Books can do so much for us: expand our horizons, shift our perspectives, give us a greater understanding of the world and ourselves — plus plus entertain us to no end, of course. So, when you feel lost in your life, there is no better place to turn than to a book. Because books are always there for you, no matter what.
Just about everyone feels lost at some point in her life. It's inevitable. However, that doesn't necessarily make it pleasant to experience. We like to know what we want and where we're going in life. We like to feel like our lives have a clear trajectory. When instead you just feel lost, it isn't fun, and it isn't nearly as glamorous as it might seem. So, how to cope with that? Or better yet, how to fix it?
Well, the sad thing is that there's no quick and easy way to figure out your life, but as with anything in which a little extra perspective is useful, books can always help. Whether you're reading books about people whose lives are also unfocused and messy, or those with purpose and determination, books can help you get out of a funk, or, at the very least, help you gain a little insight into the situation as-is.
So, if you're feeling lost in your life, here are 13 books that might help:
Daughter of Fortuneby Isabel Allende
Posted on August 11, 2017 by Kathryn Today is the Memorial of Saint Clare, Virgin (died 1253) and I personally honor Charlene Richard, our unofficial Cajun Saint (died 1959). The Perseid Meteor Shower continues, and today is the birthday of my friend CJ in Nevada (1957) and of Murphy, one of Richard’s grand-nephews here in town, the grandson. January 4, 2015 August 11, 2015 Books of the Week: A Madness of Angels, Kate Griffin The Naturals, Jennifer Barnes Dead Heading, Catherine Aird Jinn and Juice, Nicole Peeler Prince Lestat, Anne Rice The Likeness, Tana French Matthew Swift returns to life lying on the floor in his London bedroom.
If you're looking for a story about a girl who has to cope with a lot of unforeseen obstacles but ultimately finds herself and her place in the world, then this book is for you. Granted, your direction in life probably wouldn't come via a trip to Gold Rush era California, but still, there's a lot of inspiration to be found here.
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
If your life feels too humdrum and uninteresting, then Neverwhere might be able to inspire you — or at least give you hope that a more exciting future is just around the corner. At the very least, watching young Richard stumble into a world of magic and adventure is a good distraction from your own life.
Green Girlby Kate Zambreno
Green Girl isn't an inspiring tale of someone who finds direction as it is an intimate and nuanced portrait of a girl who is very, very lost. It might not inspire you, but it might give your some insight, or at least make you feel less alone.
Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia Butler
Sometimes when you're feeling lost, the best thing is to get your mind as far away from your own life as possible, and what better way to do that than to plunge into a series of intricately imagined science fiction worlds. And for that, there is no one better than Octavia Butler. Plus, stretching your imagination is always a good thing.
13 Little Blue Envelopesby Maureen Johnson
There are lots and lots of amazing coming-of-age, YA novels out there, all of which are good for helping you figure out your life. And 13 Little Blue Envelopes is a particularly good example. If you're looking for a little meaning in your life, or looking for something bigger, check it out.
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
Sometimes the thing that you really need to figure out your life isn't any kind of dramatic action, but rather just some perspective. And if there's anything that counts as perspective on your life it's Alison Bechdel's stunning graphic memoir Fun Home, which chronicles the many complicated dynamics of her childhood and her family.
August 11th 2020
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
A lot of times feeling lost isn't just about not knowing where your life is going, but about not really knowing who you are, and The Namesakeis all about figuring out who you are, as a person and as person in your family or your society. It's a gorgeous story that might give you some great insight.
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?by Mindy Kaling
Believe it or not, successful people don't always know who they are or where they're going in life, either, so reading their memoirs can make you feel a lot better about your own future. Mindy Kaling's memoir is great for that purpose.
Gentlemen of the Roadby Michael Chabon
Sometimes the most meaningful and important things we do in our lives come to us through sheer happenstance. Gentleman of the Road is a book that celebrates the randomness of life, and gives you a pretty great adventure story, one that might inspire you to get out there and give life a chance to happen to you if you're stuck in a rut.
August 11th Holiday
Love Me Backby Merritt Tierce
Life isn't always easy, as is abundantly clear in Merritt Tierce's novel about a single mother working as a waitress at an upscale steakhouse. So if you're not much lost as struggling and not sure what to do, sometimes the best thing is to just know that you're not alone.
A Room With a Viewby E.M. Forster
One of the best coming-of-age stories in classic literature, A Room With a View is about breaking out of societal expectations to be true to who you really are, even when other people don't understand. It's perfect if you feel lost because you're living life the way your expected to, but not the way that would make you happy. Because not only are you not alone in that problem, but it's a problem as old as time.
