All My Favourite Books

Tuesday, 28 April 2020 at April 28, 2020

Weeks ago, I was still spacing out in the office, imaging what it would be like when Singapore finally enforces work from home measures. Today, it has already been 3 weeks since I started working from home. During this period of time, you may choose to see, focus, and even magnify the negative sides of this isolation measure. Despite being an introvert living in a first world country with many privileges (lol), what I dislike most is that I won't be able to see my boyfriend, and even my sister for two whole months. I dislike not being able to go to the gym, I was supposed to visit Switzerland next week, and I don't like not having the freedom to go out whenever and wherever I want. But no matter what you dislike about the current situation, what you choose to focus on creates your experience. Therefore, I choose to see and celebrate the many positives of this circuit breaker.



I think that one of the many perks of this circuit breaker is the sudden increase in free time which is getting more and more people to start engaging in activities and hobbies they didn't had the time for. One popular activity is reading. Therefore, for starters who are trying to get themselves to read more books during this period of time, I thought I would share with you some of my all-time favourite books to get you rolling.


Before I wanted to learn about spirituality, I didn't like self-help books and preferred fiction or 'storybooks' instead. I have a wild imagination (thus an overthinking mind haha) and reading storybooks really allowed me to put that wild imagination to good use as I would imagine how the characters look like. So for those of you who prefer storybooks as well, here are a couple of my all-time favourite!

How To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Even if you're not a bookworm, you'd most likely have heard of this book. In fact, that was the sole reason why I even picked this book up in the first place. How To Kill A Mockingbird is a story about a black man who is being accused of raping a white girl. The story is being told in the perspective of Jean, who is the child of the lawyer appointed to defend the black man. Occurring in the early 1930s, racial inequality between the blacks and whites, mainly discrimination of black people was still a huge issue back then. Therefore, the main story tells about how Jean's father chose to not let the race of the black man cloud and influence his judgement despite being mocked and pressured by the white people of the town. At this age, we're often easily influenced and I believe some of us even find the need to constantly please others by blindly agreeing with the majority. This book to me, perfectly shows that a popular opinion doesn't always mean that it's the right one and my favourite quote from this book is:

"The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience." - How To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee.

As this is a very old book, be prepared to come across tons of olden days slangs and phrases. Because of that, I find that while reading this book, I had to Google the meaning of multiple phrases and words, but instead of viewing it as troublesome, I actually enjoyed learning some of the olden days slangs!

Kakfa On The Store by Murakami

I have finished reading a small number of Murakami's works, but Kakfa On The Store remains one of my favourites. For a non-bookworm, this book was rather intimidating for me to begin because it is so thick. But surprisingly I managed to finish it rather quickly as it was so intriguing, I just never wanted to put the book down after I pick it up. What I love about Murakami's books is how he made sure to describe every scene in details which kept my imaginative mind busy. Although I finished his book years ago, I still remembered how the library and the serene forest looked in my mind. Another thing I love about his works is how mysterious and mystical the plot is which constantly puts me in a confused state, but once you got it, the sense of satisfaction is worth it. The endings of his books are always abrupt which may bother those of you who have closure issues - like myself, and Sheldon Cooper - but I've learnt that it simply make things more interesting as I'd always go online and read up on different people's ending and analysis of the book.

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom


I've mentioned this book so many times, I have actually thought of excluding it in today's post. But when I think about how much I love this book, I decided that it is worth mentioning again, just in case you still have not read it. Tuesdays with Morrie is another one of those books that you might have heard of despite not being into books. If you have not, then maybe you've heard of The Five People You Meet In Heaven which is another one of Mitch Albom's works. I believe the first Mitch Album book I read was The Five People You Meet In Heaven, which was really good, but nothing from Mitch Album tops Tuesdays with Morrie for me. This is a book that I finished in 2 days because it was so good I even read it on public transport (I have motion sickness). Tuesdays with Morrie is based on a true story involving the author Mitch Album and his professor Morrie. After being diagnosed with ALS, Morrie is slowly approaching death. During his final months, Mitch meets up with Morrie at his place every Tuesday as Morrie shares his perspective of the various key components of life now that death is right by his doorstep. This book not only conveys the true messages and lessons of our time here on Earth, but it is also heartbreaking and who doesn't love a book that can make you emotional...

