The New Year is still young, and this seems like the perfect time to talk about fresh starts. After all, this is the time of year when people are making resolutions and committing to clearing out the clutter – both literal and figurative – from their lives. Our book choices for this edition of the Lowell Reading Club include one novel about a new beginning and two nonfiction titles that might help you stick to your resolutions a little longer.
Be aware that Amazon links on this page are affiliate links. As part of the Amazon Associate program, qualifying purchases made through these links may result in us earning a commission. However, you don’t have to make a purchase to read these titles. With a library card, you should be able to borrow them all for free through the Kent District Library. You may also be able to find them for sale at Lowell’s new used book store, Bettie’s Pages, which can be found at 216 E. Main Street starting on February 8, 2020.
Amanda’s Book on New Beginnings
When We Believed in Mermaids by Barbara O’Neal
Rated 4.5 out of 5
When We Believed in Mermaids is the story of two sisters, Kit and Josie. Kit and her mother think that Josie has been dead for 15 years, the result of a train crash. But in the background of a news story in New Zealand, Kit thinks she sees her sister – alive.
Kit’s mother convinces her to travel to New Zealand to look for Josie. The novel switches from the point of view of Kit and Josie where the reader learns about their childhood and growing up having to rely on each other rather than their parents. Will Kit be able to find her sister and ask why she decided to start a new life without telling her family she was still alive? Is the sisters’ past too much to overcome now that they are adults? This book takes on the relationship of sisters as they’ve moved into adulthood without each other.
This isn’t a book to pick up if you’re looking for something thrilling or suspenseful. Emotions surrounding a less than perfect childhood and the pain and anger of one sister looking for another are what will take hold in this novel. The only reason I didn’t give this five stars is because I didn’t feel *wowed* as I was reading it, although I did feel drawn in by the characters and overall plot.
Maryalene’s Book on New Beginnings
Better than Before by Gretchen Rubin
Rated 5 out of 5
Confession: I read a lot of self-help books. It’s not that I think I am particularly lacking in any certain area, but I am keenly aware that no one is perfect and there is always room for improvement. Not surprisingly then, I had many books from which to choose to highlight here. In the end, I am traveling back to 2015 to recommend Better than Before.
Gretchen Rubin is one of my people, if you know what I mean. I can relate to her personality, and we seem to be motivated by a lot of the same things. Like me, she seems to be on a constant quest for self-improvement as she has chronicled in her books The Happiness Project and Happier at Home. Then, she researched what drives people to make changes and created a framework (and later book) called The Four Tendencies.
In Better than Before, she explores how people can make meaningful changes in their lives. She discusses what motivates people and which strategies work best for different personality types when it comes to creating new habits. Not everything is this books felt applicable to me, but I walked away from it with practical suggestions that were relatively easy to test for myself. I felt that my time was well spent reading this book, and I hope you will feel the same.
Tina’s Book on New Beginnings
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
Rated 4 out of 5
If you are someone who appreciates Marie Kondo, this book is for you. Concentrating more on organizing your life instead of your things, Essentialism speaks to the person who takes on more in life than they can handle. The book gives insight on how being a person who must fill up every minute of every day makes you less happy, productive and creative.
Pretend the activities of your life were represented as clothing, and you threw them all on the bed. Would you make the informed choice to purchase each of these pieces again? Isn’t your time more valuable? Should we live in our past reviewing our mistakes over and over, or should we move forward, make better choices and accept that we must live in the moment, having learned from the past but not dwelling on it? These are the types of questions this book asks us to ponder.
Essentialism eases you into being able to say “no” to things that you might normally say “yes” to even if you really had no time for it. If you are a person who needs to clear out the activity clutter of your life, this book may be for you.
What about you? Do you have a favorite book about new beginnings or keeping resolutions? Share your pick in the comments below or on our Facebook page.
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