Disclaimer: This is a piece of experimental non-fiction. The inclusion of a book on this list does not constitute a recommendation.
Year 1
Don't Let Your Emotions Run Your Life: How Dialectical Behavior Therapy Can Put You in Control (New Harbinger Self-Help Workbook)
Bought a few months into the relationship, in an attempt to reign in the deleterious effect of our combined untreated mental illnesses on my psyche.
Year 2
The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts by Gary Chapman
Bought because I was deeply in love but unable to make it work.
When Panic Attacks: The New, Drug-Free Anxiety Therapy That Can Change Your Life by David D. Burns M.D.
Bought in an attempt to quell the anxiety engendered by my partner’s unpredictability.
Year 3
No book orders; only pregnancy supplies and cat toys.
Year 4
Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace by Ayelet Waldman
The Second Nine Months: One Woman Tells the REAL Truth About Becoming a Mom. Finally. by Vicki Glembocki
Bought because I wanted to be prepared for the worst. Unlike most books on this list, I actually read these cover to cover.
Year 5
Parents Are People, Too: An Emotional Fitness Program for Parents by Katherine Gordy Levine
Bought because it sounded useful. Never touched.
How One of You Can Bring the Two of You Together: Breakthrough Strategies to Resolve Your Conflicts and Reignite Your Love by Susan Page
Bought out of total desperation and the misguided idea that there was a way I could single-handedly fix the relationship without my partner taking part.
Rekindle His Desire: A Practical Plan for Women in a Low Sex/No Sex Relationship Or a Sex-Starved Marriage by Richard Thomas
It didn’t work.
What a unique way of summing up your relationship—in books. This is a nice piece of writing.
this is like the text version of a picture being worth a thousand words. I feel like I can envision each of these times in your life, to some extent. well done!