In this post, I’ve curated some of the best cozy books to enjoy on a quiet night in when all you want to do is retreat into the pages of a good book and de-stress.

These books ooze comfort and wholesomeness, offering a balm for the soul in troubled times and a reminder of the beauty and goodness of life.

They’re perfect to read in your favourite cozy place, whether that’s by the fireplace, on the sofa, in bed, or soaking in the bath. Read on to warm your heart and ease your nerves…

The most cozy books to read during a quiet evening at home

1. The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

The Shell Seekers is one of the most cozy and wholesome books ever written, and it will always make me think of summer on the beach in Cornwall and quaint English villages just like the one I grew up in.

It’s a book that’s touched the hearts of millions of readers worldwide, about one family in Southern England and the passions and heartbreaks that have held them together for three generations.

The world that Rosamunde Pilcher created is so warm, rich, and immersive that you can’t help but tumble into its country lanes, delicate artwork, and family tiffs and quirks. It’s a warm and enduring classic that offers the kind of reading experience that only comes along once in a while.

2. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

Described by Martha Wells as “an optimistic vision of a lush, beautiful world”, Becky Chambers’s delightful Monk and Robot series is full of feel-good vibes and hope for the future.

If you love Studio Ghibli-inspired books, I’d recommend grabbing a copy of the first book in the series, A Psalm for the Wild-Built.

In its unique world where nature is adored and respected, it’s been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness, laid down their tools, wandered together into the wilderness, and faded into myth and urban legend.

But one day, the life of a tea monk is turned upside down by a robot at their door, asking “what do people need?” And that is a very good – and difficult – question. Here’s my review of A Psalm for the Wild-Built.

3. Still Life by Louise Penny

“Peter swept aside Yogi Tea and Harmony Herbal Blend, though he hesitated a second over the chamomile. …. But no. Violent death demanded Earl Grey…”

Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Gamache series oozes cozy fall vibes. The first book in the series, Still Life, is the coziest murder mystery you will probably ever read.

It’s set in October in Quebec with families gathering for Thanksgiving, characters sitting by the fire as night falls, and friends meeting for meals at the local bistro.

At least on the surface, life is incredibly idyllic in the village of Three Pines, but long-buried secrets are starting to reappear. This cozy book is best read with a cup of hot tea and a crumbly pastry.

4. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

The four March sisters couldn’t be more different. But with their father away at war and their mother working to support the family, they have to rely on one another – whether that’s putting on a play, forming a secret society, or accepting and forgiving each other exactly as they are.

As one of the most wholesome comfort reads ever written, Little Women is Louisa May Alcott’s classic story of four sisters: grown-up Meg, tomboyish Jo, timid Beth, and precocious Amy. It’s the perfect book to read or reread on a cozy night in.

5. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Each time I think back to The Ocean at the End of the Lane, I imagine cozy autumn days in rural Sussex in England, which is where I grew up and the book is also set.

This is one of Neil Gaiman’s most delicate yet terrifying books, centered on a mysterious farm at the end of the road, the unremembered past, and children who are wise beyond their years.

6. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

For a warm and cozy hotel feeling, read A Gentleman in Moscow. This bestselling book is a beautifully transporting novel about Count Alexander Rostov, a man who, in 1922, is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal and ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel.

Rostov, who has never worked a day in his life, must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors.

Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery – and towards a far deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.

7. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

In Garden Spells, an enchanting novel that feels like a warm blanket of a book, we meet the Waverley family; curious and endowed with peculiar gifts that make them outsiders in their hometown of Bascom, North Carolina.

Claire Waverley is known for the dishes she makes with her mystical plants—from the nasturtiums that aid in keeping secrets to the pansies that make children thoughtful.

Although Claire’s rebellious sister, Sydney, fled Bascom the moment she could, she now suddenly returns home with a young daughter of her own. In this captivating book, Claire’s quiet life is turned upside down and the sisters are left to deal with their common legacy.

8. A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami

Whenever I think of A Wild Sheep Chase, I think of snowy countryside. Some of that is because I read it on a winter train journey to Chamonix, France, but it’s also because of the book’s setting.

In this trippy and quasi-detective tale that’s a perfect book for winter, we follow an unnamed, chain-smoking narrator to snowy Hokkaido in Japan.

The reason for the narrator’s adventure is to search for a strange sheep with a star-shaped birthmark, accompanied by his girlfriend who possesses magically seductive and supernaturally perceptive ears. (What can I say, it’s a Murakami novel.)

9. The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan

The Bookshop on the Corner is a wonderfully cozy book about books. Set in a sweet little Scottish town that you’ll soon want to move to, Nina is a literary matchmaker: a librarian with a gift of finding the perfect book for her readers. However, after losing the job she loves, Nina must make a new life for herself.

Determined and ready for a new start, Nina moves to a sleepy village where she buys a van and transforms it into a mobile bookshop. She drives her bookmobile from neighborhood to neighborhood, changing one life after another with the power of storytelling.

Nina discovers there’s plenty of adventure, magic, and soul in a place that’s beginning to feel like home… a place where she just might be able to write her own happy ending.

10. The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller

This full-hearted novel is a cozy book about Olivia Rawlings, a big-city pastry chef extraordinaire who discovers the true meaning of home when she escapes from the city to the most comforting place she can think of – the idyllic town of Guthrie, Vermont.

This is meant to be just a short getaway, until Margaret Hurley, the cantankerous owner of the Sugar Maple Inn, offers Livvy a job. Broke and not sure what else to do next, Livvy accepts – and realises that the most unexpected twists and turns in life can be the best things to happen to you.

So, which cozy book will you read next? Take your pick and treat yourself to a warm cup of tea, a cozy blanket, and freedom from notifications and distractions for some relaxing time to unwind.

For more cozy books, you might also like my favourite books for winter, wholesome books, and feel-good books.

The post 10 of the best cozy books to snuggle up with on a quiet night in appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

That said, sometimes it can be difficult to pay attention to a book when you’re stressed. One way around this is to choose a gripping page-turner you can’t put down. But you can also just take the pressure off yourself and pick up a book with no goal other than to flick through a few pages, read a paragraph, or look at some beautiful illustrations.

Here are some of the best books to read when you’re stressed – some are soothing, others are page-turners, and a few are self-help books to give you tools to reduce your stress.

The best books to help you de-stress and find more peace

1. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

I recently came across a Reddit thread titled, When I am stressed or anxious, I read Haruki Murakami. What about you? I love this. Haruki Murakami is one of the best writers to read when you want to escape from the real world into a strange new universe.

Aside from the talking cats and fish falling from the sky, Murakami is also one of the best writers for slice-of-life descriptions of everyday life… making pasta, drinking whisky, enjoying coffee. Once you read one Murakami book, you know what you’re getting. His books are so distinctive. Kafka on the Shore is my favourite.

2. Slow Down: 50 Mindful Moments in Nature by Rachel Williams

Spending time in nature is one of my best ways to deal with stress. Slow Down is a beautiful reminder of the mindful moments we can find in the outside world if we take the time to watch them unfold: a honeybee hive getting to work, a sunflower tracking the sun, or a shooting star lighting up the night sky. For more wild reads, you might like these novels set in nature.

3. The Relaxation & Stress Reduction Workbook

What about a practical book to deal with stress? This stress reduction workbook is one of the best self-help books for stress, including simple step-by-step directions for worry delay and defusion, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) techniques, and a body scan. It’ll also help you to explore your stress triggers and symptoms and create a personal action plan for stress reduction.

For another practical tool for stress relief, this mindfulness-based stress reduction card deck is also great.

4. A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver

For one of the most relaxing books to read when you’re stressed, read A Thousand Mornings. Mary Oliver’s poetry is some of the most perceptive and gently wise writing on the natural world and our place within it.

In this collection, Mary Oliver transports us to the marshland and coastline of her beloved home, Provincetown, Massachusetts to show us with clarity and kindness how the greatest teachings are to be found in the smallest moments.

5. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

If you struggle to read when you’re stressed, try a page-turner you won’t want to put down. One of the best authors to binge read is Taylor Jenkins Reid, especially here in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more surprised (and confused) than Monique herself. As secrets are revealed, she was right to feel surprised… and should also be concerned.

