What I Read in January 2020

Chavi commented that it would be helpful if I’d write a review of the books I read, and I decided that that would be fun for me, too . I have to say, this was a great reading month. Below are some comments about the books I read. Physical books were from the library, audiobooks via Hoopla.

 

The first book I finished in 2020 was Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself, by Kristin Neff. I absolutely loved this book and learned so much that I could start applying to my own life right away.

 

Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language, by Gretchen McCullough. This was such a fun read. I mean, there’s a whole chapter devoted to analyzing our use of emoji.

 

The Choice: Embrace the Possible, by Edith Eva Eger. Wow. This is a must-read. It is an incredibly powerful memoir about how Dr. Eger survived the Holocaust and ultimately worked through her trauma and became a trauma therapist.

 

The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin. I started this book literally years ago, but now I listened to the whole thing on audio. This is a memoir about the year the author focused on making herself happier by working on different areas of her life. I found it superficial; on the other hand, I took about four pages of notes…so it was probably worth the read.

 

Happier, by Tal Ben-Shahar. Gretchen Rubin mentioned this book in her book so I listened to it next. It’s a quick read but I took a few pages of notes on this one also. Not super-deep but worth the read.

 

The Art Therapy Sourcebook, by Cathy Malchiodi. I read the beginning and skimmed through the second half. This is a good overview of the field of art therapy and includes a number of exercises you can do on your own.

 

 

Lots of nonfiction, I’m noticing! Okay, that’s six down, forty-four to go to get to my goal of fifty books in 2020.