Make no mistake: Self-help reading isn’t just self-help books. Nonfiction of all kinds contributes to a person’s physical, intellectual, emotional, financial, spiritual, and relational well-being. For this reason, I’ve made use of my obsession with all kinds of nonfiction (and love of note-taking) to compile a comprehensive-as-possible recommended reading list for people looking to achieve their own feats of great strength. This list includes books on business, finance, psychology, sociology, history, spirituality and more. For each book listed, I provide a brief content summary, then offer practical takeaways from a self-help lens.
Does your next feat of great strength require research–more than you have time to do? Subscribe to the right for a comprehensive self-improvement self-education, featuring summaries and tips from over 400 works of psychology, sociology, biography, history, anthropology, spirituality, science, memoir, economics, self-help and more.
Psychology
When Panic Attacks: The New, Drug-Free Anxiety Therapy That Can Change Your Life, David Burns
The Feeling Good Handbook: The New Mood Therapy, David Burns
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcom Gladwell
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Robert Cialdini
Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, Chip Heath and Dan Heath
Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work, Chip Heath and Dan Heath
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, Chip and Dan Heath
Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment, Martin Seligman
Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being, Martin Seligman
Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life, Martin Seligman
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead, Brene Brown
I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn’t): Telling the Truth about Perfectionism, Inadequacy, and Power, Brene Brown
Rising Strong: The Reckoning. The Rumble. The Revolution., Brene Brown
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, Dan Ariely
The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home, Dan Ariely
Irrationally Yours: On Missing Socks, Pickup Lines, and Other Existential Puzzles, Dan Ariely
Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl
12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, Jordan B. Peterson
This is How: Proven Aid in Overcoming Shyness, Molestation, Fatness, Spinsterhood, Grief, Disease, Lushery, Decrepitude & More. For Young and Old Alike, Augusten Burroughs
The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence, Gavin de Becker
The Noonday Demon: An Atlas Of Depression, Andrew Solomon
Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why, Laurence Gonzales
The Hilarious World of Depression, John Moe
Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression–And the Unexpected Solutions, Hari Johann
Blissology: The Art and Science of Happiness, Andy Baggott
Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself, Joe Dispenza
Conquer Your Critical Inner Voice: A Revolutionary Program to Counter Negative Thoughts and Live Free from Imagined Limitations, Robert Firestone
Depression: How It Happens and How It’s Healed, John Medina
Depression Is Contagious: How the Most Common Mood Disorder Is Spreading Around the World and How to Stop It, Michael Yapko
Dibs: In Search of Self: Personality Development in Play Therapy, Virginia Axline
Don’t Shoot the Dog: The Art of Teaching and Training, Karen Pryor
Dressing Your Truth: Discover your Personal Beauty Profile, Carol Tuttle
Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, Daniel Goleman
Engineering Happiness: A New Approach for Building a Joyful Life, Manel Baucells and Rakesh Sarin
Freedom from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: A Personalized Recovery Program for Living with Uncertainty, Jonathan Grayson
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science, Richard Layard
Happiness: The Science Behind Your Smile, Daniel Nettle
Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth, Ed Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener
How We Decide, Jonah Lehrer
Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resistence and Finding Joy, Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant
Self-compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself, Kristin Neff
Stumbling on Happiness, Daniel Gilbert
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel van der Kolk
The Compass of Pleasure: How Our Brains Make Fatty Foods, Orgasm, Exercise, Marijuana, Generosity, Vodka, Learning, and Gambling Feel So Good, David Linden
The Consuming Instinct: What Juicy Burgers, Ferraris, Pornography and Gift Giving Reveal About Human Nature, Gad Saad
The Dangerous Passion: Why Jealousy Is as Necessary as Love or Sex, David Buss
The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter–And How to Make the Most of Them Now, Meg Jay
The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work, Shawn Achor
The Happiness Equation: Want Nothing + Do Anything = Have Everything, Neil Pasricha
The Hidden Brain: How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars, and Save Our Lives, Shankar Vedantarn
The How of the Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want, Sonja Lyubomirsky
The Inner Game of Work: Focus, Learning, Pleasure, and Mobility in the Workplace, W. Timothy Gallway
The Magic of Thinking Big, David Joseph Schwartz
The Mindful Brain: The Neurobiology of Well-Being, Daniel Siegel
The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change, Charles Duhigg
The Power of Negative Thinking: An Unconventional Approach to Achieving Positive Results, Bob Knight and Bob Hammel
The Power of Positive Thinking: A Practical Guide to Mastering the Problems of Everyday Living, Norman Vincent Peale
