Why am I passionate about this?
Growing up, no one needed to tell me that I’m a highly sensitive person – although they did. The label was confusing: was it a bad thing? I wasn’t sure. So, I tried to keep myself in check and followed my love of words into a legal career. Other people’s books became my refuge: a safe place to explore the full reach of my empathy and find connection. Reading still gives me sanctuary. Only now, since leaving law to become an author and poet myself, I also embrace the emotional rollercoaster of sharing my own creativity. It’s balm for my bittersweet soul.
Liz's book list on helping you seize the day
Why did Liz love this book?
This memoir is like a kaleidoscope: each time I re-read it from a new vantage point in my life, I see different colours.
Ariel Levy writes with brutal bravery about a series of personal losses. She brings a candid and unconventional perspective to marriage and motherhood, career and aging, and ultimately our inability to truly control our circumstances.
I think the heart of what this book tells me is: surrender is not synonymous with giving up. It’s deeper and more hopeful than that. Surrender is learning that power and resilience come from gratitude and acceptance, even in the face of hardships.
1 author picked The Rules Do Not Apply as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
A Time Top 10 Non-Fiction Book of 2017
A Vogue Top 10 Book of 2017
An Amazon.com Book of 2017 and an NPR Great Read of 2017
'Every deep feeling a human is capable of will be shaken loose by this short, but profound book' David Sedaris
'I wanted what we all want: everything. We want a mate who feels like family and a lover who is exotic, surprising. We want to be youthful adventurers and middle-aged mothers. We want intimacy and autonomy, safety and stimulation, reassurance and novelty, coziness and thrills. But we can't have it all.'
Ariel Levy…