Empowering Books for Every Woman

As women, we set out on a challenging journey with many detours. Every season has its own unique set of difficulties that leave us baffled and seeking direction. We have a wonderful capacity for turning hardship into personal growth and resilience, even in the face of uncertainty. These books offer the key to releasing your power and kindling the magical spark within you if you find yourself going through a difficult time. Accept these motivating books, set out on a transforming journey of self-discovery and empowerment.

Untamed

by Glennon Doyle

There is a voice of longing inside each woman. We strive so mightily to be good: good partners, daughters, mothers, employees, and friends. We hope all this striving will make us feel alive. Instead, it leaves us feeling weary, stuck, overwhelmed, and underwhelmed. We look at our lives and wonder: Wasn't it all supposed to be more beautiful than this? We quickly silence that question, telling ourselves to be grateful, hiding our discontent--even from ourselves.

For many years, Glennon Doyle denied her own discontent. Then, while speaking at a conference, she looked at a woman across the room and fell instantly in love. Three words flooded her mind: There She Is. At first, Glennon assumed these words came to her from on high. But she soon realized they had come to her from within. This was her own voice--the one she had buried beneath decades of numbing addictions, cultural conditioning, and institutional allegiances. This was the voice of the girl she had been before the world told her who to be. Glennon decided to quit abandoning herself and to instead abandon the world's expectations of her. She quit being good so she could be free. She quit pleasing and started living.

Toxic Positivity: Keeping It Real in a World Obsessed with Being Happy

by Whitney Goodman

Every day, we're bombarded with pressure to be positive. From "good vibes only" and "life is good" memes, to endless advice, to "look on the bright side," we're constantly told that the key to happiness is silencing negativity wherever it crops up, in ourselves and in others. Even when faced with illness, loss, breakups, and other challenges, there's little space for talking about our real feelings--and processing them so that we can feel better and move forward.

But if all this positivity is the answer, why are so many of us anxious, depressed, and burned out?

In this refreshingly honest guide, sought-after therapist Whitney Goodman shares the latest research along with everyday examples and client stories that reveal how damaging toxic positivity is to ourselves and our relationships, and presents simple ways to experience and work through difficult emotions. The result is more authenticity, connection, and growth--and ultimately, a path to showing up as you truly are.

The Book of Boundaries: Set the Limits That Will Set You Free

by Melissa Urban

“Melissa Urban shows the way forward with clarity, vulnerability, and humor.”-Gretchen Rubin, author of Life in Five Senses

Melissa Urban has helped millions of people transform their relationship with food. Now, in this powerful and practical guide, she shows how boundaries--clear limits you set to protect your energy, time, and health--are the key to feelings of security, confidence, and freedom in every area of your life.

In her famously direct and compassionate style, Urban offers:

- 130+ scripts with language you can use to set boundaries with bosses and co-workers, romantic partners, parents and in-laws, co-parents, friends, family, neighbors, strangers--and yourself
- Actionable advice to help you communicate your needs with clarity and compassion
- Tips for successfully navigating boundary guilt, pushback, pressure, and oversteps
- Techniques to create healthy habits around food, drink, technology, and more

Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men

by Caroline Criado Perez

Data is fundamental to the modern world. From economic development to health care to education and public policy, we rely on numbers to allocate resources and make crucial decisions. But because so much data fails to take into account gender, because it treats men as the default and women as atypical, bias and discrimination are baked into our systems. And women pay tremendous costs for this insidious bias, in time, in money, and often with their lives. 

Celebrated feminist advocate Caroline Criado Perez investigates this shocking root cause of gender inequality in the award-winning, #1 international bestseller Invisible Women. Examining the home, the workplace, the public square, the doctor's office, and more, Criado Perez unearths a dangerous pattern in data and its consequences on women's lives. Product designers use a "one-size-fits-all" approach to everything from pianos to cell phones to voice recognition software, when in fact this approach is designed to fit men. Cities prioritize men's needs when designing public transportation, roads, and even snow removal, neglecting to consider women's safety or unique responsibilities and travel patterns. And in medical research, women have largely been excluded from studies and textbooks, leaving them chronically misunderstood, mistreated, and misdiagnosed. 
 

Harness Your Inner CEO: Rise Into Passion, Prosperity, and Empowerment

by Becca Powers

You shouldn't have to choose between success and happiness!

Juggling exhausting workdays, managing kids, and giving your relationship more care than you give yourself is a recipe for burnout. Instead of enjoying the fruits of your labor, you feel tired, unhealthy, and joyless.

Fortune 500 sales executive Becca Powers knows this feeling all too well. She was missing out on motherhood by prioritizing her career first. After overworking herself into autoimmune disease and anxiety disorders, her self-worth plummeted. The universe was delivering one clear message: things were f%cked and needed to change.