For more page-turners, here are some other gripping books to binge read when you want some time to unwind and escape, plus some of the best unputdownable non-fiction books.

6. The Anxiety Journal: Exercises to Soothe Stress and Eliminate Anxiety Wherever You Are by Corinne Sweet

With this grounding and soothing journal for stress and anxiety, psychologist Corinne Sweet helps you to manage your anxiety with inspiring quotes, mindful exercises, helpful coping mechanisms, and writing prompts backed by cognitive behavioural therapy.

It’s a beautiful little book that’s perfect to carry on the go, complete with a heavy cover to endure wear and tear and lined pages to record your thoughts and track your progress.

7. The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim

Read The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down to ease your stress, breathe deeply, open your heart, and calm your anxiety.

It’s one of my favourite self-help books for gentle, soothing, and beautifully illustrated writing. I’ve shared some of the simple and timeless wisdom of Haenim Sunim here.

8. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

What was your favourite childhood book? Sometimes the best book to read when you’re stressed is an old favorite. Think about books you loved as a child, especially adventure tales with happy endings, or feel-good classic favourites such as Pride and Prejudice.

One book I sometimes turn back to when I’m stressed is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I love crossing back into the magical land where four adventurous siblings discover the frozen, bewitching land of Narnia under the power of the White Witch.

9. The Corfu Trilogy by Gerald Durrell

If you love the soothing, feel-good writing of authors like James Herriot, you might also like this joyful, sun-kissed, and lighthearted autobiographical trilogy by Gerald Durrell, the British naturalist, writer, zookeeper, conservationist, and television presenter.

The Corfu Trilogy shares Gerald’s story of growing up on Corfu in the 1930s as a budding naturalist, sharing his observations of the flora and fauna surrounding his home as he discovered his passion for animals.

10. The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama

The Samurai’s Garden is a graceful novel that will remind you of the beauty of life. Stephen, a 20-year-old Chinese painter, is sent to his family’s summer home in a Japanese coastal village to recover from a bout of tuberculosis. Here he is cared for by Matsu, a reticent housekeeper, master gardener, and samurai of the soul; above all, a man devoted to doing good and finding beauty in a cruel world.

Over the course of a year, Matsu helps him not just to recover his physical strength, but also to realise profound spiritual insights.

For more books to help you de-stress, head over to my collection of the most relaxing books to read next. For some low-key and mindful time for creativity, you might also like my list of the most calming coloring books.

The post 10 of the best books to read when you’re stressed to rebalance appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

According to clinical psychologist Scott M. Bea, PsyD, adult coloring helps attention to flow away from ourselves and into the present moment, to relax the brain, and to offer a low-stakes escape that you can’t really get right or wrong.

Some experts have argued that it’s not “proper” art therapy, but I think that’s not really the point. Just like listening to soothing music or reading a relaxing book, if unwinding with a coloring books helps you to relax in your home for very little money, then it’s absolutely worth doing.

If adult coloring can even help to ease some symptoms of anxiety or depression, as some researchers from New Zealand have suggested, then all the better.

To help you to escape from the stresses of the world and relive the days of focusing only on staying in the lines, here are some of the most calming coloring books to relax and unwind with as an adult in 2022.

The best coloring books for adults to relax and unwind with

1. Geomorphia: An Extreme Coloring and Search Challenge by Kerby Rosanes

Philippines-based artist and “epic doodler” Kerby Rosanes’ coloring books for adults are some of the most intricately stunning you can find.

Start with Geomorphia, “an extreme coloring and search challenge”, in which you’ll meet animals that morph from waterfalls and whirlwinds, firey foxes that erupt from volcanoes, and fairy-tale castles that grow out of crystal foundations. – all for you to bring to life in color.

Kerby’s coloring books definitely aren’t the simplest on this list, but they absolutely have the most wow-factor. If you’re happy to have an extra challenge during your time to unwind, seek out the search items at the back of the book in the pages you’ve colored.

2. Millie Marotta’s Wildlife Wonders by Millie Marotta

Millie Marotta is the illustrator of a huge list of best-selling coloring books for adults, crafting templates for gorgeous illustrations inspired by the natural world.

Wildlife Wonders is the perfect coloring book to start with. From a mighty African elephant to a tiny field mouse, these coloring adventures are wonderfully delicate but simple enough to unwind with as you create your own interpretation.

After studying Wildlife Illustration, Millie now works on her projects from a studio by the sea in West Wales, close to where she grew up surrounded by nature on a small holding in the Welsh hills.

3. The Time Garden: A Magical Journey and Coloring Book by Daria Song

So much love and attention have been poured into this coloring book. The Time Garden is Daria Song’s meditative and creatively inspiring journey through a fantastical cuckoo-clock-inspired realm, beginning with a dreamy story and all ready for you to bring to life with the colors you choose.

Daria Song is a textile artist and coloring book artist from Seoul, South Korea, and is the author of two more coloring books in the whimsical Time series. Daria’s also the author of a gorgeously imagined activity book, The Mysterious Mansion, which is perfect for mindfulness exercises and stress relief.

4. The Mindfulness Coloring Book: Anti-Stress Art Therapy for Busy People by Emma Farrarons

The Mindfulness Coloring Book is a pocket–size coloring book with 100 pages of natural and relaxing patterns, designed to channel stress into relaxing, creative accomplishments.

This bestselling coloring book for adults is one of the most popular from the last decade – and the first one I ever received, as a gift one Christmas. Promising anti-stress art therapy for busy people, it’s the perfect little addition to your self-care time.

5. Express Yourself – Mindfulness Coloring Book by RYVE

This gorgeous book is part-coloring book, part-personal growth guidebook, printed on thick 120gsm paper and with tear-out pages so you can frame the illustrations you love.

To set it apart from other bestselling coloring books, it’s packed with 29+ purposefully designed images to inspire you to live well, alongside 12+ self-reflection exercises to encourage personal growth.

6. Patterns of the Universe: A Coloring Adventure in Math and Beauty by Alex Bellos and Edmund Harriss

Patterns of the Universe is a unique and ingenious coloring book, revealing math’s hidden beauty in an incredibly accessible and calming way.

From the delicate silhouette of a snowflake to the spiral seeds of a sunflower and the symmetry of the Sri Yantra mandala, this coloring book is a reminder that math is at the heart of so much of the universe’s beauty and wonder.

7. Enchanted Forest Artist’s Edition: 20 Drawings to Color and Frame by Johanna Basford

If there is a Queen of Coloring, it would be Johanna Basford. Johanna’s bestselling coloring books have sold millions of copies, including the #1 New York Times Bestseller Enchanted Forest.

Based on the original book, this Artist’s Edition has a twist, consisting of 20 stunning drawings to color, easily remove, and frame for your walls or to share as gifts. It includes the most popular artworks from Enchanted Forest, featuring a magic castle, unicorns, owls, and more.

8. Prettycitylondon: The Colouring Book by Siobhan Ferguson

Color the calm back into your day with this gorgeous coloring book by Prettycitylondon, featuring the most beautiful, quaint, and peaceful hidden gems of London.

The intricate and calming illustrations by artist Lucy Hester are based on photographs by Siobhan Ferguson, curator of the popular @prettycitylondon Instagram account.

Travel to London with your coloring pens and bring to life the tree-lined streets, enticing eateries, and vine-adorned houses of the British capital’s quiet corners.

9. Harry Potter Coloring Book by Scholastic

If Hogwarts is one of your comfort places, retreat into this Harry Potter coloring book for some time for self-care. This official book is filled with intricate illustrations and elaborate designs used in the making of the Harry Potter films, offering you the chance to bring it back to life with vibrant color.

10. Inspirational Animals Coloring Book by Catty Press

The Inspirational Animals Coloring Book is perfect for animal lovers to relax, unwind, and enjoy some laid-back, zero-pressure creativity.

Featuring stress-relieving animal designs and uplifting motivational quotes, each simple illustration in this comforting coloring book is printed on a single-sided sheet to prevent bleed-through and keep your coloring perfect.

For more ways to reduce stress and find greater calm in your day, you might like these relaxing books, my collection of the most beautifully-written books of all time, and this list of gorgeous children’s books to escape into.

