The Big Love Bookshelf

"Hi, I’m Cody, the founder of Big Love Retreats. For many years, I was a teacher of English language and literature, and I hold a PhD in applied linguistics. Language, storytelling, and the power of words have always been at the heart of who I am.

Reading has been a cornerstone of my wellness journey—whether it’s diving into a novel for pure pleasure or exploring non-fiction to better understand our place in the world. Books have the power to heal, inspire, and connect us, and I wanted to bring that magic to the Big Love community.

That’s why I created the Big Love Bookshelf. It’s a space to celebrate books that inspire growth, connection, and healing—especially those by marginalized voices who remind us of the beauty and complexity of the human experience. I hope you’ll join me on this literary journey!"

Why Reading Belongs in Your Wellness Toolkit

Reading isn’t just entertainment; it’s a transformative practice that nurtures the mind, heart and soul.

  • Stillness & Presence: In a world of endless scrolling, reading demands slowness. It pulls us into the present moment, creating a meditative space where we can disconnect from stress and reconnect with ourselves.

  • Empathy & Connection: Books allow us to walk in someone else’s shoes, fostering compassion - not just for characters, but for real people in our lives. Studies actually show that reading fiction strengthens emotional intelligence.

  • Mental Resilience: Getting lost in a story isn’t escapism - it’s active restoration and for sure we all need more of that!. Like yoga or breathwork, reading can lower cortisol levels, quiet the constant mental chatter and offer relief from anxiety.

Perspective & Growth: A single book can shift how we see the world - or ourselves. Whether it’s a memoir that mirrors our struggles or a novel that challenges our assumptions, literature expands our inner landscape.

Let’s Be Honest: Wellness Books Can Be Exhausting

The wellness industry is flooded with prescriptive guides - 10 Steps to Happiness, The Perfect Morning Routine - how to do this, that and the other and suddenly your entire life will be transformed! Oh the pressure! While some are undoubtedly valuable and some utterly life-changing, the sheer volume of wellness related books is just overwhelming. The Big Love Bookshelf cuts through the noise with curated reviews of books that truly nourish - whether they’re mindfulness guides, novels that stir the soul or works by local authors from the places we visit.

Today, we’re featuring The Wayward Daughter by Shradha Ghale - the perfect companion for our Nepal retreats (link to retreats). What better way to prepare for a journey than through a local author’s eyes? Literature adds context, nuance and heartbeat to travel, transforming a trip into a deeper dialogue with a place and its people.

         So, I am absolutely delighted to be       

         introducing The Big Love Bookshelf.      

A curated space for books that:

  • Inspire growth (both inner and outer),

  • Amplify marginalized voices and

  • Celebrate the cultures of the places we visit.

Here, you’ll find:

  • Wellness reads to nourish your mind,

  • Fiction to get lost in and

  • Works by authors from our retreat destinations—because understanding a place starts with listening to its storytellers.

Every book I share is a thread in the tapestry of The Big Love: one part adventure, one part healing and entirely human. 

Turn the page with us.

The Wayward Daughter by Shradha Ghale: How a

Novel Can Prepare Your Heart for Nepal Travel

There’s a particular magic that happens when you read a novel set in a place you’re about to visit. Guidebooks give you facts, but literature gives you life - the scent of temple flowers at dusk, the weight of unspoken family expectations, the quiet rebellions that bloom behind closed doors.
As we prepare for our upcoming retreats in Nepal - Maitri Mountain Blessings and The Labyrinth of Light - I can think of no better travel companion than Shradha Ghale's The Wayward Daughter. In fact, I love this novel so much that we're gifting a Kindle copy to every retreat guest - because this isn't just a book; it's your first act of regenerative travel before you even board the plane.

Why Local Stories Matter

When you read work by Nepali authors like Ghale (a Kathmandu native and journalist), you’re doing more than entertaining yourself. You’re:

  • Supporting the artistic ecosystem of the place you’ll visit

  • Receiving cultural context no guidebook can ever convey

  • Preparing your heart to engage with Nepal as a kindred spirit rather than a spectator

 Set in early 2000s Kathmandu, this coming-of-age story follows Sundari, a whip-smart teenager whose small acts of defiance (reading forbidden romance novels, skipping household pujas to study) become quiet revolutions. Her struggles - between tradition and independence, family duty and personal dreams - mirror not only the tensions in modern Nepal itself, but also the struggles we often feel about what we should do, feel, say or how we should live versus what we truly want when we are 100% honest with ourselves.

The Quiet Rebellions That Change Everything

What moves me most about Sundari’s story is how her transformation begins in whispers, she doesn’t stage protests or deliver grand speeches, rather her resistance lives in the almost invisible - the college applications filled out in secret while her family plans her wedding, the way she protects her inner world like a sacred flame.

This surely speaks to so many of us who don’t live the lives that we truly, truly want. That quiet ache of living a life that just isn't quite yours. The dreams you've folded up small and tucked away because the world - or maybe your own inner voice - keeps insisting they're not possible. But true change often starts simply with our own private acts of self-honesty. I mean, before we can shift our external lives, we must first admit - even if only to ourselves - what we truly, deeply want.
Perhaps you know this feeling:

  • That realisation that you are  allowed to want more, even if you can't explain why

  • The moment you cancelled plans to rest, despite the guilt

  • The tiny “no” you finally whispered after years of yeses

This wonderful story reminds us that true wellness is revolutionary. In a world that profits from our exhaustion, our insecurity and our disconnection, choosing yourself -  unapologetically -  is an act of quiet rebellion. And that’s why I love this book! 

How This Book Travels With Us

For guests joining Maitri Mountain Blessings and/or The Labyrinth of Light, we’ll:

  1. Send you the Kindle edition

  2. Host optional fireside chats about the novel’s themes

  3. Offer journal prompts connecting Sundari’s journey to yours

(And if reading isn’t your thing? No pressure. The Himalayas work their magic whether you arrive with a book or an open heart.)

Our retreats in Nepal give you the time and space to let go of the pressure, be free of the noise and just breathe. To listen to that quiet voice inside that knows exactly who you are and what you need. Just like Sundari stealing moments with her forbidden books, we create sacred space for your hidden dreams to finally unfold - in the shadow of the Himalayas, surrounded by kindred spirits on the same revolutionary journey of coming home to themselves.

The Deeper Invitation

At its core, The Wayward Daughter isn't just a story about Nepal - it's about the universal pilgrimage back to your untamed heart. By gifting this novel, we're inviting you to begin that homecoming now, so when you step onto Nepali soil, you'll already recognise yourself in its temples and mountain trails: wild, wise and wonderfully free.

Every revolution begins with a whisper. Let this book be yours. Come join us in Nepal.