The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse, Gregg Easterbrook
The Science of Happiness: How Our Brains Make Us Happy-and What We Can Do to Get Happier, Stefan Klein and Stephen Lehmann
The Smart But Scattered Guide to Success: How to Use Your Brain’s Executive Skills to Keep Up, Stay Calm, and Get Organized at Work and at Home, Peg Dawson and Richard Guare
The Underachiever’s Manifesto: The Guide to Accomplishing Little and Feeling Great, Ray Bennett
Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill
Tinker Dabble Doodle Try Unlock the Power of the Unfocused Mind, Srinivasan S. Pillay
Unchain Your Brain: 10 Steps to Breaking the Addictions That Steal Your Life, Daniel Amen and David Smith
What Makes Your Brain Happy and Why You Should Do the Opposite, David DiSalvo
Why We Feel: The Science of Human Emotion, Victor Johnston
You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You’re Deluding Yourself, David McRaney
You Need Help!: A Step-by-Step Plan to Convince a Loved One to Get Counseling, Mark Komrad and Rosalynn Carter
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed, Lori Gottlieb
Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life, Christie Tate
Sociology
David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, Malcom Gladwell
What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures, Malcom Gladwell
The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less, Barry Schwartz
Far from the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity, Andrew Solomon
A Billion Wicked Thoughts: What the World’s Largest Experiment Reveals About Human Desire, Sai Goddam and Ogi Ogas
Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America, Barbara Ehrenreich
Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Lives of Adolescent Girls, Mary Pipher
The Disappearance of Childhood, Neil Postman
The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation, Matt Ridley
The Plug-In Drug: Television, Computers and Family Life, Marie Winn
The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins
The Sober Truth: Debunking the Bad Science Behind 12-Step Programs and the Rehab Industry, Lance Dodes and Zachary Dodes
The War Against Boys: How Misguided Policies Are Harming Our Young Men, Christina Hoff Summers
White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son, Tim Wise
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, Neil Postman
The Content of Our Character: A New Vision of Race In America, Shelby Steele
Relationships
The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work, John Gottman
Why Marriages Succeed or Fail, John Gottman
His Needs, Her Needs: Building an Affair-Proof Marriage, Willard F. Harley, Jr.
Venus on Fire, Mars on Ice: Hormonal Balance, the Key to Life, Love and Energy, John Gray
Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus: The Definitive Guide to Relationships, John Gray
Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love, Sue Johnson
Love Sense: The Revolutionary New Science of Romantic Relationships, Sue Johnson
Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find – and Keep – Love, Amir Levine and Rachel Heller
Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself, Melody Beattie
Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life, Emily Nagoski
Couples, Gender, and Power: Creating Change in Intimate Relationships, Carmen Knudson-Martin and Anne Rankin Mahoney
How to Break Your Addiction to a Person: When–and Why–Love Doesn’t Work, Howard Halpern
Love Is Never Enough: How Couples Can Overcome Misunderstanding, Aaron Beck
Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough, Lori Gottlieb
Mating in Captivity: Sex, Lies and Domestic Bliss, Esther Perell
Neale Donald Walsch on Relationships, Neale Donald Walsch
Nonviolent Communication: Create Your Life, Your Relationships, and Your World in Harmony with Your Values, Marshall Rosenberg
Not “Just Friends”: Rebuilding Trust and Recovering Your Sanity After Infidelity, Sheila Glass
The Ethical Slut: A Practical Guide to Polyamory, Open Relationships, & Other Adventures, Janet Hardy and Dossie Easton
The Impossibility of Sex: Stories of the Intimate Relationship between Therapist and Client, Susie Orbach
The Relationship Cure: A 5 Step Guide to Strengthening Your Marriage, Family, and Friendships, John Gottman and Joan DeClaire
The Science of Trust: Emotional Attunement for Couples, John Gottman
Ten Lessons to Transform Your Marriage: America’s Love Lab Experts Share Their Strategies for Strengthening Your Relationship, John Gottman
The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work: A Practical Guide from the Country’s Foremost Relationship Expert, John Gottman and Nan Silver
Why Marriages Succeed or Fail and How You Can Make Yours Last, John Gottman
Treating Out of Control Sexual Behavior: Rethinking Sex Addiction, Douglas Braun-Harvey
Economics and Business
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Robert Cialdini
Grapevine: The New Art of Word-of-Mouth Marketing, Dave Balter and John Butman
Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcom Gladwell
Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Friends and Friends into Customers, Seth Godin
The Big Red Fez: How to Make Any Website Better, Seth Godin
The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick), Seth Godin
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose, Tony Hsieh
Discover Your Inner Economist, Tyler Cowen
Life After the 30-Second Spot: Energize Your Brand with a Bold Mix of Alternatives to Traditional Advertising, Joseph Jaffe
Evil Plans: Having Fun on the Road to World Domination, Hugh MacLeod
Damned Lies and Statistics: Untangling Numbers from the Media, Politicians, and Activists, Joel Best
More Damned Lies and Statistics: How Numbers Confuse Public Issues, Joel Best
