Long and lazier days of summer make it perfect for lots of reading. In addition to those fun beach reads, I like to include some books to learn more about living my best life. Speaking of which, I’ll be going offline for a couple weeks and I’m looking forward to being present and in the moment without the distractions of devices and that includes diving into some good reads.

I’ve done a lot of reading in the last few years about all kinds of health and wellness and mindfulness topics, in the end, they tend to have a lot in common and come to similar conclusions. We each just get there via our own unique routes.

All of us experience personal and unique situations and are surrounded by loved ones who too face a variety of realities. I’ve sorted this list to be able to hone in on whatever topic will be most useful case by case. I have read most of these books, in occasional situation that  I haven’t read the book, I have heard the author speak at a conference. And of course there are others that could be included in this list, but these are the ones that I have had the pleasure of reading and learning from. Each one has changed me for the better in some way or another.

While I had hoped to annotate this list and provide some explanations, it became too long to describe each one and descriptions are readily available online. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if you have heard of many of them and you might see one that you’ve been thinking of checking out. The titles with asterisks next to them have been particularly influential for me personally and I refer to them often.

It’s an complete and diverse list, I know. Not sure where to start? Close you eyes, take a couple of deep breaths, and then have a look and see which title you are most drawn to. Don’t second guess yourself and trust your intuition.

I have referred to all of these as “books”, but truth be told, I listen to many them in the audiobook version. I love listening to a book while going for a walk or taking care of ordinary household tasks. I was skeptical of listening at first because I love holding a book in my hand. It actually turned out to be one of those win-win situations because now I don’t have to choose each day between going for a walk and reading a book, I can do both simultaneously and I love it! In the case of many non-fiction books, for me it feels like I am listening to a speaker at a workshop and sometimes makes challenging information even easier to understand than it were reading it.

As for me, I am reading A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle and rereading You Are the Placebo by Dr. Joe Dispenza this summer. One book I’m reading together with a mindfulness book club and one of them I’m reading together with a couple friends who are in the process of recovering from cancer treatments. Consider finding a friend, or a family member or a group and read a book together. My hope is that this list will be a useful reference all year long when needing to learn and have a greater understanding about life in a variety of contexts.

Whether you are taking a big trip or staying local enjoying the pleasures of the season, have a wonderful summer and read a book to learn something new!

Mindfulness, Spirituality, and Healing
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz *
You are the Placebo by Dr. Joe Dispenza
Chakras for Beginners: A guide to balancing your chakra energies by David Pond
Return to Love by Marianne Williamson
Expectation Hangover by Christine Hassler
You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay

Mindset
Better than Before by Gretchen Rubin *
Essentialism by Greg McKeown
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
Drive by Daniel H. Pink
Antifragile by Nassim Taleb

Lifestyle
The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson *
Light Out: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival by T.S. Wiley
Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker
Play: How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination, and invigorates the soul by Stuart Brown and Christopher Vaughan *

Understanding our food supply and dietary choices
The Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz **
Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes
The Dorito Effect by Mark Schatzker
Salt, Sugar, Fat by Michael Moss
Wired to Eat by Robb Wolf

Mental Health
Grain Brain, by Dr. David Perlmutter
Anatomy of an Epidemic by Robert Whitaker *
Change Your Brain, Change your Life, by Dr. Daniel Amen
ADHD Nation by Alan Swartz
Mad in America by Robert Whittaker

Cancer
Radical Remission by Dr. Kelly Turner
The Metabolic Approach to Cancer by Dr. Nasha Winters
Deep Nutrition by Dr. Catherine Shanahan *

Women
Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom by Christiane Northrup
21-Day Hormone Reset Diet by Sara Gottfried
A Mind of Your Own by Kelly Brogan

Autoimmune Disorders
The Autoimmune Solution by Amy Myers
The Wahls Protocol by Dr. Terry Wahl

GI Issues
Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis

Fasting
The Science and Fine Arts of Fasting by Herbert M. Shelton *
The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung

Memoirs
Becoming by Michelle Obama
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn

Creativity
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

For Fun
Around the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage
Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson
A Curious History of Food and Drink by Ian Crofton
Salt: A World History by Mark Kulansky