Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. What a profound blending of science , ecology and deep respect for Mother Earth. This book reminded me to slow down and see the world from a careful point of view.
I’ve recently started reading drinking from the river of light and it’s beautiful! So thank you for the recommendation! I also love a mind at home with itself by Byron Katie or I need you love, is it true? Also by her. It’s shown me all my unseen places when it comes to loving another. I always come back to it.
Then I can also recommend the body keeps the score by Bessel van der Kolk. It has helped me understand trauma on such a deep level. Super interesting.
Pema Chödrön - when everything falls apart is also beautiful.
Oh and my favorite book that has helped me greatly in opening up to myself is Heartminded by a wonderful author named Sarah Blondin ;). Thank you so so much for this beautiful book you have written, I always listen to it when I need a warm voice to hold and support me. Sending so much love! 🤍🌞
Thanks Miriam. I agree on Pema Chödrön - When everything falls apart. I'm reading this book right now. It helps me being compassionate to myself in the middle of the storm and finding a core inside me.
Thank you for the suggestions, Sarah! One of my go-to's over the past year or so is your poem, or meditation "Make it Sacred."
Others I loved and re-read are "The Untethered Soul" and the new release "Living The Untethered Soul" by Michael Singer. I am currently reading, very slowly, Don Jose Ruiz's "Wisdom of the Shamans: What the Ancient Masters Can Teach Us about Love and Life."
I also loved Braiding Sweetgrass, yet the type setting and font made it very difficult to read. I listened to some of it as an audio book, too. My husband is using it to facilitate a class at our local Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at DU.
If I may recommend my own book, my first book of poetry just published, called There Are Still Woods.
“There Are Still Woods is a radiant appraisal of life at the precipice of climate crisis and a haunting elegy for all we stand to lose. Through alternating lenses, from the speculative to the spiritual, from motherhood to science to mythology, Hila Ratzabi looks out at our wounded but vibrant planet and the animal experience of living on it. These poems bear witness to the force and fragility of the natural world and grapple with the complexities of being a human in that landscape: being implicated, vulnerable, humbled, dazzled.”
Hi Jo, thank you for your interest! The book isn't currently distributed in the UK, but I can send you a signed copy directly from my own stash! I can create a unique link for you to purchase and calculate shipping cost based on your location. Please email me at hila.ratzabi@gmail.com and I can set it up. Thanks!
After more than 30 years I’m reading all books of Wayne Dyer again. For me he is still one of the founding fathers of building yourself a new life straight from the source as Wayne calls it. Wayne died in 2015, and left this world with his profound insights. The youtube movie The Shift is a wonderful example and an easy to digest, inspirational first step for everyone that feels that there is so much more to life. With all my heart. Richard van den Bosch.
I second the recommendation for The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible. It is one of the most incredible books I've ever read. I think I high-lighted the entire book.
The More Beautiful World that Our Hearts Know is Possible by Charles Eisenstein. This book puts into words things I have felt and known on some level for most of my life, and also offers many new ways to from my thoughts and questions around. It is wonderful.
Thank you. Two long time favorites are Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather's Blessing by Rachel Naomi Remen. The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller, Joanne Cacciatore's Bearing the Unbearable:Love, Loss and the Heartbreaking Path of Grief. Beauty:Through Invisible Embrace by John O'Donahue. Always dipping into your book, Byron Katie, The Untethered Soul, and Eckhart Tolle and David Whyte. Oh, and The Radiance Sutras! I can go on and on....
I've started working my way through Radical Compassion by Tara Brach. It jumped out at me in a bookstore in my small rural town in a moment of despair.
I read 'Thin Places' recently and it moved me deeply. It's in English but by an Irish author and speaks of so much raw beauty and also the pain of the land. I resonated with it so much. The writing is just profound
After reading all of these suggestions I ordered a choice few and just started reading "The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible" and I'm already wrapped up in it - resonates, such a good read and so well written. I want all 3 of my daughters to read it ♥ Thanks all
A book that has touched my heart is Trust in Yourself, The Path to Awakening, by Jaya Sarada. Each morning I take either a sentence or two and meditate on it. It brings me to a beautiful place where silence and stillness resides. 💕
Thank you for this list! Adding many of them to my queue now. :) These are two that I've loved recently:
-On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong (this hit me right in the heart, I couldn't put it down)
-Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poore (really fun and imaginative and touches on some deep truths. trying to read more fiction/fantasy to help kickstart my own imagination...and not my "worrying" imagination, a more creative and fantastical one)
Oooh, I am always looking for fiction/fantasy that "kickstarts my own imagination" and also my unlimited connection to source. I just added this one to my reading list. I also added "On Earth..." to my reading list. Thanks!