The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More, Chris Anderson
What Would Google Do?: Reverse-Engineering the Fastest Growing Company in the History of the World, Jeff Jarvis
Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead, Sheryl Sandberg
Get Slightly Famous: Become a Celebrity in Your Field and Attract More Business with Less Effort, Steven Van Yoder
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, David Allen
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t, Jim Collins
Mindsharing: The Art of Crowdsourcing Everything, Lior Zore
Never Eat Alone and Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time, Keith Ferrazzi
Quitter: Closing the Gap Between Your Day Job & Your Dream Job, Jon Acuff
The Experience Economy: Work Is Theatre and Every Business Is a Stage, Joseph Pine and James Gilmore
The Four-Hour Work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich, Timothy Ferriss
The Fred Factor: How Passion in Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary into the Extraordinary, Mark Sanborn
The One-Minute Manager, Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson
The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential–in Business and in Life, Leo Babauta
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, Stephen R. Covey
The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business, Tara Hunt
Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust, Chris Brogan and Julien Smith
Viral Loop: From Facebook to Twitter, How Today’s Smartest Businesses Grow Themselves, Adam Penenberg
What Color Is your Parachute?: A Practical Manual for Job-hunters and Career-changers, Richard Nelson Bolles
The Freedom Formula: How to Put Soul in Your Business and Money in Your Bank, Christine Kloser
Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?, Seth Godin
Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable, Seth Godin
Science
Fringeology: How I Tried to Explain Away the Unexplainable – And Couldn’t, Steve Volk
The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality, Brian Greene
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, Neil deGrasse Tyson
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, Atul Gawande
Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe, Robert Lanza and Bob Berman
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, Mary Roach
Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, Mary Roach
Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, Mary Roach
Endurance: A Year in Space, A Lifetime of Discovery, Scott Kelly
Genome: The Autobiography of A Species in 23 Chapters, Matt Ridley
Spaceman: An Astronaut’s Unlikely Journey to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe, Mike Massimino
The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think, Jennifer Ackerman
The Disappearing Spoon and Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements, Sam Kean
The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality, Brian Greene
The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of A Citizen Scientist, Richard Feynman
The Particle at the Edge of the Universe: How the Hunt for the Higgs Boson Leads Us to the Edge of a New World, Sean Carroll
The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down to Size, Tor Norretranders
Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach Us About Health and the Science of Healing, Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers
Lucid Dreaming: A Concise Guide to Awakening in Your Dreams and in Your Life, Stephen LaBerge
A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming: Mastering the Art of Oneironautics, Dylan Tuccillo, Jared Zeizel and Thomas Peisel
History
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in an Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander
Alexander of Macedon, 356-323 B.C.: A Historical Biography, Peter Green
An American Childhood, Annie Dillard
A Short History of Financial Euphoria, John Kenneth Galbraith
Bomb: The Race to Build–and Steal–the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon, Steve Sheinkin
Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany, Stephen E. Ambrose
Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier, Katie Hafner
Don’t Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned, Kenneth Davis
Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage, Alfred Lansong
How the Web Was Won: How Bill Gates and His Internet Idealists Transformed the Microsoft Empire, Paul Andrews
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
Inside the Third Reich: Memoirs, Albert Speer
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, James W. Loewen
Miracle at Philadelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention, May to September 1787, Catherine Drinker Bower
Mythology, Edith Hamilton
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration, Isabel Wilkerson
The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, Michael Pollan
The Fasting Girl: A True Victorian Medical Mystery, Michelle Stacy
The Hundred Year Diet: America’s Voracious Appetite for Losing Weight, Susan Yager
The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child: Volume 1: Ancient Times, Susan Wise Bauer
The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child: Volume 2: The Middle Ages, Susan Wise Bauer
The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 3: Early Modern Times, Susan Wise Bauer
The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 4: The Modern Age, Susan Wise Bauer
Education and Parenting
The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence, Josh Waitzkin
Nurture Shock: New Thinking About Children, Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman
Instead of Education: Ways to Help People Do Things Better, John Holt
No Contest: The Case Against Competition, Alfie Kohn
