of the Spirits, which means she follows the line of magical realism, turning Paula into her most intimate and personal book.
This soulful book is pure resilience
Who’d like this?
This story about loss may be key for readers who need support through adversity. It is also essential for those who appreciate narratives about life with a good dose of heart and magic.
Quotes
- “Silence before being born, silence after death: life is nothing but noise between two unfathomable silences.”
- “If I write something, I fear it will happen, and if I love too much, I fear I will lose that person; nevertheless, I cannot stop writing or loving.”
Readers say
- “An extraordinary book! Perhaps the most memorable memoir ever written! A courageous telling of life, death, love and experiences,” says a reader on Amazon.
- “A writer who can make you laugh, smile, and cry in the same chapter is indeed a writer to be cherished… A tender and sensitive description of loss, tragedy and of finding peace,” says a reader on Amazon.
Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahamsa Yogananda
Non-fiction, memoirs
Published: 1946
Pages: 604
Author’s nationality: India
No matter what your beliefs are, this book could provide a source of faith, peace and love for your 2024. Not surprisingly, it has been chosen as a key spiritual influence by people from all walks of life, including George Harrison and Steve Jobs.
Paramahansa Yogananda brought the philosophy of yoga to the West and, in this book, he shares his personal journey and the story of his teachers. This is a treasure of wisdom with life philosophies that include everyone — through an inspiring perspective with tools for self-realization.
A treasure of wisdom with life philosophies that include everyone
Who’d like this?
People who want to transform themselves, those interested in spirituality (beyond religions), people who are looking for alternative paths or need different ways of looking at life will enjoy this modern and candid reading, considered a spiritual classic and one of the most important books of the twentieth century.
Quotes
- “The power of unfulfilled desires is the root of all man’s slavery.”
- “You may walk in water and live in fire; but control of the mind is better and more difficult.”
- “Live quietly in the moment and see the beauty of all before you. The future will take care of itself.”
Readers say
- “A profoundly inspiring book with the potential to expand the limited reaches of ordinary human potential,” says a reader on Amazon.
- “I have a scientific mind and the scientific explanations of various spiritual and religious topics and meditation techniques definitely satisfied my analytical, western mind. I believe anyone, even slightly spiritual/religious, just curious and exploring spirituality, or thinking ‘there must be more to life than this’ will thoroughly enjoy and benefit from the book,” says a reader on Amazon.
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, Jennifer E. Smith
Fictional novel, contemporary, young adult
Published: 2012
Pages: 272
Author’s nationality: U.S.A.
What are the odds of meeting the love of your life in an airport and being reunited with that person in less than 24 hours? They seem very low, but Hadley and Oliver pull it off and this will renew your hopes for love and warm your heart this holiday season.
You may be ending your year or starting it in a cold airport and this sweet love story, with a good dose of humor, can stay with you while you wait. It’s a light, easy to read and fresh book, which makes it perfect to finish in a few hours and start fulfilling your New Year’s resolutions.
Light, easy to read and fresh
Who’d like this?
Young readers and people who like chick-lit will find this novel a good companion. It’s all about timing in this book that was recently adapted by Netflix, so maybe it’s also time for you to pick it up, along with a cup of hot chocolate.
Quotes
- “Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?”
- “It’s one thing to run away when someone’s chasing you. It’s entirely another to be running all alone.”
Readers say
- “I found it a lovely book; I really enjoyed it; it felt very realistic although it was fiction,” says a reader in Waterstones.
- “The simple language and fairly fast pace make this a quick read so it would be perfect as a traveling companion – especially because of the content. There are also some interesting references to Dickens ‘Our Mutual Friend,’” says a reader in Waterstones.