The Books I Bought Twice

One of the joys of the Kindle is that should I buy a book and hate it, I can delete it from whatever device I am reading it on and pretend I never lost precious hours of my life considering it, nor have to waste house room searching for a space for it to live thereafter.
Which is all very well until I find a book I want to treasure for always: a book I know I will refer back to, a book that has altered the way I think, defined a new era in my life or simply turned out to be a little piece of heaven. What to do then, dear Readers? Know that it is in my Amazon account for ever after and accept that as enough? No. One cannot stroke an Amazon account, and there is simply very little sensory pleasure to be found grasping a Kindle, lovely objects as they may be…

I’m afraid I buy it again. The real thing. I promote books from my Amazon account to my real bookshelves and love it that in this way the bookshelves of my future will only house books I consider truly special.

So which are the books I considered special enough to promote from screen to paper in 2012?

First up is The Way of The Happy Woman, a book I plan on talking about a LOT here on Brocante in 2013 because I do believe it should be required reading for any woman who finds herself to be a slave to her hormones and longs instead to be more in tune with her body clock and the more seasonal of rhythms.

Next up is This I Know: Notes On Unravelling the Heart by Susannah Conway, a book I bought on my Kindle the first day it was available and read into the night, crying for Susannah and crying for myself and coming out of this cathartic, extended session of weeping feeling hopeful, certain and inspired.

The second time around was not quite so raw. Susannah’s notes on grief no longer threatened to choke me for what was lost, but did what I believe was Susannah Conway’s intention all along: forced me to see. To appreciate. And to treasure all that remains.

The third book I bought twice this year is Happier at Home, a keeper is ever there was one. Truth be known, I wasn’t certain that this would be as good as the hype would have us believe, but it is and Gretchen Rubin is a thoughtful author, bringing us observations about life at home we barely acknowledge but are quietly delighted by when we find them amongst the pages of a book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it will I think be something that informs my own writing about what it is to be happier at home in the future.

And finally, Madly In Love With Me. First a disclaimer: there are parts of this book that make me cringe. Is it bad that the very thought of singing a little ditty to the part of my body I like best, makes me want to run into the hills howling?? Yes, this a book resplendent with suggested activities that give me the heebie jeebies and that is precisely why I have bought it twice. Because I need to get comfortable with myself and this book is pushing me along the road to self-acceptance and owning the kind of audacious spirit that has got to be good for the soul. Read it and cringe a bit then go let yourself fall head over heels in love with who you already are.

So that’s it: the four books that have made the leap from screen to shelf. I wonder what 2013 will bring…