The Be Lit Book Rx: Curious About Love?
There is no other feeling more complicated and beautiful than love. The impact it has on our lives is immeasurable, as is its effect on our minds and bodies. No matter if it is shared with an intimate partner, a friend, a pet, or oneself, love is the ultimate experience in life.
It is also nuanced and vast, which is why it anchors so many pieces of art. The following list offers a wide range of books on the topic. Whether you’re seeking love or simply to better understand it, let this Be Lit Book Rx guide you toward the very book your heart needs right now.
YOUR BOOK Rx
If You’re Seeking... to Embrace the Beauty of Vulnerability
Your Book Rx: How to Feel Loved: The Five Mindsets That Get You More of What Matters Most
By Sonja Lyubomirsky and Harry Reis
Sonja Lyubomirsky is one of the greatest minds in the field of happiness and joy. In this brand-new book, she’s paired with relationship expert Harry Reis to offer a roadmap for revealing more vulnerability and, in return, for witnessing it in those we love. Hopeful, radical, and insightful, this book is sure to be a staple on nightstands for decades to come.
If You’re Seeking... a Raw, Epic Story About Love
Your Book Rx: On Love
By Alain de Botton
Leave it to philosopher and author Alain de Botton to precisely capture the grand capacity of love. In his delicious novel, the first of his career, he takes the meeting of two people on a flight from Paris to London and turns it into an impossible-to-put-down tale of surrender, ache, and joy.
If You’re Seeking... the Power of Love to Heal a Nation
Your Book Rx: All About Love: New Visions
By Bell Hooks
The late renowned scholar, cultural icon, and feminist writer bell hooks offers a gorgeous call for more compassion, care, and community in her landmark book. By exploring the salve love provides to individual and collective hearts, she reveals a new way to look at life—one that centers kindness.
If You’re Seeking... to Explore Our Human Need for Love
Your Book Rx: Somehow: Thoughts on Love
By Anne Lamott
Love is not solely romance. “It is in our very atmosphere,” writes writer Anne Lamott. In this beautiful book, Lamott takes readers through the constellation of love, showing us that it is more than a feeling; it is the hope that fuels our lives.
If You’re Seeking... Guidance for a More Connected Partnership
Your Book Rx: Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love
By Sue Johnson
There’s a reason couples therapists across the world refer to Sue Johnson’s acclaimed book: It offers an insightful and endlessly enduring look at what makes for a truly healthy connection.
If You’re Seeking... to Deepen Your Self-Love
Your Book Rx: How to Love Better: The Path to Deeper Connection Through Growth, Kindness, and Compassion
By Yung Pueblo
No other contemporary writer has such an impactful way of helping us look inward as Yung Pueblo does. In How to Love Better, the author does just that, gently revealing how deeper self-awareness and compassion lead to more profound connections with others.
If You’re Seeking... Insight into Love and Friendship
Your Book Rx: Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make--and Keep--Friends
By Marisa G Franco
What if the answer to more joy and meaning is to embolden our relationships with our friends? This is the crux of Platonic, the wildly popular book from Marisa G. Franco. It shows us that deepening friendships and making new ones is not only possible at any stage; it’s requisite for a fulfilling life.
If You’re Seeking... to Get Closer to Your Partner
Your BookRx: Us: Getting Past You & Me to Build a More Loving Relationship
By Terrence Real
One of our nation’s most revered therapists, Terry Real, refers to his work as “relational living”—a way to recognize and honor the transformative, life-enhancing nature of deep connection with oneself and others. In his most recent bestselling book, Real shows us how to have what he calls “fierce intimacy,” which he believes can enhance our lives in immeasurable ways.
If You’re Seeking... to Better Understand the Science Behind Love
Your Book Rx: The Intimate Animal: The Science of Sex, Fidelity, and Why We Live and Die for Love
By Justin R Garcia
Do you ever wonder why we stay or leave? Or why we love who we love? Love is an utter enigma, and it's something this evolutionary biologist studies deeply. In this new book, he looks at the inner workings of romantic relationships, from attraction to intimacy to commitment, and offers a riveting look at how love works the way it does.
If You’re Seeking... to Read More About Love and the Caregiving Crisis
Your Book Rx: In Sickness and in Health: Love Stories from the Front Lines of America’s Caregiving Crisis
By Laura Mauldin
Sociologist and disability studies professor Laura Mauldin brings the overlooked-yet-critical conversation around caregiving, chronic illness, and love into the public light. In her important new book, she weaves together her personal account of transitioning from romantic partner to full-time caregiver with stories of couples across the country who have navigated similar paths at the intersection of need, love, heartbreak, and vulnerability.
P.S. If you are interested in learning more about love, listen to Maria and best-selling author Jillian Turecki’s conversation. Dropping this Thursday, February 12th, Jillian and Maria tackle the hard truths– how much work relationships should actually take, the courage it requires to let go of what’s wrong, the lies we’ve been sold about love and heartbreak. Watch the teaser now!
Also in this week’s issue:
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