E223: My Personal Book Apothecary for April 2026
<p>On this episode of Restorative Reading & Writing for Wellness, I’m sharing all the details on my personal book apothecary for April 2026.</p><p>Each month, I choose a one-word theme to guide my intentions and create a book apothecary to help me breathe that word into existence through reading, writing and learning. </p><p>This month, my chosen one word theme is: RELEASE.</p><p>If you follow the astrological calendar, then you know we just ended the year of the snake and just entered the year of the horse. Apparently, that means we’ve been shedding what no longer serves us to make room for more of what does. Technically, according to the calendar, I should be done shedding by now, but I’m not. =)</p><p>I’m feeling called to release old expectations, leave old routines and rituals behind and even throw out at least half of the clothes in my closet. I’m wanting to let go of old grudges, release lingering negativity and reduce inflammation in my body, too. </p><p>Hence, the word RELEASE.</p><p>For me, the best way to welcome a new way of thinking, feeling and being into my life is through reading and writing, paying careful attention to the books I surround myself with and the prompts I write from so I can take inspired action in my life.</p><p>Here’s my current book apothecary ready to help me RELEASE this month. Scroll to see the contents below and press play on the podcast episode talking all about it.</p><p>Restorative Reading:</p><p>The three books I’ve chosen focusing on three different aspects of RELEASE I’d like to explore: <em>release in my physical body, release in my emotional mind and release in my object-filled home.</em> Here are the books in my apothecary this month along with the publishers blurb for each of them:</p><p>Healing with Somatic Yoga: A 6-Week Journey to Release Emotions, Rewire Your Nervous System, and Reclaim Your Body by Brett Larkin</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://amzn.to/4rVEwUW">Amazon</a></p><p>In 6 weeks, learn a groundbreaking somatic system that blends the three essential models of body-based healing. Whether you crave gentle nervous system regulation, cathartic emotional release, or the healing power of self-touch, this book offers a revolutionary approach to coming home to your body—not just another collection of gentle poses.</p><p>Before We Forget Kindness by Toshikazu Kawaguchi </p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://amzn.to/4s45xG0">Amazon</a> / <a target="_blank" href="https://bookshop.org/a/13963/9781335915283">Bookshop</a></p><p>In the fifth book in the sensational Before the Coffee Gets Cold series translated from Japanese, the mysterious café where customers arrive hoping to travel back in time welcomes four new guests:</p><p>- The father who could not allow his daughter to get married</p><p>- A woman who couldn’t give Valentine’s Day chocolates to her loved one</p><p>- A boy who wants to show his smile to his divorced parents</p><p>- A wife holding a child with no name . . .</p><p>They must follow the café’s strict rules, however, and come back to the present before their coffee goes cold. Another moving and heartwarming tale from Toshikazu Kawaguchi, in Before We Forget Kindness our new visitors wish to go back into their past to move on their present, finding closure and comfort so they can embark on a beautiful future.</p><p>They Left Us Everything: A Memoir by Plum Johnson </p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://amzn.to/3O1cx8m">(Amazon </a>/ <a target="_blank" href="https://bookshop.org/a/13963/9780143191872">Bookshop</a>)</p><p>After almost twenty years of caring for elderly parents—first for their senile father, and then for their cantankerous ninety-three-year-old mother—author Plum Johnson and her three younger brothers experience conflicted feelings of grief and relief when their mother, the surviving parent, dies.</p><p>Now they must empty and sell the beloved family home, which hasn’t been de-cluttered in more than half a century. Twenty-three rooms bulge with history, antiques, and oxygen tanks. Plum remembers her loving but difficult parents who could not have been more different: the British father, a handsome, disciplined patriarch who nonetheless could not control his opinionated, extroverted Southern-belle wife who loved tennis and gin gimlets. The task consumes her, becoming more rewarding than she ever imagined.</p><p>Items from childhood trigger memories of her eccentric family growing up in a small town on the shores of Lake Ontario in the 1950’s and 60’s. But unearthing new facts about her parents helps her reconcile those relationships with a more accepting perspective about who they were and what they valued.</p><p>They Left Us Everything is a funny, touching memoir about the importance of preserving family history to make sense of the past and nurturing family bonds to safeguard the future.</p><p>These are the three central texts that make up my apothecary this month, but I’m always open to new suggestions and adding along the way. If you have suggestions, let me know in the comments!</p><p>Plus, if you’d like to get access to my bibliotherapy book calendar embracing this theme with a book recommendation for every day of the month, join my Restorative Reading & Writing Circle here on Substack!