The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing, Alfie Kohn
Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise, and Other Bribes, Alfie Kohn
In Their Own Way: Discovering and Encouraging Your Child’s Multiple Intelligences, Thomas Armstrong
Seven Kinds of Smart: Identifying and Developing Your Multiple Intelligences, Thomas Armstrong
Einstein Never Used Flash Cards: How Our Children Really Learn–And Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek
Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Howard Gardner
Free-Range Learning: How Homeschooling Changes Everything, Laura Grace Weldon
Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-class Performers From Everybody Else, Geoffrey Colvin
The Mismeasure of Man, Stephen Jay Gould
The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had, Susan Wise Bauer
The Well-trained Mind: A Guide to a Classical Education at Home, Susan Wise Bauer
What Your Kindergartener Needs to Know: Fundamentals of a Good Kindergarten Education, E.D. Hirsch
What Your First Grader Needs to Know: Fundamentals of a Good First-Grade Education, E.D. Hirsch
What Your Second Grader Needs to Know: Fundamentals of a Good Second-Grade Education, E.D. Hirsch
What Your Third Grader Needs to Know: Fundamentals of a Good Third-Grade Education, E.D. Hirsch
What Your Fourth Grader Needs to Know: Fundamentals of a Good Fourth-Grade Education, E.D. Hirsch
What Your Fifth Grader Needs to Know: Fundamentals of a Good Fifth-Grade Education, E.D. Hirsch
What Your Sixth Grader Needs to Know: Fundamentals of a Good Sixth-Grade Education, E.D. Hirsch
Attachment Parenting: Instinctive Care for Your Baby and Young Child, Katie Allison Granju and Betsy Kennedy
Between Parents and Child, Haim G. Ginott
Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five, John Medina
How to Talk So Your Kids Will Listen: From Toddlers to Teenagers; Connecting with Your Children at Every Age, H. Norman Wright
If I Have to Tell You One More Time …: The Revolutionary Program That Gets Your Kids to Listen Without Nagging, Reminding, or Yelling, Amy McCready
Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder, Richard Louv
Liberated Parents, Liberated Children: Your Guide to a Happier Family, Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish
Siblings Without Rivalry: How to Help Your Children Live Together So You Can Live Too, Adele Faber andd Elaine Mazlish
Oh Crap! Potty Training: Everything Modern Parents Need to Know to Do It Once and Do It Right, Jamie Glowacki
Parenting with Dignity: Getting Beyond Crisis Management–A Five-Point Plan for Raising Responsible, Independent Kids, Mac Bledsoe
Parenting with Love and Logic: Teaching Children Responsibility, Foster Cline and Jim Fay
Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child: The Heart of Parenting, John Gottman and Joan DeClaire
The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby From Birth to Age Two, Barry Sears
The Case for Make-Believe: Saving Play in a Commercialized World, Susan Linn
The Trouble with Perfect: How Parents Can Avoid the Overachievement Trap and Still Raise Successful Children, Elisabeth Guthrie and Kathy Matthews
The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind, Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson
Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason, Alfie Kohn
Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being A Great Parent Is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think, Bryan Douglas Caplan
The Child Whisperer: The Ultimate Handbook for Raising Happy, Successful and Cooperative Children, Carol Tuttle
Spirituality
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, Eckhart Tolle
A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, Eckhart Tolle
Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha, Tara Brach
Whatever Arises, Love That: A Love Revolution That Begins with You, Matt Kahn
Loving What Is: How Four Questions Can Change Your Life, Byron Katie
A Mind at Home with Itself: How Asking Four Questions Can Free Your Mind, Open Your Heart, and Turn Your World Around, Byron Katie and Stephen Mitchell
Conversations with God: An Uncommon Dialogue, Book One, Neale Donald Walsch
Conversations with God: An Uncommon Dialogue, Book Two, Neale Donald Walsch
Conversations with God: An Uncommon Dialogue, Book Three, Neale Donald Walsch
Dying to Be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing, Anita Moorjani
Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness, Jon Kabat-Zinn
I Need Your Love–Is That True?: How to Stop Seeking Love, Approval, and Appreciation and Start Finding Them Instead, Byron Katie
Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness, Sharon Salzberg
Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient, and the Past-Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives, Brian Weiss
Meditation Without Gurus: A Guide to the Heart of Practice, Clark Strand
Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life, Thich Nhat Hanh
Living Buddha, Living Christ, Thich Nhat Hanh
Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity, Bruce Bawer
The Fifth Agreement: A Practical Guide to Self-Mastery, Don Miguel Ruiz and Don Jose Ruiz
The Quantum Doctor: A Quantum Physicist Explains the Healing Power of Integrative Medicine, Amit Goswami
The Search For Grace: A Documented Case of Murder and Reincarnation, Bruce Goldberg
The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity, William Young
Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation In Everyday Life, Jon Kabat-Zinn
You Are the Placebo: Making Your Mind Matter, Joe Dispenza
How God Changes your Brain: Breakthrough Findings From A Leading Neuroscientist, Andrew Newberg
Life After Life: The Investigation of a Phenomenon–Survival of Bodily Death, Raymond A. Moody, Jr.
