10 books like The Dark Side of the Light Chasers

By Deborah Ford,

Here are 10 books that authors have personally recommended if you like The Dark Side of the Light Chasers. Shepherd is a community of 7,000+ authors sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Nonviolent Communication

By Marshall B. Rosenberg,

Book cover of Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life: Life-Changing Tools for Healthy Relationships

Elisa Di Napoli Author Of Dare to Be Seen - From Stage Fright to Stage Presence: Ten Easy Steps to Turn your Performance Anxiety into Authentic Power with Transformational Hypn

From the list on for personal growth.

Who am I?

I spent most of my youth feeling lost and miserable but refused to accept this as my fate and dedicated my life to improving my experience and that of others. I'm not content with just surviving. I want to feel like I'm fully living. I want to be able to say that I regret nothing, and that I said yes to this mysterious and challenging gift that life is. In order to do this I believe in learning from those that have come before me. Books open the door to universes of wisdom and understanding. Being a writer, coach and musician are just roles I play. What really matters to me is to be a human I can be proud of. 

Elisa's book list on for personal growth

Discover why each book is one of Elisa's favorite books on for personal growth .

Why this book?

Learning to communicate in a way that creates a win-win situation for everyone is a skill. Often we get what we want to the detriment of others or the other way round. Nobody wins and the ultimate consequence is nobody is happy. I really like how practical this book is and how it taught me to speak in a different way entirely! It’s all well and good to know the theory of how negative language can destroy relationships but knowing how to communicate differently is what really matters. I like books with exercises I can put into practice as well as the theory that underpins them. This is what gets me to pick this book up and go through it again twenty years after I first bought it.  

Nonviolent Communication

By Marshall B. Rosenberg,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Nonviolent Communication as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?


5,000,000 COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE • TRANSLATED IN MORE THAN 35 LANGUAGES

What is Violent Communication?
 
If “violent” means acting in ways that result in hurt or harm, then much of how we communicate—judging others, bullying, having racial bias, blaming, finger pointing, discriminating, speaking without listening, criticizing others or ourselves, name-calling, reacting when angry, using political rhetoric, being defensive or judging who’s “good/bad” or what’s “right/wrong” with people—could indeed be called “violent communication.”
 
What is Nonviolent Communication?
 
Nonviolent Communication is the integration of four things:
 
• Consciousness: a set of principles that support living a life of compassion, collaboration, courage, and…


The New Rules of Marriage

By Terrence Real,

Book cover of The New Rules of Marriage: What You Need to Know to Make Love Work

Madhur-Nain Webster Author Of The Stressless Brain

From the list on creating inner and outer change in your life area.

Who am I?

I have been practicing psychotherapy since 1999. I started reading self-help books when I was 19 years old in college because I wanted to know more about myself, why I felt the way I did at times, why I felt stuck at times and how I could feel empowered to make changes. Sadly many books don’t tell you what you can do to change and that is why I wrote my book. The books I am sharing with you have had big effects on my thinking and therefore my behavior. For it is in how we think, we act in our lives and with others. These books help you look at you.

Madhur-Nain's book list on creating inner and outer change in your life area

Discover why each book is one of Madhur-Nain's favorite books on creating inner and outer change in your life area .

Why this book?

I picked up this book about 12 years ago. Being a psychotherapist I love, love learning. I love attending workshops (pre-covid) and learning new ways of thinking. New ways of looking at issues. New ways to look at how we get stuck in our relationships and life. Reading this book gave me tools that have transformed my therapy practice and how I work with couples. How I interact with my husband, my sons, and my close friends. It helped me by giving me insight into who I want to be in a relationship and it gave me self-worth as well. I have all the couples I work with read this book and it speeds along our therapy work. 

The New Rules of Marriage

By Terrence Real,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The New Rules of Marriage as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In his extraordinary new book, Terrence Real, distinguished therapist and bestselling author, presents a long overdue message that women need to hear: You aren’t crazy–you’re right!