The post 10 of the most relaxing coloring books to help you de-stress appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

Often I have a dedicated audiobook on the go that’s just for bedtime reading; something relaxing and peaceful that I can turn to when I’m struggling to unwind and fall asleep.

I think there are two main qualities of a good audiobook to listen to before bed. One, the audiobook needs to be soothing and peaceful (no Swedish thrillers). And secondly, you don’t want to think too hard (no War and Peace). This is one of the reasons why listening to books you already know well is a great idea for bedtime.

How to listen to audiobooks before you sleep? With audiobook apps like Audible and Libby, you can use the sleep timer to pause after a certain amount of minutes, or use the bookmark function to mark where you get to. Then you can find more or less where you left off the next day. The best option is to choose books with no pressure to follow and pay attention to, though.

Based on my criteria for the perfect audiobooks to fall asleep to, here are some of the best bedtime audiobooks for adults that I’ve enjoyed listening to before bed. I hope you’ll enjoy them too.

P.S. You might be able to find some of these audiobooks for free via the Libby app, which you can access through your library. Otherwise, they’re all available on Audible.

You can start a 30-day trial of Audible Plus to get your first book free and unlimited listening to the Plus Catalog.

The best audiobooks to listen to before bed

1. English Pastoral: An Inheritance by James Rebanks

English Pastoral is a quietly poignant history of family, loss, and the land over three generations on a family’s Lake District farm, from the beloved author of The Shepherd’s Life. James Rebanks learned how to work the ancient land the old way from his grandfather, but by the time he inherited the farm, the landscape that was once teeming with wildlife had profoundly changed.

It’s a love letter to rural landscapes and a story of inheritance, full of hope despite what is lost, as one farmer begins the process of restoring vanishing life to leave a legacy for the future.

2. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse is an incredibly comforting book to read, and even more so as an audiobook to listen to.

It’s a short and wholesome book that’s perfect to listen to as you drift off to sleep. It’ll only take an hour to finish, but it’s an audiobook you can listen to again and again. Told as a simple fable, it’s full of gentle life lessons and tender reminders of what a good life consists of.

Fall asleep listening to the book’s soothing words read by the author, accompanied by a beautiful music score by Max Richter and Isobel Waller-Bridge and with real wildlife sounds of rural England.

3. Mythos by Stephen Fry

Stephen Fry’s Mythos perfectly captures the Greek myths for the modern age in all their rich, timeless, and human relevance. This is a world of magic, mayhem, monsters and maniacal gods, delivered in a vivid retelling to immerse yourself in as you fall asleep. You might also like the follow-up books Heroes and Troy.

If you want more audiobooks narrated by Stephen Fry, scroll down to #8 in this list. Also, he narrates some excellent sleep stories on the Calm app, which I’ve loved in the past when I was struggling with insomnia and anxiety and in need of both guided meditations and soothing sleep audio.

4. Nothing Much Happens: Calming Stories to Soothe Your Mind & Help You Sleep by Kathryn Nicolai

Sometimes drifting off is the sign of a bad read, but Nothing Much Happens is designed to help you fall asleep. Think bedtime stories for adults.

Based on the podcast of the same name, this is Kathryn Nicolai’s collection of calming stories taking place in and around a fictional city, each one revealing small moments of everyday wonder in the world and its seasons. From celebrating the joy of being home alone to the pleasures of picking the best end-of-season tomatoes at the farmer’s market, this is a balm for frayed nerves and insomnia.

5. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

This is Louisa May Alcott’s classic coming-of-age tale, told with a modern twist. The audiobook stars a full cast, led by four-time Golden Globe-winner Laura Dern along with veteran narrators. It’s an especially good bedtime audiobook if you already know the plot and don’t mind falling asleep part-way through a chapter, but it’s also soothing for new readers.

“Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will bring few regrets, and life will become a beautiful success.”

Little Women

6. Wild Signs and Star Paths: The Keys to Our Lost Sixth Sense by Tristan Gooley

I have included a few nature-focused books in this list, as one of my favourite types of audiobook to listen to before bed. I knew I also had to add this delightful book about learning to read nature’s signs by Tristan Gooley, author of bestselling How to Read Water and The Walker’s Guide to Outdoor Clues & Signs.

In Wild Signs and Star Paths, Tristan Gooley shows how it is possible to achieve a ‘sixth sense’ of outdoor awareness that enables you to find direction with stars and plants, forecast weather from woodland sounds, and instantly predict the next action of a wild animal.

7. All Things Bright and Beautiful: The Classic Memoirs of a Yorkshire Country Vet by James Herriot

To leave your anxieties about the world aside and relax before bed, take a trip to the Yorkshire Moors with James Herriot, the Yorkshire vet who has entranced generations of animal lovers. All Things Bright and Beautiful is the second volume of memoirs from the beloved author of All Creatures Great and Small.

Now settled into the sleepy village of Darrowby and married to Helen the farmer’s daughter, James Herriot thinks life should finally be quiet and simple. But as a vet in 1930s Yorkshire, he must now contend with the domestic challenges of a grudge-holding dog called Magnus and delivering calves after too much homemade wine, but also the decisions that come as Britain reaches the verge of war.

8. Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Collection by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I thought of adding the Harry Potter books to this list, as some of the most popular audiobooks to listen to on rotation before bed (particularly because they’re just so familiar to so many people). But I’ve chosen another fantastic series of audiobooks that are also blessed with Stephen Fry’s narration, the Collected Sherlock Holmes.

The Audible edition with Stephen Fry’s narration (giving you a whopping 72 hours of audio in just one audiobook) won the AudioFile Earphones Award with this glowing comment: “Fry’s Holmes is crisp and high-handed, his Watson enthusiastic and bemused, and the rest of the narration colorful without being mannered. Have fun.”

9. Love for Imperfect Things: How to Accept Yourself in a World Striving for Perfection by Haemin Sunim

“When we become kinder to ourselves, we can become kinder to the world”, writes Haemin Sunim in this comforting book that celebrates the beauty of imperfection.

I’ve recommended Haemin Sunim’s first book, The Things We Can See Only When We Slow Down, time and again on Tolstoy Therapy. Love for Imperfect Things is another fantastic choice, especially as an audiobook. As you settle down for the evening, let Haemin Sunim’s words of wisdom give you comfort and kindness to bring into your sleep and the day ahead.

10. The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson

Over on Reddit, gnobodyhome shares, “I sleep listening to dry science lectures, or audiobooks about science with very gentle monotone voices. I like Bill Bryson’s voice and his books, I will listen to his books once and enjoy them, then sleep with them playing.”

One good place to start is Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods about his journey on The Appalachian Trail, but I also love The Body: A Guide for Occupants. Described by The Guardian as “a directory of wonders”, the audiobook will have you marvelling at the form you occupy and celebrating the genius of your existence. Let the interesting tidbits wash over to you as you drift off to peaceful sleep.

11. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice is another classic novel that’s perfect to visit (and re-visit) in the cosy time before sleep. Retreat into the English country houses of the Bennett, Bingley and Darcy families and follow one of the best-loved stories of all time in this wonderfully-produced audiobook, performed by Rosamund Pike.

12. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Braiding Sweetgrass is one of the most loved books on nature from the last decade, written by botanist, professor of plant ecology, and Potawatomi woman Robin Wall Kimmerer.

In this wonderfully insightful and soothing audiobook, Robin Wall Kimmerer reveals what it means to see humans as “the younger brothers of creation” and plants and animals as our oldest teachers. As Robin explains, it’s only when we listen for the languages of other beings that we can begin to understand the innumerable gifts the world provides us and learn to offer our thanks and care in return.

Want even more bedtime reading recommendations? You might also like my list of the best bedtime books to help you sleep soundly.

The post 12 of the best bedtime audiobooks to help you drift off to sleep appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

My social and general anxiety disorders were also linked to Asperger’s syndrome, the PTSD I was also diagnosed with, and being extremely introverted. I still have anxious days occasionally, but I’ve learned a lot about dealing with it in the last decade.

One thing that helped my anxiety a lot was EMDR therapy. But, as is often the case with this blog, I also read a lot of great books for anxiety during my adventures in bibliotherapy. In a small 2022 study with Turkish high school students, researchers found that reading fiction might reduce symptoms of anxiety by promoting awareness of other people’s feelings and improving problem-solving skills.