How timely! I just finished your book, Sarah, for the second time. What a divine gift it is!Thank you for pouring your heart + soul into it. It just struck me how not often does one get to personally thank the author of one of their most treasured books. 🙂❤️ Additionally, I just finished Welcoming the Unwelcome by Pema Chodron. Currently I’m reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer + The Wisdom of No Escape by Pema Chodron. All highly recommended!
I have two “go to’s” that I read at least once a year – – don’t laugh but David Copperfield by Charles Dickens Is the greatest love and life story that I have ever read. And Sarah, Agnes reminds me of you!! Of course now you have to read it!
“For one more day “ by Mitch Albom is a lovely story about a mother, a son and life.
P H O S P H O R E S C E N C E on awe, wonder & things that sustain you when the world goes dark by Julia Baird (an Australian writer) ❤ An absolute GEM of a read. Highly recommended!
It's an incredible exploration in healing, both personally and societally. This one sits at the top of my recommendation list for readers of all walks of life!
I am reading and loving "Braiding Sweet Grass" by Robin Wall Kimmer! I feel like this book is a prayer to the Earth. In this memoire, Robin shows how she accommodates her indigenous heritage with her career as a botanist. Here is a quote that was such an Aha moment for me: "The exchange between plants and people has shaped the evolutionary history of both. Farms, orchards, a vineyards are stocked with species we have domesticated. Our appetite for their fruits leads us to till, prune, irrigate, fertilize, and weed on their behalf. Perhaps they have domesticated us. Wild plants have changed to stand in well-behaved rows and wild humans have changed to settle alongside the fields and care for the plants—a kind of mutual taming."
She is giving a lecture tomorrow night that is being livestreamed on YouTube
I am reading Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown, at the moment. I enjoy Pixie Lighthorse's books, anything by Pema or Ram Dads. So many books, I appreciate the list here, thank you!!
And when I want to go easy on myself, Samantha Irby books are a hilarious reprieve. ‘We are Never Meeting I’m Real Life.’ ‘Wow, No Thank You.’ And, coming soon, ‘Quietly Hostile.’ 😍
This summer has been a bit difficult so I found some books/novels based on current issues - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernardine_Evaristo Girl, Woman, Other was excellent as was The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafik
I read "Wintering" by Katherine May last year to get me ready for the winter season. I was pleasantly surprised how much this book helped me understand the need for the season.
“The Story of a Soul” by St. Therese of Lisieux (Little Flower)
"[God] set before me the book of nature; I understood how all the flowers He has created are beautiful, how the splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the Lily do not take away the perfume of the little violet or the delightful simplicity of the daisy. I understood that if all flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime beauty, and the fields would no longer be decked out with wild flowers [.........] Just as the sun shines simultaneously on the tall cedars and on each little flower as though it were alone on the earth, so the Lord is occupied particularly with each soul as though there were no other like it."
So beautiful to read through what everyone is reading.
I’ve brought my mind, heart and imagination back into the world of fantasy after having years off focusing on business, self help and entrepreneurship.
Now I am lost in an old favourite- the Farseer trilogy by fantasy author Robin Hobb.
Returning to this series after nearly a decade, reading it as the woman I am today hits different.
Has anyone ever done that before? Returned to an old favourite book after a long time has passed? How did you receive the story as this version of you?
I know for me it’s highlighting how much I’ve grown but also how somethings never change.
Hi all. Thought this was a weekly Meditation subscription. It seems as though Sarah was sending these out consistently a few months back and the meditations aren’t coming weekly anymore? I understand she took a break but are these going to be weekly meditations again?
Mirrors in The Earth by Asia Suler. It is absolutely magical, inspired by Robin Wall Kimmerer and is heartfelt, interspersed with ritual and meditation practices. Absolutely love it.
