Books that Survived the Cut

This may be sacrilege for a writer to say, but recently, I’ve grown tired of being surrounded by so many books. I know how that sounds. But the fact is, as I get older, I look back on all that I’ve accumulated over 20 plus years since I’ve been on my own. Boxes and boxes of books traveled with me to four cities in three different states, books I thought I could never live without. But as the clutter grew, so did my anxiety. Yes, I watched all episodes of Marie Kondo’s organizing show on Netflix. Yes, I started folding my underwear. I also started taking a harder look at everything around me—including my books.

Over the years since, and especially since I got a Kindle, I’d started to pare down my collection. I gave away books to friends, donated to used book stores. I currently have three banana boxes in my basement, full of books to bring to the thrift shops. I was ruthless—for the most part. But don’t worry, there were books that survived the cut.

I first read The Bell Jar in college. The first line, and the ending, have stuck with me all these years.

What can you say about Margaret Atwood? She’s a legend. While her most famous book my be The Handmaid’s Tale (which I also loved) Cat’s Eye is my favorite. It follows the story of a Toronto woman coming to terms with dysfunctional relationships of her childhood.

Ok, so I’ve seen the movie based on the book—terrible—and I’ve heard an even worse TV show was made more recently. You know when you think of a book and it just brings you back to the point in your life when you read it? I read this one back around 2004, when I lived in Pennsylvania and didn’t have many more responsibilities other than going to work and coming home to read. I remember sitting outside on the patio of our house that my dad built and reading this book. I’d hurry home from work, so excited to get back to it.

This Lullaby is a young adult book that motivated me to go from thinking about writing to actually writing. I loved the relationship between Remy and Dexter so much. I loved Remy’s friends, Dexter’s band, the town, and their journey. I really think this is a perfectly written YA romance that I just reread this summer.

I saved more books than just these four, but these are four of my favorites of those that survived the purge. Tell me, what books would remain if you decided to keep only the books that bring you joy?

Spreading a little joy is part of Adele’s mission. So if you’re like us—afraid to read the news to see what fresh hell the day has brought—we invite you to skip the doom scrolling and settle in with one of our stories. Because you know there’s gonna be a happy ending. And if you enjoy our books, please take a moment to leave a rating or review on Amazon. It really helps us out!