It’s almost time for the New Year. The moment is now to make a fresh start, start something new, transform your life, develop a healthy habit, or maintain positive developments. This does not mean that you must make a New Year’s resolution. It’s acceptable if you set one but then break it. You don’t have to change everything just because the calendar has changed.
Best Inspiring Books for 2023
Every new year, just like every new day, week, and month, presents an opportunity to better yourself: to become the person you want to be, become your best self, and start fulfilling all your aspirations and ambitions. But more often than not, you require assistance: a plan, a method, or something that will assist you in approaching and achieving your objectives. A book or two that can help you would be a wonderful place to start. These books will teach you how to think about your objectives and life broadly and how to design a more effective plan, regardless of whether your goal is to get a promotion or live a healthier lifestyle.
Reading motivating novels can help you establish the proper priorities and objectives regardless of your goals for this year. Try reading motivational memoirs or pop psychology books that combine science and narrative if you’re seeking for “new year, new you” reading material. Numerous genres can be found in these novels. Find a book you enjoy, or try something different. (That time of year has here!) Whatever your preferred genre, there are motivating books available for you. You can find books that will satisfy your desire for a tale and bring about the change in your life that you’ve been waiting for, even if you enjoy reading fiction.
Read on to learn more about the best inspiring books for 2023:
Survival of the Thickest by Essays by Michelle Buteau
You have seen Michelle Buteau if you have watched television or movies in the last year. You’d be excused if you believed that the path to success—or adulthood, financial security, self-acceptance, marriage, or motherhood—had been straightforward, but you’d be mistaken. Michelle’s star is rising thanks to her ground-breaking performances in Always Be My Maybe, First Wives Club, Someone Great, Russian Doll, and Tales of the City; a reality TV series; her headliner show Welcome to Buteaupia on Netflix; and two podcasts (Late Night Whenever and Adulting).
Now, in Survival of the Thickest, Michelle recalls her experiences growing up Caribbean, Catholic, and thick in New Jersey, attending college in Miami (where everyone smells like pineapple), her numerous friendship and dating failures, working as a newsroom editor during 9/11, starting out in stand-up comedy by introducing male strippers, marrying into her husband’s Dutch family, IVF and surrogacy, motherhood, chosen family, and what it’s like to have a full heart, tight jeans, and stardom.
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama has established herself as one of the most iconic and fascinating women of our time through a life full of success and meaning. She helped build the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history as First Lady of the United States of America, the first African American to hold that position. She also made a name for herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the country and around the world, fundamentally altering how families pursue healthier and more active lifestyles and supporting her husband as he guided America through some of its most trying times. She taught us a few dance routines along the way, dominated Carpool Karaoke, and raised two frank girls in the spotlight.
Michelle Obama invites readers into her world in her memoir, a work of in-depth reflection and captivating storytelling. She details the experiences that have shaped her, from her early years on Chicago’s South Side to her years as an executive juggling the demands of motherhood and work to her time at the most well-known address in the world. She tells her complete experience as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms—detailing her achievements and her disappointments, both public and private, with unwavering honesty and vivid wit. Becoming is the very personal assessment of a woman of spirit and substance who has gradually defied expectations and whose narrative motivates us to do the same. It is warm, smart, and enlightening.
This is Big by Marisa Meltzer
Try reading this emotional examination of weight and weight loss instead of starting a new diet (please don’t); it might just help you determine the best route to acceptance for you and your body. Written by a woman who has battled obesity since infancy, it details both her own path and that of Jean Nidetch, the creator of Weight Watchers, with many similarities between their battles for weight loss. This book is funny and real, and it will make you consider much more than weight.
Sorry I’m Late by Jessica Pan
You can tell you’re in for a humorous and completely relatable adventure just from the title. We all have a tendency to fade into the background. Jessica Pan chose to live dangerously for a year after realizing how often she displayed this trait in herself (or at least how it made her feel when she pretended to be an extrovert). Pan put herself in a succession of terrifying scenarios while being mentored by extroverted people, including doing stand-up comedy, throwing a dinner party, traveling alone, and more. Pan learned more about herself after a year of living life on the edge than she had ever imagined.
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
Even therapists can benefit from therapy. Before she started working as a therapist, Lori Gottlieb accomplished a lot. Gottlieb had worked as a writer for the popular TV series ER before making a career change in his mid-life. She found a passion for assisting people and listening while doing research for her job on the show. Although Gottlieb’s book is not self-help, as you read it, you’ll find yourself solving your own problems as she does while also learning self-compassion.
The Friendship Formula by Caroline Millington
The Friendship Formula teaches listeners how to establish and maintain enduring, supportive friendships. Although friendship is a wonderful thing, there are many challenging times when it can be challenging to navigate: when friendship turns toxic; how to end a friendship; what to do if a friend “ghosts” you; surviving friendship betrayal; how motherhood can affect female friendships; friendship grief; and how to cope with losing a friend.
