11 Self-Help Books
A Guide To Surviving Life's Hardships
Perfect for Mavericks, Self-Starters, The Hobbyist, and Cool Mom/Dad Reader Types!
Life is filled with moments of uncertainty, pain, and challenge, and sometimes the weight of these hardships can feel unbearable. From anxiety and mental health struggles to family issues and the path to addiction recovery, navigating life’s darkest chapters can be overwhelming. But, books have long been a source of comfort, wisdom, and guidance for those in need. Whether you’re seeking solace, understanding, or actionable advice, this collection of self-help books offers a roadmap to healing and growth.
In this roundup, you’ll find deeply personal memoirs, expert-led guides, and transformative works that delve into some of life’s most painful realities. Each book serves as a companion for anyone facing inner battles, family turmoil, or recovery journeys. They aren’t just meant to inspire hope but to provide practical tools and heartfelt stories that show you’re not alone in your struggles. Whether you’re grappling with anxiety or looking to rebuild after a crisis, let these books guide you in surviving life's hardships through the process of healing and self-discovery.
Don't wait. Start working on yourself now!
I Will Do Better: A Father's Memoir of Heartbreak, Parenting, and Love
by Charles Bock
Named one of the Best Books of Fall by Oprah Daily and People
The novelist Charles Bock was a reluctant parent, tagging along for the ride of fatherhood, obsessed primarily with his dream of a writing career.
But when his daughter Lily was six months old, his wife, Diana, was diagnosed with a complex form of leukemia. Two and half years later, when all treatments and therapies had been exhausted, Bock found himself a widower--devastated, drowning in medical bills, and saddled with a daunting responsibility. He had to nurture Lily, and, somehow, maybe even heal himself. I Will Do Better is Charles's pull-no-punches account of what happened next.
First in the Family: A Story of Survival, Recovery, and the American Dream
by Jessica Hoppe
A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2024: Today.com, LupitaReads, Electric Literature, Esquire, Publishers Weekly
In this deeply moving and lyrical memoir, Hoppe shares an intimate, courageous account of what it means to truly interrupt cycles of harm. For readers of The Recovering by Leslie Jamison, Somebody's Daughter by Ashley C. Ford, and Heavy by Kiese Laymon.
During the first year of quarantine, drug overdoses spiked, the highest ever recorded. And Hoppe's cousin was one of them. "I never learned the true history of substance use disorder in my family," Hoppe writes. "People just disappeared." At the time of her cousin's death, she'd been in recovery for nearly four years, but she hadn't told anyone.
How Not to Be a Hot Mess: A Survival Guide for Modern Life
by Devon Hase - Nico Hase
The dumpster fire of life rages on, but you got this. Practice six rules to keep you grounded, weather the storm, and actually be a decent person.
It may seem like the world is going to hell in a hand basket right now. Whether it's big stuff like politics and climate change, or just the daily spin of paying your bills, getting to work on time, and fending off social media trolls, we can all admit, modern life ain't easy. Here are six really good guiding principles, inspired from the ancient wisdom of Buddhism and mindfulness practice, to keep you anchored and steady amidst the chaos.
Don't Believe Everything You Think: Why Your Thinking Is The Beginning & End Of Suffering
by Joseph Nguyen
Learn how to overcome anxiety, self-doubt & self-sabotage without needing to rely on motivation or willpower.
In this book, you'll discover the root cause of all psychological and emotional suffering and how to achieve freedom of mind to effortlessly create the life you've always wanted to live.
Although pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.
This book was written to help you go beyond your thinking and discover the truth of what you already intuitively know deep inside your soul.
You Will Get Through This: A Mental Health Tool Kit - Help for Depression, Anxiety, Grief, and More
by Julie Radico - Charity O'Reilly - Nicole Helverson
Months-long therapy wait-lists. Out-of-pocket costs. Online misinformation. There are more barriers than ever to accessing reliable mental health care--and when your mental health is suffering, you need help now.
This book, written by three practicing therapists, is your comprehensive mental health tool kit. Drawing on the techniques they use with their clients, they offer a holistic understanding of more than twenty all-too-common life challenges, plus compassionate, evidence-based strategies for when you're struggling. Even better, these are techniques that anyone can do at home.
In each chapter, you'll find:
- what the research says about the issue
- coping mechanisms that are used in actual therapy rooms
- step-by-step guidance on using these strategies in real life and overcoming common obstacles
- tips for communicating about the issue with your loved ones
The Book of Hope
by Jane Goodall - Douglas Abrams
**THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER**
In a world that seems so troubled, how do we hold on to hope?
Looking at the headlines--the worsening climate crisis, a global pandemic, loss of biodiversity, political upheaval--it can be hard to feel optimistic. And yet hope has never been more desperately needed.
