These new books critically examine how dominant ideas and power dynamics have influenced our interpretation and application of shared concepts. They question established paradigms and power structures, offering a range of perspectives from sexual wellness and psychology to the history of emotions and the intersection of philosophy, politics, and drug use. They delve into how external forces, such as psychological studies or the experience of grief, can shape one’s sense of self. They also primarily challenge or reframe common beliefs, assumptions, and narratives around these subjects, encouraging us to think critically about the forces that shape our personal and societal narratives.

Come Together: The Science (and Art) of Creating Lasting Sexual Connections / Nagoski, Emily
“A leading sexual wellness educator, tackles the often misunderstood topic of sex in long-term relationships. Challenging conventional wisdom and harmful assumptions, she explores what truly fulfilling sex looks like through inclusive stories and examples. The book aims to help pairs overcome obstacles like relationship conflicts, gendered beliefs about sex, and body image issues. With insight, humor, and empathy, it offers a radically transformed approach to sex and desire, empowering readers to create lasting, fulfilling sexual connections in their long-term relationships.” (Adapted from catalogue)

Data Baby: My Life in a Psychological Experiment / Breslin, Susannah
“In Data Baby, Susannah Breslin recounts her extraordinary childhood as a research subject in a renowned 30-year study of personality development at UC Berkeley. Decades later, grappling with an abusive marriage and breast cancer, she investigates how being raised under scrutiny shaped her identity and choices. Her compelling, provocative quest uncovers long-buried secrets behind the study, raising profound questions about whether it truly understood her better than she knew herself. With brave honesty and wit, her universal story explores the tension between allowing technology to define us and discovering our authentic selves in an era of increasing data-driven self-optimization. Her life-changing journey as one of history’s most studied individuals illuminates why we turn out the way we do.” (Adapted from publisher and catalogue)

Grief is For People / Crosley, Sloane
“Sloane Crosley’s poignant memoir explores loss and the complexities of mourning after her closest friend’s death by suicide. With disarming wit and empathy, Crosley embarks on a quest to understand grief, upending conventional narratives and offering a category-defying elegy that resonates deeply in our grief-stricken times. Hailed as one of the most anticipated books of the year, it’s a suspenseful and moving portrait of friendship, family, and the struggle to hold on to the past without being consumed by it.” (Adapted from catalogue)

Continue reading “Deconstruction and Reconstruction – New Personal Growth Books” →

We are intricate beings, with complex emotions woven through a web of interconnected systems. This collection of books explores the vast tapestry of human experience, from navigating societal challenges to confronting personal grief. By celebrating our beautiful diversity and fostering connection within this complexity, we pave the path to true wellbeing and empowerment.

The Alternative: How to Build a Just Economy / Romeo, Nick
“While many still preach outdated economic dogmas, a growing number are rejecting these myths and reshaping economies around ethical values. Journalist Nick Romeo explores innovative models being implemented globally, from purpose-driven companies to climate budgeting to worker ownership. He outlines an alternative economic system structured around equity, sustainability and accountability that could work for everyone.” (Adapted from catalogue)

Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture / Sole-Smith, Virginia
“From a young age, kids internalize that being “fat” is bad and are pressured to pursue thinness by diet culture and weight-centric healthcare. ‘Fat Talk’ exposes how the war on “childhood obesity” has fuelled disordered eating and body hatred across all sizes. Drawing on research and personal accounts, the book argues to reclaim “fat” as not inherently unhealthy, stop trying to “prevent obesity,” and instead adopt a weight-inclusive approach that addresses societal fatphobia rather than viewing kids’ bodies as the problem. It provides an alternative framework for parenting around food and bodies.” (Adapted from catalogue)

How To Be: Life Lessons From The Early Greeks / Nicolson, Adam
“2,500 years ago, a few heroic individuals in small Mediterranean cities pioneered the beginnings of Western philosophy, casting off the dominance of god-kings and priests. Adam Nicolson takes readers on an expedition into these early innovative thinkers like Homer, Heraclitus, Xenophanes, Sappho and Pythagoras, who shaped ground-breaking ideas about the natural world, ethics, authenticity and the soul. Enhanced with visuals, it revisits the ancient philosophers’ fundamental questions about how to live and understand existence, shedding new light on the radical, investigative thought that formed the bedrock of Western philosophy.” (Adapted from catalogue)

Continue reading “Beyond the surface: New personal development books” →

Our frameworks or schemas, through which we interpret the world around us, can have profound implications for our wellbeing, including through our use of language. This includes the ways we may speak to ourselves internally which may keep us stuck in unwanted patterns. There have been many great thinkers throughout history who have illuminated new human possibilities, as well as artists who have the unique capacity can awaken us to a world of creative and imaginative wonder. These new personal development books will help you explore those topics in greater depth through a new pair of eyes:

Aging Angry: Making Peace With Rage / Barusch, Amanda Smith / Barusch, Amanda Smith
“An interdisciplinary look at the history and meaning of anger and a significant new interpretation of anger in later life. Never before in the history of humanity have so many people lived to be so very old. Throughout our past, a few individuals might have made it to old age but “mass aging” is a new concept for the human species. Now, more than ever, it is time for older adults to turn toward anger rather than denying or avoiding it. This book provides strategies and approaches for harnessing the power of anger at any age.” (Adapted from publisher/catalogue)

