The Reading Room
79 books for healing, laughing, and living single. Out loud! — recommended by our community.
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Self-Love & Worth
Untamed
Glennon Doyle
Stop pleasing, start living as your truest self.
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Worthy
Jamie Kern Lima
Stop doubting your worth — especially after being underestimated.
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You Are a Badass
Jen Sincero
Funny, kick-in-the-pants confidence building.
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The Four Agreements
Don Miguel Ruiz
Four simple agreements for personal freedom.
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All About Love
bell hooks
A new vision for what love can be — starting with you.
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Be Your Own Bestie
Misha Brown
A no-nonsense guide to changing how you treat yourself.
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Girl, Wash Your Face
Rachel Hollis
Letting go of the lies that keep you stuck.
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You Can Heal Your Life
Louise Hay
A classic on the mind-body connection to healing.
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Present Over Perfect
Shauna Niequist
Leaving behind frantic for a simpler, truer life.
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Find Your F*cking Happy
Monica Sweeney
A guided journal for chasing joy on the daily.
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I Will Not Die an Unlived Life
Dawna Markova
On living with passion, purpose, and wholeheartedness.
Buy on AmazonThe Brené Shelf
The Gifts of Imperfection
Brené Brown
Let go of who you're supposed to be. Embrace who you are.
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Daring Greatly
Brené Brown
How vulnerability changes the way we live.
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Rising Strong
Brené Brown
Getting back up after the fall — and past a breakup.
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Braving the Wilderness
Brené Brown
True belonging and the courage to stand alone.
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Atlas of the Heart
Brené Brown
Mapping the emotions that make us human.
Buy on AmazonHealing After Betrayal & Heartbreak
Leave a Cheater, Gain a Life
Tracy Schorn
Sharp, funny, zero pity — get out and get your life back.
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The Journey from Abandonment to Healing
Susan Anderson
The gold standard on heartbreak, with a clear path through.
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Runaway Husbands
Vikki Stark
For women blindsided by a husband who suddenly left.
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It's Not You
Dr. Ramani Durvasula
Healing after a narcissistic relationship — reclaim yourself.
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Women Who Love Too Much
Robin Norwood
The classic on breaking unhealthy relationship patterns.
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Codependent No More
Melody Beattie
Reclaiming yourself after a relationship ends.
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The Dance of Anger
Harriet Lerner
A woman's guide to changing patterns of relationships.
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Forgiving What You Can't Forget
Lysa TerKeurst
Tender guidance on letting go — lovely on audiobook.
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Getting Past Your Breakup
Susan Elliott
Turn a devastating loss into the best thing that ever happened.
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Didn't See That Coming
Rachel Hollis
On putting life back together when it falls apart.
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Love Warrior
Glennon Doyle
A raw memoir of falling apart and finding herself.
Buy on AmazonGrief, Grit & Getting Through
When Things Fall Apart
Pema Chödrön
Walking through hard times with an open heart.
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Option B
Sheryl Sandberg & Adam Grant
Facing adversity and finding resilience and joy.
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Keep Moving
Maggie Smith
Notes on loss, creativity, and change.
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Man's Search for Meaning
Viktor E. Frankl
On finding purpose through life's hardest seasons.
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The Place Between Our Pains
K.J. Ramsey
Finding joy in the middle of the hard stuff.
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Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving
Pete Walker
A deep, compassionate guide to understanding yourself.
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Tiny Beautiful Things
Cheryl Strayed
Fierce, compassionate advice on love, loss, and getting up again.
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How to Keep House While Drowning
KC Davis
Gentle, shame-free help for hard seasons.
Buy on AmazonA Calmer Mind
Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?
Dr. Julie Smith
Everyday tools from a clinical psychologist.
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Rewire Your Anxious Brain
Catherine Pittman & Elizabeth Karle
Use the neuroscience of fear to end anxiety & worry.
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The Happiness Trap
Russ Harris
Build a life by values, not achievements (ACT).
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Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers
Robert Sapolsky
The science of stress and how to manage it.
