What is getting stuck? Getting stuck, for me, is a feeling of discontentment. I feel unremarkable, uninspired, and downright grumpy.

To get unstuck, I need to be inspired. I need to get outside of myself. I need to be reminded of all the possibilities this universe holds. I need to read. 

Reading has always been a source of joy for me. I remember when, as a little girl, I would travel with my mother to Sweden every other summer in order to visit my great-grandmother. Every trip, I would go armed with a multitude of novels to sustain me the duration of the vacation. I remember for one trip we brought 14, yes FOURTEEN, books with us, and I was still done with the whole lot before the vacation was even over. My poor mother. I’m sure I was a very poor travel companion for her, with my nose always stuck within the chapters of my latest obsession.

To me, reading is magical. Between the pages of a book is one of my favorite places to be. Forget clothes, purses, and shoes (okay, I really like those things too), literature shopping sprees are usually where my extra money is spent. Because reading is therapy for me.

This week, I’ve been feeling stuck. Here are the books I have just added to my summer reading list for getting unstuck…

Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead

What it’s about: “Thirty years after women became 50 percent of the college graduates in the United States, men still hold the vast majority of leadership positions in government and industry. This means that women’s voices are still not heard equally in the decisions that most affect our lives. In Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg examines why women’s progress in achieving leadership roles has stalled, explains the root causes, and offers compelling, commonsense solutions that can empower women to achieve their full potential.”

 

The Night Circus

Authored by Erin Morgenstern, I don’t know much about this novel, except that is has been seen on more recommended reading lists than I can count.

Described by the publisher as: “Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.”

 

What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love.

What it’s about: “A stunning, tragic memoir about John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn Bissett, and his cousin Anthony Radziwill, by Radziwill’s widow. What Remains is a vivid and haunting memoir about a girl from a working-class town who becomes an award-winning television producer and marries a prince, Anthony Radziwill. Carole grew up in a small suburb with a large, eccentric cast of characters. At nineteen, she struck out for New York City to find a different life. Her career at ABC News led her to the refugee camps of Cambodia, to a bunker in Tel Aviv, and to the scene of the Menendez murders. Her marriage led her into the old world of European nobility and the newer world of American aristocracy.”

Red Rising

Written by Pierce Brown, this is the first book in the Red Rising Trilogy. According to the person who recommended this to me, if you liked Hunger Games and Ender’s Game (for me, obsessed is a more fitting description than liked), you will love this book. Sold.

 

 

Do you have any recommendations for my reading obsession? I would love to hear your feedback and suggestions!

xoxo

Sarah