by Marianne Williamson

This is a great starter book by Marianne Williamson. It’s basically her interpretation of “A Course in Miracles” which is a Christian-based, monster of a thing (I’ve only read parts of it) that saved her butt when she was down in the dumps.

I really love the way she writes and found this book hugely helpful back in the day. Its main message is that one should apply love to all their problems and it contains one of the best poems EVER on why you are an ass kicking individual called Our Deepest Fear. Whether or not you plan on reading this book, which I totally think you should, do a search for Our Deepest Fear right now, print it up and read it every single day. I mean it. It will make you weep with joy and newfound self-love.

by Debbie Ford

This awesome book is all about how to forgive, and embrace, our dark sides. We’ve all got em, and the more we hate/judge the not so appealing parts of ourselves and others, the more miserable our lives are. This book will help you understand how we are all things – good, bad, ugly, etc – and how to enjoy life more by letting the not so pleasant stuff go. She offers waaaaaaay too many exercises in my opinion, so don’t get bogged down by them, but do read it all the way through because the information in the book is priceless.

by Caroline Myss

Another doozie of a book about how our thoughts and beliefs affect our health, medical intuitive Caroline Myss provides major insight into how we can hurt and heal ourselves through energy. She uses the Hindu Chakra System, Christianity, the Kabbalah’s Tree of Life and case studies to illustrate how mind, body and spirit are interconnected and walks us through the best ways to live a healthy life. It’s a little heady at times, but Myss is a good writer with tons of experience and it’s well worth the read if you want to wrap your noggin around this stuff.

by James Allen

This is, shockingly all about the mighty mind and how to use it to master your world.

Considering the fact that if you can really truly get that skill down, you can create the most awesome life ever, reading this book, over and over and over until it becomes second nature is time well spent. It’s another old-timey one written back in ye olde day, but it’s still extremely quotable and relevant today.

by Laura Day

Another excellent offering on the art of manifesting, this short but very powerful book gives you the goods step by step, outlining exercises and practices that are easy to follow in fairly basic, non-woo woo language.

I appreciated it for getting straight to the point and spending more time on telling you what to do than why. Its author is a renowned badass on the subject of intuition, so there’s some powerful stuff about connecting to your inner smartypants in here as well.

by Twyla Tharp

Written by no-nonsense, world-renowned dance choreographer Twyla Tharp, this is one of the best spankings I ever got in the old get-your-act-together department. As the title suggests, it’s all about creating good habits, which, if you do nothing else, will completely change your life for the better. Full of stories and tips and whip cracking, this is one of my favorites. Cuz she kind of scares me.

by Richard Branson

This is an awesome read—I devoured the whole thing in one sitting. Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Records and Virgin Airlines, is a maniac and one of the most inspiring people on two legs as far as I’m concerned.

The book details his life from when he started his little record shop to becoming one of the most famous and radical entrepreneurs who went on to buy his own island and fly hot air balloons over the ocean in the jet stream. I would like very much to party with this guy.

IMPORTANT BIOGRAPHY NOTE: I’ve listed Richard Branson’s biography because it’s one of my favorites, but pretty much any biography/autobiography about the people you personally find inspiring is totally worth reading. I could list about seventy more here, but you may not find the life and accomplishments of, say, Dolly Parton or Eleanor Roosevelt, as riveting and inspiring as I do. I strongly suggest you actually take the time to read books about the people who light you up, because it’s one of the best ways to get inspired to change your life.

by Laura Day

Long hailed as a leading master of intuition, Laura Day has worked with everyone from high-powered business people to hippies to celebrities to financial analysts to housewives. She is the queen of showing people how to access their intuition so they can make more informed decisions and design more authentic lives. This book gives all her secrets and tried and true tips on connecting with your inner GPS via exercises and case studies.

by Deepak Chopra

I’m a huge fan of not having to read too much to get the information I want, and of knowing how much I’m gonna have to do ahead of time to get where I want to go. Good old Deepak breaks achieving success down into seven, easy-to-follow steps based on spiritual principles.

This is one of my all-time favorites for its small size and profoundly potent advice. It delivers deeply spiritual and powerful information in bite-sized chunks and gives clear exercises on using it in your everyday life to achieve what you want.

by Wayne Dyer

In this book, Wayne Dyer shows how raising our frequency can be used to solve everyday problems. He draws from various spiritual traditions and the pontifications of several spiritual thought leaders to lead us through the process of making our lives a lot more pleasant and meaningful. Full of explanations, examples and exercises, this book is an excellent guide to staying in The Zone while you go about your life.

by Steven Pressfield

Written by novelist Steven Pressfield, this is a classic for writers, musicians and artists of all kinds, including you, no matter who you are, because you are the artist creating your own life. Hence, read this thing if you want to blast past your fears and insecurities and resistance to being your biggest, badassiest self. It’s a hugely insightful, cheese-free and very enjoyable book (the guy is a real writer fer cryin out loud). He even uses some curse words here and there.

by Louise Hay

Louise Hay is the godmother of self-help; she was doing it way back when it still wasn’t cool, cured herself of cancer using her highly-lauded principles of self-love and now has her own empire with a publishing company and everything. This book is one of my faves, even though it’s super woo-woo, full of affirmations and general gooeyness, but in the ever-critical self-love department, it doesn’t get any better than this. The back of the book is all about the body and how all our injuries and dis-eases can be traced back to negative thought patterns. So if you break your leg, you can look it up and see that it’s because you’re scared of moving forward (or something, don’t quote me on that) and get an affirmation from Louise on how to heal yourself. I have a friend who completely cured himself of something the doctors were baffled by through reading this book and doing what it says.

by Cami Walker

This book was written by a woman who was told by her mentor to give something away, every day, for twenty-nine days, to help heal herself of multiple sclerosis. The book chronicles her incredible journey and the profound effect tithing had on her life and the lives of others who’ve tried it. She started a blog to chart her journey and encouraged her followers to write in and do the same, which turned into a full-on movement, which led to this bestselling book.