Thank you for your introduction to Katherine Thanas and I found a lot of clarification and inspiration in her book. I also read Wild Mind earlier this year. I tend to swing between inspirational books and plain old mystery books, it forms the yin-yang of my reading habits. Latterly I have been caught up in Karin Slaughter books, some standalone and some engrossing series.
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. What a profound blending of science , ecology and deep respect for Mother Earth. This book reminded me to slow down and see the world from a careful point of view.
Loved this book as well!
I think about this book more than any book I have ever read. It’s beautiful.
I’ve recently started reading drinking from the river of light and it’s beautiful! So thank you for the recommendation! I also love a mind at home with itself by Byron Katie or I need you love, is it true? Also by her. It’s shown me all my unseen places when it comes to loving another. I always come back to it.
Then I can also recommend the body keeps the score by Bessel van der Kolk. It has helped me understand trauma on such a deep level. Super interesting.
Pema Chödrön - when everything falls apart is also beautiful.
Oh and my favorite book that has helped me greatly in opening up to myself is Heartminded by a wonderful author named Sarah Blondin ;). Thank you so so much for this beautiful book you have written, I always listen to it when I need a warm voice to hold and support me. Sending so much love! 🤍🌞
Thanks Miriam. I agree on Pema Chödrön - When everything falls apart. I'm reading this book right now. It helps me being compassionate to myself in the middle of the storm and finding a core inside me.
I’m reading Untammed! I highlighted the heck out of it! So much life discovery to have and love to feel!❤️
Thank you for the suggestions, Sarah! One of my go-to's over the past year or so is your poem, or meditation "Make it Sacred."
Others I loved and re-read are "The Untethered Soul" and the new release "Living The Untethered Soul" by Michael Singer. I am currently reading, very slowly, Don Jose Ruiz's "Wisdom of the Shamans: What the Ancient Masters Can Teach Us about Love and Life."
I also loved Braiding Sweetgrass, yet the type setting and font made it very difficult to read. I listened to some of it as an audio book, too. My husband is using it to facilitate a class at our local Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at DU.
Wonderful recommendations! thank you for contributing! There are many titles I am not familiar with. I look forward to digging in.
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, a novel by Ocean Vuong. Clear eyed, so bittersweet , every line a poem.
If I may recommend my own book, my first book of poetry just published, called There Are Still Woods.
“There Are Still Woods is a radiant appraisal of life at the precipice of climate crisis and a haunting elegy for all we stand to lose. Through alternating lenses, from the speculative to the spiritual, from motherhood to science to mythology, Hila Ratzabi looks out at our wounded but vibrant planet and the animal experience of living on it. These poems bear witness to the force and fragility of the natural world and grapple with the complexities of being a human in that landscape: being implicated, vulnerable, humbled, dazzled.”
https://www.juneroadpress.com/bookstore/p/there-are-still-woods
Any way to get it in the UK? Xx
Hi Jo, thank you for your interest! The book isn't currently distributed in the UK, but I can send you a signed copy directly from my own stash! I can create a unique link for you to purchase and calculate shipping cost based on your location. Please email me at hila.ratzabi@gmail.com and I can set it up. Thanks!
I’m loving Pixie Lighthorse’s Prayer books. They are helping me pray in a new way that I’ve needed. I can’t recommend them enough. Thank you, Sarah.
ohhhh if forgotten about these thank you for the reminder
After more than 30 years I’m reading all books of Wayne Dyer again. For me he is still one of the founding fathers of building yourself a new life straight from the source as Wayne calls it. Wayne died in 2015, and left this world with his profound insights. The youtube movie The Shift is a wonderful example and an easy to digest, inspirational first step for everyone that feels that there is so much more to life. With all my heart. Richard van den Bosch.
I second the recommendation for The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible. It is one of the most incredible books I've ever read. I think I high-lighted the entire book.
The More Beautiful World that Our Hearts Know is Possible by Charles Eisenstein. This book puts into words things I have felt and known on some level for most of my life, and also offers many new ways to from my thoughts and questions around. It is wonderful.
