Book Journaling for Self-Care by Season-Summer

​Is there anything more characteristic of the season than a summer reading list?  The first thing I think of when planning my summer is what to read.  Usually, I head to the library and collect a stack of paper and audio books to last me a year because I am so excited to begin reading.  In reality, I finish a few books but not the original 30 or so that I check out in June. 

After I began book journaling, my appreciation for reading increased significantly.  That says a lot when reading is one of my three favorite activities (with writing and gardening).  When I journal about what I am reading, I am able to make clearer connections between the text and what is happening in my life. 

Like everyone else, I read to be better informed, to improve my skill set, to be entertained, and to appreciate the aesthetic beauty of an artistically-drafted piece of literature.  During the summer, I tend to be drawn into pieces that will reconnect me to reflective thought, the appreciation of nature, and looking over lives well lived.  
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​Sowing the Writer’s Garden with Book Journaling 
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​During the summer time, people sow seeds—literally and figuratively.  We plant the ideas that we want to grow in the coming year.  We tend to the goals we planted so that they bear fruit and make us into better people.  We water the imagination with engaging stories that digs deeper the well of intellectual and artistic growth. 
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While reading, reflect on the reading experience, the book, the elements of fiction or nonfiction, the reflections these inspire, and the considerations for the future.  By book journaling, readers can increase their love for the books they read and also develop their knowledge and understanding. 

When we journal about our reading, the words on the page take on new meaning.  Typically, readers will reflect for a few seconds to a few minutes on the text.  But after journaling about the reading, readers can inspire an ongoing appreciation of the text that lasts for weeks.  Many readers suggest that book journaling makes the reading more valuable overall.  

​What books should journal writers read? 
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​Here is a list of books related to memoir, journal writing, and creative nonfiction that may be an inspiration to add to summer reading lists:
 
Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott
Anne Lamott brings her self-deprecating humor as she shares her reflections on raising a baby on her own and the incredible struggles and marvelous joys that punctuate such an adventure. 
 
Choosing Hope: Moving Forward from Life’s Darkest Hours by Kaitlin Roid-DeBellis
Kaitlin Roid-DeBellis saved the lives of fifteen first graders by cramming them into a single bathroom in Sandy Hook Elementary when outside of their door a madman murdered children; her book is a testament to hope, the power of good, and an inspiration of courage. 
 
A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle
Ever fantasized about moving to Provence, France?  Mayle lived the dream and lived to tell about it—the crumbling house, the lackadaisical infrastructure, and the copious good food and wine all combine to create a tale of life well lived, cleverly told.
 
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
This tale of adventure, community, and the appreciation for nature’s power culminates in the deeply important conversations had around tea.  Mortenson became an advocate for educating children, especially girls, in the mountainous regions of Pakistan in defiance of the Taliban. 
 
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Marriage.  Parenthood.  Relationships.  Personal sacrifice.  The delicious complexities of life come together here in this revealing memoir of what it is to be human. 
 
A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
Two children—Salva a refugee boy who walks Africa on foot in search of his family and Nya, a girl who walks hours each day in search of water to collect for her family’s survival—converge in this exceptional tale of hardship, loneliness, and survival. 
 
The Dirty Life A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love by Kristin Kimball
Essex Farm—500 acres where the food for 100 people is produced each week—is at the center of this memoir that chronicles the dirty, dynamic life of a New York city writer turned upstate New York farmer. 
 
Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez
The sun does not set in the far north—the arctic lands where the forests are stunted by long winters and the seas rage with frozen power.  The Arctic’s landscape, wildlife, and history converge in this account of the unique, magical lands to the north.
 
Still Points North by Leigh Newman
A childhood split between the Alaskan outback and urban Baltimore.  Newman’s tale of love, coming of age, adventure, discovery, nature, and adaptability shares her years as a child living in two worlds. 

​Source of inspiration to begin book journaling 
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To start book journaling, spend some time reading.  As you read, take note of what elements within the text inspires you.  Is it the clear descriptions of complicated characters that pulls you into the tale?  Is it the thorough research that drives your desire to know more?  Or is it the well-crafted words that replace the everyday reality with the tales of fiction, memoir, and biography?  As you consider these things, write them in your journal, then explore them.  Ask yourself questions about the books you are reading: what do they remind you of, what are you getting from them, would you pass on these books to friends and why?  Dig deep into the books you read and journal about that experience.  

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