It’s the end of the year! Can you believe it?

December in my mind means holidays and thinking about the new year. I find this time to be a great opportunity to reflect on what’s coming in the new year and all that’s happened over the past year. In the spirit of the holidays, I want to share books about family (found or otherwise), holidays, and the transition to a new year.

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Now that it’s the end of 2024, I know a lot of us are in the midst of reflecting on the year and looking towards the new year.

I believe it’s important to spend time reflecting on the year. Most years are filled with changes and growth, but we often forget how much has really happened.

If there’s one thing you do for your year-end wrap-up, I would encourage you to spend time reflecting on all that has happened. You can look through the photos on your phone, look through your planner or digital notebooks, or any other kind of record keeping you use. Take time and really notice all that you accomplished this year.

We too often look at our goals from January and see how much we didn’t do, rather than acknowledging all the things that made this year special.

You might not have accomplished your goals, but did you make some progress or what were you working on instead? What brought you joy this year and what experiences did you have?

Or maybe you couldn’t focus on your goals because of something else. So, consider what came up and de-railed your plans and how did that change you? What came from this and how did it affect you?

Twelve months is a long time, and the goals you had initially planned might not have been the best fit for you later on. That’s okay. You should give yourself grace.

As we wrap up this year and are in the midst of winter, I want to provide you with some books that might help with ending the year on a positive note and being kinder to yourself.

Hopefully these books will give you insight on the types of things you need right now.

Five books to help you end the year on a positive note

Here’s a list of five books to help you end the year on a positive note.

1. The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It by Kelly McGonigal (2012)
2. Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May (2020)
3. Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski, Amelia Nagoski (2019)
4. Laziness Does Not Exist by Devon Price (2021)
5. Cozy: The Art of Arranging Yourself in the World by Isabel Gillies (2020)

Keep reading to find out more about each one. I’ve listed them in order of when they were published.

The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It (2012)

by Kelly McGonigal

You hear it all the time: stress causes heart disease; stress causes insomnia; stress is bad for you But what if changing how you think about stress could make you happier, healthier, and better able to reach your goals? Combining exciting new research on resilience and mindset, Kelly McGonigal, PhD, proves that undergoing stress is not bad for you; it is undergoing stress while believing that stress is bad for you that makes it harmful. In fact, stress has many benefits, from giving us greater focus and energy, to strengthening our personal relationships. McGonigal shows readers how to cultivate a mindset that embraces stress, and activate the brain’s natural ability to learn from challenging experiences.

Links:

• You can find out more on:
  • Goodreads
  • Storygraph
  • Author’s Website
  • Wikipedia
    • On the author
• You can buy the book here on Amazon.

Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times (2020)

by Katherine May

An intimate, revelatory book exploring the ways we can care for and repair ourselves when life knocks us down.

Sometimes you slip through the cracks: unforeseen circumstances like an abrupt illness, the death of a loved one, a break up, or a job loss can derail a life. These periods of dislocation can be lonely and unexpected. For May, her husband fell ill, her son stopped attending school, and her own medical issues led her to leave a demanding job. Wintering explores how she not only endured this painful time, but embraced the singular opportunities it offered.

A moving personal narrative shot through with lessons from literature, mythology, and the natural world, May’s story offers instruction on the transformative power of rest and retreat. Illumination emerges from many sources: solstice celebrations and dormice hibernation, C.S. Lewis and Sylvia Plath, swimming in icy waters and sailing arctic seas.

Ultimately Wintering invites us to change how we relate to our own fallow times. May models an active acceptance of sadness and finds nourishment in deep retreat, joy in the hushed beauty of winter, and encouragement in understanding life as cyclical, not linear. A secular mystic, May forms a guiding philosophy for transforming the hardships that arise before the ushering in of a new season.

Links:

• You can find out more on:
  • Goodreads
  • Storygraph
  • Author’s Website
• You can buy the book here on Amazon.

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle (2019)

by Emily Nagoski, Amelia Nagoski

This groundbreaking book explains why women experience burnout differently than men—and provides a simple, science-based plan to help women minimize stress, manage emotions, and live a more joyful life.

Burnout. Many women in America have experienced it. What’s expected of women and what it’s really like to be a woman in today’s world are two very different things—and women exhaust themselves trying to close the gap between them. How can you “love your body” when every magazine cover has ten diet tips for becoming “your best self”? How do you “lean in” at work when you’re already operating at 110 percent and aren’t recognized for it? How can you live happily and healthily in a sexist world that is constantly telling you you’re too fat, too needy, too noisy, and too selfish?

Sisters Emily Nagoski, PhD, and Amelia Nagoski, DMA, are here to help end the cycle of feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. Instead of asking us to ignore the very real obstacles and societal pressures that stand between women and well-being, they explain with compassion and optimism what we’re up against—and show us how to fight back.

Links:

• You can find out more on:
  • Goodreads
  • Storygraph
  • Website for the book
  • Emily Nagoski’s Website
  • Wikipedia
    • On the author – Emily Nagoski
• You can buy the book here on Amazon.

Laziness Does Not Exist (2021)

by Devon Price

Like many Americans, Dr. Devon Price believed that productivity was the best way to measure self-worth. Price was an overachiever from the start, graduating from both college and graduate school early, but that success came at a cost. After Price was diagnosed with a severe case of anemia and heart complications from overexertion, they were forced to examine the darker side of all this productivity.

Laziness Does Not Exist explores the psychological underpinnings of the “laziness lie,” including its origins from the Puritans and how it has continued to proliferate as digital work tools have blurred the boundaries between work and life. Using in-depth research, Price explains that people today do far more work than nearly any other humans in history yet most of us often still feel we are not doing enough.

Filled with practical and accessible advice for overcoming society’s pressure to do more, and featuring interviews with researchers, consultants, and experiences from real people drowning in too much work, Laziness Does Not Exist “is the book we all need right now” (Caroline Dooner, author of The F*ck It Diet ).

Links:

• You can find out more on:
  • Goodreads
  • Storygraph
  • Author’s Substack
  • Wikipedia
    • On the author
    • About the book
• You can buy the book here on Amazon.

Cozy: The Art of Arranging Yourself in the World (2020)

by Isabel Gillies

When we talk about being cozy, most of us think of a favorite sweater or a steaming cup of tea on a rainy day. But to Isabel Gillies, coziness goes beyond mere objects. To be truly cozy, she argues, means learning to identify the innermost truth of yourself and carrying it into the world, no matter your environment.

Starting when she was young, Gillies has gradually learned the art and subtle beauty of creating a life where you feel safe, steadied, and at home in the world. From old family recipes and subway rides to jury duty and hospital stays, in Cozy Gillies shows readers that true ease stems not with throw pillows and a candle, but from opportunities to feel that we are part of something bigger than ourselves, and learn to make ourselves at home no matter where we are.

Links:

• You can find out more on:
  • Goodreads
  • Storygraph
  • Wikipedia
    • On the author
• You can buy the book here on Amazon.

Final thoughts

I hope you found something of interest in this list of books.

I’m always looking for more suggestions of books to read. I’d love to know which books you love or that you would recommend. Let me know in a comment below!

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of it?

I’d love to hear your thoughts in a comment below.