Here are 100 books that The Gift of an Ordinary Day fans have personally recommended if you like
The Gift of an Ordinary Day.
Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.
As a child, I wanted to fly away to the land of Oz or walk through a wardrobe into Narnia, but as I grew up, I learned that magic can truly be found in the most ordinary of circumstances. It’s in our commitment to caring for and supporting each other, sometimes through painful struggle, allowing a wider reality to shine through. Today, while I still love a good tale of wonder and enchantment, I find the most spiritually sustaining practices keep me grounded in the everyday, opening up a space for transformation that doesn’t suck me into another world, but reveals the latent beauty and hidden dimensions of this one.
In midlife, as I looked back at what I’d learned, including many mistakes, and wondered how to move forward, Rohr’s “spirituality for the two halves of life” offered me a map for the territory I was navigating. He showed me a pattern of upbuilding, offering, and transformation that helped me move through seeming failure and tragedy without losing faith in a wider source of meaning.
With his characteristic sense of humor, using down-to-earth examples combined with a mystical, mythic awareness, he helped open up a new space for transformation in the midst of everyday challenges.
A fresh way of thinking about spirituality that grows throughout life In Falling Upward , Fr. Richard Rohr seeks to help readers understand the tasks of the two halves of life and to show them that those who have fallen, failed, or "gone down" are the only ones who understand "up." Most of us tend to think of the second half of life as largely about getting old, dealing with health issues, and letting go of life, but the whole thesis of this book is exactly the opposite. What looks like falling down can largely be experienced as "falling upward."…
The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.
The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.
Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…
I've been writing and providing pastor care for more than thirty years now. Since turning sixty, I have noticed that aging well is not a given. Many people seem to grow increasingly bitter, resentful, and hard. If we want to become more empathetic, grateful, and loving, we have to keep growing and do our spiritual and relational work. We also need trustworthy guides to help us find our way. I hope to be a wise, compassionate guide for my readers.
In this wise and welcome field guide, Michelle Van Loon
casts a vision for what our lives might look like if we refuse to settle and
instead lean into the many challenges, losses, and disappointments of midlife
as traction to keep growing. Becoming Sage not only empowers us to
flourish today—it infuses us with hope for our future. (Plus, because Michelle
is incredibly funny, there’s humor throughout.)
Why Do We Act Like There Is An Age Restriction on Spiritual Growth?
For the last several decades, Western churches have focused the bulk of their resources on the early stages of discipleship—children’s Sunday school, youth group, college ministry. While these are all important, we have neglected the spiritual growth of those in the second half of life. In fact, an outside observer might think that after the growth of the college years, the goal is simply to coast through the rest of your Christian life.
Michelle Van Loon has a different idea. In Becoming Sage, she challenges those in…
I've been writing and providing pastor care for more than thirty years now. Since turning sixty, I have noticed that aging well is not a given. Many people seem to grow increasingly bitter, resentful, and hard. If we want to become more empathetic, grateful, and loving, we have to keep growing and do our spiritual and relational work. We also need trustworthy guides to help us find our way. I hope to be a wise, compassionate guide for my readers.
Hagerty is a meticulous reporter and deftly weaves personal stories with many facts and figures about midlife. She interviews experts in sociology, psychology, neurobiology, and genetics while exploring the question, "How do you thrive in midlife?" Hagerty argues that rather than seeing midlife as a time of crises, we should be able to experience it as a time of renewal: a time when we feel a growing sense of certainty about who we are and what we have to offer the world.
A dynamic and inspiring exploration of the new science that is redrawing the future for people in their forties, fifties, and sixties for the better-and for good.
There's no such thing as an inevitable midlife crisis, Barbara Bradley Hagerty writes in this provocative, hopeful book. It's a myth, an illusion. New scientific research explodes the fable that midlife is a time when things start to go downhill for everybody. In fact, midlife can be a great new adventure, when you can embrace fresh possibilities, purposes, and pleasures. In Life Reimagined, Hagerty explains that midlife is about renewal: It's the time…
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
I've been writing and providing pastor care for more than thirty years now. Since turning sixty, I have noticed that aging well is not a given. Many people seem to grow increasingly bitter, resentful, and hard. If we want to become more empathetic, grateful, and loving, we have to keep growing and do our spiritual and relational work. We also need trustworthy guides to help us find our way. I hope to be a wise, compassionate guide for my readers.
If you are a parent and your children are over the age of eighteen, you know that your relationship with them shifts radically as they become adults. If you’ve raised your children to be independent thinkers, guess what? They will think and act independently, sometimes making choices that cause pain and confusion. Mary does a terrific job of helping parents remain grounded in their faith as they figure out how to love and support their sons and daughters in this new season. Her love for and knowledge of Scripture is very evident throughout. (Note: I would not have included the word “Wayward” in the title. Mary does not focus on adult kids who have made poor choices, but rather ones whose lives look different than what we might have imagined.)
