What are you currently reading? And bonus points if you can somehow find a connection to simple living, even if it is not about simple living.
I’ll start: I’m currently reading The Arabian Nights by Sir Richard Burton and… well it is grim but I love the simplicity of the short stories. I can pick the book, read a page or two inbetween chores while relaxing, and put the book back down.
(Sorry mod if this does not fit the community, I’ll delete if it doesn’t!)
Two books:
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All Adults Here by Emma Straub. I appreciate the simple, contemporary language that’s easy for me to read through after a short book break to play some games.
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The Advanced Day Planner’s Guide - more of a niche interest, I also enjoy planning. This book has lots of helpful, practical tips to boost your productivity in a non-stressful way. Planning has enabled me to achieve things I never thought possible and has left me plenty of time to enjoy myself too.
I went and read the description of All Adults Here and it sounds exactly like the kind of a book that I’d like on a short break/reading outside. Thanks for the tip!
And love that you are into productivity, be careful not to drop into the procrastinating by forever planning hole. Cheering for you!
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I’m actually reading a book called The Philosophy of Simple Living. It’s quite difficult to get into, but it’s a good book so far.
Is it the book by Jerome Brillaud? I’ve been meaning to read a simple life book, but I feel like there are just way too many authors who wrote a lifestyle book to cash in on a trend… But since you are saying it has been good so far maybe I should give it a go!
That’s the one, it’s more of a philosophy book, im finding it interesting. I’m around a quater of the way through. Lots of quotes from the old greek philosophers. I’m enjoying it, but it’s quite a bit to read at times. To say it’s a book on simple living, the language used is far from simple.
It actually sounds pretty good! Thanks for the tip, I’ll check out if I could possibly find it in the local library :)
No Mud, No Lotus, The Art of Transforming suffering by Thich Nhat Hanh. It’s obviously a book about Buddhism in general but the “transforming suffering” bit is about letting go of past traumas and chasiing things like money or power or possessions, and being happy with your life in it’s current state.
This book sounds good! At the same time it sounds like a tough read, because you need to self reflect and really dig deep. Hope you are getting good things out of the book!
It felt like a bit of a slog at first, but I found it really comforting once I got further into it and started reading about the part I was interested in getting to, which is how to start on the path to being a more mindful and grateful person in my daily life.
That sounds like a really good chapter, hope you got some nice and positive advice that you can use in your everyday life. Don’t shy away from posting your thoughts after you finish reading!
Essentialism.
I started it once before and didn’t really like it and gave up, but I had been on a minimalism/simple living reading marathon for a while at that point and was a bit burnt out and needed some fiction. I’ve waited 6 weeks for a copy to become available again at my library again so am starting again now.
Is this Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown? Hope you can enjoy the book now! I’ve been really into minimalism and simple living for couple of years now as well, but was too afraid to pick up books about those things due to burning out in a similar way as you when I was really into productivity.
Reading fiction inbetween is really good advice. And hey since you are into minimalism, if you haven’t found !minimalism@lemmy.world on lemmy yet, there it is :)
It is Greg McKeown’s book, and yes my burn out was a mix of minimalism, productivity, no surf books (Deep Work, Digital Minimalism, Stolen Focus, Year of Less. The Shallows, The Future is Analog, Getting Things Done). Tried some H.P. Lovecraft in between who is an author I’ve not tried before. Not entirely sure I’m that into his work but it provided something different for a while and provides some background to a few board games I’ve played with friends.
Already subscribed and participating at minimalism on lemmy.world. See you there.!
The Wolf and the Watchman: 1793
I googled it and was wondering if it has a similar vibe as Conn Iggulden’s War of the Roses series. Can you recommend?
[insert joke about collecting your smut from public domain works. Sir Richard Burton was a very horny weirdo]
I’m currently rereading my copies of the Natsume’s Book of Friends manga series. Very happy nice time reading.
That was written on the preface text as well and… did not exaggerate lol.
Oh that sounds like a chill read! Wish I could get into manga, but my brains just refuse to comply when it comes to reading panes right to left. Maybe it’s just lack of practice.
It took me a lot longer than I liked to get used to it, and I grew frustrated a lot. This manga does have an anime adaptation, tho.
Okay so sounds like it takes practice! And that is awesome, but would love to also be able to read manga so I could take it with me to places and just sit and read. Great excuse to stay outside!
I’m rereading some of my philosophy books in the mornings lately, starting with the Enchiridion and then moving on to Meditations and some of the other Stoic stuff in my library. I find it’s nice to ponder over in the quiet of the early morning, and helps me to set the right mindset for the day.
Completely unrelated to simple living, but my current fiction selection is the entire Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. I made a promise to myself recently to take more time for reading for fun, and because I didn’t want to have to think very hard about which book to pick up after I finished one, I decided to start with a very long series by an author I know I like.
Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman
Ouch, I felt called out by the books introduction when I googled it now. Might have to get that!
I’m currently reading Cloud Atlas. Not related to simplicity. I saw the movie when it came out. I didn’t understand it at the time, but I’ll probably rewatch it when I’m done with the book.
Had completely missed this movie, but it looks interesting!
The Great Hunt - Second book in The Wheel of Time series. I’m a sucker for fantasy serieses!From a simple living standpoint, I love how this genre tends to be set in medieval-like circumstances, which gives a window into simpler times to enjoy. Sometimes I wonder if we’d be better off living our daily lives like in medieval times, but improved by our advances in medicine, agriculture, etc.
I’ve heard good things about that series! And I agree with how it relates to simple life. My favourite book series is the witcher and love how the main character “tries” to live a simple life lol.
I’ve been thinking about getting into that series. I’ve heard they’re great. I loved the games and the Netflix show. Might check that out once I get thru the WoT 😀
Highly recommend! It is a book series that gets you hooked, you won’t be able to stop 😄
The Plant Messiah by Carlos Magdalena. It’s a very interesting book about the author’s work saving endangered species of plants. I associate nature and an appreciation for local things with simple living and that’s what the author is trying to preserve.
Have to put on my to-read list! Thanks for sharing :) Recently read Jane Goodall’s Book of Hope which is more about humanity and climate change, but with the same vibe you describe!