Women have changed in the last twenty-five years–they have become powerful, independent, self-confident, and happy. Yet many men remain irresponsible and emotionally detached. They don’t know how to respond to frustrated partners who just want their mates to show up and grow up.

Enter the good news: In this revolutionary book, Real shows women how to master the new rules of twenty-first-century marriage by offering them a set of effective tools with which they…


Book cover of The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

Thomas R. Verny Author Of The Embodied Mind: Understanding the Mysteries of Cellular Memory, Consciousness, and Our Bodies

From the list on neuroscience and the mind.

Who am I?

As a thirteen-year-old boy, I read Sigmund Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams and I became totally fascinated by Freud’s slow, methodical questioning that eventually revealed deeply hidden unconscious conflicts in the lives of his patients. Then and there I resolved to become a psychiatrist. As a psychiatrist, I explored my patients’ early memories. Over the years, I authored seven books, including The Secret Life of the Unborn Child, published in 28 countries now. I have previously taught at Harvard University, the University of Toronto, York University (Toronto), and St. Mary’s University. This book takes my studies of memory a step further and drills right down to the intelligence of cells.

Thomas' book list on neuroscience and the mind

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Why this book?

Norman Doidge is a Canadian psychiatrist and award-winning science writer, currently on the Faculty of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and Research Faculty at Columbia University. In this book, he provides a fascinating synopsis of the current revolution in neuroscience with an emphasis on neuroplasticity. Essentially, Doidge cites many case histories illustrating the power of positive thinking in healing neurological diseases.

Doidge’s focus as the seat of the problem is always the brain. His book is highly readable and holds out hope for many people with neurological impairments.

The Brain That Changes Itself

By Norman Doidge,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Brain That Changes Itself as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An astonishing new science called neuroplasticity is overthrowing the centuries-old notion that the human brain is immutable. Psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, Norman Doidge, M.D., traveled the country to meet both the brilliant scientists championing neuroplasticity and the people whose lives they've transformed-people whose mental limitations or brain damage were seen as unalterable. We see a woman born with half a brain that rewired itself to work as a whole, blind people who learn to see, learning disorders cured, IQs raised, aging brains rejuvenated, stroke patients learning to speak, children with cerebral palsy learning to move with more grace, depression and anxiety…


The Inner Game of Tennis

By W. Timothy Gallwey,

Book cover of The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance

Florence Madden Author Of The Intention Impact Conundrum: Practical ways to achieve the impact you want

From the list on making the impact you want in work and in life.

Who am I?

I'm an author, trainer, coach, and podcaster – a description that would have shocked my much younger self. My own journey of self-development has taken me to the privileged position, through my business, of helping others on their journey to discover their own potential. The joy of seeing this emerge is fresh with every individual and group I work with, and of course my own journey of discovery continues too. Someone once said to the Dalai Lama, "When do you get to enlightenment?"…. "When I die!" came the reply. He recognised the value of being open to ideas and change… which is just some of the fabulous gifts we get from books and each other!

Florence's book list on making the impact you want in work and in life

Discover why each book is one of Florence's favorite books on making the impact you want in work and in life .

Why this book?

Originally written as a tennis coaching text – the wisdom of this approach transcends the world of tennis and carries an important message about how changing our thinking can release the latent potential in us whatever we are doing.

The focus is on the importance of self-talk – what our outer self is telling the inner self and in doing so chimes beautifully with what we know about our unconscious mind. We know that more than 90% of our behaviour is driven by our unconscious and it hears everything we say to ourselves – so consider the impact of critical self-talk and the potential damage to our confidence and performance.

The book is summarised in the formula: Potential minus Interference = Performance

We achieve at our best when we manage the ‘Interference’ we impose on ourselves!

The Inner Game of Tennis

By W. Timothy Gallwey,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Inner Game of Tennis as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Improve your game and discover your true potential by increasing your concentration, willpower and confidence.

Described by Billie Jean King as her 'tennis bible', Timothy Gallwey's multi-million bestseller, including an introduction from acclaimed sports psychologist Geoff Beattie, has been a phenomenon for players of all abilities since it was first published in 1972.