</p><p>Restorative Writing:</p><p>I’m focused on two kinds of restorative writing this month: expressive and affirmative. </p><p>My expressive writing practice has truly brought so much release and pain relief in the past and I’m doubling down on that practice this month. I plan to listen to my body and heart and write freely about what needs to go. If you want to learn more about this special kind of writing, <a target="_blank" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e179-scriptotherapy-restorative-writing-healing-chronic/id1631731255?i=1000709115977">listen here. </a></p><p>Another important aspect of my writing life will focus on affirmations this month. <a target="_blank" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e198-affirmative-writing-ideas-to-change-your-mood/id1631731255?i=1000729253641">Here’s a podcast episode talking through why this kind of writing matters</a>. For whatever reason, I have a hard time letting go of the typical way I do things and the usual way I think. I plan to write and embody this affirmation from Cathy Heller on repeat throughout the month:</p><p><p>I trust myself to acknowledge what nourishes me and release what no longer does. </p></p><p>I imagine I might delve into some listicle writing too: lists of things to organize, donate and toss will certainly be one of them!</p><p>Curiosities to Explore for Inspired Action:</p><p>Somatic yoga has been calling my name for a while and this month, I’m truly sinking into it to help me release stress and negativity from my body. Brett Larkin’s book is helping me learn, explore and grow and I’ll press play on one or two or ten of her somatic yoga videos, too. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/user/BrettLarkinYoga">Here they are!</a></p><p>I’m hoping to learn more about lymphatic release, too. This topic seems to be EVERYWHERE on social media and I want to go underneath the posts to the science and see how it might benefit my health and wellness. </p><p>This isn’t a curiosity, but it is something I want to do: CLEAN MY CLOSET! Out with the old, in with the new. Out with the old stories, in with the new ones. Clearing clutter is emotional and cleaning your closet is an experience I hope to tackle. </p><p>Things to Love:</p><p>Everything. =) I do not want my focus on RELEASE to seem negative: out with the old and in with the new. Instead, I want to embrace that theme with a loving mindset and use love as the guidepost for moving forward. I recently found this poem and cannot get it out of my mind: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wordwoman.com/the-question-read-by-tara-brach/">The Question by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer:</a></p><p><em>All day, I replay these words:</em></p><p><em>Is this the path of love?</em></p><p><em>I think of them as I rise, as</em></p><p><em>I wake my children, as I wash dishes,</em></p><p><em>as I drive too close behind the slow</em></p><p><em>blue Subaru, Is this the path of love?</em></p><p><em>Think of these words as I stand in line</em></p><p><em>at the grocery store,</em></p><p><em>think of them as I sit on the couch</em></p><p><em>with my daughter. Amazing how</em></p><p><em>quickly six words become compass,</em></p><p><em>the new lens through which to see myself</em></p><p><em>in the world. I notice what the question is not.</em></p><p><em>Not, “Is this right?” Not,</em></p><p><em>“Is this wrong?” It just longs to know</em></p><p><em>how the action of existence</em></p><p><em>links us to the path to love.</em></p><p><em>And is it this? Is it this? All day,</em></p><p><em>I let myself be led by the question.</em></p><p><em>All day I let myself not be too certain</em></p><p><em>of the answer. Is it this?</em></p><p><em>Is this the path of love? I ask</em></p><p><em>as I wait for the next word to come.</em></p><p>This poem is stunningly beautiful, isn’t it?! This lens of love will guide me all month long, running parallel along with theme of RELEASE, and I hope it guides you, too. If you want more poems like these, add this book to your book apothecary this month.</p><p>One more thing: Here’s my aromatherapy tincture I’m creating for Spring release: 2 drops Lemon, 2 drops Lavender, 2 drops Peppermint. Heavenly.</p><p>If YOU would like to build your book apothecary with me on the podcast, <a target="_blank" href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSePQVJe87sPOr2jFl8OeiNQIIgasA3Jp7PghvQrZQo4DBmgsQ/viewform?usp=dialog">click here to apply!</a></p><p>Once you’ve listened, I’d love to know what you think of this episode. Leave your thoughts in the comments!</p><p><strong>Let’s Work Together!</strong></p><p>I love to connect with others around our shared love of reading and writing.</p><p>Here are some ways we can work together to create a life you love where restorative reading and writing is at the center of it all:</p><p>🩷 Join my private Substack community for themed book calendars, bonus posts, book clubs and events each month!</p><p>📚 Connect 1:1 for personalized coaching to unlock the transformative power of your reading and writing life. Click <a target="_blank" href="https://stephanie-affinito-0cab.mykajabi.com/bibliotherapysessions">here for bibliotherapy</a> and click here for expressive <a target="_blank" href="https://stephanie-affinito-0cab.mykajabi.com/writingtoheal">writing therapy</a>. Let’s work together!</p><p><strong>Literate love is multiplied when it’s shared! 🩷</strong></p><p>Here are some free ways to support this newsletter and spread my message of the magic of restorative reading and writing far and wide:</p><p>🩷 Like and comment on this post so we can connect!🔄 Restack your favorite nugget of literate love.📷 Take a screenshot of your favorite part and text it to a friend.💌 Forward this email to a fellow bookish and notebookish friend so they can join the literate love too!⌨️ Refer a friend and earn free access to my private community!</p><p>*As an Amazon and Bookshop Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. 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