Never Let Me Goby Kazuo Ishiguro
We all like to think that we need a purpose in life, but sometimes that's massively overrated — if, for example, your purpose in life sucks. This novel is brilliant and understated and lovely, but it also might make you kind of glad that you don't have a clear purpose assigned to your life. Which can be extremely comforting.
How to Build a Girlby Caitlin Moran
Feeling lost and not knowing who you are or what you're doing with your life isn't fun, but it is full of possibility, and there's something to be said for that. Caitlin Moran's novel manages to capture not just the messiness of being young and mixed up and floundering around, but also the bright, brilliant possibility of it. And that's a nice way to look at it sometimes.
Images: Jorah Mormont/flickr
In the past, we have always had a monthly 'Books to Watch' list to let our readers know what new books we're most excited about. But, because those lists can get a little long and unwieldy, the books (and the best intentions to actually read them) are too often forgotten as we progress though the month—especially those being published later in the month. So, last week, we began a new series highlighting five books on pub date (most publishers release all their books on Tuesdays) that we are most interested in.
These weekly lists are curated by our Editorial & Creative Director, Dylan Schleicher (DJJS), our Marketing Director Blyth Meier (BRM), and our Digital Marketing Specialist Gabbi Cisneros (GMC). We also take this weekly opportunity to let you know what other people in the company are reading, regardless of when it was published. This week, our choices are:
How to Be an Antiracistby Ibram X. Kendi, One World (BRM) | If you, like many, are confused or frustrated by the shifting and often euphemistic language used today about race relations, this is your book. Who better to “do the basic work of defining the kind of people we want to be in language that is stable and consistent” than the founding director of the Anti-Racist Research and Policy Center at American University? A National Book Award winner and Guggenheim Fellow, Professor Kendi’s new book clearly and helpfully shifts our country’s discourse from “non-racist” to “anti-racist”, and is the perfect follow-up read to So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeomo Oluo, our 2018 Personal Development Book of the Year.
Kochland: The Secret History of Koch Industries and Corporate Power in America by Christopher Leonard, Simon & Schuster (DJJS) | Charles and David Koch’s fortunes combined surpasses that of the richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos, and the companies they oversee are more intimately intertwined in the American economy and in our everyday lives than even Amazon—albeit in more opaque ways. Christopher Leonard’s biography of Koch Industries is the story of how they’ve procured that wealth (and their economic and political influence) that doubles as “a portrait of the American economy since the 1960s.”
Normal Sucks: How to Live, Learn, and Thrive Outside the Lines by Jonathan Mooney, Henry Holt (DJJS) | Jonathan Mooney didn’t need to be fixed. He simply needed to be empowered to use the gifts he had to succeed, rather than be forced into what others defined as “normal” development. The neuro-diverse writer, advocate, and public speaker, who didn’t learn to read until he was twelve years old, has now written a funny, emotional, and eloquent book in the form of a letter to his young sons that reframes the idea of “normal,” and calls on us all to “reorient the ways in which we think about diversity, abilities, and disabilities.”
State: A Team, a Triumph, a Transformationby Melissa Isaacson, Agate Midway (DJJS) | With the success of the US women's national soccer team, it’s easy to forget that the team has been around for less than 35 years. The passing of Title IX in 1972 made the creation of the team in 1985 possible, and opened the door to so many other women and girls playing sports at all levels—including award-winning sportswriter Mellissa Isaacson. Her new book—the story of her Niles West High School basketball team and their journey to winning the third-ever girls’ state basketball championship in Illinois in 1979—is an intimate portrayal of how the chance to play not only changed, but saved so many girls’ lives.
The Transpacific Experiment: How China and California Collaborate and Compete for Our Future by Matt Sheehan, Counterpoint (DJJS) | Even amidst an escalating and so-far attritious trade war between China and the United States, there is one state that has acted as a laboratory for the relationship between the two countries—California. Matt Sheehan spent six years examining the “fluid ecosystem of students, entrepreneurs, investors, immigrants, and ideas bouncing back and forth between the Golden State and the Middle Kingdom.” His book looks at the geopolitical relationship through the lens of those lives, taking us from Silicon Valley and Hollywood to “democracy protests in Hong Kong to down and out coal towns in Shaanxi Province.”
What we're reading:
I am reading Marlena: A Novel by Julie Buntin, who just left her post as head of writing program at Catapult.
It’s about two teenagers in upper Michigan, one who detours temporarily from fulfilling her promise and one who never got the chance.
August 11th National Day
—Sally Haldorson, General Manager & Chief Strategist