100 books like Real Happiness

By Sharon Salzberg,

Here are 100 books that Real Happiness fans have personally recommended if you like Real Happiness. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead

Peggy Dean Author Of Mindful Sketching: How to Develop a Drawing Practice and Embrace the Art of Imperfection

From my list on creative books for the wildly imperfect artist.

Why am I passionate about this?

My journey into art began as a serendipitous discovery that unfolded through curiosity. As a “can’t-be-tamed” creative, I understand the tug-of-war artists feel – craving to learn skills and create “quality” pieces, while also thumbing the snooze-fest of sticking to one thing. Been there, done that, got the paint-splattered t-shirt. This has ignited a passion for encouraging others to find their own creative voice, as I've navigated the same path while building a multifaceted career in watercolor, gouache, line drawing, urban sketching, brush lettering, and calligraphy…need I go on? The thing is, I will because there is still so much to be explored.

Peggy's book list on creative books for the wildly imperfect artist

Peggy Dean Why did Peggy love this book?

Engaging with this book, I recognized how fear of imperfection often held me back, not just in my art but in various aspects of life. I feel like the importance of showing up and being seen, even when there are no guarantees, is a reminder that I can continue to revisit time and time again.

This book has empowered me to approach my art practice with a heart open to risks and imperfections, which transforms not just the art I produce, but also how I lead, love, and connect with the world around me.

By Brené Brown,

Why should I read it?

11 authors picked Daring Greatly as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

**Now on Netflix as The Call to Courage**

'She's so good, Brene Brown, at finding the language to articulate collective feeling' Dolly Alderton

Every time we are faced with change, no matter how great or small, we also face risk. We feel uncertain and exposed. We feel vulnerable. Most of us try to fight those feelings - or feel guilt for feeling them in the first place.

In a powerful new vision Dr Brene Brown challenges everything we think we know about vulnerability, and dispels the widely accepted myth that it's a weakness. She argues that, in truth, vulnerability is…


Book cover of Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening

Patrick Ussher Author Of Stoicism & Western Buddhism: A Reflection on Two Philosophical Ways of Life

From my list on modern-day adaptations of Buddhism and Stoicism.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve long been interested in what different traditions have to say about how to live our best lives. While a graduate student, I naturally drifted towards studying both Stoicism and Buddhism and wrote my MA dissertation on a comparison of both (which ultimately, much later, became the basis for my book). During my time as a Ph.D. student, I was actively involved in the Modern Stoicism project. As well as running the blog for the project, I was also involved, along with a team of academics and psychotherapists, in creating adaptations of that ancient philosophy for the modern world. I also draw on both philosophies in coping with chronic illness.

Patrick's book list on modern-day adaptations of Buddhism and Stoicism

Patrick Ussher Why did Patrick love this book?

By my nature, I really enjoy polemical writings and controversial thinkers who challenge the status quo. Rightly or wrongly, I wouldn’t typically associate such works with the Buddhist tradition. While it does contain its heretics and firebrands, it is also naturally a tradition that encourages respect for the transmission of teachings from generation to generation.

Batchelor is a Buddhist polemicist and a highly controversial one, at that. In this book, I loved how he really took on many aspects of Buddhism that could be seen as ‘unnecessary ossified relics’ and attempted to present the essential aspects of Buddhism, stripped of any ancient metaphysical worldview.

In my opinion, Buddhism can benefit from more rigorous debate and criticism of itself, and, for me, Batchelor does precisely that. This book is highly thought-provoking stuff.

By Stephen Batchelor,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Buddhism Without Beliefs as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Demystifies Buddhism by explaining, without jargon or obscure terminology, what awakening is and how to practise it.


Book cover of What I Thought I Knew

Andrew Mellen Author Of Unstuff Your Life!: Kick the Clutter Habit and Completely Organize Your Life for Good

From my list on living a simple, rich, and intentional life.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been on a path of self-discovery since adolescence. It was then that I learned that I was responsible for both my safety and my happiness. So, I began seeking out mentors who could guide me on this path. Long before I met the first one in person, I met others through books. I would spend hours at the library immersed in the world of words. And often, an author would mention a book in her/his book, and that would spark curiosity in me—and I hope this list of books sparks curiosity in you, too.