The best books for anxiety to soothe your nerves

I tend to think about three types of books to read when you have anxiety: self-help books about anxiety, books you can’t put down to lose yourself in, and calming books to help you take a deep breath and relax. I’ll share a few from each section below.

So here we go, my selection of the best books for anxiety, which I hope you’ll find useful too.

1. Hope and Help for Your Nerves: End Anxiety Now by Claire Weekes

My heart beats too fast. My hands tremble and sweat. I feel like there’s a weight on my chest. My stomach churns. I have terrible headaches. I can’t sleep. Sometimes I can’t even leave my house…

This bestselling step-by-step guide – based on the author’s years of experience treating real patients – will show you how to break the cycle of anxiety and feel more calm and balanced every day, no matter what life throws at you. With Dr Weekes’s simple guidance, you can analyse your own symptoms of anxiety and understand exactly how to overcome them for good.

In a Reddit post on the best books for anxiety, amanda_l3ee shares that, “Claire Weekes’ Hope and Help for Your Nerves helped me a great deal. She talks about how your brain can trick your body into feeling things and then those things make your brain spiral deeper until you are caught in a loop of anxiety. Just understanding that this happens and I’m not crazy has helped me manage my anxiety.”

2. Zen: The Art of Simple Living by Shunmyō Masuno

This isn’t a guidebook for anxiety per se, but it is extremely peaceful and soothing – and simple pleasures can be a powerful antidote to slow down and feel less anxious. Find them in Shunmyō Masuno’s gorgeous little book, Zen: The Art of Simple Living. Here are some more of my thoughts on this beautifully illustrated book for self-care.

Read more: 12 relaxing books to calm your mind and soothe your soul

3. The Anxiety Journal: Exercises to Soothe Stress and Eliminate Anxiety Wherever You Are by Corinne Sweet

With this grounding and soothing journal for anxiety, psychologist Corinne Sweet helps you to manage your anxiety with inspiring quotes, mindful exercises, helpful coping mechanisms, and writing prompts backed by cognitive behavioural therapy.

It’s a beautiful little book that’s perfect to carry on the go, complete with a heavy cover to endure wear and tear and lined pages to record your thoughts and track your progress.

4. How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie

In a Reddit thread about books for anxiety, IntrovertiraniKreten shares that, “Dale Carnegie’s ‘How to stop worrying and start living’ tackles [this] problem more than any book I have ever encountered. That is the go to book I would [advise for] anyone struggling with anxiety, worry or similar mental struggle.”

5. The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

If you’re looking for a wholesome and comforting book to soothe your anxiety, The Enchanted April is one of my all-time favourite recommendations. An advertisement in The Times addressed to “Those who Appreciate Wisteria and Sunshine” is the impetus for a revelatory month for four very different women in The Enchanted April.

Mrs Wilkins, Mrs Arbuthnot, Mrs Fisher and Lady Caroline Dester, each quietly craving a break from rainy England, come together to unwind and enjoy the Mediterranean spirit, building friendships they had all longed for in a medieval castle high above the bay on the Italian Riviera.

The Enchanted April is a perfect novel to help you to unwind and ease your anxiety, wherever you are in the world.

6. Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig

One of the best authors to read when you have anxiety or depression is Matt Haig. He’ll ease your worries, help you be kinder towards yourself, and show you a gentle way of improving your mental health.

Notes on a Nervous Planet is one of the best books for anxiety, and Reasons to Stay Alive is one of the best books for depression. I’d recommend them both to anyone who is human.

Here’s one of my favourite pieces of advice for anxiety from Notes on a Nervous Planet:

“Panic is physical as well as mental. For me, running and yoga help more than anything. Yoga, especially. My body tightens, from hours of being hunched over a laptop, and yoga stretches it out again.”

Read more: Finding balance in an anxious world: Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig

7. The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook by Edmund J. Bourne, PhD

When I first started therapy for anxiety when I was about sixteen, my therapist told me to buy this book. It was an earlier edition than the one pictured below, but I remember it being a useful part of my toolkit for managing my anxiety.

That said, overall I found more comfort and guidance for my own anxious feelings from fiction. But therapeutic books for anxiety like this one can make all the difference for a lot of people. I’d definitely recommend getting your own workbook for anxiety and spending some time with it each day.

8. Don’t F*cking Panic: The Shit They Don’t Tell You in Therapy About Anxiety Disorder, Panic Attacks, & Depression by Kelsey Darragh

If you don’t mind bad language, Kelsey Darragh’s aptly-named Don’t F*cking Panic is probably the most laid-back and informal book you can read for anxiety.

9. How to Relax by Thich Nhat Hanh

Oh, all the things we can learn from Thich Nhat Hanh… I love the Buddhist monk’s “How to” books, especially How to Love – which improved my relationship in so many ways with its timeless wisdom – and this book, How to Relax.

On Reddit, Kj_90 recommends for anxiety: “You Are Here by Thich Nhat Hanh, or any other of his books. His teachings are really grounding and helpful for anxiety.”

10. Wabi Sabi: Japanese Wisdom for a Perfectly Imperfect Life by Beth Kempton

Life isn’t always perfect. But for those of us with anxiety, sometimes we think it should be… and that causes even more anxiety. This beautiful book is an ode to the gifts of imperfection. Relax and unwind with the best Japanese wisdom for a perfectly imperfect life in Beth Kempton’s lovely little book, Wabi Sabi.

11. Dare: The New Way to End Anxiety and Stop Panic Attacks by Barry McDonagh

If you’re tired of just “managing” your anxiety through self-help tactics or medication, Barry McDonagh aims to help you actually break free from anxiety. Based on science and his years of coaching, DARE offers a new way to overcome panic and anxiety disorders. There’s also a popular and well-regarded anxiety workbook by the author to accompany this book if you want some more practical exercises.

One Amazon reviewer says of the book, “Coming from the worst of the worst and a non-reader, this book changed my life overnight”, adding that: “It completely changed my perspective on anxiety and even life. It’s true–YOU are the cure. You just need the right tools. And this book is it”.

12. The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim

I’ve talked a lot about this book on the blog, and I know a lot of my readers love it too. Read The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down to slow down, breathe deeply, open your heart, and calm your anxiety.

It’s one of my favourite self-help books for anxiety: gentle, soothing, and beautifully illustrated. I’ve shared some more about the simple and timeless wisdom of Haenim Sunim here.

13. The Hobbit: Illustrated Edition by J. R. R. Tolkien

When you’re feeling anxious, sometimes one of the best things to read can be the books that have brought you comfort before. Maybe for you that means re-reading Harry Potter or listening to it as an audiobook before bed, or perhaps there’s a feel-good novel you loved reading a few years ago that you can return to.

When I’m anxious, I love to head off on an adventure into new worlds and leave my anxieties behind with The Hobbit. For an extra dose of relaxation, choose this illustrated edition by Jemima Catlin for beautiful images to take in alongside Tolkien’s timeless words.

14. A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson

When looking for books for anxiety, it’s hard to go wrong with Bill Bryson. A Walk in the Woods is his feel-good story of hiking some of the most breathtaking terrain in America, spanning towering mountains, peaceful forests, and sparkling lakes from Georgia to Maine. Pick up a copy to hear about Bill’s time on the trail and the memorable faces – human and otherwise – he meets along the way.

15. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

“If life could write, it would write like Tolstoy,” wrote Isaac Babel. War and Peace will forever feature on most of my lists of recommended books, especially when they’re books for anxiety. I first read it during the most anxious part of my life, and it unexpectedly brought me so much peace and timeless guidance.

Read War and Peace to learn about life, appreciate its details, and glimpse new dimensions of our humanity. It’s a huge book that can be intimidating, but my comparison of the best translations (short answer: I love the Anthony Briggs version) and guide to getting started with War and Peace should make it easier.

Read more: What Leo Tolstoy Can Teach Us About Overcoming Anxiety

The post 15 of the best books to read when you have anxiety appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

Generally I sleep well – and a lot. But not always. And it doesn’t take long for mild insomnia to start stressing me out.

