Self-Improvement bestsellers

Dare to Lead

“I LOVE this book. I learned so much during my first listen via Libro.fm that I am going to read it again (this time in hardcover, with colleagues reading alongside so we can discuss). It's super-motivating and inspiring, but totally research-based. I feel that leaders at every type of organization would benefit from reading this. (Also: I got to interview Brené Brown about vulnerability and leadership in Feb. 2021 and it was a career/life highlight!) ”

Janet, Avid Bookshop

The Light We Carry

“Michelle Obama is back with more words of wisdom, pillars of humility, and just simply Michelle. The Light We Carry is an uplighting book that will help you deal with the emotions and isolation that we have had to deal with during and after the pandemic. But more than that, she has compiled questions that she has been asked again and again, and acknowledges each with personal stories, anecdotes, wisdom, and love. This book feel like you are sitting down with an old friend when you have had a bad day and and just need some love and a hot drink.”

Gretchen, Fiction Addiction

How to Keep House While Drowning

“I absolutely loved the book and wanted to immediately listen to it again! I was also thrilled to be reading a book written by a Licensed Professional Counselor about cleaning of all things! This book's primary focus is mental health, and this is the lens in which cleaning is viewed from. Davis addresses trauma and how it can impact the completion of certain tasks in the home, introduces self-care kits and placing them around the house, and dedicates a portion of her book on caring for Black hair. What I think is most important about this book is its emphasis on disconnecting cleaning, morality, and identity. You are not a bad parent or person if your home is messy. Throughout the book, Davis offers and encourages self-compassionate reframing of thoughts about cleaning. She prompts the reader to reflect on where these thoughts and feelings about cleaning and its assumed connection to self-worth and competency come from. Whether you are struggling with anxiety, fatigue, depression, ADHD, or lack of support, or wish to have a healthier relationship with cleaning and yourself, I would highly recommend this book.”

R. Aimee, The Bluestocking Bookshop

The #1 New York Times bestseller. Over 10 million copies sold!

Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results

No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving--every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones,... Read more »

You Could Make This Place Beautiful

“A memoir about the dissolution of marriage is not something I would normally gravitate towards, but I'm so glad I decided to give it a shot. You Could Make This Place Beautiful is about so much more than that - uneven division of household labor, the dismissal of creative careers, the intuitiveness of children, and how to rebuild a life after betrayal. Chef's kiss, five stars, etc etc.”

Maggie, Carmichael's Bookstore

The Creative Act

“The Creative Act by Rick Rubin is a wise and inspiring discussion of what it means to be an artist, a maker. He emphasizes that creativity is a way of being in the world - open, attentive, accepting of awe. And makes the case that each of us has a unique vantage onto the world and that expressing how life looks and feels to us is worth communicating, and that those exchanges are vital to our human project. ”

Carol, A Great Good Place for Books

Winner of the 2023 Grammy for Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording!Audie Award Winner for Audiobook of the Year!Narrated by Viola DavisIn my book, you will meet a little girl named Viola who ran from her past until she made a life-changing decision to stop running forever.This is my story, from a crumbling apartment in Central... Read more »

If you enjoyed What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat, then you’ll love “You Just Need to Lose Weight”.

“Aubrey Gordon is one of the leading voices in the fat activist movement and I consider myself lucky to read her words (and listen to her podcast with Michael Hobbs called Maintenance Phase). If you want to be a better person and deprogram yourself from the weight-obsessed culture American life is steeped in, read both her books and listen to the podcast. They're life-changing. ”

Conner, Tattered Cover

If you enjoyed Seed to Dust, then you’ll love The Book of Delights.

“This is one of my favorite books to recommend, especially for someone looking for a gift. Poet and avid gardener Ross Gay, who also is the fantastic narrator, reflects on what delights him over the course of a year. Lyrical, humorous, philosophical and sometimes heartbreaking, these essays may be bite-sized but they will fill you up. A great way to recalibrate and appreciate our own day to day pleasures and challenges.”

Jennifer, East City Bookshop

Enchantment

“May writes with such magic; accurately capturing the collective feeling of grief and trauma while also sharing examples of moments of gratitude and wonder. I enjoyed every word of this book.”