Beyond Genius: A Journey Through the Characteristics and Legacies of Transformative Minds / Atalay, Bülent
“This book delves into the nature of genius, examining the lives and works of Da Vinci, Shakespeare, Newton, Beethoven, and Einstein. It explores how these transformative geniuses, who redefined their fields and opened new realms of thought, drew inspiration and achieved remarkable feats. He investigates their traits, habits, and thought patterns to understand what sets these individuals apart and offers insights into humanity’s most prolific thinkers and creators.” (Adapted from catalogue)

Living the Artist’s Way: An Intuitive Path to Greater Creativity : A Six-Week Artist’s Way Program / Cameron, Julia
“In her bestselling book ‘The Artist’s Way’, Julia Cameron shared with her millions of readers the three main tools needed to unlock creativity. Here, she reveals the vital fourth which she relies upon daily to find creative inspiration: writing for guidance. Readers will learn radical new skills needed to take their creative work to the next level: connecting with their intuitive power and trusting the answers. For followers and newcomers alike, it will teach readers how to find greater happiness, productivity, and creative inspiration.” (Adapted from cover/catalogue)

Continue reading “New ways of seeing: New personal development reads” →

Powerful systems and emerging technology can feed off of our sense of loneliness, insecurity, and sense of being stuck. It’s more important than ever to protect our authentic humanity and contribute creatively to our world in order to create connection, security and positive progress. These new personal development books will help you explore those areas in depth:

The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart / Taylor, Astra
“These days, everyone feels insecure. We’re financially precarious, overwhelmed and worried about the future. The status quo isn’t working. Even the affluent and comparatively privileged are deeply insecure. Our social order runs on this insecurity. Across disparate sectors, the systems that promise us security, instead, actively undermine it. We’re made insecure on purpose, and our endless striving shapes how we feel about ourselves and others (including what we believe is personally and collectively possible). The book explores our contemporary predicament, exposing the psychological and political costs of the insecurity-generating status quo, while proposing ways to forge a new path forward.” (Adapted from publisher and catalogue)

The Handover: How We Gave Control of Our Lives to Corporations, States and AIs / Runciman, David
“A few hundred years ago, humans started building the robots that now rule our world. They are called states and corporations: immensely powerful artificial entities, with capacities that go far beyond what any individual can do, and which, unlike us, need never die. They have made us richer, safer and healthier than would have seemed possible even a few generations ago – and they may yet destroy us. The Handover distils over three hundred years of thinking about how to live with artificial agency” (Publisher and Catalogue)

The House That Joy Built / Ringland, Holly
“A book about the transformative power of finding joy through creativity, and offering a jump-start for anyone whose desire to create is flattened by fear. Fear of feeling vulnerable, of criticism and judgement from others, of not being good enough, of having ‘bad’ ideas, of being ‘too much’. It’s for everyone who has ever felt stuck creatively. It’s for those yearning to write, and also, more generally, for anyone who longs to create but doesn’t know how to find a way into, or back too, their imagination.” (Adapted from catalogue)

Continue reading “The Age of Empowerment: New personal development books” →

Loss, exploitation and marginalisation can rob people of their sense of power and agency. The following new books help us reclaim life through the power of art, nature, and connection as well as the protective power of staying informed on the toxic influences around us.

Believability: Sexual Violence, Media, and the Politics of Doubt / Banet-Weiser, Sarah
“The #MeToo movement has empowered women to speak out against sexual assault. However, in the era of “fake news” and “alternative facts”, the concept of truth is being questioned. This book explores how #MeToo intersects with the post-truth crisis, focusing on experiences of women and people of colour whose claims of sexual violence are often doubted. It analyses how media culture influences the believability of truth about sexual violence today.” (Adapted from publisher and catalogue)

Disentangling from Emotionally Immature People: Avoid Emotional Traps, Stand Up for Your Self, and Transform Your Relationships… / Gibson, Lindsay C
“If you had an emotionally immature, unavailable, or selfish parent, you may remember a childhood full of emotional neglect. But what about other emotionally immature people in your life? Dealing with EIPs can be challenging. They can overly prioritize themselves, causing isolation and pain. This practical handbook provides insights and guidance to set boundaries, improve relationships, and handle these difficult interactions. By understanding their behaviours and transforming your connections, you can live a happier life. Disentangle from EIPs and empower yourself to assert your needs with confidence and self-compassion.” (Adapted from catalogue)

God is an Octopus: Loss, Love and a Calling to Nature / Goldsmith, Ben
“In July 2019, Ben Goldsmith tragically lost his fifteen-year-old daughter, Iris, in a farm accident. This book tells the story of Ben’s journey of soul-searching and healing after this devastating loss which left his whole family reeling. As he immersed himself in the rewilding of his farm, he found solace, hope and healing through the dramatic restoration of nature in the place where it happened. A powerful and inspiring story of finding comfort and strength in nature amidst despair.” (Adapted from catalogue)

Continue reading “Reclaiming Our Narrative – New personal development books” →