Buy on AmazonSingle After 40 (& Loving It)
A Single Revolution
Shani Silver
Don't look for a match. Light one.
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Single at Heart
Bella DePaulo
The research-backed case for the joyfully single life.
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The Unexpected Joy of Being Single
Catherine Gray
A witty unlearning of the “incomplete without a partner” script.
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How to Be Single and Happy
Jennifer Taitz
A psychologist's tools for a full life, love or no love.
Buy on AmazonMoving Forward
The Let Them Theory
Mel Robbins
Stop controlling others and reclaim your peace.
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The Mountain Is You
Brianna Wiest
Transforming self-sabotage into self-mastery.
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Wild
Cheryl Strayed
One woman's solo hike back to herself.
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Eat, Pray, Love
Elizabeth Gilbert
One woman's search for everything after divorce.
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Everything Is Figureoutable
Marie Forleo
A therapist favorite for getting unstuck.
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Greenlights
Matthew McConaughey
Life lessons & outlaw wisdom — best on audiobook.
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Can't Hurt Me
David Goggins
Relentless mindset for pushing past your limits.
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The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
Mark Manson
A counterintuitive approach to living well.
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UnF*ck Yourself
Gary John Bishop
Get out of your head and into your life.
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Awake
Jen Hatmaker
A candid guide to coming home to yourself.
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Women Rowing North
Mary Pipher
Why women often get happier as they age.
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Big Magic
Elizabeth Gilbert
Permission to live creatively and curiously at any age.
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Year of Yes
Shonda Rhimes
A year of saying yes to everything that scared her.
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Grown Woman Talk
Dr. Sharon Malone
A warm, straight-talking guide to thriving from 40 on.
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Braiding Sweetgrass
Robin Wall Kimmerer
On your relationship with yourself, your history & your world.
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The Prophet
Kahlil Gibran
Timeless poetry to steer life's big and small turns.
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Guess I Haven't Learned That Yet
Shauna Niequist
On starting over with curiosity and courage.
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Heartburn
Nora Ephron
Betrayal as comedy — with recipes and revenge.
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I Feel Bad About My Neck
Nora Ephron
Aging, hilariously and completely self-possessed.
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We Are Never Meeting in Real Life
Samantha Irby
Filthy, funny essays from a woman done pretending.
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How to Be Alone
Lane Moore
Comedy with a warm heart about building a life solo.
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Bossypants
Tina Fey
Becoming the boss of your own life, hilariously.
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Everything I Know About Love
Dolly Alderton
The loves of your life might be your girlfriends.
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Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea
Chelsea Handler
For when you just need to laugh out loud.
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Furiously Happy
Jenny Lawson
Hilarious, honest take on living with hard things.
Buy on AmazonLife Is a Lazy Susan
Life Is a Lazy Susan Full of Sh*t Sandwiches
Jennifer Welch & Angie Sullivan
Irreverent, big-hearted — perfect for a book club.
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I Take My Coffee Black
Tyler Merritt
Funny, tender essays on being fully seen.
Buy on AmazonFiction That Feels Good
Killers of a Certain Age
Deanna Raybourn
Four 60-something assassins everyone underestimates. Their mistake.
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The Change
Kirsten Miller
Menopause comes with literal powers. Scores get settled.
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Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
Jesse Q. Sutanto
A nosy tea-shop owner solves a murder by mothering the suspects.
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Where'd You Go, Bernadette
Maria Semple
A brilliant woman gets gloriously, chaotically un-lost.
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Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus
She refuses to shrink for anyone — funny, furious, triumphant.
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The Bandit Queens
Parini Shroff
The local legend other wives ask for “help.” Dark comedy, big power.
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The Jojo Moyes Collection
Jojo Moyes
Warm, easy fiction to gently cleanse the mind first.
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Maeve Binchy Favorites
Maeve Binchy
Cozy, big-hearted stories of women starting over.
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The Shell Seekers
Rosamunde Pilcher
A sweeping comfort read about a life fully lived.
Buy on AmazonAs an Amazon Associate, We Choose The Bear Club earns from qualifying purchases. It costs you nothing extra and helps keep the club running.
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