My sleep tactics cover all sorts of bases: including a warm bath with a few drops of neroli oil, a bedtime tea blend, the Calm app, and especially reading or listening to a relaxing book. If you haven’t tried it already, the Audible app has a great sleep timer to turn off after a set amount of time – I give it 40 minutes on a day I’m struggling to wind down.

If you’re not sure what to read before bed, here are some of the most relaxing books to help you sleep if you need a little help drifting off.

(Looking for audiobooks to help you fall asleep? You might like my list of the best bedtime audiobooks to help you drift off to sleep.)

The best books to read before bed

1. How to Read Nature: Awaken Your Senses to the Outdoors You’ve Never Noticed by Tristan Gooley 

Tristan Gooley is one of the best guides to the details and patterns of the natural world. He’s also one of my favourite authors to enjoy via audiobooks, especially How to Read Nature; one of my go-to recommendations of books to help you fall asleep. You’ll drift off dreaming about country fields, mountains, and trickling streams.

2. The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Although Donna Tartt is best known for The Goldfinch, her earlier novel The Secret History is an incredible book about a group of classics students with a cult-like following. It also contains one of my favourite quotes about insomnia (and some motivation to try reading The Great Gatsby to help you sleep, too):

“Nothing is lonelier or more disorienting than insomnia. I spent the nights reading Greek until four in the morning, until my eyes burned and my head swam, until the only light burning in Monmouth House was my own. When I could no longer concentrate on Greek and the alphabet began to transmute itself into incoherent triangles and pitchforks, I read The Great Gatsby. It is one of my favourite books and I had taken it out of the library in hopes that it would cheer me up; of course, it only made me feel worse, since in my own humorless state I failed to see anything except what I construed as certain tragic similarities between Gatsby and myself.”

The Secret History

3. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

In a thread about the books to read to fall asleep, Reddit user qiuel writes: “Bit of a weird one, but Norse Mythology. I can’t quite explain it but, as violent as it is at times, there’s something so comfy about Gaiman’s writing.”

This is Neil Gaiman’s retelling of the great Norse myths, breathing new life into the captivating ancient tales of Odin, Thor, and Loki among others.

For other cosy reads (without murder and aggression) to help you fall asleep, head over to my recommendations of the most wholesome comfort reads for a hug from a book.

4. The Bear by Andrew Krivak

I’ve been reading The Bear before bed recently and it’s been the perfect book to help me fall asleep. The book reads like a dream, even though it’s ultimately about loss: it’s a story of the last two humans on earth, a father and daughter living in an Edenic future close to nature. Drift off dreaming of lone mountains, whispering forests, handfuls of foraged herbs, and bears with poignant life lessons if we only stop to listen.

5. The Peace of Wild Things by Wendell Berry

Wendell Berry’s poems are gorgeous love letters to the land that offer the perfect nighttime reading. Before bed, delve into these short, simple, and profoundly wise hymns to the cycles of nature and hope, love, healing, death, friendship, and belonging. If you already love Mary Oliver’s writing, I think you’ll adore Wendell Berry too.

6. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

When I decided to reread Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, Northern Lights did a fantastic job at helping me to fall asleep more easily. Read about Lyra’s adventures, mythical beasts, and the beautiful aurora in the North as you wind down from the day and prepare for sleep.

7. Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

“Deliberate rest,” as Pang calls it, is the true key to productivity, and will give us more energy, sharper ideas, and a better life. Rest offers a roadmap to rediscovering the importance of rest in our lives, and a convincing argument that we need to relax more if we actually want to get more done.

8. The Collected Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

It’s hard to beat a visit to the world of Sherlock Holmes for bedtime reading. Talking about favourite books to read before bed on Reddit, eleganthaunt shares: “Sherlock Holmes is my favorite. I have a volume with all the stories in it, so if I feel like a short story I’ll read that, but if I have more time I’ll start a novel. Takes me back to the wonderfully cozy world of 221b Baker Street every time.”

9. What I Know For Sure by Oprah Winfrey

I read this back in the summer of 2018 after leaving my job and adored it. What I Know For Sure is a compilation of the wisdom shared in Oprah’s widely popular “What I Know For Sure” column, a monthly source of inspiration and revelation.

While it’s inspiring, it won’t make you too motivated and excited to take action like many other self-improvement books. So it’s a great book for relaxing with before bed.

10. Nothing Much Happens: Calming Stories to Soothe Your Mind & Help You Sleep

If you struggle with insomnia, you might have heard of the podcast Nothing Much Happens. It’s one of those excellent creations with a title that lets you know exactly what you’re getting: in this case, stories where nothing much happens.

Creator and host Kathryn Nicolai has created this companion book of calming stories to soothe your mind and help you sleep as a wonderfully relaxing bedtime book for adults.

Accompanied by cosy and relaxing illustrations, the unnamed, gender-neutral narrators recount their days and evoke the distinct comforts offered by each of the four seasons as they gently guide you towards sleep.

11. The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot by Robert Macfarlane

I’ve been recommending Robert Macfarlane quite a lot recently, and The Old Ways is one of the best starting points for one of Britain’s best-loved nature writers.

Before falling asleep, immerse yourself in his journeys on foot following the ancient routes that crisscross the landscape of the British Isles and its waters and territories beyond. The Old Ways was chosen by Slate as one of the 50 best nonfiction books of the past 25 years.

12. Gratitude by Oliver Sacks

I would give everyone a copy of Oliver Sacks’s essays if I could. Gratitude is my favourite book by neurosurgeon and writer Oliver Sacks, available as a lovely hardcover which I’ve given to several friends I wanted to thank.

Written during the last few months of his life, this set of essays was Oliver Sacks’s way of exploring his feelings about completing a life and coming to terms with his own death, offering an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the gift of living.

It’s a lovely book to read in small moments, especially before bed. Sacks’s autobiography, On the Move, is also fantastic.

“My predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved. I have been given much and I have given something in return. Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.”

Gratitude by Oliver Sacks

The post 12 of the best bedtime books to help you sleep soundly appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

Carving out regular reading time with a good book (even if you have to force yourself to sit still) can be one of the best ways to help you rebalance and get back on track when you’re stressed out.

Note to self-improvement junkies: business books and most personal development books aren’t calming. I love these books, but I know they’ll make me want to start a new project and feel bad about sitting doing nothing. They don’t help me to wind down before bed and sleep soundly, so I save them for my morning reading time and other breaks during the day.

When we need to chill out, especially before bed, we can turn to calming books that slow our heart rate, reduce anxiety, and help us to check in with ourselves.

The selection below is a mix of relaxing fiction, memoirs, non-fiction, and poetry. I hope you can calm your mind and unwind with these peaceful books too.

12 of the best calming books to help you relax when you’re stressed

1. The Bear by Andrew Krivak

I’m reading The Bear at the moment and want to recommend it to everyone (including my husband, who I’ve been reading sections to aloud at every opportunity). It’s a gorgeous book set in an Edenic future of calm streams, towering forests, and windflower-covered mountainsides that offers a wonderfully poetic tribute to nature’s dominion.

This relaxing fiction book is about the two last inhabitants on Earth, a girl and her father living in the shadow of a lone mountain. The father is preparing his daughter for adulthood close to nature, teaching her how to fish and hunt, the secrets of the seasons, and how to read stars. But when the girl finds herself alone in an unknown landscape, it is a bear that will lead her back home through the vast wilderness. His greatest message to her is that there are lessons all around, if only she can learn to listen.

“One morning, they found a patch of goldenrod in a meadow, blooming like the sun, and the bear stopped and watched as bees drifted from flower to flower, then flew off with their lading of pollen. Each one he followed with his snout and stared in the distance after them, as if content with observing their labor alone, until he said to the girl, This way.”

The Bear

2. The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down: How to Be Calm and Mindful in a Fast-Paced World by Haemin Sunim

In this relaxing book that you’ll want to return to again and again, Haemin Sunim, a Buddhist meditation teacher born in Korea and educated in the US, shares his advice for wellbeing, mindfulness and joy in eight areas, including love, friendship, work, and spirituality.

The book is beautiful, and not just for its writing: it contains over thirty full-page colourful and calming illustrations to help you slow down. To best enjoy these, get the little hardback edition if you can.

“What our mind focuses on becomes our world. Seen this way, the mind does not seem so insignificant in relation to the world out there, does it?”

