4 Books I really enjoyed!

Looking at the world through different lenses brought about by reading allows for better understanding, empathy and growth. Here are three fiction recommendations along with a workbook for women. From Groff’s literary excellence as she describes a young woman on an adventure, to deWitt’s deep dive into a charming character later in his life, to Grey’s fictional account of unimaginable loss and the hope for love based on her own life experience, to Dr. Berger’s Work Like A Mother workbook, a career reinvention and wellness method validating motherhood as part of a woman’s career journey….you will be invigorated, touched, filled with hope and inspired.

Female Empowerment, Survival and Faith

With beautiful, descriptive prose, author Lauren Groff takes us on a visceral, sensory journey never before taken; physical, emotional and spiritual experiences through the eyes of the young girl as she faces the elements of nature. It is the story of a young maid who leaves her colonial settlement, where she cares for a disabled child. She is running away from famine and starvation and disease and finds herself in the open arms of the vast wilderness. Challenged to battle hunger, find nourishment and hunker down each night, the reader feels what the girl is going through due to the haunting beauty of the prose and lyrical storytelling in this highly recommended new book, The Vaster Wilds.

About Lauren Groff:

Lauren Groff is a three-time National Book Award finalist and The New York
Times–bestselling author of the novels The Monsters of Templeton, Arcadia, Fates and
Furies, Matrix, and The Vaster Wilds, and the celebrated short story collections Delicate Edible Birds and Florida. She has won The Story Prize, the ABA Indies’ Choice Award, France’s Grand Prix de l’Héroïne, and the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, and has been a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her work regularly appears in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and elsewhere. Her work has been translated into thirty-six languages. She lives in Gainesville, Florida.

Introverted Librarian, Aging, Ordinary Life

There is something captivating about older men (think A Man Called Ove) and librarian, Bob Comet falls into that category for me. Author Patrick deWitt treats us to this wonderful character whose routine, humor and personal history keep us engaged. We get to know the unassuming retired book lover as he spends time visiting the folks at a facility for seniors and also takes a trip down memory lane when we revisit a time in his youth where he ran away from home. A wonderful deep dive character study – I enjoyed The Librarianist and recommend it!

About Patrick deWitt:

Patrick deWitt is a Canadian novelist and screenwriter. Born on Vancouver Island, deWitt lives in Portland, Oregon and has acquired American citizenship. As of 2023, he has written five novels: Ablutions, The Sisters Brothers, Undermajordomo Minor, French Exit and The Librarianist.

Love, Loss and Sense of Self

Not only was The Last Love Note an emotional journey that explored grief, but it is a story of hope and love. We never really know what the potential future may hold despite the unbearable loss of a loved one.  Inspired by the author’s own experience, this soul-stirring story pulled on my heart strings right from the start and brought tears up until the final page. 

About Emma Grey:

Emma Grey is the author of five books, including the romantic comedy, The Last Love Note. She wrote the novel in the wake of her husband’s death, as a fictional tribute to their love, an attempt to articulate the magnitude of her loss and a life-affirming commitment to hope. 

She has two YA novels, Unrequited: Boy band meets girl and Tilly Maguire and the Royal Wedding Mess. Together with award-winning composer, Sally Whitwell, she wrote a musical based on Unrequited: Deadpan Anti-fan. 

Her non-fiction book about productivity, I Don’t Have Time, is co-authored with Audrey Thomas, and her first book was a parenting memoir, Wits’ End Before Breakfast! Confessions of a Working Mum. 

Emma lives in Canberra, Australia, where her world centres on her three children, loved step-children and step-grandchildren, writing, photography and endlessly chasing the Aurora Australis.

Career and Mental Health Guidance for Women, Acknowledging and Validating Motherhood

This well researched and theoretically sound workbook allows women to explore their goals, emotions and dreams while providing direction that leads to personal and professional growth. Dr. Hilary Berger’s personal story is inspirational and her compassion to help other women shines through as she guides the readers on their career and wellness journeys. Through thought processes, questions, writing prompts and other exercises, The Work Like A Mother method allows women to zero in on their strengths and weaknesses while realizing their core values. This is an important book for all women who are, or thinking of becoming mothers.

About Dr. Hilary Berger:

Dr. Hilary S. Berger Ed.D., LPC is the founder of Work Like a Mother and the creator of an award-winning career counseling method integrating careers, motherhood and mental health. She is a practicing psychotherapist, trained EMDR therapist, a holistic career therapist, and a licensed professional counselor. For over 25 years Hilary has passionately counseled mothers to heal from their loss of self, rebuild their mission-driven professional purpose, relevance, competencies, and most importantly their confidence throughout their parenting years and after children leave the home. Hilary is the mother of four children who understands firsthand the daily challenge to parent as her heart and soul dictated while also striving as a stay at home mom to access the courage and confidence needed to fulfill her own goals and dreams outside of parenting. It is possible. One day at a time. She lives with her husband in Weston, CT.

I had the pleasure of being in conversation with Hilary Berger at her book launch where we discussed the unnamed feelings many mothers have when they sacrifice who they are as an individual in order to become a mother. We heard from numerous women who have utilized the Work Like A Mother method and have changed their lives, improved their mental health, reclaimed their power and are back in touch with the essence of who they really are. Doing the work can be transformative!