"Love, Pray, Listen offers empathy and grounded biblical wisdom to help parents thrive, no matter what path their adult kids take."--PASTOR STEVE STROOPE
Wisdom and Hope for Parents of Grown-Ups
As a parent, your role changes drastically after your kids grow up. You fear heartache and strained relationships when your children choose difficult--even seemingly wrong--paths.
Love, Pray, Listen is the gracious, practical resource you need for navigating the rocky terrain of parenting grown-ups. In this book, mom and author Mary DeMuth answers questions like:
* What do I do when my kids make choices that don't align with my values?…
As a mama bear, I must be courageous for my three little warriors. It took a while, however, before I could activate my courage. Why? Because I had to face years of fears related to cultural shame, family guilt, inner criticism caused by oppressive patriarchal rules, and ancestral traumas. I even wrote a warm and witty memoir to capture my journey. I love sharing my stories and teaching my Courage Kit® framework to adults and kids. Fun fact: At age 8, I was a book presenter on the PBS series Reading Rainbow!
I loved the way Karen Maezen Miller drew from her practices as a Zen Buddhist priest and a first-time mom to illustrate how ordinary maternal tasks can turn into enriching bits of spiritual wisdom. I felt so seen as a mom via her acknowledgements of the nitty gritty personal trials that new moms go through.
I was pleasantly surprised to learn that difficult mom moments can actually be opportunities for moments of peace—ingredients for getting some comfort and encouragement on days when it can feel so hard. I loved the reminder that there’s no linear path in motherhood and felt inspired to address my mama-related discouragements in real time.
Combining humor, honesty, and plainspoken advice, Momma Zen distills the doubts and frustrations of motherhood into vignettes of Zen wisdom
Drawing on her experience as a first-time mother and her years of Zen meditation and study, Karen Miller explores how the daily challenges of parenthood can become the most profound spiritual journey of our lives. Her compelling and wise memoir follows the timeline of early motherhood from pregnancy through toddlerhood. Momma Zen takes readers on a transformative journey, charting a mother's growth beyond naive expectations and disorientation to finding fulfillment in ordinary tasks, developing greater self-awareness and acceptance—to the gradual…
I thought being a new mom would be easy. Ha! I was shocked at how hard it was. My little baby—who mostly cried and came with no instructions—was a mystery. Determined to figure him out, I interviewed any mom who would talk to me—family members, girlfriends, moms at the YMCA, moms at parks, strangers on planes—any mom who would give me insight. They offered advice on burping, rocking, and sleep schedules and then morphed into advice on my relationship and warnings to hold on to my own dreams. The honesty and humor helped so much that I wrote a book on the subject to help other moms.
Any "New Mom" book that is written with humor and honesty is OK is my book! Ms. Wilder's book is refreshing, honest, and funny on many topics "new mom" related. She discusses many issues a "new mom" will encounter. She starts with the issue of "instant bonding"—what a relief to know that I was not only one to take a few weeks to fall in love. From there she discusses other biggie "new mom" topics - the realities of breastfeeding, bottle feeding, baby-blues, feeding solid foods, babysitters, venturing out with your newborn, other new mothers, handling friends without children, sex after baby, A-type mommies, and different parenting styles, and much more. This is a book you can read in one sitting or one topic at a time. The author's honest, witty style is engaging and entertaining, and I suspect will give many "New Moms" a peaceful night's sleep.
The moment the second line on the pee stick turns pink, women discover they've entered a world of parenting experts.
Friends, family, colleagues, the UPS delivery guy -- suddenly everybody is a trove of advice, much of it contradictory and confusing. With dire warnings of what will happen if baby is fed on demand and even direr warnings of what will happen if he isn't, not to mention hordes of militant "lactivists," cosleeping advocates, and books on what to worry about next, modern parenthood can seem like a minefield.
In busy Mom-friendly short essays, Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay…
Many people from all walks of life, even after many accomplishments and experiences, are often plagued by dissatisfaction, pervasive longing, and deep questioning. These feelings may make them wonder if they are living the life they were meant to lead.
Living on Purpose is the guidebook these people have been…
I have always been a devoted reader of fiction, and I especially enjoy novels and short stories that delve into characters’ interior lives and motivations. I find people fascinating, both in books and in real life, and I am always trying to figure out why people do or say certain things. I should probably have become a psychologist or a detective instead of a musicologist. I am passionate about doing as much of that kind of sleuthing as a scholar as possible.
I listened to this audiobook about motherhood while pushing my newborn second child in a stroller. Sarah Knott takes the reader through the stages of becoming a mother–conception, miscarriage, pregnancy, birth, newborn care, childcare, and resuming work–and then doing it again with a second child.
Throughout, Knott contrasts her own experiences with those of women in the past, especially in North America and Britain. The differences are striking, not just in healthcare but also in social support. I thought about the women I'd written about who had many children and how important familial support was.
As a fellow professor, I was heartened to read about Knott's experience returning to work and re-finding her academic mind. She writes poignantly about how motherhood is a constant interruption. It is so true!