Instead of concentrating on how to improve your technique, it starts from the understanding that 'every game is composed of two parts, an outer game and an inner game'. The former is played against opponents on the court, but the latter is a battle within ourselves as…


Creating Great Choices

By Jennifer Riel, Roger L. Martin,

Book cover of Creating Great Choices: A Leader's Guide to Integrative Thinking

Michael Bungay Stanier Author Of The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever

From the list on unexpectedly useful books about coaching.

Who am I?

Coaching is a wonderful technology that can help people be a force for change… and is often wrapped up in mystic and woo-woo and privilege that makes it inaccessible and/or unattractive to too many. I want being more coach-like—by which I mean staying curious a little longer, and rushing to action and advice-giving—to be an everyday way of being with one another. Driven by this, I’ve written the best-selling book on coaching this century (The Coaching Habit) and have created training that’s been used around the world by more than a quarter of a million people. I’m on a mission to unweird coaching.

Michael's book list on unexpectedly useful books about coaching

Discover why each book is one of Michael's favorite books on unexpectedly useful books about coaching .

Why this book?

My mentor Peter Block taught me that the ultimate act of being an adult, the ultimate act of taking responsibility for your own freedom, was making choices. Some choices of course are easyI’ll have a double espresso, pleasebut plenty are difficult. You don’t have all the data, it’s too close to call, and you can feel the combination of anxiety and guilt that can come with committing. This book adds some structure and discipline to how to make the best possible choice, and by doing so makes it easier to be more courageous and bold.

Creating Great Choices

By Jennifer Riel, Roger L. Martin,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Move Beyond Trade-Off Thinking

When it comes to our hardest choices, it can seem as though making trade-offs is inevitable. But what about those crucial times when accepting the obvious trade-off just isn't good enough? What do we do when the choices in front of us don't get us what we need? In those cases, rather than choosing the least worst option, we can use the models in front of us to create a new and superior answer. This is integrative thinking.

First introduced by world-renowned strategic thinker Roger Martin in The Opposable Mind, integrative thinking is an approach to…


A New Earth

By Eckhart Tolle,

Book cover of A New Earth: Create a Better Life

Connie Sobczak Author Of Embody: Learning to Love Your Unique Body (and Quiet That Critical Voice!)

From the list on to keep your body, mind, and spirit awake, alive, and free.

Who am I?

I’ve been a free spirit since I was born, but as an adolescent I got trapped by diet culture and believed I needed to change my body. I struggled for six years with an eating disorder and my sister Stephanie died at age 36 from faulty breast implants and malnutrition. Because of these experiences, and wanting my baby daughter to grow up staying lovingly connected to her body (she has!), I created The Body Positive, a nonprofit that has freed millions of people to love and respect their precious bodies. I’m now a full-fledged Wild Woman teaching and freeing other aging women to connect to their soul’s innate wisdom.

Connie's book list on to keep your body, mind, and spirit awake, alive, and free

Discover why each book is one of Connie's favorite books on to keep your body, mind, and spirit awake, alive, and free .

Why this book?

After being transformed by The Power of Now at a time when my whole world came unglued, I was delighted to go further into Eckhart’s work with this book. It’s done wonders to help me recognize and release ego when it shows up. I thought I’d “done” my ego work but realized how much my ego still controls my life. I come back to this book when I need tools to help me soften. I’m someone who likes being right (and believes I am most of the time!), but knowing this is just ego allows me to let others have their experiences without me correcting them! Every time I read this book, I feel a huge weight lifted off my shoulders, and experience more compassion for myself and others.

A New Earth

By Eckhart Tolle,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked A New Earth as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

LOVED THE POWER OF NOW? DISCOVER THE LIFE-CHANGING FOLLOW-UP FROM THE MULTI-MILLION COPY BESTSELLER

'A wake-up call for the entire planet. A New Earth helps us to stop creating our own suffering and obsessing over the past and what the future might be and to put ourselves in the now' OPRAH WINFREY

'My No. 1 guru will always be Eckhart Tolle' CHRIS EVANS

THE BOOK THAT INSPIRED THE CHART-TOPPING PODCAST OPRAH & ECKHART TOLLE: A NEW EARTH
_________

Are you ready to change your life?

