Self-Help Books

Self-Help Books describes a diverse selection of titles that focus on self-discovery and self-improvement. The self-help genre is characterized by literature that shares research and advice to promote self-understanding and prompt changes in one's outlook or behavior, thus improving one's quality of life. The Self-Help Collection features texts that discuss topics ranging from business and personal finance to interpersonal relationships, mental health, and sexuality.

Publication year 2017

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Win & Lose, Relationships: Teams, Identity: Masculinity

Tags Self Help, Inspirational, Psychology, Leadership/Organization/Management, Military / War, Business / Economics, Psychology, Biography

Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…and Maybe the World is a work of self-help psychology by Admiral William H. McRaven. The book is a continuation and expansion of a commencement speech McRaven delivered at the University of Texas at Austin in 2014, which went viral on the internet. Formerly a high-ranking officer of the US Navy and Commander of US Special Operations Command, McRaven relates his experiences in Navy SEAL training to... Read Make Your Bed Summary


Publication year 1946

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality

Tags Holocaust, Religion / Spirituality, WWII / World War II, Philosophy, Philosophy, Psychology, Psychology, Biography, Self Help

Man’s Search for Meaning (1946) is a memoir and work of nonfiction concerned with psychotherapy. The author, Victor Frankl, was born in 1905 and later became a psychiatrist in Vienna—an occupation that for some time protected him despite the fact that he was Jewish. When he was offered the opportunity to obtain a visa and escape to America, he chose to stay in Nazi-occupied Austria to be near his aging parents. Inevitably, he and his family were... Read Man's Search for Meaning Summary


Publication year 1988

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Identity: Mental Health

Tags Psychology, Religion / Spirituality, Philosophy, Philosophy, Psychology, Biography, Self Help

Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient, and the Past-Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives is a new-age, self-help memoir written by American psychiatrist Dr. Brian L. Weiss. Originally published on July 15, 1988, by Touchstone, the book covers a portion of Weiss’s career in which he conducts therapy sessions with Catherine, a patient with symptoms of fear and anxiety. After putting Catherine under trance with hypnotic... Read Many Lives, Many Masters Summary


Publication year 1999

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos

Tags Psychology, Philosophy, Sociology, History: World, Science / Nature, Philosophy, Psychology, Fantasy, Self Help, Religion / Spirituality


Publication year 2012

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Education, Self Discovery, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance

Tags Self Help, Psychology, Business / Economics, Philosophy, Leadership/Organization/Management, History: World, Psychology, Philosophy


Publication year 2019

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt

Tags Psychology, Self Help, Psychology, Biography, Mental Illness

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed (2019) is a nonfiction book by American writer and psychotherapist, Lori Gottlieb. A combination of memoir and popular science, it brings together Gottlieb’s personal life experience and her therapeutic work to illuminate the role therapy can play in everyone’s lives. The work has become a New York Times bestseller and Time magazine Must-Read Book of the Year. It was shortlisted for... Read Maybe You Should Talk to Someone Summary


Publication year 2020

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil

Tags Race / Racism, Black Lives Matter, Education, Education, Social Justice, Sociology, Self Help, Politics / Government

Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla F. Saad is a New York Times bestselling nonfiction book and workbook published in 2020. Structured around a 28-day antiracism journaling challenge, white readers and participants critically examine their own personal complicity in upholding white supremacy.Stemming from author Saad’s viral challenge on Instagram— #MeAndWhiteSupremacy—over the course of four weeks, Me and White Supremacy breaks open white supremacy as an... Read Me and White Supremacy Summary


Publication year 2017

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Relationships: Teams, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos

Tags Business / Economics, Leadership/Organization/Management, Self Help


Publication year 180

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Fate, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil

Tags Philosophy, Ancient Rome, Philosophy, History: World, Psychology, Psychology, Biography, Self Help, Classic Fiction, Religion / Spirituality

Meditations is a collection of prose philosophical reflections and exercises composed in Koine Greek by Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who lived from 121-180 and ruled from 161-180. Though the precise dating of his compositions is unknown and they are not believed to be presented in chronological order, at least some of the books were written while he was on military campaign in the north of Europe during his reign. Scholars are generally in consensus that... Read Meditations Summary


Publication year 1992

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Relationships: Marriage, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Love

Tags Self Help, Psychology, Relationships, Love / Sexuality, Philosophy, Philosophy, Psychology, Romance

Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus (1992) is a self-help and personal development book by American author John Gray. The book is designed to help couples improve their relationships by accepting how different men and women are. Although the book was initially met with critical acclaim, it has lost popularity due to critiques about sexist content and the book’s worldview. Although this is Gray’s best-known work, Gray has published many similar books concerned... Read Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus Summary


Publication year 2006

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Education, Self Discovery, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance

Tags Self Help, Psychology, Education, Education, Leadership/Organization/Management, Business / Economics, Parenting, Psychology

In 2006, psychologist Carol S. Dweck, PhD, the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, released the book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, as a layperson’s guide to her decades of academic research. Initially interested in areas of motivation, personality, and development, the author gravitated toward research in cognitive motivation theory. She eventually discovered that the concepts of “fixed” and “growth” mindsets explain what motivates some people to embrace challenges and... Read Mindset Summary


Publication year 2016

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Economics, Society: Community, Society: Politics & Government

Tags Science / Nature, Business / Economics, Sociology, History: World, Psychology, Psychology, Self Help


Publication year 1931

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Mental Health, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Values/Ideas: Art

Tags Psychology, Philosophy, Religion / Spirituality, Science / Nature, Psychology, Philosophy, Self Help, Classic Fiction


Publication year 2024

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Gratitude, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Joy, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality

Tags Christian literature, Religion / Spirituality, Inspirational, Self Help


Publication year 2017

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Race, Society: Colonialism, Society: Community

Tags Social Justice, Race / Racism, Self Help, Colonialism / Postcolonialism, African American Literature, History: World, Psychology, Psychology, Mental Illness, Health / Medicine


Publication year 2005

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Language

Tags Business / Economics, Self Help, Psychology, Relationships, Leadership/Organization/Management, Psychology


Publication year 2022

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Win & Lose, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride

Tags Psychology, Philosophy, Inspirational, Sports, Psychology, Philosophy, Self Help, Biography


Publication year 2016

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Economics, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Relationships: Teams, Identity: Language

Tags Business / Economics, Self Help, Leadership/Organization/Management, Psychology, Psychology

Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as If Your Life Depended on It is a 2016 nonfiction book cowritten by Chris Voss, an international hostage negotiator turned business consultant and professor, and journalist Tahl Raz. In this book, which straddles the line between the business and self-help genres, Voss shares principles gleaned from decades of experience in high-stakes negotiations. Citations in this guide correspond with the first edition published by Harper Collins. Although Raz is credited... Read Never Split the Difference Summary


Publication year 2021

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Mental Health, Society: Community

Tags Self Help, Psychology, Health, Religion / Spirituality, Psychology, Mental Illness, Health / Medicine


Publication year 2021

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Society: Economics

Tags Psychology, Science / Nature, Business / Economics, Sociology, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Self Help