Mothering is as old as human existence. But how has this most essential experience changed over time and cultures? What is the history of maternity―the history of pregnancy, birth, the encounter with an infant? Can one capture the historical trail of mothers? How?
In Mother Is a Verb, the historian Sarah Knott creates a genre all her own in order to craft a new kind of historical interpretation. Blending memoir and history and building from anecdote, her book brings the past and the present viscerally alive. It is at once intimate…
I thought being a new mom would be easy. Ha! I was shocked at how hard it was. My little baby—who mostly cried and came with no instructions—was a mystery. Determined to figure him out, I interviewed any mom who would talk to me—family members, girlfriends, moms at the YMCA, moms at parks, strangers on planes—any mom who would give me insight. They offered advice on burping, rocking, and sleep schedules and then morphed into advice on my relationship and warnings to hold on to my own dreams. The honesty and humor helped so much that I wrote a book on the subject to help other moms.
If you're looking for a good laugh and naked honesty about pregnancy, this book is for you. Jenny lets it all hang out, sometimes off the side of her bed. It is refreshing to get a "behind the scenes" glimpse at how another woman experiences the "not often talked about" issues of pregnancy and how she handles those issues. Famous or no, pregnancy does not discriminate among women. Jenny's message resonates. The decision of how to handle your issues is up to you, but exposure to Jenny's experiences will make your journey that much easier. Belly Laughs is a great gift for any pregnant girlfriend or for yourself. My favorite parts of the book are when Jenny visits the proctologist (the people at the community pool were staring at me as I laughed out loud) and her tips for husbands, they are truly inspired.
New mothers and fathers will find much-needed relief and insight in this perceptive and outrageously funny account of what it truly means when you bring home your very own bundle of joy...
Jenny McCarthy’s hilarious, no-holds-barred personality has made her an instantly recognizable TV personality and a bestselling author. In Baby Laughs she examines the full range of challenges that new mothers anf fathers face, including:
• The humiliations of postnatal “numbing spray,” Tucks medicated pads, and adult diapers; jelly belly, balding, and gum disease; and becoming a “five-foot puke rag” for the baby •…
As a mama bear, I must be courageous for my three little warriors. It took a while, however, before I could activate my courage. Why? Because I had to face years of fears related to cultural shame, family guilt, inner criticism caused by oppressive patriarchal rules, and ancestral traumas. I even wrote a warm and witty memoir to capture my journey. I love sharing my stories and teaching my Courage Kit® framework to adults and kids. Fun fact: At age 8, I was a book presenter on the PBS series Reading Rainbow!
I love the way Sarah Menkedick draws from her experience as a first-time mom and researcher of mothers suffering from perinatal conditions and institutional racism to illustrate the ways living a fear-based life has become normalized in American motherhood. I was encouraged to read her candid discussion about the paralyzing anxieties new moms face while trying to meet unrealistic societal expectations.
I appreciated her keep-it-real speak regarding mothers’ feelings of anguish that go beyond the category of “postpartum depression” in the years that follow childbirth. This book really helped me feel less alone, especially as a mom from a historically marginalized background. I regained some hope that one day I too can reclaim my identities (those that are outside of motherhood) without fears cramping my flow.
A groundbreaking exposé and diagnosis of the silent epidemic of fear afflicting new mothers, and a candid, feminist deep dive into the culture, science, history, and psychology of contemporary motherhood
Anxiety among mothers is a growing but largely unrecognized crisis. In the transition to motherhood and the years that follow, countless women suffer from overwhelming feelings of fear, grief, and obsession that do not fit neatly within the outmoded category of “postpartum depression.” These women soon discover that there is precious little support or time for their care, even as expectations about what mothers should do and be continue to…
A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.
Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…
When I was pregnant for the first time, I knew exactly the sort of mother I was going to be. I had read all the articles, bookmarked all the tastefully filtered Instagram posts. But then I had my son, and I realized almost immediately how little I knew. It turns out that while those tender Instagram moments do happen (and they truly are magic), there are just as many moments that can only be described as: WTF? My novel, The Perfect Ones, goes deep behind the screens of two Instagram influencers and their messy, conflicting, and fundamentally human feelings on motherhood. Here are five more books about the parts that don’t make the Instagram grid.
I normally gravitate toward fiction, so this one came out of left field for me.
Abigail Tucker, a correspondent for Smithsonian magazine, dives deep into the science of what makes a mother. I think I enjoyed this book so much because it almost reads like fiction between its accessible (and surprisingly funny!) tone and the stranger-than-fiction revelations about what happens to a woman’s brain when she becomes a mom.
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Lion in the Living Room comes a fascinating and provocative exploration of the biology of motherhood that "is witty, reassuring, and takes motherhood out of the footnotes and places it front and center-where it belongs" (Louann Brizendine, MD, New York Times bestselling author).
Everyone knows how babies are made, but scientists are only just beginning to understand the making of a mother. Mom Genes reveals the hard science behind our tenderest maternal impulses, tackling questions such as why mothers are destined to mimic their own moms (or not), how maternal aggression…