In Eckhart Tolle's ground-breaking book, he gives you the spiritual framework to:
- Understand yourself…


Coaching A to Z

By Haesun Moon,

Book cover of Coaching A to Z: The Extraordinary Use of Ordinary Words

Michael Bungay Stanier Author Of The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever

From the list on unexpectedly useful books about coaching.

Who am I?

Coaching is a wonderful technology that can help people be a force for change… and is often wrapped up in mystic and woo-woo and privilege that makes it inaccessible and/or unattractive to too many. I want being more coach-like—by which I mean staying curious a little longer, and rushing to action and advice-giving—to be an everyday way of being with one another. Driven by this, I’ve written the best-selling book on coaching this century (The Coaching Habit) and have created training that’s been used around the world by more than a quarter of a million people. I’m on a mission to unweird coaching.

Michael's book list on unexpectedly useful books about coaching

Discover why each book is one of Michael's favorite books on unexpectedly useful books about coaching .

Why this book?

Moon realizes that certain words are particularly helpful and powerful in making conversations better (all conversations, not just coaching ones). It’s one short word per letter (“Difference”, “Might”, and “Yet” are three of my favourites), and this feels like a collection of twenty-six precise tools that can help any type of discussion more elegant, more curious, more filled with potential and more useful.

Coaching A to Z

By Haesun Moon,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Coaching A to Z as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Your indispensable guide for coaching mastery.

Language is a powerful tool that can unite, engage, and move people to action. It's all in what you choose to say, and how you say it.

In this practical, accessible guide to having more powerful conversations, leading evidence-based coaching expert Haesun Moon offers a set of powerful words or phrases-one for every letter of the alphabet-to help you move others toward greater purpose and accomplishment. Based on her extensive research with the University of Toronto and Harvard Medical School, Moon shows you how to apply each of these concepts to transform the way…


The 48 Laws of Power

By Robert Greene,

Book cover of The 48 Laws of Power

Geoff Hudson-Searle Author Of The Trust Paradigm

From the list on why ethical leadership creates amazing outcomes.

Who am I?

Geoff has over 30 years of experience in the business and management arena, he is the author of 6 books Freedom after the Sharks, Meaningful Conversations, Journeys to Success Volume 9, GOD in Business, Purposeful Discussions, and his latest book The Trust Paradigm. He lectures at business forums, conferences, and universities and has been the focus of London Live TV, Talk TV, TEDx, and RT Europe’s business documentary across various thought leadership topics and his authorisms and has been a regular lead judge at the UK’s business premier awards event, The Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence Awards which is the UK’s most prestigious awards program celebrating the innovation, success, and resilience of British business.

Geoff's book list on why ethical leadership creates amazing outcomes

Discover why each book is one of Geoff's favorite books on why ethical leadership creates amazing outcomes .

Why this book?

In The 48 Laws of Power, Robert Greene, an outstanding book that will no doubt remain a classic for a very long time. Those who wonder why it is that certain sub-cultures in the business world, Hollywood, the entertainment industry, politics, finance appear to be incurably cynical, amoral, unethical, corrupt, and untrustworthy would do well to read it, provided they are able to resist being persuaded by its brutal philosophy.

Greene, who has other similarly-oriented best-selling books on business success, is considered a guru by the music industry, and has been embraced with special enthusiasm by hip-hop moguls. What is remarkable about his 48 laws is how completely they discard all ethical virtues, as if fairness, honesty, integrity, responsibility, respect, and trustworthiness were irrelevant to the topic of power.

In fact, the five most important laws of power are… You must prove your worthiness to hold power by your manner…

The 48 Laws of Power

By Robert Greene,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The 48 Laws of Power as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this multi-million-copy New York Times bestseller is the definitive manual for anyone interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control – from the author of The Laws of Human Nature.

