The Hunting Wives‘ Brittany Snow Reveals the Books That Changed Her Life — Plus Why She Prefers Nonfiction

Snow tends to gravitate towards memoirs and self-help for this extremely relatable reason

Brittany Snow on Bustle’s ‘One Nightstand.’.Credit : 

Courtesy of Bustle

NEED TO KNOW

Brittany Snow revealed her most cherished reads — most of which helped her through hard moments in her life
The Hunting Wives actress tends towards nonfiction, because it makes her feel productive and fulfilled
Snow’s favorite reads include self-help books, autobiographies and memoirs

Brittany Snow’s list of must-reads has had a significant impact on her personal life.

The Hunting Wives actress, 39, sat down for Bustle‘s book-centric podcast, One Nightstand, to share her all-time favorite reads. Snow shared that many of her go-to books — primarily nonfiction titles, autobiographies and self-help books — have propelled her through hard moments in her life, including her divorce and her father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

Primarily, Snow reads nonfiction which she said makes her feel productive and fulfilled, because she’s learning every time she picks up a book. “I feel like I’m utilizing my time a little bit more [with nonfiction],” Snow said, “even though that it completely nonsensical.”

One of Snow’s tried-and-true favorites, Are You Mad at Me? by Meg Josephson, helped heal her inner child and unlearn some habits from her youth, she said. The book claims to be a “cure for chronic people-pleasing” and addresses the lesser-known “fawning” instinct.

Are You Mad at Me?.Amazon

Snow connected with Josephson’s book because of their similar backgrounds: like the author, Snow’s family has dealt with alcoholism and Alzheimer’s, which ultimately pushed her to be a “chameleon person.”

“My favorite part of this book — and I think I underlined it — is when you become successful or a big thing happens in your career, most perfectionists and most people who have parents like this don’t feel proud of themselves,” Snow said. “They feel relief. And I really relate to that.”

Another introspective read, The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer, helped Snow get out of her own head. It’s an illuminating book by a “lyrical but also harsh” author, she said.

The Untethered Soul.New Harbinger Publications/ Noetic Books

“It was the first time it was explained to me that … I can actually step back from and realize that I’m observing the thoughts as opposed to being around them and inside of them,” Snow reflected.

Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking — widely praised for its raw look at grief and resilience — supported Snow after she suffered loss in her life. Didion’s autobiography follows the sudden death of her husband and the long, uncertain illness of their daughter Quintana, compounded in a very short time span.

Snow first picked up the autobiography after her dog died, then again when her father’s Alzheimer’s had gotten worse.

The Year of Magical Thinking.

“I’ve been searching for so many different types of books about the end of life. I feel like this one really spoke to me because it’s not prescriptive. It’s not these beautiful lessons of what to do or how to feel — it’s really just her baring her soul,” Snow said, adding the book had pushed her to be “a lot more present” with her father.

Another book, Untamed by Glennon Doyle, helped her cope with another type of loss. A friend of hers recommended the book to Snow while she was going through her divorce from Tyler Stanaland, she said. Untamed helped remind Snow that there’s no love without loss, and vice versa.

Untamed.

“Personally — and this isn’t for everyone — I would choose having the love and then the heartbreak because I love feeling everything. I just love being in love,” Snow said. “And so I would do it again. I would always choose it. And I think that [this book] reminded me of that — that the point of life is to feel all these things.”