Came here specifically looking for this one to be mentioned. I'm so glad to see someone else has read it. Incredible book.
yes! i underlined this book almost more than any other ❤️
I absolutely loved this book, it spoke to my core. Thank you for recommending x
Thank you. Two long time favorites are Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather's Blessing by Rachel Naomi Remen. The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller, Joanne Cacciatore's Bearing the Unbearable:Love, Loss and the Heartbreaking Path of Grief. Beauty:Through Invisible Embrace by John O'Donahue. Always dipping into your book, Byron Katie, The Untethered Soul, and Eckhart Tolle and David Whyte. Oh, and The Radiance Sutras! I can go on and on....
Oh YES! David Whyte anything!
Oh yes John o Donohue beautiful
I’ll second that! David Whyte 💛
Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach, The Alchemist xo
The Way of Integrity by Martha Beck has changed my life.
I’ve been reading Yung Pueblo and love all his books! Embers by Richard Wagamese is another favorite!
I've started working my way through Radical Compassion by Tara Brach. It jumped out at me in a bookstore in my small rural town in a moment of despair.
Oh I love Tara. All of her work is fantastic and life changing.
Agreed!
I’m actually rereading Heart Minded. It’s becoming an annual tradition.
I have poured over David Whyte's Consolations and Najwa Zebian's Welcome Home. Both are dog-eared and heavily noted. Amazing and healing reads.
The most influential book I have read this year is “Belonging” by Toko-Pa Turner, it is exquisite.
“Phenomenal” by Leigh Ann Henion
“Having Tea & Cake with Demons” by Adreanna Limbach
& yours ♥️ I’ve read your book countless times. It is one of my all time favorites. Thank you for sharing this beautiful work with the world!
I adore Tara's work!
I read 'Thin Places' recently and it moved me deeply. It's in English but by an Irish author and speaks of so much raw beauty and also the pain of the land. I resonated with it so much. The writing is just profound
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May. I think you'll love it!
After reading all of these suggestions I ordered a choice few and just started reading "The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible" and I'm already wrapped up in it - resonates, such a good read and so well written. I want all 3 of my daughters to read it ♥ Thanks all
A book that has touched my heart is Trust in Yourself, The Path to Awakening, by Jaya Sarada. Each morning I take either a sentence or two and meditate on it. It brings me to a beautiful place where silence and stillness resides. 💕
Thank you for the recommendation!
You’re so welcome!
Thank you for this list! Adding many of them to my queue now. :) These are two that I've loved recently:
-On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong (this hit me right in the heart, I couldn't put it down)
-Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poore (really fun and imaginative and touches on some deep truths. trying to read more fiction/fantasy to help kickstart my own imagination...and not my "worrying" imagination, a more creative and fantastical one)
Oooh, I am always looking for fiction/fantasy that "kickstarts my own imagination" and also my unlimited connection to source. I just added this one to my reading list. I also added "On Earth..." to my reading list. Thanks!
How timely! I just finished your book, Sarah, for the second time. What a divine gift it is!Thank you for pouring your heart + soul into it. It just struck me how not often does one get to personally thank the author of one of their most treasured books. 🙂❤️ Additionally, I just finished Welcoming the Unwelcome by Pema Chodron. Currently I’m reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer + The Wisdom of No Escape by Pema Chodron. All highly recommended!
How to Do Nothing Jenny Odell
So many of these speak to me. I can’t recommend “Holding Space” by Heather Plett enough. It has really allowed me to shift in the last year.
Yes! Such an excellent book.
Thanks. Sounds like a good one, I've added it to my list.
The Heroine’s Journey- the work of Maureen Murdock.
Thanks for sharing, this is a new one for me.
For something a little different- a novel about Rumi and Shams. Filled with nuggets of wisdom.. the forty rules of love by Elif Shafak
I have two “go to’s” that I read at least once a year – – don’t laugh but David Copperfield by Charles Dickens Is the greatest love and life story that I have ever read. And Sarah, Agnes reminds me of you!! Of course now you have to read it!
“For one more day “ by Mitch Albom is a lovely story about a mother, a son and life.

P H O S P H O R E S C E N C E on awe, wonder & things that sustain you when the world goes dark by Julia Baird (an Australian writer) ❤ An absolute GEM of a read. Highly recommended!
