I have counted the number of books I’ve read since I can remember, and I can assuredly state that I’ve never read 125 books in one year, let alone the first full year that we kept two tiny babes alive and well, and also turned my previous side hustle into a full-time gig. But with both of these ventures: raising two amazing humans, AND leading my own business, I’ve had to lean in to learn as much as I can, and books are how I accomplish that.
I’ve never felt like the smartest person in the room, but I will damn sure be the person who is most determined to learn and be the best I can.
Also, it’s pretty challenging to even attempt to “rank” 125 books across various genres; however, if I were to re-read them, this is the order I would prefer to re-read them in. The Top 25 are books I highly recommend, although if you were to ask me for some parenting book recommendations, for example, I would probably have a few others that also received 4 stars but might not be in competition with memoirs or fiction, yet still good books!
Another post broken down by genre coming later this week!
5 stars
- “Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt
- “Tomorrow Tomorrow and Tomorrow” by Gabrielle Zevin
- “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus
- “The Island of Missing Trees” by Elif Shafak
- “You Could Make This Place Beautiful” by Maggie Smith
- “The Measure” by Nikki Erlick
- “Sea of Tranquility” by Emily St. John Mandel
- “Lucky Girl” by Irene Muchemi-Ndiritu
- “The Push” by Ashley Audrain
- “Love Your Kids Without Losing yourself: 5 Steps to Banish Guilt and Beat Burnout When You Already Have Too Much To Do” by Morgan Cutlip
- “Beautiful You: A Daily Guide to Radical Self-Acceptance” by Rosie Molinary
- “Good Bones” by Maggie Smith
- “Eight Hundred Grapes” by Laurie Dave
- “The Personal Librarian” by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
- “Love Every Day: 365 Relational Self-Awareness Practices to Help Your Relationships Heal, Grow, and Thrive” by Alexandra H. Solomon
- “I Didn’t Sign Up For This: A Couples Therapist Shares Real-Life Stories of Breaking Patterns and Finding Joy in Relationships, Including Her Own” by Tracy Dalgleish
- “Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee” by Shannon Lee
- “Dark Corners” by Megan Goldin
- “All my Rage” by Sabaa Tahir
- “Mother on” by Emma Heaphy
- “Dear Motherhood” by Emma Heaphy
- “Eight Setbacks That Can Make a Child a Success: What to Do and What to Say to Turn “Failures” into Character-Building Moments” by Michelle Icard
4 stars
23. “Hello Beautiful” by Ann Napolitano
24. “The House of Eve” by Sadeqa Johnson
25. “Did You Hear About Kitty Karr?” by Crystal Smith Paul
26. “Happy Place” by Emily Henry
27. “Adelaide” by Genevieve Wheeler
28. “How to Do the Work: Recognize Your Patterns, Healt from Your Past, and Create Your Self” by Nicole LePera
29. “The Urgent Life: My Story of Love, Loss, and Survival” by Bozoma Saint John
30. “The Whispers” by Ashley Audrain
31. “Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things” by Adam Grant
32. “Effortless: Make It Easier To Do What Matters Most” by Greg McKeown
33. “Hello Stranger” by Katherine Center
34. “Bye Baby” by Carola Lovering
35. “The Body is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love” by Sonya Renee Taylor
36. “Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier” by Arthur Brooks and Oprah Winfrey
37. “The Dead Romantics” by Ashley Poston
38. “The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business” by Charles Duhigg
39. “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder” by Holly Jackson
40. “Fourteen Talks by Age 14: The Essential Conversations You Need To Have with Your Kids Before They Start High School” by Michelle ICard
41. “The Leftover Woman” by Jean Kwok
42. “You Don’t Have to Carry It All: Ditch the Mom Guilt and Find a Better Way Forward” by Paula Faris
43. “Confess” by Colleen Hoover
44. “8 Rules of Love: How to Find It, Keep It, and Let It Go” by Jay Shetty
45. “Thicker Than Water: A Memoir” by Kerry Washington
46. “The Woman in Me” by Britney Spears
47. “The Mountain is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage into Self-Mastery” by Brianna Wiest
48. “Mean Baby: A Memoir of Growing Up” by Selma Blair
49. “Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art” by James Nestor
50. “The Whole-Brain Child: Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind” by Daniel Siegel, and Tina Payne Bryson
51. “Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if your Life Depended on it” by Chris Voss
52. “Zikora” by Chimamanda Adichie
53. “Spare” by Prince Harry
54. “None of This is True” by Lisa Jewell
55. “What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma” by Stephanie Foo
56. “Slay Like a Mother: How to Destroy What’s Holding You Back” by Katherine Wintsch
57. “Heart Bones” by Colleen Hoover
58. “No Bad Kids: Toddler Discipline Without Shame” by Janet Lansbury
59. “Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting” by Lisa Genova
60. “Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself” by Nedra Glover Tawwab
61. “Goldenrod” by Maggie Smith
62. “Keep Moving: Notes of Loss, Creativity, and Change” by Maggie Smith
63. “You Are Only Just Beginning: Lessons for the Journey Ahead” by Morgan Harper Nichols
64. “For All The Glory: Finding God in Sports” by Stephanie Burdette
65. “Recollections of my Nonexistence” by Rebecca Solnit
66. “It. Goes. So. Fast.: The Year of No Do-Overs” by Mary Louise Kelly
67. “The Importance of Being Little: What Young Children Really Need from Grown-Ups” by Erika Christakis
68. “The Charm Offensive” by Alison Cochrun
69. “Women Talking” by Miriam Toews
70. “The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology that Fuel Success and Performance at Work” by Shawn Achor
71. “The Escape Room” by Megan Goldin
72.“ The Intern” by Michele Campbell
73. “Just Another Missing Person” by Gillian McAllister
74. “The Only Survivors” by Megan Miranda
75. “November 9” by Colleen Hoover
76. “XOXO, Cody: An Opinionated Homosexual’s Guide to Self-Love, Relationships, & Tactful Pettiness” by Cody Rigsby
77. “The Little Book of Calm for New Mums: Grounding Words for the Highs, Lows, and the Moments In Between” by Anna Mathur
78. “Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away” by Annie Duke
79. “The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down: How to Stay Calm in a Busy World” by Haemin Sunim
80. “Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder” by Arianna Huffington
81. “Life in Five Senses: How Exploring my Senses Got Me Out of my Head and Into the World” by Gretchen Rubin
82. “Permission to Feel: Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help Our Kids, Ourselves, and Our Society Thrive” by Marc Brackett
83. “How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices” by Annie Duke
84. “Darling Girls” by Sally Hepworth
3 stars
85. “The Half Moon” by Mary Beth Keane
86. “Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk” by Kathleen Rooney
87. “One Two Three” by Laurie Frankel
88. “The Candy House” by Jennifer Egan
89. “Pageboy” by Elliot Page
90. “Have I Told You This Already: Stories I Don’t Want to Forget to Remember” by Lauren Graham
91. “How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success” by Julie Lythcott-Haims
92. “Gone Tonight” by Sarah Pekkanen
93. “Locust Lane” by Stephen Amidon
94. “The Holiday Swap” by Maggie Knox
95. “The House in the Pines” by Ana Reyes
96. “The Year of Magical Thinking” by Joan Didion
97. “Zero Days” by Ruth Ware
98. “Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution” by Rainn Wilson
99. “Spirit Junkie: A Radical Road to Self Love and Miracles” by Gabrielle Bernstein
100. “Everyone Here Is Lying” by Shari Lapena
101. “The Family Remains” by Lisa Jewell
102. “Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How it Can Transform Your Life.” By Dacher Keltner
103. “Just the Nicest Couple” by Mary Kubica
104. “There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom’s Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids” by Linda Akeson McGurk
105. “Write for Life: Creative Tools for Every Writer” by Julia Cameron
106. “Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude” by Ross Gay
107. “I’m No Philosopher, But I Got Thoughts: Mini-Meditations for Saints, Sinners, and the Rest of Us” by Krisin Chenoweth
108. “Drinking Games” by Sarah Levy
109. “Hopeless” by Colleen Hoover
110. “The Perfect Marriage” by Jeneva Rose
111. “Mind over Mother: Every Mums Guide to Worry and Anxiety in the First Years” by Anna Mathur
112. “This is How we Do It: A Pep Talk” by Kevin Hart
113. Without Merit” by Colleen Hoover
114. “How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy” by Jenny Odell
2 stars
115. “The Last Word” by Taylor Adams
116. “The End of Her” by Shari Lapena
117. “Live Learn Love Well: Lessons From a Life of Progress Not Perfection” by Emma Lovewell
118. “Sure I’ll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere” by Maria Bamford
119. “Cleaning up your Mental Mess: 5 Simple Scientifically Proven Strategies to Reduce Anxiety, Stress, and Toxic Thinking” by Caroline Leaf
120. “The Final Girl Support Group” by Grady Hendrix
121. “Never Never” by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher
122. “One True Love” by Taylor Jenkins Reid
123. “Finding Cinderella” by Colleen Hoover
124. “The Time-Saving Mom: How to Juggle a Lot, Enjoy Your Life, and Accomplish What Matters Most” by Crystal Paine
1 star
125. “Own Your Morning: Reset Your Routine To Unlock Your Potential” by Liz Baker Plosser
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