Everything You Need to Know to Feel Go(o)d, Candace Pert
Molecules of Emotion: Why You Feel the Way You Feel, Candace Pert
Science and the Near-Death Experience: How Consciousness Survives Death, Chris Carter
Visions, Trips, and Crowded Rooms, David Kessler
The Wisdom of No Escape and the Path of Loving Kindness, Pema Chodron
When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times, Pema Chodron
Food & Nutrition
Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual, Michael Pollan
Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It, Gary Taubes
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, Eric Schlosser
The Food Therapist: Break Bad Habits, Eat with Intention, and Indulge Without Worry, Shira Lenhewski
Mindful Eating: A Guide to Rediscovering a Healthy and Joyful Relationship with Food, Jan Chozen Bays
Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think, Brian Wansink
Crave: Why You Binge Eat and How to Stop, Cynthia Bulik
Eat Fat Get Thin: Why the Fat We Eat Is the Key to Sustained Weight Loss and Vibrant Health, Mark Hyman
Fasting and Eating for Health: A Medical Doctor’s Proram for Conquering Disease, Joel Fuhrman
How to Make Almost Any Diet Work, Anne Katherine
Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach, Evelyn Tribole & Elyse Resch
Neanderthin: A Cave Man’s Guide to Nutrition, Ray Audette and Tony Gilchrist
Rethinking Thin: The New Science of Weight Loss–and the Myths and Realities of Dieting, Gina Kolata
The Diet Cure: The 8-Step Program to Rebalance Your Body and End Food Cravings, Weight Gain and Mood Swings-Naturally, Julia Ross
Love Hunger: Breaking Free from Food Addiction, Frank Minirth, Paul Meier, Robert Hemfelt and Sharon Sweed and Don Hawkins
The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet, Robb Wolf
The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability, Liere Keith
Trick and Treat: How “Healthy Eating” Is Making Us Ill, Barry Groves
Women, Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything, Geneen Roth
When You Eat at the Refrigerator, Pull Up a Chair: 50 Ways to Feel Thin, Gorgeous, and Happy (When You Feel Anything But), Geneen Roth
Breaking Free from Emotional Eating, Geneen Roth
Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual, Michael Pollan
In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, Michael Pollan
Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control, and Disease, Gary Taubes
Writing and Creativity
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, Elizabeth Gilbert
Ignore Everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity, Hugh MacLeod
Aspects of the Novel, E.M. Forster
A Whack On the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative, Roger von Oech
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, Anne Lamott
Don’t Make Me Think!: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, Steve Krug
Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction, Tracy Kidder and Richard Todd
Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads, Luke Sullivan
Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One and Never Lets Them Go, Leslie Edgerton
How Fiction Works, James Wood
How to Be Funny: The One and Only Practical Guide for Every Occasion, Situation, and Disaster (No Kidding), Jon Macks
Manuscript Makeover: Revision Techniques No Fiction Writer Can Afford to Ignore, Elizabeth Lyon
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Steven King
Plot and Structure: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting a Plot That Grips Readers from Start to Finish, James Scott Bell
Save the Cat!: The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need, Blake Snyder
Save the Cat! Goes to the Movies: The Screenwriter’s Guide to Every Story Ever Told, Blake Snyder
Sick in the Head: Conversations about Life and Comedy, Judd Apatow
Spunk and Bite: A Writer’s Guide to Punchier, More Engaging Language and Style, Arthur Plotnik
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation, Lester Kaufman and Jane Straus
The Elements of Style, William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White
The Fire in Fiction: Passion, Purpose, and Techniques to Make Your Novel Great, Donald Maass
The Non-Designer’s Design Book, Robin Williams
The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master, Martha Alderson
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battle, Steven Pressfield
The Well-Fed Writer: Financial Self-Sufficiency as a Commercial Freelancer in Six Months or Less, Peter Bowerman
The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, Christopher Vogler
Writing Irresistible Kidlit: The Ultimate Guide to Crafting Fiction for Young Adult and Middle Grade Readers, Mary Cole
Writing the Breakout Novel: Insider Advice for Taking Your Fiction to the Next Level, Donald Maas
Your Life Is A Book: How to Craft and Publish Your Memoir, Brenda Peterson and Sarah Jane Freymann
Memoir
When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi
Educated: A Memoir, Tara Westover