Rising Strong: How the Ability to Reset Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead

by Brené Brown

Social scientist Brené Brown has ignited a global conversation on courage, vulnerability, shame, and worthiness. Her pioneering work uncovered a profound truth: Vulnerability--the willingness to show up and be seen with no guarantee of outcome--is the only path to more love, belonging, creativity, and joy. But living a brave life is not always easy: We are, inevitably, going to stumble and fall.

It is the rise from falling that Brown takes as her subject in Rising Strong. As a grounded theory researcher, Brown has listened as a range of people--from leaders in Fortune 500 companies and the military to artists, couples in long-term relationships, teachers, and parents--shared their stories of being brave, falling, and getting back up. She asked herself, What do these people with strong and loving relationships, leaders nurturing creativity, artists pushing innovation, and clergy walking with people through faith and mystery have in common? The answer was clear: They recognize the power of emotion and they're not afraid to lean in to discomfort.

More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say)

by Elaine Welteroth

"The millennial Becoming . . . Inspiring and empowering." -Entertainment Weekly

"An essential read for women in the workplace today." -Refinery29

Throughout her life, Elaine Welteroth has climbed the ranks of media and fashion, shattering ceilings along the way. In this riveting and timely memoir, the groundbreaking journalist unpacks lessons on race, identity, and success through her own journey, from navigating her way as the unstoppable child of an unlikely interracial marriage in small-town California to finding herself on the frontlines of a modern movement for the next generation of change makers.

Welteroth moves beyond the headlines and highlight reels to share the profound lessons and struggles of being a barrier-breaker across so many intersections. As a young boss and often the only Black woman in the room, she's had enough of the world telling her--and all women--they're not enough. As she learns to rely on herself by looking both inward and upward, we're ultimately reminded that we're more than enough.

Detox Your Thoughts: Quit Negative Self-Talk for Good and Discover the Life You've Always Wanted

by Andrea Bonior

Toxic thought patterns zap your energy, kill your motivation, and upset your calm. The good news is that you can change not just the way you think, but the way your brain is wired. In Detox Your Thoughts, clinical psychologist Andrea Bonior uses techniques from acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and mindfulness to teach you to understand your thoughts--and your body--in a completely different way. 

For each of the 10 mental traps, Bonior uses the latest research in psychology and neuroscience to help you disempower and conquer self-sabotaging thoughts and offers a new habit to practice with specific and actionable steps. Negative thoughts will never go away completely, but with this book, you will learn how to eclipse them, improve your mental and emotional health, and change your life.

The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times

by  Michelle Obama

There may be no tidy solutions or pithy answers to life's big challenges, but Michelle Obama believes that we can all locate and lean on a set of tools to help us better navigate change and remain steady within flux. In The Light We Carry, she opens a frank and honest dialogue with readers, considering the questions many of us wrestle with: How do we build enduring and honest relationships? How can we discover strength and community inside our differences? What tools do we use to address feelings of self-doubt or helplessness? What do we do when it all starts to feel like too much?

Michelle Obama offers readers a series of fresh stories and insightful reflections on change, challenge, and power, including her belief that when we light up for others, we can illuminate the richness and potential of the world around us, discovering deeper truths and new pathways for progress. Drawing from her experiences as a mother, daughter, spouse, friend, and First Lady, she shares the habits and principles she has developed to successfully adapt to change and overcome various obstacles--the earned wisdom that helps her continue to "become." She details her most valuable practices, like "starting kind," "going high," and assembling a "kitchen table" of trusted friends and mentors. With trademark humor, candor, and compassion, she also explores issues connected to race, gender, and visibility, encouraging readers to work through fear, find strength in community, and live with boldness.

The Self-Love Experiment: Fifteen Principles for Becoming More Kind, Compassionate, and Accepting of Yourself

by Shannon Kaiser

Too many people seem to believe that they are not allowed to put themselves first or go after their own dreams out of fear of being selfish or sacrificing others' needs. The Self-Love Experiment rectifies this problem. Whether you want to achieve weight loss, land your dream job, find your soul mate, or get out of debt, it all comes back to self-love and accepting yourself first. Shannon Kaiser learned the secrets to loving herself, finding purpose, and living a passion-filled life after recovering from eating disorders, drug addictions, corporate burnout, and depression.

Shannon walks you through her own personal experiment, a simple plan that compassionately guides you through the process of removing fear-based thoughts, so you can fall in love with life. If you want to change your outcome in life, you have to change your daily habits and perspective. Shannon takes you on this great journey into self-love and true self-acceptance.

May these reads give you the comfort and encouragement you’re in search of. But always remember, only you hold the key to becoming the woman you want to be.