In the book that People magazine proclaimed “beguiling” and “fascinating,” Robert Greene and Joost Elffers have distilled three thousand years of the history of power into 48 essential laws by drawing from the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, and Carl Von Clausewitz and also from the lives of figures ranging from Henry Kissinger to P.T. Barnum.
 
Some laws teach the need for prudence (“Law…


Hot Milk

By Deborah Levy,

Book cover of Hot Milk

Eliza Robertson Author Of Demi-Gods

From the list on featuring transgressive mothers.

Who am I?

While it only simmers in the background of Demi-Gods, I find myself returning to this theme in my fiction — of mothers behaving badly. The topic fascinates me because we live in a society that idealizes the Mother. So much so that we have removed sex and desire from this archetype. We even made Mary, the “universal mother,” a virgin. As someone with a womb, society expects me to have children. (I don’t yet.) Fiction has provided a space for me to disentangle my own thoughts around motherhood — on what I might claim for myself, and what I absolutely refuse to take on. 

Eliza's book list on featuring transgressive mothers

Discover why each book is one of Eliza's favorite books on featuring transgressive mothers .

Why this book?

While Olga’s live-wire, imperfect mothering fuelled me with a sort of righteous approval — or recognition — Rose, the mother in Hot Milk, left a metallic distaste in my mouth. Rose is limp and passive. She is the apparent sufferer of a mysterious bone disease. Her 25-year-old daughter, Sofia, has been lassoed along as “an unwilling detective” of this ailment, as well as her mother’s primary caregiver.

Sofia is her mother’s laundrywoman. Her walking stick. She dares not protest even when her mother rests her head on her shoulder, which is burning from a jellyfish sting. Admittedly, it’s not the mother that tugs me into this book, but Sofia herself. As Sofia explores her own individuation, her own eros, her own obsessions, the story grows increasingly hypnotic and propulsive.

Hot Milk

By Deborah Levy,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2016
SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOLDSMITHS PRIZE 2016

Plunge into this hypnotic tale of female sexuality and power - from the author of Swimming Home and The Man Who Saw Everything

'Propulsive, uncanny, dreamlike. A feverish coming-of-age novel' Daily Telegraph

'A triumph of storytelling' Literary Review
_________________________________

'Today I dropped my laptop on the concrete floor of a bar built on the beach. My laptop has all my life in it and knows more about me than anyone else. So what I am saying is that if it is broken, so am I . . .'…


The Magic

By Rhonda Byrne,

Book cover of The Magic

Liisa Kyle Author Of Self-Worth Essentials:  A Workbook to Understand Yourself, Accept Yourself, Like Yourself, Respect Yourself, Be Confident, Enjoy Yourself, and Love Yourself

From the list on to treat yourself better.

Who am I?

As a life coach and author of two dozen self-help books, I’ve spent the past twenty years helping people treat themselves better. Doing so is fundamental to personal growth and making real, purposeful change. When you fully appreciate yourself and treat yourself well, you will feel so much better! You will be in a much stronger position to overcome challenges, achieve your goals, and get more out of life. 

Liisa's book list on to treat yourself better

Discover why each book is one of Liisa's favorite books on to treat yourself better .

Why this book?

Step one in treating yourself better is to cease focusing on what isn't going well and to put your attention on what is. Be truly thankful for your blessings. No matter what challenges or situations you are facing, there are things you can be grateful for. You have air to breathe and water to drink, for example. Start there. The more you focus on the positives in your life, the more good things you will attract. This book guides you through a month of gratitude activities that will have you feeling better about every aspect of your life. 

The Magic

By Rhonda Byrne,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In The Magic a great mystery from a sacred text is revealed, and with this knowledge Rhonda Byrne takes the reader on a life-changing journey for 28 days. Step by step, day-by-day, secret teachings, revelations, and scientific law are brought together to form 28 simple practices that open the reader's eyes to a new world, and lead them to a dream life.


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