Joined in 2023 
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This nonfiction book is aimed at the technologically minded but also at anyone who has an interest in the historical development of civilization. Around the turn of the millennium, the author was asked to find and write about the most useful tool of the previous 1,000 years. I won’t spoil what it was — you need to read it to find out, but it’s certainly something that none of us can do without. The science of the soul. Tiny jumping spiders who can see the moon. Firestorms. Fantastic beasts. You can’t go wrong with the latest installment of this annual series — it will leave you filled with questions, knowledge, motivation and wonder! I really enjoyed this really well-written and easy-to-read book. It talks about how we can make the world a much better place if we’d only build environments which make us smile and bring joy to our lives, instead of the usual, mundane gray spaces that so many of us are forced to live and work in. Every designer, architect, politician, civil servant and, in fact, everyone should read this book and start to make a difference in the patch where they live. (Read an excerpt here.) Being clear that the role of the Book Club is to help with wellbeing rather than crisis – and that it is a commercial, not a donor, experience – drove Samaritans to create the Feel Good Book Club brand identity. This book helps you practice living with freedom from material possessions. It’s a very practical, actionable guide to decluttering your life and helping you trade chaos for clarity.
It is Tookie's too-muchness — her omnivorous appetites, her talent for storytelling and selling and embellishing — that makes her vulnerable and also ultimately saves her. Similarly, this brilliant novel thrives as a mish-mash of ghost story, mystery, comedy, picaresque, social commentary and book-lover's book, all of which is exactly enough. Through plumbing all these elements, Erdrich steers her complicated character towards a fitting conclusion, one that gives her a place in the vast world she loves without taking anything from her, one that allows her to make peace with herself and her ghost. (Elisabeth Cook) There are other brilliant charity book clubs out there, but Gilbert, Geraughty and the team didn’t feel that any of them had such a strong focus on human connection – a core brand value for Samaritans. There’s a new generation of female illustrators whose work combines art and insight in the same tradition as Kalman’s. My favorite is Kimothy Joy; her illustrated book That’s What She Said is a collection of colorful drawings and In a Holidaze is a holiday rom-com that starts after a Christmas in which a lot goes wrong for Maelyn at her family’s usual “Christmas with friends” at a snowy Utah cabin. She leaves wishing to find happiness, and it seems like things can’t get worse until a car crash occurs.Best of 2023/ Best of 2022 / Best of 2021 / Non-Fiction / LGBTQ / Music / Historical Fiction / Feel Good About Books / Surprising Characters / Mysteries / Quirky Characters / Celebrity Book Clubs / Royals / Book Club / YA Fantasy / Christmas / YA Feel Good / Middle-Grade /
Wright writes with a combination of humility and wisdom, summarizing the best research on the science behind Buddhist practices in an approachable manner. This book makes me feel hopeful that there is a life beyond our human neuroses, no matter what form they take, and it’s a great read for both skeptics of meditation and experienced meditators. Why it makes a good book club book: In a Holidaze is one of the best Christmas novels for book clubs who love to read romance books. This one maintains the feel of a romantic comedy and allows readers to discuss time travel in the context of the holiday season. Winter Street is just about everything you could want in a Christmas novel by author Elin Hilderbrand— family drama and holiday spirit mixed together. This book is all about having courage. Based on 12 years of research, it explains how vulnerability is both the core of difficult emotions like fear, grief and disappointment and the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, empathy, innovation and creativity. If we want to lead full lives, Brown encourages us to step into the arena in all aspects of our lives and dare greatly. She writes, “When we shut ourselves off from vulnerability, we distance ourselves from the experiences that bring purpose and meaning to our lives.”The Feel Good Book Club has boosted income for Samaritans in an innovative way, but it has been more than that for its creators and especially for its members. I hesitated reading this nonfiction book after it was given to me by a friend, because it seemed like more of a feel-good story than what usually attracts me. Wow, was I mistaken! I found this book about the life of Louis Zamperini to be incredibly uplifting and almost impossible to put down. Hillenbrand does an elegant job of capturing details that make his story come alive without weighing down the amazing narrative of this real-life hero, who was an Olympic distance runner, an Air Force pilot in WWII, and a Japanese POW, among many other things. This beautifully told story of the life of Zamperini inspired me to be more than who I am. At first glance, one would think this book is only about organizing your closet (and closet organization is discussed), but what I learned is that the same principles applied to organizing your home can apply to your calendar, your finances and your business relationships. After applying the Kondo principles to my entire life, I regained valuable time which led to greater mental clarity. This book taught me a mindset that’s led to extreme happiness and productivity. NPR has named this book as one of the best in 2018. It challenges the conventional wisdom that anger, especially coming from women, is not a valid expression of emotion. Rage explores the importance of anger for women in these troubling political times as we take to the streets and occupy more political offices, and it reveals how stiffing our anger is part of a systematic pattern of power and oppression to silence women and prevent gender equality. (Read an excerpt from the book here.) But when she hurts herself and is unable to return to work at full capacity, she grows close with her replacement, Cameron, a young man newly arrived in town looking for his birth mother.
The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson This book forces me to be self-reflective and recognize when cognitive dissonance enters my decision-making process. Citing numerous historical examples in which this psychological phenomenon has negatively impacted outcomes, Tavris and Aronson brilliantly show the reader how we can identify dissonance in our choices, ultimately helping you make better decisions and foster better relationships. Lately I have been reading books that I have never had time to get around to in the past, and that has included a few classics. There is something wonderfully reassuring about reading a classic novel which has stood the test of time and which reminds us of the universal nature of human fears, loves and desires. Their existence reminds me that this too shall pass.”
Enthusiastic recommendations for uplifting reads, as suggested by TED speakers and TED-Ed educators.
The Samaritans brand is powerful and well-trusted but from a commercial perspective it comes with some weighty expectations around support and mental health in a moment of crisis. Geraghty talks about the work of Samaritans as a “spectrum from the really light touch stuff, which is where the book club falls, right through to that moment of crisis”. Linda Elkins-Tanton (TED-Ed lesson: Why is NASA sending a spacecraft to a metal world?) If creativity and art are what get you out of bed in the morning
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