Books to Engage Your Mind & Energize Your Spirit

What I Know For Sure, by Oprah Winfrey
When philanthropist, heroine, and media queen Oprah Winfrey talks, we listen. And for the past 14 years, some of her most trenchant thoughts and inspiring observations have been expressed in O Magazine’s “What I Know for Sure” column. These brief, pithy essays are gathered here, in a collection brimming with warmth and insight and animated by Winfrey’s celebrated resiliency and wit. As a woman who moved beyond an extraordinarily painful early life to the dizzying heights of international superstardom while remaining grounded, she offers an unusually rounded perspective on living through daily trials and embracing opportunities for joy.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, by Marie Kondo
Look around your home. Do you see a month’s worth of junk mail, a pile of discarded clothing and/or undone dishes, or a yet-to-be-dismantled display of holiday cheer? If the answer is no, we congratulate you (jealously). But if you’re anything like us, the answer is, “I don’t know; I can’t see around this pile of unshelved books.” Let Japanese cleaning consultant Kondo teach you exactly how to keep all that clutter at bay. Her charming book will inspire mindfulness, joyful living, and the overwhelming desire to throw out all 67 of the old magazines you’ve been holding on to “just in case.”

Act Like a Success, Think Like a Success: Discovering Your Gift and the Way to Life’s Riches, by Steve Harvey
Everyone loves a rags to riches story, so consider this: beloved comedian and author Steve Harvey spent part of his thirties living in his car. In Act Like a Success, Think Like a Success, he shares exactly how he made it from those dark days to TV screens everywhere, focusing on the power of perseverance, prayer, and being unafraid to create a blueprint for the goals you want to achieve. Bolstering the inspiration is Harvey’s own fascinating story, told in his signature comic style.

10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works—A True Story, by Dan Harris
A decade ago, ABC new anchor Dan Harris had a panic attack on live TV. The event served as a turning point for Harris, who here admits the incident was related to his drug use. Desperate to find a healthier way to heal himself, he turned to meditation. A perfect fit for the skeptical reader, 10% Happier isn’t a collection of platitudes on what meditation can do for you; it’s a rollicking personal account of one man’s journey back to sanity, punctuated by plenty of practical advice. If you’re looking for a free, no-fuss path to greater contentment (and who isn’t?), Harris will convince you that meditation is one thing everyone should try.

Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar—Your Brain’s Silent Killers, by David Perlmutter
Perlmutter’s name-making book is daring, controversial, and nearly impossible to brush off. While carbs have long been experiencing a slow slide into infamy, Grain Brain delivers a killing blow for those considering cutting them out altogether. Perlmutter, a neurologist, walks readers through what he believes to be the brain-fogging and even disease-causing effects of grains, and offers a concrete four-week plan meant to introduce readers to a healthier post-baguette life.

David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, by Malcolm Gladwell
Everyone knows the story of David and Goliath, in which a scrappy underdog defeats a sure thing. In Gladwell’s 2013 bestseller, he finds that story’s shape repeating itself in surprising places, and more often than you might think. Hopscotching through time, place, and milieu, he examines stories of the apparent “weak” besting the strong, and applies the lessons implied in these stories to everyday life, challenging commonly held definitions of success.

Discovering Your Soul Signature: A 33-Day Path to Purpose, Passion & Joy, by Panache Desai
Desai looks at your “soul signature,” or “spiritual DNA”—who you really are at the most basic level. His 33-day series of meditations are meant to disrupt and cleanse you of the nasty mental traffic that bogs down your soul signature—guilt, anger, despair—leaving your inner core light and free of constricting emotional baggage. The path is immensely approachable even for a meditation beginner, and is the perfect tool to help you leave behind the angst of 2014.

The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, by don Miguel Ruiz
Based on Toltec teachings, the four agreements sound simple, but are actually powerful ways of realigning your life: Be Impeccable With Your Word, Don’t Take Anything Personally, Don’t Make Assumptions, and Always Do Your Best. It uses storytelling to get its message across, showing people both succeeding and failing to keep the agreements in mind, and how their lives are affected. At its stripped-down core, the book’s message is one of self-empowerment, reminding us that we can’t control anything but our own behavior. What better message to hold onto as we enter a fresh new year?

Outliers: The Story of Success, by Malcolm Gladwell
For the “10,000 hours” theory alone, this is a book worth contemplating. In his inimitable, deeply engaging style, Gladwell examines outliers in various fields, those whose successes wildly outpaced that of their peers, and tries to identify a through line for how they became so accomplished. He argues that those who distinguish themselves do so not because of inborn excellence, but thanks to a blend of environment, opportunity, and practice—10,000 hours of it, to be exact, before you can achieve proficiency. We can’t all be the next Steve Jobs, but we can all start clocking our personal 10,000 hours right away.

The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself, by Michael A. Singer
Each of us, Singer posits, lives with a troublesome roommate inside our heads—the one who tells us what we can and can’t achieve, dwells on our failures, and forgets to refill the Brita pitcher keeps us from becoming our best selves. In The Untethered Soul, he takes readers on a journey through their own emotional lives, seeking to identify and eliminate mental and emotional patterns that put limitations on happiness and contentment. You are at the root of your own unhappiness, this book says, so only you can fix it.

The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are, by Brené Brown
Brené Brown is a research professor and popular TED talker who has devoted her career to investigating the sometimes counterintuitive power of vulnerability. In The Gifts of Imperfection, she discusses the importance of gaining “permission to fall apart” and accepting who you are rather than who you think you should be. Brown’s research-based observations are revelatory despite their simplicity. The book’s ten guideposts—including “Let go of what people think (authenticity)” and “Let go of anxiety as a lifestyle (calmness)”—are revelatory in their simplicity. Brown offers concrete advice on how to incorporate her teachings into your life.

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead, by Brené Brown
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Always do what you are afraid to do,” and Brown’s book expands on that concept. Where vulnerability resides, you’ll find the path to personal growth. Your inner control freak needs to read this book, which uses anecdotal as well as fact-based evidence to explore the joy that opening yourself to failure, to fear, and to a greater connectedness can bring. Let Daring Greatly inspire you to let go and let life happen.

I Thought It Was Just Me (but It Isn’t): Making the Journey from “What Will People Think?” to “I Am Enough,” by Brené Brown
In her all-cylinders attack on the culture of shame, Brown presents her own experiences, alongside those of her interview subjects, as women living amid a constant barrage of unrealistic images and expectations. By directing our attention to our own ideas of successful living, Brown teaches us to focus not on what others want from us, but what we want from ourselves. Where the media offers a fractured, impossible view of womanhood, Brown shines a light of sanity and self-acceptance.
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