In this urgent book, Jane Goodall, the world's most famous living naturalist, and Douglas Abrams, the internationally bestselling co-author of The Book of Joy, explore through intimate and thought-provoking dialogue one of the most sought after and least understood elements of human nature: hope. In The Book of Hope, Jane focuses on her "Four Reasons for Hope" The Amazing Human Intellect, The Resilience of Nature, The Power of Young People, and The Indomitable Human Spirit.
Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health
by L Ron Hubbard
*Sponsored*
New York Times Bestseller
With over 22,000,000 copies sold in 50 languages, and used in more than 176 nations, Dianetics brings dramatic and permanent improvement to people all over the world.
If you've ever felt there was something holding you back in life, ruining your plans and stopping you from being who you want to be, you were right.
The fact is, there is a single source of all your problems, stress, unhappiness and self-doubt. It's called the reactive mind--the hidden part of your mind that stores all painful experiences, then uses them against you.
With Dianetics, you can learn to control your reactive mind--freeing you to live an extraordinary life and be your true self.
One Friday in April: A Story of Suicide and Survival
by Donald Antrim
As the sun lowered in the sky one Friday afternoon in April 2006, acclaimed author Donald Antrim found himself on the roof of his Brooklyn apartment building, afraid for his life. In this moving memoir, Antrim vividly recounts what led him to the roof and what happened after he came back down: two hospitalizations, weeks of fruitless clinical trials, the terror of submitting to ECT--and the saving call from David Foster Wallace that convinced him to try it--as well as years of fitful recovery and setback.
Through a clear and haunting reckoning with the author's own story, One Friday in April confronts the limits of our understanding of suicide. Donald Antrim's personal insights reframe suicide--whether in thought or in action--as an illness in its own right, a unique consequence of trauma and personal isolation, rather than the choice of a depressed person.
A Field Guide to the Apocalypse
by Athena Aktipis
A common sense field guide to understanding, surviving, and thriving in our time of complex chaos and crises.
Is this finally it? The end times?Because from COVID-19 to climate catastrophe to the looming AI revolution--not to mention the ever-growing background hum of rage, fear, and anxiety--it's starting to feel like the party we call civilization is just about over. The good news? It's always felt that way.
Drawing on evolutionary psychology, history, brain science, game theory, and more, cooperation theorist (and, coincidentally, zombie expert) Athena Aktipis reassuringly explains how we, as a species, are hardwired to survive big existential crises. And how we can do so again by leveraging our innate abilities to communicate and cooperate.
Impossible People: A Completely Average Recovery Story
by Julia Wertz
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, KIRKUS & LIBRARY JOURNAL'S “BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR”
In her keenly observed graphic memoir, Impossible People, celebrated cartoonist Julia Wertz chronicles her haphazard attempts at sobriety and the relentlessly challenging, surprisingly funny, and occasionally absurd cycle of addiction and recovery.
Opening at the culmination of a disastrous trip to Puerto Rico, the first page of Impossible People finds Julia standing stupefied in the middle of the jungle beside a rental Jeep she's just crashed. From this moment, the story flashes back to the beginning of her five-year journey towards sobriety that includes group therapy sessions, relapses, an ill-fated relationship, terrible dates, and an unceremonious eviction from her New York City apartment. Far from the typical addiction narrative that follows an upward trajectory from rock bottom to rehab to recovery, Impossible People portrays the lesser told but more common story: That the road to recover is not always linear. With unflinching honesty, Wertz details the arduous, frustrating, and hilarious story of trying and failing and trying again.
The 3 Things: A Practical Path to Collective Recovery
by Maggie Boxey
Through Maggie's drunken youth, she was reminded by her preacher father of The 3 Things: you are part of a family, be true to yourself, and glorify God in all that you do. But as Maggie shares in this transformational book, those old truths take on new meaning in modern life, recovery, and motherhood.
Sometimes, simplicity can untangle the most complicated messes. Even in the darkest pit with the cold hard slab of rock bottom pressed against our face, there is a lifeline of truth, a rope of wisdom we can grab to pull ourselves out. As Maggie Boxey curled into a tight ball of overwhelming shame, addiction, and isolation, she could hear her preacher father's voice, echoing in her ears. "You are part of a family. Be true to yourself. Glorify God in all that you do."
These were the three things Maggie's Daddy would insist she repeat as a teenager before running out the door for "sleepovers" that were really trips to the darkest corners of town to binge drink with strangers. Each night, she would rattle off the 3 things before wandering off to pull herself further into the complicated mess it would take decades to untangle. It took her 25 hard, traumatic years for her to fully grasp the depth of her father's words, through her time serving in the Navy, through addiction, and through losing custody of her child due to her behavior and instability.