“Love always win.” - Morrie Schwartz
“Don’t cling to things because everything is impermanent.” - Morrie Schwartz

As I've mentioned, I never used to like self-help books, but that was before knowing that 'self-help' is such a wide genre. My boyfriend reads self-help books as well and they are so incredibly different from what I read. Therefore, instead of calling them self-help books, I like to call them spiritual books instead. For those of you who aren't familiar with the terms 'spiritual' or 'spirituality', I get it. It sounds completely like some witchy-woo, psychic, connecting with "the other side" thing. But it's not. Spiritual books are books that remind us of our capabilities, our source, our power (not the witchy-woo kind), our purpose on Earth as spiritual beings. That being said, you don't have to be aware of what spirituality is, or the law of attraction, or how the universe works to 'be spiritual' or to be a 'miracle worker' or to 'vibe high'. There are people out there already performing miracles even without knowing all these terms. I however, need to be reminded of who I really am constantly, and so reading spiritual books is a great way for me to stay centred and awaken.

A Return To Love by Marianne Williamson

This is my all-time favourite spiritual book. When I first started this book, I felt a little uncomfortable because of it kept mentioning 'God', and 'the Holy Spirit', and 'Christ'. Despite growing up in a Christian family, trying my best to pray every night, being forced to go to church every Sunday and whatnot, I've never felt a connection with God. In fact, I've unknowingly developed a resistance towards these words along with Christianity. Nonetheless, I continued reading which made me realise that I had such a huge misconception about God. I've always thought that God is exclusive to Christianity and more importantly I've always thought that God is a judgemental old man who watches your every move and on judgement day when you pass, he'll send you to suffer for the rest of eternal as long as you did not believe in him or has done something sinful and didn't repent during your time on Earth.


A Return To Love perfectly highlights and explains why some of us have these misconceptions and resistance and it also tells me the truth, which is love.



What I love about A Return To Love is how it not only transformed my perspective and resolved my resistance towards God, but it is also a great book that reflects all the teachings of A Course In Miracles. I read this book when I was in a slightly darker place in my life. I had a lot of insecurities which made me feel like I'm not enough, less than others, unworthy, etc. But this book made me see that I am and have always been good enough and the amount of comfort it gave me during that period of time was immeasurable.

A Course In Miracles Made Easy by Alan Cohen


A Course In Miracles Made Easy is a book I have recently finished and it is definitely my second favourite spiritual book as of right now. This is another book that perfectly conveys all the lessons and teachings of A Course In Miracles. I own A Course In Miracles and even though I've had it for months, I just don't think that I'm ready for it. Thus, to help me ease into the course better, I thought I would read A Course In Miracles Made Easy to at least get a gist of what the book is about. Although both A Return To Love and A Course In Miracles Made Easy are both books that refer to A Course In Miracles, I would say that they are still two different books.



A Return to Love is more of an afterthought and reflection, while A Course In Miracles Made Easy is... Well, the course itself, made easy. What I love about this book is that it's easy. It's super easy to read and I love that it contains real life experiences of how the author and other people implement the course's lessons in life because sometimes, I feel like I'm struggling. Times when I lose my temper over small things, or times when I become petty or act like I don't have enough. Even though I try not to beat myself up about it, sometimes it's still disappointing to see how slow I'm progressing. In this book, I find that the author made a huge effort to highlight such moments and it made me learn how to see these moments with a new pair of eyes.

"When you cultivate activities that truly bring you joy, you establish yourself in the domain of the soul." - A Course In Miracles Made Easy, Alan Cohen.

The Power Of Now by Eckhart Tolle


The Power Of Now is another really popular book that you might have heard of even if you're not interested in the topic of spirituality. After developing a higher sense of self-awareness, I notice that I would always, always, find myself in either the past or the future. When I'm showering, I've almost never once thought about how the soap foams and how smooth it feels on my skin because I'm always reliving the highlights of my day, even if they're bad ones. When I'm in bed, realistically speaking, nowadays I'd always be thinking about my breakfast the next day, but there were also days where I would think about how much my skin sucks and how come I don't have clear skin, blah blah blah and these thoughts often caused me to lose sleep, feel anxious and depressed. Although there are numerous ways to practice spirituality, being in the present moment is by far the easiest method and this book basically tells you why.

You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay



Most of the self-help books mentioned above have been very comforting for me as with each book, I experience deeper inner peace. Being in alignment with what is, also really helped me during this circuit breaker and so I hope that if you're having a tough time coping with all the changes in this period, reading these books will provide you some comfort too.

Currently, I'm trying to finish the book Conversations With God by Neal Donald Walsch. Even though I have way more free time than before, it's still sometimes difficult for me to find the motivation to pick up a book and read because I'm always wanting to do something else. Therefore, for this book, I've started listening to the audio book instead which has been really helpful for me to fully utilize my time as I'm able to cook whilst listening, paint whilst listening, do my nails whilst listening, work whilst listening, etc. Thus if you're like me and you're always wanting to do something else instead of sitting there with a book, definitely try out audio books!

Labels: lifestyle, stress relief