Go Ask Alice, Anonymous
A Stolen Life: A Memoir, Jaycee Dugard
A House in the Sky, Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett
Into the Wild, John Krakauer
Untamed, Glennon Doyle
Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis
The Cross and the Switchblade, David Wilkerson
A Severe Mercy, Sheldon Vanauken
A Grief Observed, C.S. Lewis
Classic Nonfiction
The Holy Bible
The writings of Buddha (500s–300s BCE)
The Analects, Confucius (500s BCE)
Tao Te Ching, Lao Tze (500s BCE)
The Art of War, Sun Tzu (500s BCE)
The Magna Carta (1200s)
The Declaration of Independence (1700s)
The Constitution of the United States (1700s)
The Bill of Rights (1700s)
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Olaudah Equiano (1700s)
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, Thomas de Quincey (1800s)
The Gettysburg Address (1800s)
Narrative of Sojourner Truth, Sojourner Truth (1800s)
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe (1800s)
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs (1800s)
Walden, Henry David Thoreau (1800s)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Frederick Douglass (1800s)
The Souls of Black Folks, W. E. B. DuBois (1900s)
Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, James Weldon Johnson (1900s)
I Have a Dream, Martin Luther King, Jr. (1900s)
The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank (1900s)
The Story of My Life, Helen Keller (1900s)
Roots, Alex Haley (1900s)
Autobiography of Malcom X, Malcom X (1900s)
The Jungle, Upton Sinclair (1900s)
Black Boy, Richard Wright (1900s)
Native Son, Richard Wright (1900s)
Black Like Me, John Howard Griffin (1900s)
The Hiding Place, Corrie Ten Boom (1900s)
A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking (1900s)
The Meaning of It All, Richard Feynman (1900s)
Advanced Classic Nonfiction
The Histories, Herodotus (400s BCE)
The Republic, Plato (400s BCE)
History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides (400s BCE)
Rhetoric, Aristotle (300s BCE)
Apology, Plato (300s BCE)
Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle (300s BCE)
On the Nature of Things, Lucretius (60s BCE)
De Republica, Cicero (50s BCE)
The Early History of Rome, Livy (20s BCE)
Wars of the Jews, Josephus (70s CE)
Annals, Tacitus (100s CE)
The Twelve Caesars, Suetonius (100s CE)
Anabasis of Alexander, Arrian (100s CE)
Meditations, Marcus Aurelius (100s CE)
Lives of Noble Greeks and Romans, Plutarch (100s CE)
Enchiridion, Epictetus (100s CE)
The Confessions, Saint Augustine (300s)
The City of God, St. Augustine (400s)
The Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius (500s)
The Quran (600s)
The Ecclesiastical History, Adam Bede (700s)
The Letters of Abelard and Heloise, Peter and Heolise Abelard (1100s)
Summa Theologiae, Thomas Aquinas (1200s)
The Imitation of Christ, Thomas a Kempis (1400s)
In Praise of Folly, Erasmus (1500s)
The Education of a Christian Prince, Erasmus (1500s)
The Freedom of a Christian, Martin Luther (1500s)
Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin (1500s)
History of the Reformation, John Knox (1500s)
The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila, Teresa of Avila (1500s)
The Interior Castle, St. Teresa of Avila (1500s)
Dark Night of the Soul, St. John of the Cross (1500s)
The Defense of Poesy, Sir Philip Sidney (1500s)
Novum Organum, Frances Bacon (1600s)
The Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes (1600s)
Meditations on First Philosophy, Rene Descartes (1600s)
Discourse on Method, Rene Descartes (1600s)
Essay Concerning Human Understanding, John Locke (1600s)
The Second Treatise of Government, John Locke (1600s)
The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Samuel Pepys (1600s)
Wonders of the Invisible World, Cotton Mather (1600s)
An Essay on Criticism, Alexander Pope (1700s)
An Essay on Man, Alexander Pope (1700s)
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Franklin (1700s)
The Rights of Man, Thomas Paine (1700s)
Common Sense, Thomas Paine (1700s)
On Liberty, John Stuart Mill (1800s)
The Social Contract, Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1700s)
The Journal of John Woolman, John Woolman (1700s)
The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith (1700s)
A Critique of Pure Reason, Immanuel Kant (1700s)
On American Taxation, Edmund Burke (1700s)
Life of Johnson, James Boswell (1700s)
The Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton (1700s)
Memoir, Correspondence and Misc., Thomas Jefferson (1800s)
The Memoirs of Victor Hugo, Victor Hugo (1800s)
Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville (1800s)
A Child’s History of England, Charles Dickens (1800s)
For Self-Examination, Soren Kierkegaard (1800s)
On the Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection, Charles Darwin (1800s)
The Education of Henry Adams, Henry Adams (1800s)
Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Frederich Nietzsche (1800s)
Beyond Good and Evil, Frederich Nietzsche (1800s)
An Autobiography, Annie Besant (1800s)
