📚Restless Reads #3

Books on Friendship, Hiking, Motherhood and Japanese Wisdom.

Hello Restless Wonders,

A big thanks to those of you who tuned in to the Substack live chat with

Elise Downing

yesterday. We had a blast.

If you’re a Restless Rebel paid subscriber - I’ll drop a recording of the interview over to your inbox tomorrow, so you can watch or listen in your own time.

This week, it’s time for a book roundup. Ooooh how I just lurrrrve me the books!

Check out the recommendations below or hit the play button to hear me chat about each one.

I’m always up for discovering new books so if there’s a wodge of words you’ve read and loved recently, please let me know — I’m all ears.

You can check out past Restless Reads here and here.

Catch you next week,

Anna xx

Photo by Madalyn Cox on Unsplash

📚 Restless Reads #3

Kokoro

by Beth Kempton

Why I picked it up:

Beth Kempton

is a Japanologist, mum and creative explorer of the world. I’ve been reading a lot of her words on Substack recently, and she has such a beautiful way of expressing even the most complicated challenges of life.

What’s it about? Beth’s midlife ‘malaise’ collides headlong with the death of a close friend and her mum. To steady herself and move through the grief (or at least sit with it), she takes several trips to her beloved Japan.

There she delves into understanding what the Japanese call Kokoro. It’s not a word that translates directly into English but is best described as our heart-mind-spirit and the source of our true self.

Why I loved it: I’ve always lived life according to a kind of heart-compass — making big decisions (like giving up a ‘great’ corporate job to cycle the 50 US States) based on my heart-compass clicking into place. Not knowing where I’d end up but knowing that where I was headed just felt right.

This book is about tuning into that part of ourselves. Quietening the noise and finding a version of you that’s present, grateful, and living each day as if it were the last. It’s jam-packed with beautiful descriptions of scenery and overflowing with ancient wisdom.

P.S. It will also make you want to get on a plane to Japan RIGHT THIS VERY SECOND.

P.P.S It may also make you want to learn Japanese.

👉🏻 Check out Kokoro here

Friendaholic

by

Elizabeth Day

Why I picked it up: After writing this post on friendships in midlife and Motherhood, I was listening to Elizabeth Day’s podcast and an interview with Vogue Williams, who mentioned this book.

What’s it about? Elizabeth takes you on a journey through her friendships — the good, the bad and the toxic. She puts forward the case for paying as much attention to those friendships, as we do our romantic relationships.

Why I loved it: I’m so grateful for the honesty in this book. Reading where her friendships have gone wrong made me take a closer look at the friendships in my life.

It also made me think about what kind of friend I am.

Elizabeth writes openly about not being a mum, and the challenges of maintaining friendships with those who are parents.

This and some other points really hit a nerve, and that’s the sign of a good book.

Growth isn’t comfortable, after all. And reading this book felt like… growth.

👉🏻 Check out Friendaholic here

Gift From The Sea

by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Why I picked it up: @Linda Islay recommended this book in the comments on one of

Kelton Wright

‘s posts. It wasn’t long after I had escaped to a Cabin by The Sea and I was intrigued by the idea of a mother of five, writing about the importance of solitude.

What’s it about? Originally published in 1955, Anne escapes family life for a couple of weeks to a small cottage on Captiva Island on Florida’s Gulf Coast — there she reflects on motherhood, creativity and the magic of the sea, which she visits each day.

Why I loved it: So much of what Anne writes about is still true today; the power of solitude, the mental load (although it didn’t have that label back then), the shift in friendships through motherhood, and the importance of keeping the love alive between you and your partner.

You know when you read someone else’s thought and they could well be your own? At so many points, this was that book for me.

There’s a rhythm to the read too, it ebbs and flows; it lifts and crashes — you can feel the sea in the pages.

I read it once. Then I read it again right away.

P.S. If you can score a copy of the small hardback edition, it is a beautiful thing to hold in your hand. It’s so square and dinky, the cover illustration is very stroke-able and the font inside feels like you’re reading a letter which has arrived by telegram from a dear friend.

👉🏻 Check out Gift From The Sea here

The Electricity of Every Living Thing

by

Katherine May

Why I picked it up: I’ve read some of Katherine May’s book before and knew that this one was about a walking journey along the South West Coastal Path. I love that path. And I love her writing = This was a must read.

What’s it about? It’s beautifully complex. It’s about her coming out of the fog of early motherhood and setting a goal of walking the South West Coastal Path in stages, over the course of a year.

The story behind the story is that she realises (via an interview on the radio) that she has Asperger’s. She’s thirty-nine years old and suddenly the way she is, and the way she experiences the world, makes a lot more sense.

Why I loved it: I really felt like I was in Katherine’s shoes in this book. She’s brutally honest, sharing thoughts and struggles that most would shy away from and describing in great detail how noise, people, touch can be excruciating for someone who’s neurodivergent. These things, to her, carry an electricity.

I admired her in her determination to walk the coastal path (in all weathers) and, separately from that, it gave me a greater understanding of how nuanced spectrum disorders can be.

👉🏻 Check out The Electricity of Every Living Thing here

Pathfinding

by Kerri Andrews

Why I picked it up: The publisher got in touch to ask if I’d read an advanced copy and it sounded right up my street / trail.

What’s it about? Hoping to rediscover her love of walking, Kerri takes on a series of hikes with mothers who have spoken about a specific area of motherhood — body, mind, self, ambition, hope and anger.

Each walk covers one of these topics through the lens of three experiences beautifully braided together; Kerri’s personal experience, that of the person she’s walking with and also letters and writing from a significant woman from history.

Why I loved it: Every mother would see herself in these pages. And just like ‘Gift from the sea’, it’s comforting to read about the experiences of others — especially on the stuff that often gets left unsaid.

Kerri is gentle in her rawness. There’s a neat balance of movement through beautiful landscapes, heartfelt conversations between Kerri and her walking buddies, and a journey back in time to put us in the boots of the brave women who navigated similar challenges in years gone by.

👉🏻 Check out Pathfinding here

P.S 👆🏻❤️ Tapping the heart button at the top or bottom means that more people will see this post. I will also leap from the page and give you a virtual hug every time you do it. 🤗

🐛 Still hungry for more reads?

📚 Restless Reads #1

📚 Restless Reads #2