This book demonstrates how dealing with the challenging aspects of friendship with kindness can help you mend your heart, move on, and get the most out of the relationships that truly matter.
Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit
Rebecca Solnit presents a bold argument for hope as a commitment to action in a world where the future is still unknown and uncertain in Hope in the Dark. Solnit makes the case that radicals have a lengthy, underappreciated history of transformative victories, that the benefits of our actions are not always immediately apparent, directly knowable, or even measurable, and that pessimism and despair are based on unwarranted confidence in what will happen next. She bases this argument on her decades of activism and extensive knowledge of environmental, cultural, and political history. Solnit’s important book, which was first released in 2004, has a fresh foreword and afterword, and this remarkable new version illuminates the darkness of our day.
H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald
When Helen MacDonald’s father passed away unexpectedly, she was absolutely lost. MacDonald turned to her old hobby of falconry when she was unsure how to deal with her overwhelming sadness. But this time, ordinary falcons wouldn’t do, so MacDonald made the decision to breed and train a goshawk, one of the most ferocious predators that nature has to offer. A touching and lighthearted novel about coping with sorrow, hawks, and self-discovery, H is for Hawk. Additionally, it’s the ideal book for anyone who wants to set themselves a daring new challenge in January.
The Year for Yes by Shonda Rhimes
Some of the most innovative and daring shows on television right now are the products of her creative and production talents. Her enduring characters act audaciously and express their opinions. Who could have imagined that Shonda Rhimes is an introvert, then? She employed a PR in order to avoid making public appearances. Before media interviews, she experienced panic attacks.
It was simple for Shonda to claim she was simply too busy because she had three kids at home and three successful television shows. But in all honesty, she was also scared. Shonda knew she had to accept the challenge and say “yes” to anything that terrified her for a full year. You never say yes to anything, her sister murmured during Thanksgiving dinner, serving as both a wake-up call and a rallying cry.
Yes. This moving, personal, and humorous biography delves into Shonda’s life prior to her Year of Yes, from her nerdy, book-loving upbringing to her dedication to developing television characters who accurately represented the society she observed. The book details Shonda’s life following her Year of Yes, when she was forced to leave her home and go on stage and when she discovered how to embrace, empower, and love her authentic self.
Why Not Me by Mindy Kaling
In Why Not Me?, Kaling discusses insightful, incredibly intimate experiences such as falling in love at the office, looking for new friendships in lonely places, attempting to become the first person in history to lose weight without any sort of behavior modification, and thinking you have a place in Hollywood despite being constantly reminded that no one looks like you.
Kaling shares her tongue-in-cheek tips for achieving flawless on-camera beauty in “How to Look Spectacular: A Starlet’s Confessions,” saying, “Your natural hair color may be appropriate for your skin tone, but this isn’t the land of appropriate—this is Hollywood, baby. Here, honey blonde is the usual hair color for a woman with dark skin. In “Player,” Kaling is described as being seduced and dumped by a female companion in Los Angeles.
They now had identical bangs. She comments on America’s obsession with actresses’ weight in “Unlikely Leading Lady,” saying, “Most ladies we see onscreen are either so thin they’re walking clavicles or so enormous their only scenes involve them destroying furniture.” Additionally, Kaling reveals some details about her friendship and ex-boyfriend B.J. Novak in “Soup Snakes”: “I can readily admit: my relationship with B.J. Novak is odd as hell.”
Anyone who has ever experienced a turning point in their lives or work will be able to connect to Mindy’s essays as she combines the worries, the glamour, and the joys of her second coming-of-age into a collection of essays that will make you laugh out loud.
Final Words
Since New Year is around the corner and everybody has some plans in their mind, there is nothing better than getting a book that will serve as your guide. In this article, we have reviewed the best inspiring books to help you plan for the coming year. We hope this guide will be helpful for you to decide which book is ideal for your needs. Keep reading our blogs to learn more about the best tips for reading and reviews about the best books.
FAQ
Why is it Important to Have Books?
Books assist us in educating ourselves about everything in our universe and beyond, including history, the arts, science, religion, nature, mathematics, and technology. Books also assist us in comprehending the impact that all of those factors have on both our world and ourselves. Books provide amusement and a wonderful escape.
What is the Good Goal of Books to Read in a Year?
If you don’t read much, you might want to make a lesser goal, like reading 12 books this year; if you don’t read much (that works out to 1 per month). Another option is to set your goal at 52 books (1 book per week), or even higher, like 100 or more books in a year, if you already read a lot and want to read more.
Why Should You Read New Books?
Reading about something you like or losing yourself in a good book is a great relaxing approach. While allowing your mind to roam to new concepts and putting yourself in someone else’s shoes, it can relieve stress in your muscles and heart.
Why is Reading Important?
Reading stimulates several parts of your mind. Processing the words you read requires comprehension to start. Beyond that, reading words from a page can help you develop your analytical skills, trigger memories, and expand your creativity.