With fewer social plans these past couple of months, I’ve been devouring books on the couch and audiobooks while jogging, walking and getting tasks done around the house. The journalist in me loves reading other people’s deep, personal stories, and constantly craves memoirs and other works of nonfiction. The yogi in me is drawn toward self-inquiry, and leans into philosophical and self-help books.

Sound relatable? Here’s my list of recommendations pulled from books and audiobooks I’ve lost myself in so far this year.

Books

The Year of Magical Thinking

By Joan Didion

One of my all-time favorite memoirs by one of my all-time favorite writers, this book is Didion’s exploration of the year of grief that followed her husband’s death. It’s raw and deeply thoughtful, without being overtly sad. It was an interesting book to reread at the beginning of quarantine, when so many people were grappling with this newfound sense of loss that came with the loss of normalcy. A different kind of grief. It’s beautiful.

No One Tells You This

By Glynnis MacNicol

Dang. If there’s one book that is going to empower women who ache for a life of career success, travel, no children, a love life that doesn’t need to lead to marriage and female friendships that are the strongest forces in their lives, it’s this book. MacNicol dives into the year of life that followed her fortieth birthday. Biting, witty, comical and insightful, every word prompts you to consider why you live the way you do, and if you’re choosing the path that would truly bring you the most joy while saying “f*** it” to societal expectations and the boxes others draw you into.

The Year of Yes

By Shonda Rhimes

You don’t have to have watched/loved Grey’s Anatomy in order to enjoy this book, but it helps. Rhimes is the writer of the show, and her personal Year of Yes unfolds at the peak of her success, when she’s dominating Thursday night television with her shows like Private Practice, Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal. It’s brought to her attention that she rarely says “yes” to big events and interviews and speaking opportunities, so she devotes herself to that word for a year. Her writing is hilarious, fast-paced and sharply honest as she shares all of the new doors that begin to open for her as a result of this one little word. You can also see all of her own personality that she pours into her characters.

Let’s Take the Long Way Home

By Gail Caldwell

My current read, gifted to me by a friend. This is a memoir of friendship, with Caldwell detailing the intensely close bond she formed with late writer Caroline Knapp when they were in their thirties and forties. Both single, successful writers, both adoring dog moms, both lovers of solitude, their friendship moves them forward through the lives they’ve chosen to lead, beyond alcohol addiction and past insecurities. I have just a few pages left.

Audiobooks

You Are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth

By Jen Sincero

I first fell in love with Sincero’s writing style when I read You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life in 2018. I was miserable at my job at the time, and her blunt, funny and empowering advice pushed me to quit my job and change industries. I’ve enjoyed my writing career so much more ever since. You Are a Badass at Making Money offers a similar vibe, and urges you to change a lot of your deep-seated beliefs about what you’re capable of accomplishing with the career path you’re on. For example, start intentionally investing in the kind of life you truly want, in order to set yourself up for the kind of success you haven’t yet been able to see yourself capable of achieving. It’s intense but feels light, and life-changing. For starters, it convinced me to stop acting like I can’t afford to travel, when, if I save properly, I have so much traveling opportunities available to me.

The Untethered Soul

By Michael A. Singer

I’m not a strong auditory learner, and this particularly lofty book has been harder for me to follow and absorb than ones like Sincero’s. But I still recommend it. Singer offers a fascinating, somewhat controversial take on the difference between the self and the consciousness, the ability to choose a life of joy and the power to let go of pain and psychological disturbance, among other lessons. While I don’t agree with everything he says (on this first listen, at least), his words are thought-provoking on a darkly personal level. Singer urges you to confront what annoys you, what hurts you, what ails you – and offers ways to let go and emerge a happier, higher self.

What am I missing? Please share any recommendations in the comments!