by Susan Cain
I received this book as a gift from a dear friend who had thought of me, bought it, gift-wrapped it, and then laid it aside for so long that she forgot what the title even was. So, she just sent it off to me and we were both surprised when I opened it and found Bittersweet by Susan Cain. It was such a perfect gift that I told her she must be my Divine Library Assistant. (My only explanation for the deep and constant serendipity in my reading life is that I have my own Divine Librarian who makes sure that the right book finds its way to me at exactly the right time, so this friend was surely in cahoots!)
Years ago when I read Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking, I finally had some insight into my nature and temperament that had eluded me all my life. Bittersweet is having the same effect. Now I get why I so deeply love music in a minor key, why I am such an easy cry, why I listen up when spiritual traditions focus on suffering and grief as a path to spiritual depth. I took it very slowly, so it was on my currently reading list for over two months as I just read a few pages every morning. Highly recommended.