The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down

3. Consolations of the Forest: Alone in a Cabin on the Siberian Taiga by Sylvain Tesson

Walden is easily on my shortlist of calming books to help me relax. But what about other books that talk about escaping into the woods and leaving society for a while? My top vote is Consolations of the Forest by Sylvain Tesson, “a meditation on escaping the chaos of modern life and rediscovering the luxury of solitude”.

Sylvain Tesson takes it to the extreme by exiling himself to a wooden cabin on Siberia’s Lake Baikal. He lives a full day’s hike from any neighbour, with his thoughts, his books, a couple of dogs, and many bottles of vodka for company.

Writing from February to July, Sylvain Tesson celebrates the ultimate freedom of owning your own time, recording his impressions, struggles, and joy in the face of silence.

“As long as there is a cabin deep in the woods, nothing is completely lost.“

Consolations of the Forest

4. Collected Poems by William Wordsworth

When you’re feeling stressed, take a step into the world of the English Romantics. Join them in marvelling at the powerful natural world and take a big deep breath. Alongside W. B. Yeats and Edward Thomas, Wordsworth will always be one of my go-to poets; I find so much magic in his writing.

I’ve also memorised a few of his poems to mull over on train journeys, while hiking in beautiful places, or when I need some time out – I think there are far worse ways I could use up my mental space.

My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety

William Wordsworth

5. How to Love by Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh has a selection of these “Mindfulness Essentials” books – including How to Relax, How to Focus, and How to Fight – and I think they’re perfect for relaxing reading when you’re stressed.

How to Relax would have been a more obvious choice to include in this list, but How to Love has got to be my favourite (read more of my thoughts here). I think Thich Nhat Hanh’s writing will always be calming, and I especially enjoy it when he’s talking about our connections with others.

“Our true home is inside, but it’s also in our loved ones around us. When you’re in a loving relationship, you and the other person can be a true home for each other. In Vietnamese, the nickname for a person’s life partner is ‘my home.'”

How to Love

6. A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver

The podcast On Being with Krista Tippett has a lovely episode with poet Mary Oliver called “Listening to the World”. I would recommend giving it a listen and then diving into the universe of Oliver’s poems – her work is some of of the most perceptive and gently wise writing on the natural world and our place within it.

In any case, try to get a copy of one of Mary Oliver’s anthologies and head outside, find a lovely spot to sit, and take in her peaceful words surrounded by fresh air and with the sun on your face.

I Go Down To The Shore
I go down to the shore in the morning
and depending on the hour the waves
are rolling in or moving out,
and I say, oh, I am miserable,
what shall—
what should I do? And the sea says
in its lovely voice:
Excuse me, I have work to do.

Mary Oliver

7. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers 1) by Becky Chambers

Becky Chambers is writing some of the best feel-good books today, both in her new Monk & Robot series and in this earlier Wayfarers series.

Commenting on the first book of the series, The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Reddit user Synney writes: “I can’t recommend this enough. It leaves you feeling incredibly warm and wholesome and like everything will be ok”.

“Humans’ preoccupation with ‘being happy’ was something he had never been able to figure out. No sapient could sustain happiness all of the time, just as no one could live permanently within anger, or boredom, or grief.”

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

8. A Calendar of Wisdom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul by Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy considered A Calendar of Wisdom to be his most important contribution to humanity, a compilation of “daily thoughts to nourish the soul” with one page of wisdom per day. 

Tolstoy gathered, translated, abbreviated and expanded on quotations from a huge range of sources, including the New Testament, the Koran, Greek philosophy, Lao-Tzu, Buddhist thought, and the poetry, novels, and essays of both ancient writers and contemporary thinkers.

It’s Tolstoy’s spiritual guide and collection of the quotes that formed his mind, but it leaves enough space and variety to help us to form our own. A Calendar of Wisdom is a superb book to keep lying around ready to be picked up for some calming reading instead of hidden away on a shelf.

9. Goodbye, Things by Fumio Sasaki

Goodbye, Things is not only a remarkably peaceful book to read, but also a fantastic guide to decluttering your life and making room for what’s most important. Fumio Sasaki doesn’t claim to be a minimalism expert or a decluttering guru – he’s just a regular guy who wanted to say goodbye to everything he didn’t absolutely need. This book is the story of his journey and the results.

“Want to know how to make yourself instantly unhappy? Compare yourself with someone else.”

– Goodbye, Things

10. The Haiku of Bashō

There’s just something about reading a haiku to help to calm your mind and feel less stressed. I keep a collection of Bashō’s poetry near me when I’m working and often read a calming haiku or two when I need a break.

Sitting quietly,
doing nothing,
Spring comes,
and the grass grows, by itself.

Bashō

11. Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness by Dr. Qing Li

How much time do you spend in nature? Do you have a forest near you that you can escape to? Written by Dr. Qing Li, who specialises in forest medicine, this is his definitive guide to the therapeutic Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, or “forest bathing”: the art and science of how trees can promote health and happiness.

Like The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down, it’s another book that’s beautifully designed, in this case showcasing the beauty of trees and the natural world.  

Another fantastic tree-celebration that’s also very relaxing to read is The Hidden Life of Trees: The International Bestseller – What They Feel, How They Communicate by Peter Wohlleben.

12. Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

From the master of aviation writing, Wind, Sand and Stars is one of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s best-loved books (after The Little Prince, that is). It’s a great little book to take with you when travelling, or it can be the source of another adventure – sitting at home and leaping into a book.

I can’t help but feel calm when I read his descriptions of the natural world:

“When I opened my eyes I saw nothing but the pool of nocturnal sky, for I was lying on my back with out-stretched arms, face to face with that hatchery of stars. Only half awake, still unaware that those depths were sky, having no roof between those depths and me…“

Wind, Sand and Stars

For more hand-picked relaxing book recommendations, you might like my lists of books to read when you’re stressed, the best bedtime books to help you sleep soundly, and calming coloring books for creative mindfulness.

The post 12 relaxing books to calm your mind and soothe your soul appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

Beautiful books, inside and out, can offer us a dose of bibliotherapy when we’re experiencing difficulties, need a helping hand, or simply want some comfort. They offer a balm for the soul to help you get back to where you want to be; back out into the world with mindful gratitude.

The following books are some of the most beautifully written books of all time, offering gorgeous prose, unforgettable characters, and plots that help you to appreciate the wonder and beauty of life.

Which of these beautifully written books have you already read, and which ones can you add to your to-read list?

10 of the most beautiful books with truly gorgeous writing

1. The Waves by Virginia Woolf

The Waves is in close contention with Mrs Dalloway for my favourite novel by Virginia Woolf. It’s an innovative and wonderfully poetic book, layering six voices in monologue; moving from morning until night, from childhood into old age. All against the backdrop of the sea. The Waves helped to create modern fiction and is one of the most beautiful books ever written. If you love language, I think you’ll cherish it too.

“I am made and remade continually. Different people draw different words from me.”

The Waves

2. A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler

A Whole Life is a book that will move you to tears – and then make you want to turn back to the beginning and read it again.

It’s a story of the simple life of Andreas Egger, who knows every path and peak of his mountain valley in the Austrian Alps. It’s a beautiful, heartbreaking book about what life is really made of; both the little and the big.

Choose whether you’d like to read it in a couple of sittings (like I did on a snow day in Switzerland) or try to savour it for longer. Or read it twice and do both.

“You can buy a man’s hours off him, you can steal his days from him, or you can rob him of his whole life, but no one can take away from any man so much as a single moment. That’s the way it is.”

A Whole Life

Another book by Robert Seethaler is The Tobacconist, which is a tender (and extremely heartbreaking) story about one young man and his friendship with Sigmund Freud during the Nazi occupation of Vienna.

3. The Overstory by Richard Powers

A paean to the natural world, Richard Powers masterfully weaves together interlocking fables that range from antebellum New York to the late twentieth-century Timber Wars of the Pacific Northwest and beyond. The Overstory is a spellbinding gateway into the vast, interconnected, and magnificently intricate world that we depend on in so many ways: the world of trees.

“You and the tree in your backyard come from a common ancestor. A billion and a half years ago, the two of you parted ways. But even now, after an immense journey in separate directions, that tree and you still share a quarter of your genes. . . .”