Margaret McCampbell, Reads & Company

Untamed

“I read this book non-stop for a week, underlining, reading passages to my friends & recommending it to anyone with a pulse. There are many great stories inside, but their charm & power, really, is all Glennon. She is a spiritual seeker & leader who loves reality tv, a formidable activist on the global scale who gets anxiety sweats when the doorbell rings. Equal parts poetic & conversational, memoir & manifesto. Her love story will make you swoon. Her shamelessness & relentless self-interrogation will make you feel deeply exposed. This is not a "you can do it, girl!" book. It's more like a spiritual marathon that invites you to jump the guardrail & take off.”

Elon, Apotheosis Comics

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A groundbreaking exploration of the ancient rules women unwittingly follow in order to be considered “good,” revealing how the Seven Deadly Sins still control and distort our lives and illuminating a path toward a more balanced, spiritually complete way to live

Why do women equate self-denial with being good?

We... Read more »

Four Thousand Weeks

“A game-changer. People tote time management as a way to accomplish everything, but that's impossible—time is a limited resource. The whole way we think about time is wrong. So how can we approach our relationship to time in a way that doesn't overwhelm? This book is a powerhouse. A must-read, especially for folks with anxiety, an intimate relationship with social media, or big ambitions. Fantastic on audio!”

Nicole, Oblong Books

The Art of Gathering

“Whether you're running a classroom, holding a meeting, or hosting a party, this book from Priya Parker offers a ton of insight on what makes a good gathering.”

Lisa, The Booksmith

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In her latest book, Brené Brown writes, “If we want to find the way back to ourselves and one another, we need language and the grounded confidence to both tell our stories and be stewards of the stories that we hear. This is the framework for meaningful connection.”

In Atlas of the Heart, Brown takes us on a... Read more »

In this breakthrough book, clinical psychologist Lindsay Gibson exposes the destructive nature of parents who are emotionally immature or unavailable. You will see how these parents create a sense of neglect, and discover ways to heal from the pain and confusion caused by your childhood. By freeing yourself from your parents' emotional... Read more »

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"Life Worth Living is transcendent. A collection of wisdom punctuated by questions of great consequence, this is the only book you need to find your way from where you are to where you are called to be."
--Kelly Corrigan, NYT bestselling author, host of Kelly Corrigan Wonders and PBS’s Tell Me More

Based on the... Read more »

Disrupt and push back against capitalism and white supremacy by connecting to the liberating power of rest, daydreaming, and naps as a foundation for healing and justice. Tricia Hersey, aka The Nap Bishop, encourages us to elevate rest as a form of resistance and a divine human right.

What would it be like to live in a well-rested world? Far too... Read more »

A groundbreaking manifesto on living better and longer that challenges the conventional medical thinking on aging and reveals a new approach to preventing chronic disease and extending long-term health, from a visionary physician and leading longevity expert
 
“One of the most important books you’ll ever read.”—Steven D. Levitt, New York Times... Read more »

Wintering

“When Katherine May set out to write her book, Wintering, she could not have foreseen that it would be published in the middle of a pandemic, nor that it would be so beautifully suited to our current circumstances. Wintering is the author's account of how she made it through unforeseen difficult times and depression (emotional winters). Gentle, understanding, hopeful, and empathetic, this is a book you will listen to and then want to buy a copy of, just so you can have it nearby for difficult times.”

Mary, Skylark Bookshop

Tiny Beautiful Things (10th Anniversary Edition)

“Before she was known as the author of Wild, Cheryl Strayed was the anonymous Dear Sugar on The Rumpus website – an agony aunt of sorts, if agony aunts were endowed with ruthless compassion, profound honesty, and excellent prose. Tiny Beautiful Things is a collection of these columns. After I listened to Dear Sugar, the podcast she shared with Steve Almond, I decided to give the audio of this a go. No regrets! It is moving and eloquent, and never predictable -- and the fact that she reads it herself means that her compassion comes through not only in her writing but in her voice.”

Claire, East City Bookshop

A first-of-its-kind practical guide to achieving gender freedom with joy, curiosity, and pleasure for transgender and non-binary individuals, gender explorers, and those who love them—perfect for readers of The Body is Not an Apology and Pleasure Activism.   