Andrew's book list on living a simple, rich, and intentional life

Andrew Mellen Why did Andrew love this book?

A surprisingly funny and poignant memoir, What I Thought I Knew does at least two things brilliantly—gives us a window into Alice Eve Cohen’s hopes and fears of motherhood and simultaneously gives us a window into the broken medical system here in the U.S. At 44, after a series of medical tests, Cohen finds herself not sick, but pregnant. What unfolds from there veers from an absurd comedy to a horrific nightmare, all while crashing headlong into hers and everyone else’s expectations, assumptions, and morality. This book had me laughing out loud and sobbing simultaneously. It moved me at a core level to examine my own limiting beliefs and the things I thought I could count on. What I soon discovered was that nothing was certain and everything was up for grabs—regardless of what I had previously believed.

By Alice Eve Cohen,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked What I Thought I Knew as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Darkly hilarious...an unexpected bundle of joy."
-O, The Oprah Magazine

Alice Cohen was happy for the first time in years. After a difficult divorce, she had a new love in her life, she was rais ing a beloved adopted daughter, and her career was blossoming. Then she started experiencing mysterious symptoms. After months of tests, x-rays, and inconclusive diagnoses, Alice underwent a CAT scan that revealed the truth: she was six months pregnant.

At age forty-four, with no prenatal care and no insurance coverage for a high-risk pregnancy, Alice was besieged by opinions from doctors and friends about what was…


Book cover of Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality

Srikumar Rao Author Of Modern Wisdom, Ancient Roots: The Movers and Shakers' Guide to Unstoppable Success

From my list on spiritual dynamite.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am Srikumar Rao – best selling author, TED speaker, and elite coach. I have spent more than five decades studying the teachings of the world’s greatest masters and distilling them into exercises that enable successful individuals to reach entirely new orbits of accomplishment while remaining serene as a Zen monk. My course, Creativity and Personal Mastery, was among the highest-rated and most popular at many of the world’s top business schools and is the only one to have its own alumni association. My work has been covered by major media worldwide and my talks have been viewed by tens of millions on all six continents.

Srikumar's book list on spiritual dynamite

Srikumar Rao Why did Srikumar love this book?

DeMello was a Jesuit priest and a psychologist.

His workshops were legendary and had a deep impact on thousands. His books have touched millions. He was eclectic and open-minded and readily acknowledged the power of spiritual practices from traditions outside the Church.

For this, his books were removed from Catholic bookstores and a warning issued that his writings could mislead young minds. He was passionate about truth and cavalier about dogma.

By Anthony De Mello,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Awareness as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

De Mello's spiritual classic remains at the top of the Fount bestsellers more than five years after its original publication.


Book cover of Sympathy

Laura Elizabeth Woollett Author Of The Love of a Bad Man

From my list on badly behaved women.

Why am I passionate about this?

In my reading and writing, I’m drawn to complex characters, who embody the unpleasant impulses and mixed motivations we all have. I especially love well-drawn antiheroines, as women tend to be judged more harshly for being badly behaved, in life. All my books revolve around women who fit this description, from the wives and girlfriends of notorious serial killers in The Love of a Bad Man to the inner-circle of Jim Jones’ Peoples Temple in Beautiful Revolutionary to Paulina Novak, the reckless, alcoholic murder victim at the heart of The Newcomer. To me, fiction is a playground for exploring the extremes of human thought and behaviour. 

Laura's book list on badly behaved women

Laura Elizabeth Woollett Why did Laura love this book?

Writing about the internet is notoriously difficult but Sudjic swings it, sublimely. Although ostensibly set between London and New York, Sympathy almost transcends setting with its focus on millennial Alice Hare’s online haunting of writer Mizuku Himura. After becoming infatuated with Mizuku over Instagram, Alice maneuvers an IRL friendship, which spirals into sexual obsession and possessiveness. It’s a brilliant character study and meditation on alienation, online personas, and the algorithmization of attraction. 

