The perfect little infinite guide on how to find yourself again.
Sometimes, life can feel like it’s knocked us off course, right?
Between all the chaos of daily grind, personal struggles, or just trying to figure out who you are, it’s easy to lose sight of yourself. But here’s the thing: the right book can be a total game-changer when it comes to rediscovering your purpose and finding some inner peace. Whether you’re looking for wisdom, a new perspective, or just some real talk that speaks to your experiences, there are books out there made for that journey. So, if you’re ready to reconnect with yourself and make sense of all the ups and downs, you’re not alone—let’s dive into some reads that could help you find your way again. The right book can be like a good friend who reminds you who you are and centers you back to YOUR life story guiding you on how to find yourself again.
Get Me Through the Next Five Minutes: Odes to Being Alive by James Parker
Our politics are broken; our world is melting; the next catastrophe looms. Enter James Parker, who for years now has been writing odes of appreciation on subjects from the seemingly minor to the unexpected to the seemingly minor, unexpected, and hyper specific. Finally collecting Parker’s beloved and much-lauded odes in one place, this volume demonstrates the profound power of the form.
Each ode is an exercise in gratitude. Each celebrates the permanent susceptibility of everyday humdrum life to dazzling saturations of divine light: the squirrel in the street, the crying baby, the misplaced cup of tea. Parker’s odes are songs of praise, but with a decent amount of complaining in there, too: a human ratio of moans. Varied in length but unified in tone, mostly in prose, sometimes toppling into verse, the odes range across music, movies, literature, psychology, and beyond, all through the lens of Parker’s personal history. Gathered together, they form an accidental how-to guide to honoring your own experience–and to finding your own odes.
Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It by Ethan Kross
NATIONAL BESTSELLER – An award-winning psychologist reveals the hidden power of our inner voice and shows how to harness it to combat anxiety, improve physical and mental health, and deepen our relationships with others.
LONGLISTED FOR THE PORCHLIGHT BUSINESS BOOK AWARD – “A masterpiece.”–Angela Duckworth, bestselling author of Grit – Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Adam Grant, and Daniel H. Pink’s Next Big Idea Club Winter 2021 Winning Selection
One of the best new books of the year–The Washington Post, BBC, USA Today, CNN Underscored, Shape, Behavioral Scientist, PopSugar – Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, and Shelf Awareness starred reviews
Is talking to yourself normal? The truth is that we all have a voice in our head. When we talk to ourselves, we often hope to tap into our inner coach but find our inner critic instead. When we’re facing a tough task, our inner coach can buoy us up: Focus–you can do this. But, just as often, our inner critic sinks us entirely: I’m going to fail. They’ll all laugh at me. What’s the use?
In Chatter, acclaimed psychologist Ethan Kross explores the silent conversations we have with ourselves. Interweaving groundbreaking behavioral and brain research from his own lab with real-world case studies–from a pitcher who forgets how to pitch, to a Harvard undergrad negotiating her double life as a spy–Kross explains how these conversations shape our lives, work, and relationships. He warns that giving in to negative and disorienting self-talk–what he calls “chatter”–can tank our health, sink our moods, strain our social connections, and cause us to fold under pressure.
Unhappy Achiever: Rejecting the Good Girl Image and Reclaiming the Joy of Inner Fulfillment by Ashley Jordan
Unhappy Achiever is a story of healing, of revolutionary awakening–of what happens when we summon our courage to step out from behind the mask of the “good girl” to wholeheartedly embrace our true selves and the joy of being perfectly imperfect.
It’s no secret that women have been sold a bill of goods: we’re taught we can–and should–have it all and that happiness is ours for the taking…if. If we go to college and become a degreed professional. Will we marry someone respectable and buy a house in a picturesque neighborhood. Or if we become the proud parents of two children. If we land our dream job, get promoted, or make partner. Women spend decades, even lifetimes, believing: If I can just do–or have–or become–that one thing, I’ll be satisfied, content, complete.
Many of us nearly “do” ourselves to death, sacrificing health and relationships to arrive at some elusive, “ultimate” point of existence. Still, no matter how much we do, genuine satisfaction evades us. And the parts of us we sought to fill with the trappings of wealth, power, goodness, and praise somehow feel emptier than before. All the while, missing the most fundamental key to our happiness–the joy of inner fulfillment.
Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies: And Other Rituals to Fix Your Life, from Someone Who’s Been There by Tara Schuster
Brutally honest, often hilarious, hard-won lessons in learning to love and care for yourself from a former vice president at Comedy Central, Jordan Peele
By the time she was in her late twenties, Tara Schuster was a rising TV executive who had worked for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and helped launch Key & Peele to viral superstardom. By all appearances, she had mastered being a grown-up. But beneath that veneer of success, she was a chronically anxious, self-medicating mess. No one knew that her road to adulthood had been paved with depression, anxiety, and shame, owing in large part to her minimally parented upbringing. She realized she’d hit rock bottom when she drunk-dialed her therapist pleading for help.
Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies is the story of Tara’s path to re-parenting herself and becoming a “ninja of self-love.”
Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brené Brown
Don’t miss the five-part Max docuseries Brené Brown: Atlas of the Heart!
“True belonging doesn’t require us to change who we are. It requires us to be who we are.” Social scientist Brené Brown, PhD, MSW, has sparked a global conversation about the experiences that bring meaning to our lives–experiences of courage, vulnerability, love, belonging, shame, and empathy. In Braving the Wilderness, Brown redefines what it means to truly belong in an age of increased polarization. With her trademark mix of research, storytelling, and honesty, Brown will again change the cultural conversation while mapping a clear path to true belonging.Brown argues that we’re experiencing a spiritual crisis of disconnection, and introduces four practices of true belonging that challenge everything we believe about ourselves and each other.
Inner Glimpse by IDIL Ahmed
Inner Glimpse is about accessing your own inner power. You are the one who already carries the codes, and this book is meant to activate a powerful reminder within you that will ignite your true potential. You will experience many profound realizations that will elevate your state of mind and take your life to a whole new level. Everything found inside this book will allow you to see beyond all limitations.
Inner Glimpse will give you a new sense of hope and a vision that is truly unstoppable. You will tune into your own inner source of energy for greater passion for life, true dedication to the realization of your dreams, and real energy to navigate this adventure you’re on. You will instantly begin to see beyond the illusions, tap into your own inner superpowers, and remember your own greatness. Every single page will provide a surge of energy. Miracles will start to become natural occurrences. A new you will come alive, and you will remember what has always been there. You now have access to activate your divine spark.
What’s Inside?
Unfuck Your Shame: Using Science to Accept Our Feelings, Resolve Guilt, and Connect with Ourselves by Faith G Harper
A no-nonsense and helpful guide on how to cope with a slew of mental-health issues that are hellbent on ruining the lives of millions of people worldwide.Our brains do their best to help us out, but every so often they can be real assholes–having melt downs, getting addicted to things, or shutting down completely at the worst possible moments. Your brain knows it’s not good to do these things, but it can’t help it sometimes–especially if it’s obsessing about trauma it can’t overcome. That’s where this life-changing book comes in.
Evolving While Black: The Ultimate Guide to Happiness and Transformation on Your Own Terms by Chianti Lomax
A Black woman’s guide to authentic happiness, healing, and radical transformation
“If you asked my grandmother what self-care was,” says Chianti Lomax, “I’m pretty sure her response would be: ‘Self-care? That’s for rich white women!'” Our mothers and grandmothers were too busy fighting for the future of their families to often consider their own wellness and happiness–and now, as the inheritors of their mighty labors, we have the opportunity to do more than simply survive. So how do we thrive? How do Black women grow, transform, and make good use of the power they have?
In Evolving While Black, Lomax–renowned life coach and “Chief Happiness Curator”–shares a guide to help Black women achieve authentic happiness and liberation on their own terms. By shifting the culturally constrained language and perspective from which mindfulness and self-care practices are normally presented, she breaks down barriers and invites us to bring the power of these evidence-based teachings into our lives, families, and communities. This joyous book paves the way for personal growth, presenting bite-size actions that lead to healing, confidence, self-efficacy, and, most importantly, true self-love. Lomax offers practices, challenges, and reflections in each chapter, exploring topics such as: