The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday
This is one of those books that challenges how you think about life. I run through the notes I took (yes…I take notes when I read non-fiction 🙂 ) regularly for inspiration and encouragement. Highly recommend.

Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience by Brené Brown

Brene Brown is amazing. Her research is impeccable and she has a gift for bringing research and the human experience together where they belong. All of her books are worthy of your time.

“In Atlas of the Heart, Brown takes us on a journey through eighty-seven of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human. As she maps the necessary skills and an actionable framework for meaningful connection, she gives us the language and tools to access a universe of new choices and second chances—a universe where we can share and steward the stories of our bravest and most heartbreaking moments with one another in a way that builds connection.“

Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson
Quite possibly one of the funniest books I have ever read. See the description below.

In Furiously Happy, a humor memoir tinged with just enough tragedy and pathos to make it worthwhile, Jenny Lawson examines her own experience with severe depression and a host of other conditions, and explains how it has led her to live life to the fullest: “I’ve often thought that people with severe depression have developed such a well for experiencing extreme emotion that they might be able to experience extreme joy in a way that ‘normal people’ also might never understand. And that’s what Furiously Happy is all about.”

Let Your Mind Run: A Memoir of Thinking My Way to Victory
by Deena Kastor 

I enjoyed this book. It wasn’t profound but reinforced the idea that we can choose our thoughts and our thoughts always dictate our actions. Our victories and our downfalls are all within our control. It is a great reminder and a cool story.

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance – by Angela Duckworth
This book is simply about grit. Talent and circumstance are not the limiting factors to being successful. It is hard work, commitment and determination to not fail.

Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace by Anne Lamott

Another one of my favorite authors. Anne Lamott’s book Bird by Bird sits on my shelf with torn covers and dog-eared pages.

Anne Lamott writes about faith, family, and community in essays that are both wise and irreverent. Lamott offers a new message of hope that celebrates the triumph of light over the darkness in our lives. “Our victories over hardship and pain may seem small,” she writes, “but they change us—our perceptions, our perspectives, and our lives.” Lamott writes of forgiveness, restoration, and transformation, how we can turn toward love even in the most hopeless situations, how we find the joy in getting lost and our amazement in finally being found. Profound and hilarious, honest and unexpected, the stories in Small Victories are proof that the human spirit is irrepressible.

Faster Than Normal: Turbocharge Your Focus, Productivity, and Success with the Secrets of the ADHD Brain by Peter Shankman

Yes. That’s all I have to say. Funny, insightful and practical. He somehow just makes it ok to have a different brain. Spoiler alert: He tells a story of how he was working under a deadline for a book and couldn’t focus long enough to finish. So…he booked a roundtrip flight to Japan or somewhere like that to force himself to finish. He flew there, ate, and flew back. Book complete. If I could count the number of times I wanted to jump on a plane to another country just to finish an assignment, let me tell you! 😉