Notes on Nursing, Florence Nightingale (1800s)
Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler (1900s)
Civilization and Its Discontents, Sigmund Freud (1900s)
The Ego and the Id, Sigmund Freud (1900s)
The Interpretation of Dreams, Sigmund Freud (1900s)
Other Recommended Books
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A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka: A Memoir, Lev Golinkin
A Field Guide to Happiness: What I Learned in Bhutan About Living, Loving, and Waking Up, Linda Leaming
Aku-Aku: The Secret of Easter Island, Thor Heyerdahl
An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination, Elizabeth McCracken
Angry Fat Girls/Eating Ice Cream with My Dog, Frances Kuffel
A Queer and Pleasant Danger, Kate Bornstein
As a Man Thinketh: Classic Wisdom for Proper Thought, Strong Character, and Right Actions, James Allen
Running with Scissors: A Memoir, Augusten Burroughs
Dry: A Memoir, Augusten Burroughs
Lust and Wonder, Augusten Burroughs
A Wolf at the Table, Augusten Burroughs
Toil and Trouble: A Memoir, Augusten Burroughs
Autobiography of A Face, Lucy Grealy
A Way of Being, Carl Rogers
A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman, Joan Anderson
Basic Counseling Techniques: A Beginning Therapist’s Toolkit, Wayne Perry
Becoming Myself: A Psychiatrist’s Memoir, Irvin Yalom
Beyond Order, Jordan B. Peterson
Blue Collar Intellectuals: When the Enlightened and the Everyman Elevated America, Daniel Flynn
Bossypants, Tina Fey
Boy Erased, Garrard Conley
Chelsea Handler
Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert
Committed, Elizabeth Gilbert
Cult Child, Vennie Kocsis
Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets, and Blood Atonement
Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness, William Styron
David Sedaris
Devotion: A Memoir, Dani Shapiro
Disaster Preparedness, Heather Harrilesky
Dying: A Memoir, Cory Taylor
Eating the Dinosaur, Chuck Klosterman
Escape from Babel: Toward a Unifying Language for Psychotherapy Practice, Scott Miller, Barry Duncan and Mark Hubble
Excavation: A Memoir, Wendy Ortiz
Fall to Pieces: A Memoir of Drugs, Rock ‘n’ Roll, and Mental Illness, Mary Forsberg Weiland
Fargo Rock City, Chuck Klosterman
Favorite Wife: Escape From Polygamy, Susan Schmidt
Fifty Acres and a Poodle: A Story of Love, Livestock, and Finding Myself on a Farm, Jeanne Marie Laskas
Five Men Who Broke My Heart: A Memoir, Susan Shapiro
Flat Broke with Two Goats: A Memoir, Jennifer McGaha
Found: A Memoir, Jennifer Lauck
Full: How I Learned to Satisfy My Insatiable Hunger and Feed My Soul, Kimber Simpkins
Girl in a Band: A Memoir, Kim Gordon
Girl in the Woods: A Memoir, Aspen Matis
Girl Walks Out of A Bar: A Memoir, Lisa Smith
Give Me Everything You Have, James Lesdun
God Hunger, Desiree Ayres
Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith, Anne Lamott
Growing Up Amish: A Memoir
Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers, Anne Lamott
Hidden Valley Road, Robert Kolker
Holy Hunger: A Memoir of Desire, Margaret Bulitt-Jonas
How I Gave Up My Low-Fat Diet and Lost 40 Pounds-And How You Can, Too!, Dana Carpender
How Starbucks Saved My Life, Michael Gill
How To Stay Married: The Adventures of a Woman Who Learnt to Travel Light in Life, Love and Relationships, Mary-Lou Stephens
Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body, Roxanne Gay
Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl: A Memoir, Carrie Brownstein
Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh
In Memory of Bread: A Memoir, Paul Graham
In Small Doses, Marc Pollard
In Therapy: The Unfolding Story, Susie Orbach
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, Gabor Matt
Into the Magic Shop, James Doyt
It Was Me All Along: A Memoir, Andie Mitchell
Jennifer, Gwyneth and Me, Rachel Bersche
Kathy Griffin’s Celebrity Run-Ins, Kathy Griffin
Killing Yourself to Live, Chuck Klosterman
Klostermann II, Chuck Klostermann
Lab Girl, Hope Jahren
Learning to Eat Along the Way: A Memoir, Margaret Bendet
Let’s Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship
Letters to a Young Therapist, Mary Pipher
Lights On, Rats Out: A Memoir, Cree LeFavour
Lit, Mary Karr
Locked Up for Eating Too Much, Debbie Danowski
Lost and Found, Geneen Roth
Love in a Time of Homeschooling, Laura Brodie
Love Warrior: A Memoir, Glennon Doyle
Lucky Man: A Memoir, Michael J. Fox
Madness: A Bipolar Life, Marya Hornbacher
Manic, Terri Cheney
Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home, Rhoda Janzen
Mental: Lithium, Love, and Losing My Mind, Jaime Lowe
MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend, Rachel Bertsche
My Glory Was I Had Such Friends, Amy Silverstein
My Two Moms, Zach Wahls
Nightmare in Wichita: The Hunt for the BTK Strangler, Robert Beattie
Obsessed, Allison Britz
Official Book Club Selection, Kathy Griffin
On Becoming a Better Therapist: Evidence-based Practice One Client at a Time, Barry Duncan
On Becoming a Person, Carl Rogers
Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son’s First Year, Anne Lamott