The Overstory

4. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison’s writing will break your heart while you marvel at her mesmerising prose. The Bluest Eye, Morrison’s acclaimed first novel, is a powerful and painful examination of our obsession with white beauty that questions race, class, and gender with her iconic subtly, grace, and poetic wonder.

“And fantasy it was, for we were not strong, only aggressive; we were not free, merely licensed; we were not compassionate, we were polite; not good, but well behaved. We courted death in order to call ourselves brave, and hid like thieves from life. We substituted good grammar for intellect; we switched habits to simulate maturity; we rearranged lies and called it truth, seeing in the new pattern of an old idea the Revelation and the Word.”

The Bluest Eye

5. The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd

The Living Mountain is one of the very best mountain memoirs ever written, crafted with so much simple magic and elegance by a woman in a sea of male writers. Each chapter is focused on a different aspect of a mountain experience; water, frost and snow, air and light, and being. Another favourite quote of mine is from Nan Shepherd’s first book, The Quarry Wood: “It’s a grand thing to get leave to live.”

“Yet often the mountain gives itself most completely when I have no destination, when I reach nowhere in particular, but have gone out merely to be with the mountain as one visits a friend with no intention but to be with him.”

The Living Mountain

6. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Donna Tartt may only write a book a decade, but they are worth every year of waiting. The Goldfinch is perhaps her most breathtaking novel. In this story of loss, survival, self-invention, and the hope that keeps us going, a young New Yorker grieving his mother’s death is pulled into a gritty underworld of art and wealth.

“But sometimes, unexpectedly, grief pounded over me in waves that left me gasping; and when the waves washed back, I found myself looking out over a brackish wreck which was illumined in a light so lucid, so heartsick and empty, that I could hardly remember that the world had ever been anything but dead”

The Goldfinch

7. “The Dead” by James Joyce

“The Dead”, the final short story of Dubliners, James Joyce’s iconic collection, contains one of the most beautifully written sentences in the English language. This is perfect prose: every word is immaculately arranged, flowing like the falling snow Joyce so delicately describes.

“His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.“

“The Dead”

8. Why I Wake Early by Mary Oliver

Especially here in Why I Wake Early, Mary Oliver truly gets to the beauty of life – she’s one of the finest poetic ambassadors for the natural world. I love how humble her poetry is, how there are no wasted words: “Watch, now, how I start the day / in happiness, in kindness”.

I pinned to the wall of my old house a hand-written version of the following poem, next to a map of Switzerland marked with the route I’d walked across. I saw it every morning, and it reminded me to get outside and be a part of the world.

The Old Poets Of China

Wherever I am, the world comes after me.
It offers me its busyness. It does not believe
that I do not want it. Now I understand
why the old poets of China went so far and high
into the mountains, then crept into the pale mist.

9. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

Paul Kalanithi was at the pinnacle of his career as a surgeon when he was diagnosed with inoperable cancer at just thirty-six. When Breath Becomes Air is the story of his transformation from a medical student to surgeon, to patient, seeking answers as to what makes a virtuous and meaningful life. With beautiful prose and powerful questions about what to do when a life is catastrophically interrupted, this is one of the most moving memoirs of the last decade.

“Human knowledge is never contained in one person. It grows from the relationships we create between each other and the world, and still it is never complete.”

10. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

This stunningly ambitious novel (and Pulitzer Prize winner) is the story of a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths cross in occupied France during World War II. It’s one of those books that I finished and wished I could read again for the first time. Although, it has been a few years… a re-read could be just as magical.

On Reddit, one user writes, “It is just loaded with gorgeous imagery. The main character is blind, yet sees more than any sighted person ever could. It made me rethink the way I take in the world around me, from nature to politics.”

For more exquisite books, you might like my selection of the most beautiful books to treasure on your bookshelves for years to come, as well as my favourite beautifully illustrated books.

The post 10 of the most beautifully written books of all time appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

“I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! — When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.”

I’ve written before about the best feel-good classic novels of all time, but that leaves so many uplifting books that have been published more recently.

For this post, I thought about my favourite feel-good novels (and some memoirs) from the last few years. Some books are lighthearted and funny, others are wholesome comfort reads.

Here’s my selection of the best feel-good books to lift your spirits when you’re feeling low, remind you of the good in the world, and bring a smile to your face.

The best feel-good books for happy reading

1. A Place Like Home by Rosamunde Pilcher

If you’re looking for a feel-good cozy book, start with Rosamunde Pilcher’s writing. She’s best known for the timeless classic The Shell Seekers, but this heartwarming collection of short stories (published in 2021) also offers a perfect slice of romance, warmth, passion, and indulgence.

Sarah Maine, bestselling author of Beyond the Wild River shared, “An antidote to challenging times, this set of stories from a much-loved author has a comforting, nostalgic feel – cosy and reassuring – with Rosamunde Pilcher’s signature insight into domestic hopes and yearnings, taking us into a gentler world.”

2. The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller

This full-hearted novel is an easygoing read about Olivia Rawlings, a big-city pastry chef extraordinaire who discovers the true meaning of home when she escapes from the city to the most comforting place she can think of – the idyllic town of Guthrie, Vermont.

This is meant to be just a short getaway, until Margaret Hurley, the cantankerous owner of the Sugar Maple Inn, offers Livvy a job. Broke and not sure what else to do next, Livvy accepts – and realises that the most unexpected twists and turns in life can be the best things to happen to you.

3. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett is one of the very best authors for feel-good reading. In a thread about the funniest books, one Reddit user recommended: “Anything from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld. I must have re-read some of his books 5 times and yet I still find something new that makes me laugh out loud each time.”

Here’s a useful reading order guide for the Discworld novels to make it easier to jump into the books. The Colour of Magic is a great place to start immersing yourself in the Discworld – a magical world not totally unlike our own, somewhere between thought and reality.

4. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

An instant bestseller for 2022, this feel-good book about an unlikely friendship between a widow and a giant Pacific octopus is perfect for fans of books like A Man Named Ove.

After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, ever since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

It’s here at the aquarium that Tova meets curmudgeonly Marcellus, an octopus who knows more than anyone can imagine… and deduces exactly what happened on the night that Tova’s son disappeared. Now he needs to put his intelligence to use and figure out how to show Tova the truth before it’s too late.

5. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

One of the true masterpieces of Japanese fiction, Yoko Ogawa turns mathematics into an elegant art in this beautiful, unpretentious and clever novel.

Each morning, the Professor and the Housekeeper are introduced to one another. Although the Professor’s mind is alive with mathematical equations, his short-term memory is a mere eighty minutes after a car accident threatened his life and ended his academic career some years ago.

With the clever maths riddles he devises – based on the Housekeeper’s birthday, her shoe size, or other little details – the two are brought together in a beautifully geeky classic love story that forms a bond deeper than memory.

6. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

Described by Martha Wells as “an optimistic vision of a lush, beautiful world”, Hugo Award-winner Becky Chambers’s delightful Monk and Robot series gives us hope for the future (which, quite frankly, a lot of us could do with).

If you love Studio Ghibli-inspired books, I’d recommend grabbing a copy of A Psalm for the Wild-Built. In its unique world, it’s been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness, laid down their tools, wandered together into the wilderness, and faded into myth and urban legend.

But one day, the life of a tea monk is turned upside down by a robot at their door. And most problematically, the robot wants an answer to the question of “what do people need?”

7. The Penguin Lessons by Tom Michell

Tom Michell is in his twenties, free as a bird, and seeking adventure in South America around his teaching position in a prestigious Argentine boarding school.

What happens next is a little less ordinary: he rescues a penguin from an oil slick, and the penguin (who is soon named Juan Salvador) refuses to leave his side…. and returns back to school with him. It’s a delightfully uplifting and lighthearted memoir.

8. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

I read The Rosie Project all the way back in 2013 after it was published, and I still have such fond memories of this clever, warm, and delightfully weird love story.

Don Tillman is a brilliant yet completely socially inept professor of genetics who’s decided it’s time he found a wife. So he designs the Wife Project to find his ideal candidate, starting with a sixteen-page survey to filter out the drinkers, the smokers, and the late arrivers.

