100 books like Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom

This book was part of my women’s studies in nurse-midwifery school at the University of Florida. It affirmed what I already knew on a soul level about how women’s senses hold unique sub-strata. We “know” but have been unable to define the “why” over the centuries.  As an empath, this book resonated with me and helped me understand how my gift brought to the bedside when caring for women at the most primal moments of their lives, was innate. It taught me how to trust my instincts.

Have you ever had someone mentor you that you’ve never met? The brilliant Hitha Palepu - author, CEO, and investor - certainly has. Throughout Hitha's career and life, she has captured quotes and “Kamala-isms” in a notebook that served as strength and motivation when she needed it most. We're Speaking weaves together wonderful lessons from Kamala's groundbreaking accomplishments along with Hitha's insights from actualizing these lessons herself.

While there is so much to learn from Kamala, Hitha is a star in her own right. She’s the ultimate multi-hyphenate. She’s the CEO of a pharmaceutical company, author, speaker, investor, social media influencer, and more. Just as Kamala has been a mentor from afar to many women around the globe, I suspect that there is a long list of women who would say the same about Hitha. 

This is the perfct book for anyone who is looking to step into their power,… show more.

I am not a nice girl. I am a Nice Lady. In this book, Dr. Lois Frankel–fellow USC Trojan, fight on ✌️–confirmed for me one simple fact: All that the ways I was taught to be a good person in life, by accommodating other people's wants and needs, would make me a bad person in business. 

The book was initially written for professional women who wanted to succeed as employees, but the message continued to resonate with me as I became an entrepreneur. 

“How You Act,” “How You Think,” “How You Brand and Market Yourself,” and the other chapters in the book all serve as guideposts for how to build a viable career, whether you work for a company or run it.

Allende is one of my sheroes in the writing world. Her ability to depict the unseen world of intuition and address the passion that stokes the inner fires of women is unmatched. Her life is an extraordinary journey of love, loss, and resilience during difficult political times in Chile.

In this book, she gives voice to women everywhere who have been oppressed, and they still rise to care for themselves and those they love while striving for the lives they deserve. Calling herself a feminist, she shares how her defiant character was pathologized and, ultimately, how that led her to stand up for herself and other women.

It is both an individual and a collective story about the role of women in the world then and today.

This book not only changed my entire life, but it has also helped me shape the ending of my own book. Wilson gave me the permission and vocabulary to express abstract concepts that I was carrying around; sacred rage, patriarchal oppression, a lineage of matricidal trauma… big stuff. Rather than a book, Maiden to Mother is a cultural and feminine ancestral movement. By traversing your own underworlds and excavating all of the buried, scorned, traumatized parts of ourselves, we can then begin the healing journey and live honest to our souls. In this non-fiction book, Wilson asks the reader to go where they’ve never gone before, and in return, promises liberation and true joy. She delivers this in a no-bullshit manner. And guess what? It works.

This book had one basic message, and it came down to this: Take time to put yourself first because you matter too. I love this message so much because it took me years (and I’m still working on it) to learn the importance of self-care.

Challenging relationships within my own family structure have taken a toll over the years. However, reading this book reminded me that I can take control of my own happiness and that it is not selfish to make a “Me List” and make myself happy, too. 

I love this book because the affirmations are based on the wit and wisdom of strong women. While there are many focuses on affirmations, I love the affirmations in this book because it focuses on affirmations by women. There are not only affirmations but there are also short bios of strong women throughout the book in sections called "Badass to the Bone".

I learned from the wit and wisdom of strong women that I knew as well as women that I did not know. The book helps to build and strengthen me to be my authentic self and to thrive in my career. 

There is nothing quite like this book. It is grotesque and bizarre and reads like something out of a lucid dream. I do not and will not stop recommending it.

Each word is like sticking my fingers into the trama of a mushroom and coming out covered in spores. I love how it felt like I was losing my mind along with the characters, diving deeper into the unknown and hoping to come out unscathed.

This book is another great book for people with anxiety. The desire for social acceptance can be very anxiety-provoking for many people. This can lead to a pattern of self-denial and people-pleasing behaviors. This book teaches how to have healthy boundaries while still having positive relationships, thereby reducing anxiety. This book is very well-written, simple, easy to follow, and highly recommended by therapists and counselors.

I love frameworks. Especially ones that make simple and clarifying distinctions about our complex inner life. That’s exactly what Chamine has done with this book. When I read this book in 2012 and completed the accompanying free online assessment to identify my saboteurs, I was greatly humbled by the sobering accuracy of how I self-sabotage.

While reading the book, I was engrossed in the combination of logic, science, and stories helping to illuminate how and why we all have a unique mix of these universal saboteurs: Controller, Stickler, Hyper-Achiever, Restless, Hyper-Rational, Victim, Avoider, Pleaser, Hyper-Vigilant. I learned how to identify when I was coming from a place of self-sabotage and what to do to overcome unhelpful habits, (i.e., strengthen my PQ muscles).

It was fun, engaging, and motivating to read, and the practical tips made this book incredibly useful. I use his framework in conjunction with my own to make… show more.