Taking everything they know from more than a decade of working with the queer and trans... Read more »

From the woman who is credited for launching what we know as the celebrity focused, “brand” driven, social media obsessed popular culture of today, comes an honest and surprising memoir that reckons with that truth, and shows that there is so much more to Paris Hilton than you might believe.I was born in New York City on February 17, 1981, three... Read more »

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Discover the life-changing memoir that has inspired millions of readers through the Academy Award®–winning actor’s unflinching honesty, unconventional wisdom, and lessons learned the hard way about living with greater satisfaction.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE GUARDIAN

“McConaughey’s book invites... Read more »

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Our ability to pay attention is collapsing. From the New York Times bestselling author of Chasing the Scream and Lost Connections comes a groundbreaking examination of why this is happening—and how to get our attention back.

“The book the world needs in order to win the war on distraction.”—Adam Grant, author of Think... Read more »

"[Oprah Winfrey and Bruce D. Perry] are both capable, likable narrators who are sincerely engaged with their subject matter...The performances of these two humanitarians make this a must-hear for anyone recovering from their traumatic past." —AudioFile

This program is read by the authors.

Our earliest experiences shape our lives far down the... Read more »

An urgently needed guide to help parents understand their teenagers’ intense and often fraught emotional lives—and how to support them through this critical developmental stage—from the New York Times bestselling author of Untangled and Under Pressure

In teenagers, powerful emotions come with the territory. And with so many of today’s teens... Read more »

"A groundbreaking book that redefines what it means to be in a relationship."
--John Gray, PhD., bestselling author of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus

We already rely on science to tell us what to eat, when to exercise, and how long to sleep. Why not use science to help us improve our relationships? In this revolutionary book, psychiatrist... Read more »

Heralded by the New York Times and Time as the couples therapy with the highest rate of success, Emotionally Focused Therapy works because it views the love relationship as an attachment bond.

This idea, once controversial, is now supported by science, and has become widely popular among therapists around the world. In Hold Me Tight, Dr. Sue... Read more »

From journalist and author of An Ordinary Age, an examination, dismantling, and reconstruction of ambition, where burnout is the symptom of our holiest sin: the lonely way we strive.

Ambition—the want, the hunger, the need to achieve—is woven into America’s fabric from the first colonization to capitalism. From our first gold star assignment to... Read more »

Instant New York Times bestseller

Is understanding the science of attachment the key to building lasting friendships and finding “your people” in an ever-more-fragmented world?

How do we make and keep friends in an era of distraction, burnout, and chaos, especially in a society that often prizes romantic love at the expense of other... Read more »

A global movement guided by love

Humans are a varied and divergent bunch with all manner of beliefs, morals, and bodies. Systems of oppression thrive off our inability to make peace with difference and injure the relationship we have with our own bodies.

The Body Is Not an Apology offers radical self-love as the balm to heal the wounds inflicted... Read more »

The Gifts of Imperfection: 10th Anniversary Edition

“When I first heard of this book, I waved it off. I was 30, and the title sounded too self-helpy and didn't seem relevant to my life. By the time I reached the ripe old age of 40, the book was about to hit its tenth anniversary and Brené Brown was not just a household name but someone whose books, podcast, and talks have influenced me and millions of others. "The Gifts of Imperfection" is brief yet substantive, full of evidence-based information about how we can live a more full-hearted life. Brown is a researcher, and she uses results from her rigorous studies to come to conclusions about why we do what we do, and how we can stop self-sabotaging and begin living wholeheartedly. Highly recommend this audiobook! ”

Janet, Avid Bookshop

“If you've been looking for something different to level up your health, fitness, and personal growth, this is it.”—Melissa Urban, Whole30 CEO and New York Times bestselling author

Discover the evolutionary mind and body benefits of living at the edges of your comfort zone and reconnecting with the wild.

In many ways, we’re more comfortable than... Read more »

Comedic actor and performer Rainn Wilson, cofounder of the media company SoulPancake, explores the problem-solving benefits of spirituality in an increasingly challenging world. The trauma that our world experienced in recent years—as result of both the pandemic and societal tensions that threaten to overwhelm us—has been unprecedented and is... Read more »

