What I like about Darryl’s design approach is that it places comfort front and center in each room and really encourages you to be yourself in the way you bring a room together. I have found myself referring back to this book often as a “North Star”—the advice within is classic yet unpretentious in ways that are personal and not at all flashy.

My ears perked up at Dr Vora’s explanation of her term “false anxiety.” It’s a polarizing way to define the physical and environmental factors that contribute to a likeness of anxiety, rather than a pure chemical imbalance. This is not an easy line to toe and I read her book with some hesitation.

What I loved was how she was able to hold multiple truths of an experience with anxiety at the same time while challenging the ways we’ve treated mental illness in Western medicine. It reflects her unique experience and training, both as a licensed psychiatrist and functional medicine expert.