Turtle reader.

I’m a turtle when it comes to reading, and I’ve always felt insecure about that.

I find if a subject decreases in any bit of relevance for me in my life at the time, I withdraw because I can’t absorb it. As soon as it feels like I’m just stacking up information in my brain to say I got to the end of the book, I’m not retaining any of its goodness, so I put it down.

I’m currently in the middle of five different books, God help me.

Here they are:

TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS by Cheryl Strayed

I’m milking this one if I’m honest. I’m dangerously close to being done, but I’ve enjoyed every minute of it and don’t want it to end. This is a collection of letters submitted to a once-anonymous advice columnist known as Sugar, embodied by the author of Torch and Wild, Cheryl Strayed.

Strayed answers real people’s letters in ways so wise and eloquent that I have an ever-growing writing crush on her.

I’d watched the mini-series of the same name based on this book a few months ago and happened to stumble upon a copy in a secondhand shop on my birthday. It felt like a gift planted just for me, and I’ve been slowly making my way through it ever since.

THE WAR OF ART by Steven Pressfield

This is probably my fifth read of this book. I pick it up about once a year to kick me in the ass, and it delivers without fail, sometimes sending me into a tailspin. But for the first time in my life, this text is bringing me more comfort than anything.

Probably because I’m actually implementing what it says in real time—not just talking or thinking about it.

THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE by Bessel van der Kolk

Not gonna lie, I’ve been trying to read this book for well over a year. It’s chock-full of science and life-changing insight, and the subject matter is vital, but it’s so goddamn overwhelming.

It’s not a read to pick up casually. It’s information that I have to absorb delicately and in a way that’s helpful and not hurtful for my noggin.

WHITE NOISE by Don DeLillo

I can’t stick with a novel for that long. I don’t know what it is. I have every intention of finishing it. I thoroughly enjoy the style it’s written in, but I’ve yet to be drawn back to finishing the last half. I’m sure the mood will strike eventually.

101 ESSAYS THAT WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK by Brianna Wiest

I’m halfway through this one, and the title rings true. It will change the way you think, but it’s kind of become a bathroom book for me. Something to pick up when you’re soaking in the tub or returning nature’s call.

I enjoy the philosophical angle of a lot of the points made, but it’s a bit of a tiring format after a while. The majority of the essays are listicles which is helpful for consolidating ideas into bite-size chunks, but I wish there was a little more variety.

Additionally, I find myself bothered by how little we know about the author. All her essays feel like they come from a shapeless ghost who takes no bullshit based on her clean-cut writing but lacks the warmth of humanity to color the points made.

I think her advice would come across much more powerfully if she included the paths she took to get to them. I’ll finish it though and likely pick up some of Wiest’s other books. She’s got some solid one-liners.

What are you reading? What’s on your nightstand?