By Olivia Sudjic,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Sympathy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE DEBUT OF 2017THAT EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT FROM ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING YOUNG BRITISH NOVELISTS

'A gripping odyssey into one woman's online-addled inner life' -- Independent

'Reads likeThe Talented Mr Ripley for the 21st century' --Vice UK

At twenty-three, AliceHare arrives in New York looking for a place to call home. Instead she finds Mizuko Himura, an intriguing Japanese writer, who she begins to follow online,fixated from afar and increasingly convinced this stranger's life holds a mirror to her own. But as Alice closes in on her 'internet twin', fictional and real lives begin to blur, leaving a…


Book cover of Becoming Mrs. Lewis

Jenni L. Walsh Author Of A Betting Woman: A Novel of Madame Moustache

From my list on women paving their way in a man’s world.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve written ten books for children and adults inspired by women throughout history, ones about American outlaws, war-time heroes, resistance groups, and activists. I enjoy learning, researching, and shining a spotlight on the women who shape our world today. In A Betting Woman, the presence of three names for a single woman intrigued me. I wondered how one name bled into the next and how life winded to a seemingly unappealing nickname, given to Eleanor after she’d taken a man’s last dime during a card game. Still, Eleanor kept the moniker for over a decade as she carried on. I hope you’ll enjoy her story, along with the other strong women featured on this list!

Jenni's book list on women paving their way in a man’s world

Jenni L. Walsh Why did Jenni love this book?

Becoming Mrs. Lewis is the improbable love story of Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis. And, at the novel’s onset, their coupling truly feels improbable. While in an unhappy marriage, Joy is very much married. She has young children. Joy has health issues. Joy and C.S. Lewis are separated by a body of water. Yet, Joy is also a very tenacious woman, which also included Joy inserting herself into conversations and places women at that time didn’t frequent. I wholly respect how Joy creates a new life for herself.

By Patti Callahan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Becoming Mrs. Lewis as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Now a USA TODAY and Publishers Weekly bestseller! Meet the brilliant writer, fiercely independent mother, and passionate woman who captured the heart of C.S. Lewis and inspired the books that still enchant and change us today.

When poet and writer Joy Davidman began writing letters to C. S. Lewis-known as Jack-she was looking for spiritual answers, not love. Love, after all, wasn't holding together her crumbling marriage. Everything about New Yorker Joy seemed ill-matched for an Oxford professor and the beloved writer of The Chronicles of Narnia, yet their minds bonded over their letters.

Embarking on the adventure of her…


Book cover of The Folded Clock: A Diary

Kate Doyle Author Of I Meant It Once

From my list on making sense of your life by writing about it.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m the author of the short story collection I Meant It Once. I often say it’s a book about being a mess in your twenties, but to speak more personally, writing it was a necessity, a way to make sense of both the intensity and mundanity of my own experiences. I love a book where you can palpably feel the author working to make sense of their own life, through language—and, in turn, sorting out what it is for any of us to be a person. Books like these are essential reading when life feels thorny, beautiful, and impossible to make sense of, and all you can do is try to write it down.  

Kate's book list on making sense of your life by writing about it

Kate Doyle Why did Kate love this book?

I don’t set much store by orderly chronology, in life or writing—as might be clear from my book, where old memories live vividly alongside the present moment!

More interesting to me is how memory accumulates and morphs over time, and how stories live in our minds. Needless to say I adore Julavits’s non-chronological diary The Folded Clock (and what a title)! In gorgeously detailed individual sections, she immerses us in her life without regard for the precise sequence of events. We’re left with a beautiful jumble, which is surely truer than how life is anyway. 

By Heidi Julavits,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Folded Clock as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A New York Times Notable Book

Rereading her childhood diaries, Heidi Julavits hoped to find incontrovertible proof that she was always destined to be a writer. Instead, they “revealed me to possess the mind of a phobic tax auditor.” Thus was born a desire to try again, to chronicle her daily life—now as a forty-something woman, wife, mother, and writer. A meditation on time and self, youth and aging, friendship and romance, faith and fate, and art and ambition, in The Folded Clock one of the most gifted prose stylists in American letters explodes the typically confessional diary form with…


Book cover of Manifest Your Destiny: Nine Spiritual Principles for Getting Everything You Want

Dominic Anglim Author Of Tojo's Dream

From my list on following your dreams.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I left school at 18, I initially studied computers and French, because it was deemed the best way to get a ‘proper’ job. I then spent my 20’s working in various sales jobs. By 29, I was burnt out. I felt empty. Something was missing in my life. I wasn’t following my passions. I had grown up wanting to be on stage, to act, to sing, to dance, and to perform. The end of one stage of my life was the beginning of another. I changed course and began to listen to my heart and work full time as a performer. I hope you enjoy the books I’ve chosen, they all helped me to believe in myself, listen to my inner voice, and to dream again.

