Bookshelf
“And what are the right books?”
“Whatever blows your hair back.”
-Goodwill Hunting
Relationships
Esther Perel/ Author & Podcast “Where Should We Begin“
Dr. Brene Brown/ Creator of “Dare to Lead” & Podcast “Unlocking Us” & “Dare to Lead“
Dr. Harville Hendrix & Dr. Helen LaKelly Hunt/ Creators of “Imago Therapy”
You Are the One You’ve Been Waiting For: Applying Internal Family Systems Therapy to Intimate Relationships / Dr. Richard C. Schwartz & Creator of IFS
Dr. John Gottman & Dr. Julie Schwartz Gottman/ Creators of the “Gottman Institute”
The Five Love Languages/ Gary Chapman
All About Love/ bell hooks
This Is How Your Marriage Ends/ Matthew Fray
Married to a Psychiatrist/ Dan Prochoda
Foreverland: On the Divine Tedium of Marriage/ Heather Havrilesky
Wide Open/ Gracie X on Polyamory
Learning About Bodies
Come As You Are/ Dr. Emily Nagoski on Sex
Taking Sexy Back/ Dr. Alexandra H. Solomon & Dr. Lorri Brotto
Sex Talks/ Vanessa & Xavier Marin
Heartbreak
You Could Make This Place Beautiful/ Maggie Smith
This Story Will Change/ Elizabeth Crane
We Are Too Many/ Hannah Pittard
I Love You, But I Am Leaving You Anyway/ Tracy McMillan
Splinters/ Leslie Jamison
Femininity: that which exists in both sexes
Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes/ Author of “Women Who Run with the Wolves”
Gloria Steinem/ Social activist
“V” formerly known as Eve Ensler/ Author & Performance Artist
Masculinity: that which exists in both sexes
Selfhood
Melody Beattie/ Codependency expert
Margaret Paul/ Inner-bonding
Trauma
Dr. Bessel van der Kolk/ Trauma expert
Dr. Frank Anderson / Trauma expert
Run Towards the Danger/ Sarah Polley: Honoring your complicated truth in six essays
The Apology/ Author “V” formerly known as Eve Ensler: On incest
Know My Name/ Chanel Miller: On rape
Unbound/ Tarana Burke: Founder of the “Me Too” Movement
The Courage to Heal: A guide for women survivors of child sexual abuse
Trauma Workbooks
The Courage to Heal Workbook: A guide for men and women survivors of child sexual abuse/ Laura Davis
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Sourcebook/
Managing Traumatic Stress Through Art/ Cohen, Barnes, & Rankin
Family
The Glass Castle/ Memoir by Jeannette Walls
Mother, Nature/ Memoir by Jedidiah Jenkins
Raising Littles
Carry On, Warrior/ Glennon Doyle
I’ll Show Myself Out/ Jessi Klein
The New One/ Comedian Mike Birbiglia
Good Inside/ Dr. Becky on parenting
Creativity + Founders
Big Magic/ Elizabeth Gilbert
The Artist’s Way/ Julia Cameron
Bird By Bird/ Anne Lamott
SARK/ SARK
Highly Sensitive People
Glennon Doyle/ Author, Creator of “Together Rising” & Podcast “We Can Do Hard Things”
Andrea Gibson/ Poet
Megan Falley/ Poet
Rainer Maria Rilke/ Poet & Author of “Letters to a Young Poet”
Cory Richards/ Professional Climber, Photographer & Author
Laura Weedman/ Author & Playwright
Deborah Copaken/ Author & Photographer
Katherine May/Autism
Dr. Elaine Aron/ HSPs
Susan Cain/ Introverts
Food: Hunger + Control
Alcohol & Drugs
The Recovering/ Leslie Jamison
Kasher in the Rye/ Moshe Kasher
Philosophies on Life
Sam Harris/ Atheist (Ph.D Neuroscience & Stanford degree in Philosophy), Author & Podcast “Waking Up” (meditation app) & “Making Sense” (science & society)
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Richard Rhor/ Franciscan monk
Nadia Bolz Weber/ Lutheran minister
Anne Lamott/ Christian Author
Rob Bell/ Christian Author
Jordan Peterson/ Christian mystic & Clinical psychologist
Quakers/ DIY Christianity: The Religious Society of Friends
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Thich Nhat Hanh/ Zen monk & Author of many books including “Being Peace”
Suzuki Roshi/ Zen monk
Chogyam Trungpa/ Buddhist monk
Pema Chodron/ Buddhist nun
Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche/ Tibetan monk
Alan Watts/ Former Christian priest & Eastern philosopher
Dr. Jack Kornfield/ Buddhist monk & Clinical psychologist
Dr. Tara Brach/ Buddhist teacher, Clinical psychologist & Author of Radical Acceptance
Sharon Salzberg/ Buddhist teacher
Douglas Harding/ On Having No Head
Michael Singer/ Founder of Temple of the Universe in Gainesville & Author of “Living Untethered”
Tao Te Ching/ Taoist philosophy
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Hafiz/ Sufi (Islamic mysticism) & Poet as translated by Daniel Ladinsky
Rumi/ Sufi (Islamic mysticism) & Poet as translated by Coleman Barks
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Ordinary People as Mystics & Monks/ Marsha Sintar
Rob Brezsny/ Free Will Astrology
Neale Donald Walsch/ Conversations with God
The Art of Listening
Counseling Therapy Skills/ David G. Martin/ An instrumental & easy to read book on active listening
Dr. Irvin Yalom/ Psychiatrist
Death & Dying & Loss
In My Time of Dying/ Sebastian Junger/ An esteemed war journalist & atheist explores the science and universal metaphysics of death and dying
This Bright Hour/ Nina Riggs/ A young mother dying from cancer
Suleika Jaouad/ A middle-aged woman living with cancer
When You’re Ready: A Love Story/ Kareem Rosser/ Loving someone with a traumatic brain injury
In Love: A memoir of love and loss/ Amy Bloom/ A wife’s husband’s Alzheimers and his choice for euthanasia
A Matter of Death and Life /Dr. by
Crying in H Mart/ Michelle Zauner/ A daughter’s mother dying from cancer
When Breath Becomes Air/ Paul Kalanithi/ A young neurosurgeon dying from cancer
Being Mortal/ Atul Gawande/ A surgeon’s experience
A Heart That Works/ Rob Delaney/ A father’s two year old dying from a tumor
Hot Young Widows Club + Resources for All Grief/ Created by Nora McInerny, a young widow and author of 3 books on this resource list
The Urgent Life/ Bozoma Saint John/ On the unexpected death of her husband
Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius / Dave Eggers/ On growing up after the death of both of his parents
Grief is for People/ Sloane Crowley/ Grieving the suicide of a dear friend
Kate Bowler/ Author & Podcaster of “Everything Happens for a Reason”
The 36 Hour Day: A family guide to caring for someone with Alzheimers or other Dimentias
Lovely Books & Authors
Little Weirds/ Memoir by Jenny Slate
Circe/ Fiction by Madeline Miller
Wild/ Memoir by Cheryl Strayed