Books on My Nightstand: What I’m Reading Next
My TBR pile is basically a map of whatever I’m trying to understand about life at the moment.
Right now that means healing, consciousness, women’s history, motherhood, money, spirituality, reinvention, and figuring out why we sometimes become our own biggest obstacle.
Some of these are actually sitting on my nightstand. Some were recommended by people I trust. Others found me at exactly the right time and immediately went on the list.
I obviously haven’t read these yet, so these aren’t reviews. They’re the reasons I’m interested enough to spend my time on them—and maybe you’ll find something here that calls to you too.
The Book for Anyone Tired of Their Own Thoughts
Don’t Believe Everything You Think — Joseph Nguyen
I’ve become fascinated by how much of our suffering comes not from what is actually happening, but from what our minds do with it. This book explores that idea, and I’m very curious to see where it takes it. I have a feeling I’m going to underline half of it.
The Book That Feels Very Divine Grit
No Mud, No Lotus — Thich Nhat Hanh
“The art of transforming suffering” pretty much says it all.
The idea that pain and beauty can exist together—and that suffering itself can become part of our growth—is very much where my head has been lately. I’m interested to see what this teaches me that I’ve already begun figuring out the hard way.
The Mitch Albom Book I Somehow Haven’t Read Yet
The Stranger in the Lifeboat — Mitch Albom
I don’t think I’ve ever read a Mitch Albom book that didn’t leave me thinking about life differently afterward.
This one asks some pretty big questions about faith, survival, and what we believe when everything feels lost. I’m fairly certain I’ll end up buying another copy for my dad.
The Book Calling to My Wild Woman Side
Women Who Run With the Wolves — Clarissa Pinkola Estés
I love learning about archetypes, mythology, and the old stories we’ve used to understand ourselves for generations.
This book explores the instinctive, creative, wild feminine through myths and stories, which is basically a direct line to everything I’m interested in right now. I have a feeling this one will take me a while—in a good way.
The Book Making Me Question Everything We Were Taught About Women
When God Was a Woman — Merlin Stone
This explores ancient goddess worship and the shift from matriarchal or female-centered religious traditions toward patriarchal systems.
I’m fascinated by the question of what changed when societies changed the way they viewed women, divinity, power, and authority. Maybe understanding how we got here gives us a few clues about what needs to change next.
The Hero’s Journey, But for Women
The Modern Heroine’s Journey of Consciousness
We’ve all heard of the hero’s journey: leave home, face trials, conquer something, return transformed.
But does transformation actually look the same for women?
I’m really interested in the idea of a heroine’s journey being less about conquest and more about identity, intuition, wholeness, relationships, and coming back to parts of ourselves we were taught to abandon.
The Book That Started the Near-Death-Experience Conversation
Life After Life — Raymond A. Moody Jr.
Raymond Moody became one of the earliest researchers to systematically document reports from people who had near-death experiences.
Whether you approach this spiritually, scientifically, skeptically, or somewhere in between, the consistency in some of these experiences fascinates me. I want to read the work that helped bring the entire subject into mainstream conversation.
The Book for My “Let’s Figure Out Money” Era
I Will Teach You to Be Rich — Ramit Sethi
I am determined to understand the money game better.
Not because money is the point of life, but because financial freedom gives you choices. It gives you room to breathe, help people, create things, take care of your family, and spend more time doing what actually matters to you.
So yes. Let’s get rich and then do meaningful shit with it.
The Parenting Book Someone I Trust Recommended
He’s Not Lazy — Adam Price
My son is 14, and this one came recommended by his dad, so that alone made me pay attention.
It looks at teenage boys who may seem unmotivated from the outside and asks what is actually happening underneath that behavior. Parenting teenagers requires a completely different toolbox than parenting little kids, and I’m always willing to learn another way to understand my boys.
The Book for the Year I Didn’t Exactly Choose
The Pivot Year — Brianna Wiest
Apparently this is my pivot year whether I volunteered for it or not.
There are seasons when life quietly changes direction, and then there are seasons when it grabs the steering wheel out of your hands entirely. I like Brianna Wiest’s writing, and I’m curious to see what this gives me while I figure out what comes next.
The Book About Raising Good Men
Raising Emotionally Strong Boys — David Thomas
I genuinely feel like my boys are emotionally strong, but that doesn’t mean I know everything.
I’m interested in anything that helps boys understand emotions without teaching them to fear vulnerability, shut down, or believe strength means pretending nothing hurts. If I can give my sons one more tool for becoming good, emotionally healthy men, I want it.
The Book My Friend Keeps Talking About
The Let Them Theory — Mel Robbins
One of my best friends credits this book with some pretty significant personal growth lately, which made me curious.
The basic idea sounds almost ridiculously simple: stop exhausting yourself trying to control other people’s choices, opinions, reactions, and behavior.
Considering how much energy humans waste doing exactly that, this one seems worth reading.
The One That Is Literally on My Nightstand
The Untethered Soul — Michael A. Singer
This one has officially moved from the theoretical TBR pile to my actual nightstand.
I’m interested in the idea of learning to observe our thoughts rather than automatically believing every single one of them. Anything that helps quiet the endless internal narrator deserves at least a few chapters.
The Book About Where Our Energy Goes
Invisible Acts of Power — Caroline Myss
I loved the way Caroline Myss made me think about meaning and spiritual responsibility, so this was an easy addition to my shelf.
I’m especially interested in the idea that seemingly small choices and interactions can either drain our energy or become quiet acts of power. I want to understand where I’m giving mine away without realizing it.
The Book for Getting Out of My Own Damn Way
The Mountain Is You — Brianna Wiest
I really like Brianna Wiest, and the subject of this one feels painfully relevant.
Self-sabotage is such an interesting thing. We can desperately want something and still unconsciously create habits, fears, excuses, and patterns that keep us from getting there.
I would very much like to stop doing that.
So yes. This one is staying near the top of the pile.