Dominic's book list on following your dreams

Dominic Anglim Why did Dominic love this book?

This book changed the way I was living my life. It literally changed the words I used to speak about my future plans/goals and made me want to dream big. It leads you to make the connection between what we think and what shows up in our lives. This was an epiphany moment for me. That, we are, who we spend time with, the books we read, and the TV we watch. And thus, the people around us become mirrors of ourselves. It made me examine my thoughts on a minute-to-minute basis and ultimately start living in the present moment. It introduces you to the benefits of daily gratitude and of being of service to others.

By Wayne W. Dyer,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Manifest Your Destiny as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, affectionately called the "father of motivation" by his fans, is one of the most widely known and respected people in the field of self-empowerment. Manifest Your Destiny is a remarkable guidebook that show us how to obtain what we truly desire.


Book cover of If On A Winter's Night A Traveler

Evan Friss Author Of The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore

From my list on about bookstores.

Why am I passionate about this?

My life is, in many ways, centered around bookstores. It all began at Three Lives & Co., a magical indie in the West Village of Manhattan. My girlfriend, now wife, worked there as a bookseller, and it was through her experience (and me hanging around the shop) that I developed an appreciation for how vital and wondrous bookstores can be. I was so enamored that I spent years researching the history of bookstores, visiting as many bookstores as I could, and talking to as many booksellers as possible. The result is my book.

Evan's book list on about bookstores

Evan Friss Why did Evan love this book?

This was the first Calvino book I read, and I fell fully in love with his complex, humorous, and frankly bizarre style of storytelling. I loved the way he created character and atmosphere and how books served at the heart of the plot. That I had a hard time keeping up with some of the intricacies of the overlapping storylines only added to its appeal.

By Italo Calvino, William Weaver (translator),

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked If On A Winter's Night A Traveler as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino's new novel...Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every other thought. Let the world around you fade." —from If On A Winter's Night a Traveler

Italo Calvino's stunning classic imagines a novel capable of endless possibilities in an intricately crafted, spellbinding story about writing and reading.

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler is a feat of striking ingenuity and intelligence, exploring how our reading choices can shape and transform our lives. Originally published in 1979, Italo Calvino's singular novel crafted a postmodern narrative like never seen before—offering not one novel but ten, each with a…


Book cover of The Principles of Uncertainty

Misha Maynerick Blaise Author Of This Phenomenal Life: The Amazing Ways We Are Connected with Our Universe

From my list on connection with the mysterious wonders of life.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm very interested in neuroscience, and it turns out that when you are in a state of wonder, you activate parts of the brain that correlate with creativity, gratitude, hope, and connection with oneself and others. In a way, wonder is an antidote to the doom-and-gloom ideologies that surround us. I'm very drawn to art and ideas that help me connect with my sense of wonder and remind me that I'm connected with a vast and mysterious universe! 

Misha's book list on connection with the mysterious wonders of life

Misha Maynerick Blaise Why did Misha love this book?

I feel so happy when I look through this creative meditation on finding beauty in the mundane of life. Kalman uses art and words to wind her way through charming, hilarious, and heartbreaking vignettes. She muses on the mysteries of the world and our endless search for meaning, while her whimsical images bring levity to the human condition.

By Maira Kalman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Principles of Uncertainty as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“Sublime . . . Kalman’s elegantly witty and at times melancholy narrative runs arm in arm with her unmistakable paintings on a serendipitous romp through the history of the world.” —Vanity Fair
 
“Wildly original . . . there’s nothing else even remotely like it . . . This hilarious, wise, and deeply moving volume [is] the ultimate picture book for grown-ups.” —O Magazine
 
Maira Kalman paints her highly personal worldview in this inimitable combination of image and text

An irresistible invitation to experience life through a beloved artist's psyche, The Principles of Uncertainty is a compilation of Maira Kalman's New…


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