Unfortunately, Rosie Jarman drinks, smokes, and arrives late. She should be immediately disqualified as a candidate. And yet, somehow, Don is swept into the whirlwind that is Rosie as they collaborate on her own project to find her biological father.

9. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

As one of the most popular feel-good books of all time, this beautifully silly classic follows the galactic (mis)adventures of Arthur Dent, beginning one Thursday lunchtime when the Earth gets unexpectedly demolished to make way for a new hyperspace bypass.

10. All Things Wise and Wonderful by James Herriot

In my selection of the best feel-good classic books, I knew I had to include All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot. The Yorkshire vet’s memoirs have entranced generations of animal lovers since they were published, and they’re just as heartwarming today.

In this sequel, it’s wartime and James is training as an RAF pilot in bustling London. He’s far from the rolling hills, moody cattle, and curmudgeonly farmers of his day job as a vet in the Yorkshire Dales. He misses his dog, but most of all he misses his wife, Helen, who’s pregnant with their first child.

The questions of whether he’ll go to war and when he’ll get home are serious, but with its reflections of the land he loves and of friends old and new, this wonderfully cozy book is charming, uplifting, and characteristically funny.

11. The No. 1 One Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

In a Reddit thread about the best feel-good books, user bprflip shares: “When someone asks for a male-author-who-can-actually-write-a-female-lead, this book lands. It’s about someone getting by and making the world better, in incremental yet personal ways”.

If you enjoy following the investigations of Precious Ramotswe, Botswana’s premier lady detective, you’re in luck: this is the first in a series of twenty-three books by Alexander McCall Smith.

12. Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

I included TJ Klune’s most popular book, The House in the Cerulean Sea, in my list of the most wholesome books. This more recent release is a warm hug of a book for troubled times, perfect for fans of the feel-good hit A Man Called Ove or NBC’s The Good Place.

Wallace spends his life at the office, working and correcting colleagues. Then a reaper collects him, and he’s dead. Even after death, he refuses to make time for fun and friends, but as he drinks tea and eats scones with Hugo, the owner of an unusual tea shop, he wonders if he should do things differently.

With just one week until he must pass through the door to the other side, Wallace sets about living a lifetime the right way.

13. Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

Okay, so bear with me. This cozy feel-good book is about an Orc Warrior who opens a coffee shop. It’s a fun, incredibly lighthearted, and comfy read about following your dreams into new and unfamiliar places. It’s slice-of-life meets modern fantasy, and that turns out to be delightful.

Genevieve Gornichec, author of The Witch’s Heart, writes: “Take a break from epic battles and saving the world. Legends & Lattes is a low-stakes fantasy that delivers exactly what’s advertised: a wholesome, cozy novel that feels like a warm hug. This is my new comfort read.”

14. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Though Enzo cannot speak, he understands everything that happens around him as he bears witness to the story of his human family, observes how they nearly fall apart, and manages to bring them back together.

With humour and heartwarming dedication, and despite what he sees as his own limitations as a dog, Enzo comes through heroically to preserve the Swift family in this wholesome feel-good book.

15. The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman

From the bestselling author of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, The Garden of Small Beginnings manages to be funny and heartwarming but also thoughtful and poignant.

As an intimate journey of a young mother moving on from grief, this quirky novel unlocks the door to Lilian Girvan’s life as an illustrator, parent, sister, budding gardener, and widow as she puts the pieces of her life back together.

The post 15 of the best feel-good books to brighten your day appeared first on Tolstoy Therapy.

I’ve shared before my selection of the best beautiful books to treasure for years to come, but here I wanted to focus on the most beautiful illustrated books for adults (with some beautiful children’s books, too).

Here are some of my favourite beautiful books with stunning illustrations, covers, and typesetting that make for the perfect gift for yourself or others.

The most beautiful illustrated books to admire and treasure

1. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (illustrated by James Weston Lewis)

How could I not mention the Folio Society? Last year I gave Iain a beautiful edition of The Hobbit from the Folio Society for his birthday, and there are countless others I’d love to receive from their collection.

This edition of Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods is one of them. I love the vintage feel of the illustrations from James Weston Lewis and the cloth-bound cover. And just look at the spine!

2. The Fox and the Star by Coralie Bickford-Smith

Before writing The Fox and the Star in 2015, Coralie Bickford-Smith had already won a reputation for gorgeous illustrations as the award-winning designer of the iconic Penguin Clothbound Classics series.

With her own beautiful book inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, Coralie Bickford-Smith weaves a fable for readers both young and grown. With your copy, fall into her magical and immersive tale about loss, courage, and the friendship between a lonely Fox and the Star who guides him through the dark forest.

3. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (illustrated by Daniel Liévano)

This stunning edition of Kafka on the Shore is another Folio Society book crafted with so much loving attention. It’s probably my favourite writing by Murakami, too.

4. Life by Cynthia Rylant and Brendan Wenzel

Like the other illustrated children’s books on this list, this is just as perfect for grown-up readers. Life is Cynthia Rylant’s moving meditation on finding beauty in the world and gaining strength from life’s challenges.

Accompanied by Brendan Wenzel’s stunning landscapes and engaging creatures, Life makes for a perfect inspiring gift for readers of all ages.

5. Fierce Fairytales: Poems and Stories to Stir Your Soul by Nikita Gill

In this empowering reimagining of fairytale classics accompanied by spellbinding original tales, Nikita Gill dismantles the old-fashioned tropes, bids goodbye to the docile women and male saviours, and blurs the lines between heroes and villains.

With beautiful hand-drawn illustrations by Gill herself, this is a gorgeous collection of stories for a new generation.

6. Wild Places by Sarah Baxter (illustrated by Amy Grimes)

I love the Inspired Traveller’s Guide series from White Lion Publishing, including beautiful books such as Hidden Places, Artistic Places, and this favourite of mine: Wild Places.

From the Galápagos Islands to St Kilda in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, this beautifully illustrated celebration of the solace of wild places will transport you to some of the most wondrous corners of the world during your own reading time, wherever you are in the world.

7. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

How can I not mention this? The Boy, the Mole, The Fox and the Horse is just as known for its pen and ink drawings as for its writing that shows the beauty of a life well-lived with so much joyful simplicity.

It’s a book to treasure as a hardcover, but I also loved listening to the audiobook earlier this year. Charlie Mackesy’s narration is accompanied by a beautiful music score by Max Richter and wildlife sounds of rural England – it’s fantastic.

8. The Tree Book: The Stories, Science, and History of Trees by DK

“Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky” Kahil Gibran. As a tree nerd with a weakness for illustrated botany books, I couldn’t help but notice this book from DK published earlier in 2022.

9. How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals by Sy Montgomery (illustrated by Rebecca Green)

I’ve talked about How to Be a Good Creature for years now. I’ll probably keep talking about it. This memoir and celebration of a life lived with animals is just so simply and memorably gorgeous, complemented by heartwarmingly wholesome illustrations by Rebecca Green.

10. How to Catch a Mole: And Find Yourself in Nature by Marc Hamer

Beautifully written, life-affirming, and completely unique, How to Catch a Mole offers a memorable portrait of one man’s deep, unbreakable bond with his natural surroundings in the Welsh countryside.

In this quiet but powerful memoir, Hamer infuses gorgeous poetry with stark and simple observations on nature that will inspire you to see your own corner of the world differently. This edition is wonderfully illustrated by Joe McLaren.

11. Mountain Song by Lucy Fuggle

I wrote this one, so I’m probably a little biased. That said, the illustrations are probably what I love most about Mountain Song. The cover was designed by Alana Louise Lyons, and the book interior contains lovely pen and ink illustrations by Louise Morgan. You can read more about the hardcover and order a copy here.

12. Island Dreams: Mapping an Obsession by Gavin Francis

Island Dreams isn’t illustrated in the same way that the others in this post are. But it is full of stunningly beautiful maps, so I think that still counts.

This is Gavin Francis’s project to “map an obsession” and dive into our collective fascination with islands, blending stories of his own travels with psychology, philosophy, and the great voyages of history.

For more exquisite books, you might also like my collections of beautifully written books, beautifully illustrated children’s books for readers young and grown, and the most beautiful books of all time to treasure forever.

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