58 Inspirational Books That Will Actually Change Your Life

This past year I took a little time away from social media and was surprised by the number of comments I received asking which books I planned to read during my hiatus. Although I don’t have a set number of books I try to complete each year, I always enjoy having one or two on the go (and usually end up reading about 20 books). Not having a goal helps me resist the temptation to listen to audiobooks at double the speed. It keeps reading enjoyable. Plus, my dumb-ass can’t ingest that much info at once anyway! Usually I listen to audiobooks during work or while driving, but otherwise, it’s paperback all the way! Old habits die hard!

So here is the list of what I’ve read in 2018—with some light commentary, some books I am looking forward to reading in 2019 and other of my favourites.

19 of the Best Books I Read in 2018

1. Letting Go – The Pathway of Surrender, David R. Hawkins
   You can pretty much pick this book at any part and get a nugget about its premise. Although personally, I’ve found other tools for letting go work better the book still provides powerful insights that will undoubtedly hit home.
2. The Presence Process, Michael Brown
   The book is part of a 10-week course…Although there are some nuggets, I didn’t finish it. That isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy what I read. The author’s story was very relatable, and I felt premise hit home.
3. Wild Nights, David Deida
   It’s a trip. Highly sexed up, raw and blunt. It’s often tough to digest.
4. Demian, Hermann Hesse
   No one writes quite like Hesse. His poetics and deep understanding our duality make his work immensely enjoyable…at least to me.
5. Principles: Life and Work, Ray Dalio
   I usually gift books each year that I feel can truly help someone achieve breakthroughs. This book does so both spiritually and professionally.
6. Steppenwolf, Herman Hesse
   Same as above. Both Demian and Steppenwolf are fictional but feel intensely personal and maybe even autobiographical at times!
7. Parenting with Presence, Susan Stiffelman
   Because I’m certainly not always the parent I want to be, this book hit pretty close home and has helped me big time…at least when I’m reading and re-reading the parts, I underlined.
8. The Multi-Orgasmic Man, Douglas Arava & Mantak Chia
   Heard about this book on from a personal trainer whose podcast I listen to. For a book on becoming multi-orgasmic it’s a little dry but at the same time intense and humbling. It really requires you do the practice to get anything out it…which isn’t such a bad thing!
9. Extreme Ownership, Jocko Willink & Leif Babin
   So, so many useful tips and crazy stories in this book. Taking ownership is a crucial quality to success, and these guys deliver their point with a bang! Listen to the audiobook!
10. Pour Your Heart Into It, Howard Shultz
    I didn’t love Howard Shultz’s second book, Onward, but this one was relatable and enjoyable.
11. Shoe Dog, Phil Knight
    Damn…what a hardcore start-up story Nike was
12. The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks
    A daily dose of Rumi is a beautiful treat! Just like TaoTe Ching, I just plug away at this one or two stanzas a day.
13. Rainbow Magic, Ruby the Red Fairy
    Yep, I read about a dozen books from this series to my girls.
14. Ego is the Enemy, Ryan Holliday
    The name says it all and never tiptoes around its premise – which makes it a bold read. Ryan also uses historical stories to help further solidify the EGO IS THE ENEMY!
15. Lying, Sam Harris
    Short and sweet – there may not be a more important book to read in 2018 or any year. The point is simple…don’t tell lies, not even white lies. You don’t realize just how guilty most of us are at telling lies, especially to our children.
16. 100 Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
    Published over 50 years ago this book is considered required reading by many. Although I found that at the time it requires some patience I came to thoroughly enjoy the magical realism and poetics from the iconic story.
17. Wild, Cheryl Strayed
    Personally, I found Cheryl’s journey both relatable and inspiring. I was moved by how open Cheryl was willing to be… In the end it powerful reminder of the human spirit and the long journey we’re all on.
18. The War of Art, Steven Pressfield
    A short and inspiring read about overcoming our ego in our everyday creative battles. A must read!
19. Essentialism, Greg McKeown
    This was the best book I read in 2018. A book that easily helped me develop better decision-making habits and focus on what really mattered.

20 Inspirational Books I am Looking Forward to Reading in 2019

1. 48 Laws of Power, Robert Greene
2. Legacy, Autumn Kalquist and James Kerr
3. The Hero With a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell
4. The Lessons of History, Ariel Durant and Will Durant
5. On the Role of the Individual in History, Georgii Valentinovich Plekhanov
6. Emergency, Neil Strauss
7. 12 Rules for Life, Jordan Peterson
8. Walden, Henry David Thoreau
9. The Meaning of the Glorious, Koran
10. The Fish that Ate the Whale The Life and Times of America’s Banana King, Rich Cohen
11. Edison A Biography, Matthew Josephson
12. Titan – The Life of John D Rockefeller, Ron Chernow
13. The Wisdom of Confucius, Lin Yutang
14. Letters to a Young Poet, Rainer Maria Rilke
15. Zen, the Reason of Unreason, Timothy Hugh Barett
16. Life in the Woods, Henry David Thoreau
17. Leadership in Turbulent Times, Doris Kearns Goodwin
18. The Hard Thing about Hard Things, Ben Horowitz
19. Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott
20. Triumph Over Adversity, Ulysses S Grant

19 Fantastic Business, Wellness and Non-fiction Books from 2017:

1. The Way of the Superior Man, David Deida
2. As a Man Thinketh, James Alan
3. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
4. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig
5. A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle
6. Death of a Salesman, a play by Arthur Miller
7. Thrive, Arianna Huffington
8. Delivering Happiness, Tony Hsieh
9. Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda
10. The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself, Michael Singer
11. Shoeless, Joe, W.P. Kinsella
12. The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz
13. Siddhartha, Hermann Hesse
14. The Gospel in Brief, Leo Tolstoy
15. How to Get Rich, Felix Dennis
16. Mastery of Love, Don Miguel Ruiz
17. The Magic of Thinking Big, David Schwartz
18. Getting There, Gillian Zoe Segal
19. Man’s Search For Meaning, Viktor Frankl

Also if you have any other recommendations for me, please let me know in a comment below!

Thanks for Reading, be well!