Orange Is the New Black: My Year in A Women’s Prison, Piper Kerman
Ordinary Light: A Memoir, Tracy K. Smith
Out of Orange: A Memoir, Cleary Wolters
Pajama School: Stories From the Life of a Homeschool Graduate, Natalie Wicham
Passage, Connie Willis
Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner and Saint
Plan B, Anne Lamott
Primates of Park Avenue: A Memoir, Wednesday Martin
Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey Into the Afterlife, Eben Alexander
Proudly Serving My Corporate Masters, Adam Bau
Purge: Rehab Diaries, Nicole Johns
Red, Hot and Holy: A Heretic’s Love Story
Same Kind of Different as Me, Ron Hall
Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream, Adam Shepard
Seasons of a Mother’s Heart, Sally Clarkson
Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, Chuck Klostermann
Sex, Drugs and Meditation: How One Woman Changed Her Life, Saved Her Job and Found a Husband by Mary-Lou Stephens
Sex Object: A Memoir, Jessica Valenti
Sin Bravely: A Memoir of Spiritual Disobedience, Maggie Rowe
Spy Secrets That Can Save Your Life, Jason Hanson
Stephen Fry in America: Fifty States and the Man Who Set Out to See Them All, Stephen Fry
Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope and Repair, Anne Lamott
Straight Pepper Diet: A Memoir, Joseph W. Naus
The Art of Work: A Proven Path to Discovering What You Were Meant to Do, Jeff Goins
The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee, Sarah Silverman
The Boston Strangler, Gerold Frank
The Chicken Chronicles, Alice Walker
The Child Bride, Cathy Glass
The Chronology of Water, Lidia Yuknavitch
The Compound Effect: Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success, Darren Hardy
The Craggy Hole in My Heart and the Cat Who Fixed It, Geneen Roth
The Fat Girl’s Guide to Life, Wendy Shanker
The Gift of Therapy, Irvin Yalom
The Good Eater, Ron Saxen
The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin
The Janus Point, Julian Barbour
The Making of a Therapist, Louis Cozolino
The Man with the Candy, Jack Olsen
The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance: A Memoir, Elna Baker
The Night of the Grizzlies, Jack Olsen
The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain, Bill Bryson
The Rules Do Not Apply, Ariel Levy
The Secrets of Exceptional Counselors, Jeffrey A. Kottler
The Seven Good Years: A Memoir, Etgar Keret
The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, Elisabeth Tova Bailey
The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy, Ann Rule
The Two Kinds of Decay, Sarah Manguso
The Wishing Year: A House, a Man, My Soul: A Memoir of Fulfilled Desire, Noelle Oxenhandler
The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion
The Year of No Clutter, Eve M. Schaub
They Left Us Everything: A Memoir, Plum Johnson
This Close to Happy: A Reckoning with Depression, Daphne Merkin
Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith, Anne Lamott
Triumph: Life After the Cult–A Survivor’s Lessons
Two of a Kind: The Hillside Stranglers, Darcy O’Brien
Vow: A Memoir of Marriage (and Other Affairs), Wendy Plum
Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress, Debra Ginsberg
What Therapists Don’t Talk About and Why, Pope, Sonne & Greene
When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi
Why I Left the Amish: A Memoir, Saloma Miller Furlong
Wild, Cheryl Strayed
Year of No Sugar: A Memoir, Eve O. Schaub
You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me: A Memoir, Sherman Alexie
Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Paul Theroux
I Pledge Allegiance…: The True Story of the Walkers: An American Spy Family, Howard Blum
Is Paris Burning?, Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre
Jay J. Armes, Investigator, Jay J. Armes and Fredrick Nolan
Riding the Iron Rooster, Paul Theroux
The Bridge at Chappaquiddick, Jack Olsen
The Devil’s Triangle, Richard Winer
The War Magician, David Fisher
Treblinka, Jean-Francois Steiner
Twelve Great Philosophers, Wayne Pomerleau
The Year of Living Dangerously: Adventures in Homeschooling, Quinn Cummings
The Unschooling Handbook, Mary Griffith
Teach Your Own: The John Holt Book of Homeschooling, John Holt
Un-Jobbing: The Adult Liberation Handbook, Michael Fogler
Unschooling Rules, Clark Aldrich
Getting Things Done: The ABCs of Time Management, Edwin Bliss
The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence
The Top Ten Things Dead People Want to Tell YOU, Mike Dooley
Triumph Over Disease By Fasting and Natural Diet, Dr. Jack Goldstein
The Fit for Life Solution, Harvey Diamond
The Great Cholesterol Con, Dr. Malcolm Kendrick
Quick Fasting, Nathaniel Hawthorne Bronner, Jr.
Mastering Leptin, Byron J. Richards
Fit for Life; Not Fat for Life, Harvey Diamond
Natural Hygiene, Herbert Shelton
The End of Overeating, David A. Kessler
The Fasting Cure, Upton Sinclair
Why Weight?, Geneen Roth
The Philosophy of Fasting; A Message for Sufferers and Sinners, Edward Earle Purinton
Autobiography of A Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda
