A new year, a new effort at participating in the book chat as often as I can. Thursdays, as always, are book chat days over at Sweet Green Tangerine- link up if you like!
Today’s question: What are your favorite self-help/inspirational books?
I’ve read a LOT of inspirational books (well, inspirational to ME) that I don’t think I could ever narrow it down to a list small enough to share here. I think inspiration comes in every great book I’ve read- whether it be because I relate to a character, because the writing is wonderful & I hope to learn from it, or simply because the story itself is inspirational.
But let’s be honest, this wouldn’t be a book chat if I didn’t at least mention a few right? So with not a whole lot of context at all, here are some novels that greatly inspired me in one way or another in recent years: 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson, WILD by Cheryl Strayed, Night by Elie Wiesel, I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak, OPEN by Andre Agassi, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares, Secret Daughter by Shilpi Somaya Gowda, Eat/Pray/Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, Harry Potter by JK Rowling, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, and Looking for Alaska by John Green.
Seriously, I could keep going. It’s crazy how many fantastically inspirational books are out there!
I’ve read far few self-help books, and the ones that inspire me in those are fewer still. As a general rule, I have a really wide variety of books that I thoroughly enjoy, and I have to say that self-help has recently become, when properly chosen, a new favorite of mine. Here are a few that I would recommend to almost anyone.
#3 Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
I had a love/hate relationship with this book because of all the controversy that surrounded it’s publication… And the fact that I had to read it for school. But I devoured it in just days, wrote a kick-ass book report on it and got an A+ (the best grade I have yet to receive in University). I think that says something for its impact on my life. Although I didn’t agree with EVERYTHING Schlosser had to say about fast food (or the way he chose to illustrate his points) I still think this was an extremely insightful book and I’ve never been able to look at fast food the same again.
#2 Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
I wish I remembered the details of this book better, but having read it on my Kindle, I don’t have a copy to look back on. I read it on a beach in Greece, and was COMPLETELY taken by Gladwell’s research, his findings, and his writing. I have a couple of his other works on my to-read shelf and I hope to get to them in 2012. I briefly shared my thoughts about Blink on this post.
#1 The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
This still remains my favorite self-help book, and almost two years after reading it, I still constantly find myself picking it up from my bookshelf for a little inspiration. I wrote a whole post about this book, and everything I said back then is still completely true. If you’re optimistic, constantly searching how to improve your day-to-day life & an ambitious goal setter (cough cough) I can’t recommend Gretchen Rubin’s work enough!
I want to know- what books inspire YOU? What are your favorite well being books, any recommendations?
2. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell 
This one was no different, but it took me a long time to come to terms with the story. I’m not going to give any spoilers, but after growing up with the Sisterhood & getting excited for my trip to Greece, I was not expecting a story HALF as sad as the one I got. I was devastated at first, and literally had to come to terms with the events of the novel. At first I hated that Brashares had dared write this book, but slowly I tried to see past my frustration and fell in love with everything else about the story.