The Book of Charlie

“For seven years, David Von Drehle listened to his 102 year old neighbor Charlie White’s stories. Early tragedy helped form Charlie’s stoic nature because he had already learned that nothing is certain, so he lived his life with an optimistic, carpe diem approach. He lived most of his life in the Kansas City area where he faced and overcame tremendous obstacles. His mother had given him just one basic piece of advice that he lived by: do the right thing. Charlie White didn’t just survive a century of tremendous change and conflict but actually thrived. Over and over again, Charlie White bet on himself…and it almost always paid off. This is an uplifting book for our troubled times, a rewarding and enriching reading experience that gives us a lesson on how to live a long and meaningful life. ”

Shirley, Watermark Books

#1 New York Times BestsellerOver 10 million copies soldIn this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be "positive" all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "F**k... Read more »

Me and White Supremacy

“Want to learn how to be a good ancestor? Need to address your privilege and feel uncomfortable about talking about racism? You need to read and work through Me and White Supremacy.”

Rachel, Avid Bookshop

The #1 New York Times bestseller. 1 million copies sold!

From thought leader Dr. Brené Brown, a transformative new vision for the way we lead, love, work, parent, and educate that teaches us the power of vulnerability.
 
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have... Read more »

"Superb."—Oliver Burkeman

A challenge to the tyranny of work and a call to reclaim our lives from its clutches.

From the moment we ask children what they want to “be” when they grow up, we exalt the dream job as if it were life’s ultimate objective. Many entangle their identities with their jobs, with predictable damage to happiness, wellbeing,... Read more »

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

From licensed therapist and popular Instagram relationship expert Vienna Pharaon (@mindfulmft, +683K followers) comes a profound guide to understanding and overcoming wounds from your Family of Origin—the foundation of how we relate to others, ourselves, and the world around us.

None of us had a perfect childhood; we are all... Read more »

#1 New York Times Bestseller

“THIS. This is the right book for right now. Yes, learning requires focus. But, unlearning and relearning requires much more—it requires choosing courage over comfort. In Think Again, Adam Grant weaves together research and storytelling to help us build the intellectual and emotional muscle we need to stay curious... Read more »

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “This book is a gift! I’ve been practicing their strategies, and it’s a total game-changer.”—Brené Brown, PhD, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Dare to Lead

This groundbreaking book explains why women experience burnout differently than men—and provides a simple, science-based plan to help women minimize... Read more »

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERGOOGLE'S BEST AUDIOBOOKS OF 2019NPR'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEARINDIE BESTSELLERGOODREADS CHOICE AWARD WINNER: BEST MEMOIR & AUTOBIOGRAPHY
A laugh-and-cry-out-loud memoir from the beloved star of Netflix’s Queer Eye, Jonathan Van Ness, sharing never before told, deeply personal stories of growing up gay, transforming... Read more »

Open yourself to the transforming experience of The Power of Now, the acclaimed bestseller by revolutionary spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle, now in an audio program read by the author. To make the journey into the Now we will need to leave our analytical mind and its false created self, the ego, behind. From the very first page of Eckhart... Read more »

From the author of Expecting Better and The Family Firm, an economist's guide to the early years of parenting.

“Both refreshing and useful. With so many parenting theories driving us all a bit batty, this is the type of book that we need to help calm things down.” —LA Times

“The book is jampacked with information, but it’s also a delightful read... Read more »

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • Selma Blair has played many roles: Ingenue in Cruel Intentions. Preppy ice queen in Legally Blonde. Muse to Karl Lagerfeld. Advocate for the multiple sclerosis community. But before all of that, Selma was known best as … a mean baby. In a memoir that is as wildly funny as it is emotionally shattering, Blair tells the... Read more »

The Book of Hope

“Listening to this on audio has been a special experience simply due to the fact that Jane Goodall’s voice as she delivers her philosophies on hope in regards to the environment is both a balm to a troubled mind and spark of inspiration towards action. There is someone in your life that needs this book and it would make a great gift for them.”

Sofia, Phoenix Books

You are not doomed by your genes and hardwired to be a certain way for the rest of your life. A new science is emerging that empowers all human beings to create the reality they choose. In Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself, renowned author, speaker, researcher, and chiropractor Dr. Joe Dispenza combines the fields of quantum physics,... Read more »

The lifestyle creator, advice expert, and host of the It’s Me, Tinx podcast shares her hilarious and (sometimes brutally) honest wisdom on how to shift your approach to life, step into your confidence, and enjoy the journey.

It’s time to get laser focused on what makes us feel happy and fulfilled. Lifestyle creator, advice expert, and podcast... Read more »