Our favourite books: BRiC's Collective Voice

Books and books’’ Our Favourites!

This week our Sunday discussion was about books, our favourite ones and how they may have shaped us as human beings.

Naz explained that as an academic, she reads books that are more about research than she reads widely about the ‘real’ world!

For many of our members, when we read it helps us relax, and provides a sense of release from negative thoughts, or a bit of pure escapism.

Many of our members found reading can actually make us feel motivated and a sense of happiness.

Some of our members found reading difficult/challenging after a breast cancer diagnosis, due to the traumatic experience of treatment and our ability to concentrate which declines, so therefore some members have turned instead to audio books as an alternative.

We feel as if the books draw us in, trying to make us a part of the storyline. Whenever we read a book, the world vanishes and nothing else matters other than the tiny bundle of pages in our hand.

It’s like an addiction, and its touch makes us feel inspired.

The mere presence of a book in our hands brings a mixture of emotions; laughter, sadness, excitement, inspiration, feeling loved and many more different emotions that we experience.

Many of our members have fond memories of their childhood books and how magical they made us feel and the written word can be so powerful and speak right to our soul.

One of our members even named her granddaughter after a book that she enjoyed so much!

Certain books had the most profound affect which resonated with some members who have experienced and suffered child abuse at the hands of their parent and now instinctively understood the behaviours were wrong and how manipulation can be the cause of us in believing that it’s your fault as a child. But after reading particular books we realise the ugly truth about them and suddenly don’t feel so alone and isolated and choose not to repeat the cycle of cruelty and become an empath instead.

Some of our members enjoyed reading books when they were going through treatment and how moved and inspired they felt and it wasn’t all depressing, in a way, helped make sense of many things that we are feeling at the time, can also be very thought provoking when couples don’t communicate enough when we have had breast cancer and constant injunctions to be positive.

Many of our members have been influenced by books and found them therapeutic before/after breast cancer.

A list of our most loved books, handpicked by our members.

Enjoy!