"See No Stranger" by Valarie Kaur .
It's an incredible exploration in healing, both personally and societally. This one sits at the top of my recommendation list for readers of all walks of life!
Living Untethered by Michael Singer beautifully discusses science and spirituality, joy and suffering, mind and heart.
I am reading and loving "Braiding Sweet Grass" by Robin Wall Kimmer! I feel like this book is a prayer to the Earth. In this memoire, Robin shows how she accommodates her indigenous heritage with her career as a botanist. Here is a quote that was such an Aha moment for me: "The exchange between plants and people has shaped the evolutionary history of both. Farms, orchards, a vineyards are stocked with species we have domesticated. Our appetite for their fruits leads us to till, prune, irrigate, fertilize, and weed on their behalf. Perhaps they have domesticated us. Wild plants have changed to stand in well-behaved rows and wild humans have changed to settle alongside the fields and care for the plants—a kind of mutual taming."
She is giving a lecture tomorrow night that is being livestreamed on YouTube
I am reading Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown, at the moment. I enjoy Pixie Lighthorse's books, anything by Pema or Ram Dads. So many books, I appreciate the list here, thank you!!
And when I want to go easy on myself, Samantha Irby books are a hilarious reprieve. ‘We are Never Meeting I’m Real Life.’ ‘Wow, No Thank You.’ And, coming soon, ‘Quietly Hostile.’ 😍
I’m really loving the power of now by Eckhart Tolle. Such powerful reminders.
This summer has been a bit difficult so I found some books/novels based on current issues - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernardine_Evaristo Girl, Woman, Other was excellent as was The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafik
I think a couple of my favorite books are Undefended Love and The Power of Now
I read "Wintering" by Katherine May last year to get me ready for the winter season. I was pleasantly surprised how much this book helped me understand the need for the season.
“The Story of a Soul” by St. Therese of Lisieux (Little Flower)
"[God] set before me the book of nature; I understood how all the flowers He has created are beautiful, how the splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the Lily do not take away the perfume of the little violet or the delightful simplicity of the daisy. I understood that if all flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime beauty, and the fields would no longer be decked out with wild flowers [.........] Just as the sun shines simultaneously on the tall cedars and on each little flower as though it were alone on the earth, so the Lord is occupied particularly with each soul as though there were no other like it."
So beautiful to read through what everyone is reading.
I’ve brought my mind, heart and imagination back into the world of fantasy after having years off focusing on business, self help and entrepreneurship.
Now I am lost in an old favourite- the Farseer trilogy by fantasy author Robin Hobb.
Returning to this series after nearly a decade, reading it as the woman I am today hits different.
Has anyone ever done that before? Returned to an old favourite book after a long time has passed? How did you receive the story as this version of you?
I know for me it’s highlighting how much I’ve grown but also how somethings never change.
Hi all. Thought this was a weekly Meditation subscription. It seems as though Sarah was sending these out consistently a few months back and the meditations aren’t coming weekly anymore? I understand she took a break but are these going to be weekly meditations again?
Gabriel Byrne's memoir Walking With Ghosts.
Illustrations / poetry / snippets of wisdom in:
*James Norbury - Big panda, tiny dragon
*Charlie Mackesy - the boy, the mole, the fox and the horse
You can read it with kids too!
And
*Rupi Kaur - home body. Poetry & illustration
Many favorites listed here but I just started reading “Waking up to what you do” by Diane Eshin Rizzetto…. Really loving it.
J. Krishnamurti 'The Only Revolution'. Such a startlingly beautiful being.
Mirrors in The Earth by Asia Suler. It is absolutely magical, inspired by Robin Wall Kimmerer and is heartfelt, interspersed with ritual and meditation practices. Absolutely love it.
Thank you for your introduction to Katherine Thanas and I found a lot of clarification and inspiration in her book. I also read Wild Mind earlier this year. I tend to swing between inspirational books and plain old mystery books, it forms the yin-yang of my reading habits. Latterly I have been caught up in Karin Slaughter books, some standalone and some engrossing series.
I was drawn to order Byron Katie's book from your list so thank you very much. I loved " You are the Medicine" by Asha Frost this summer.