Fans pick 100 books like The Empath's Survival Guide

This book opened my eyes to see introversion as a strength rather than a weakness. But more so, it gave me the permission to question how things that we took as “just the way things are” might have been positioned incorrectly from the start.

If it wasn’t true that introversion is inherently worse than extroversion, what else might popular culture and mainstream workplace practices have gotten wrong? I felt seen by the book and hopeful of what more honest conversations about how people are wired might both reveal and help heal. 

It is through Brené Brown’s words in this book that I began to make sense of my journey, which is marked by loss, resilience, and an unwavering search for belonging. As I navigated the often-turbulent waters of corporate life, I wrestled with a deep-seated issue, a trait so common among my fellow Gen Xers: the struggle with authority. Through this book, it is evident that attempting to fit in, to mold myself into the expectations of others, often leads me to more heartache than success.

My path has been riddled with tremendous trials designed to dampen my spirit. Yet, through them, I have found strength. I appreciate the depth of resilience that Brené Brown speaks about. In this digital age, I often reflect on my past before the existence of social media, the simplicity of outdoor moments when I was young, and face-to-face conversations that now seem increasingly rare. I… show more.

I love this book from Anita – it feels like it resonates a lot with the messages in my original book on the empath experience yet includes some other stories and anecdotes that can relate to an even broader audience. I appreciate her core thesis that empaths are really the world’s healers especially at this time – here to teach empathy, compassion, and true connection simply by being who they truly are.

This book changed my life when one of my first holistic healers/life coaches I ever worked with recommended it to me. The practices blew me away and helped me to start cultivating an awareness of my sensitivities and subtle energetic perceptions. I can’t recommend this enough especially for someone just starting out on their path of empath empowerment. The simplicity in exercises is incredible – reminds me that the most simple practices can lead to the most potent transformation.

This is one of my favorite books for learning about how to utilize your intuitive gifts. The way it’s written is so beautiful: in a friendly tone where it feels like you’re speaking with an old friend. It includes great practices for awakening your intuitive abilities and working with your empathic gifts as well which naturally give way to intuitive prowess.

This book is so genius in its ability to straddle so many different dimensions of experience – from science to medicine to intuition to energy healing and everything in between. I love Carolyn Myss as a great example of what’s possible in bridging worlds – her story of bringing medical intuition into more mass consciousness is brilliant and endlessly inspiring. This book helped me to affirm what I was already sensing as an energy healer – that all dis-ease and pain is rooted in an underlying spiritual or energetic issue. This book provides great precedents for how we can truly heal and recover from seemingly hopeless ailments by actually getting to the root of our supposed problems and meeting them with love, grace, and acceptance.

Groundbreaking in the mid-90s, this down-to-earth study of emotional sensitivity provided education about my empathetic gifts and strong emotions in general. Before reading this book and others, I, like many empaths, had viewed it as something of a curse. Instead, I understand now that empathy is biological, social, and directly linked to the evolution of species. This no-frills book helped me gain this wisdom for life!

This book isn’t written specifically for empaths, which is something I actually appreciate. Besides, it was written before “empath” became a mainstream term. This book is actually where we get the term HSP: Highly Sensitive Person. One of my biggest takeaways from this book was learning that not every emotionally sensitive person is an empath! That was a shocker, but it entirely makes sense. Although perhaps not as “warm” as the other books on my list, the information presented here is pertinent, relevant, and… show more.

Learning to set boundaries – with work and with other people – was essential to helping me to recover from burnout, and this book is a practical how-to guide for how and why to set them.

In my own life, and in my work as a clinical psychologist, I have seen how chronic people-pleasing tendencies, and saying “yes” to everything, can lead to exhaustion and burnout. Having this book as a tool has helped me to be more intentional about saying no, and more assertive about standing up for my own needs.

As the author, Nedra Glover Tawwab, states in the book, “Burnout is overwhelming, and boundaries are the cure.” I couldn’t agree more!

This book is indispensable for highly empathic souls. From it, I learned a great deal about what emotions are and how to manage them for positive purposes. Touching on empathy, the book dives deeply into reacting versus responding, especially in the face of life’s inevitable challenges. What can emotionally sensitive people do when the feelings become overwhelming and nearly unbearable or when they absorb chaotic emotional energy from outside themselves? This book helps guide the way, encouraging readers to get to the root of issues by maintaining self-awareness and always returning to a place of loving-kindness both toward others and oneself.

Psychologist Judith Orloff would go on to write the bestselling Empath’s Survival Guide and other works specifically for self-identifying empaths. I found this book and her others to be brilliantly helpful. If other book reviews are any indication, her work continues to profoundly assist developing empaths in their lives—my… show more.

Every comedy needs a truly memorable comedy scene and once you’ve read this book, you will never look at any birthday cake with candles in quite the same way again.

This plot is based on of my favourite setups – grown up siblings being forced to spend time in their family home together. In this case, they are mourning their recently deceased Dad. The seven-day stay is long enough for all the niceties to wear off and the real sibling rivalries, unresolved arguments, and tensions to surface and here, they are properly aired and almost resolved.

The very funny side and the searingly painful side are both so well done. If your sibs and in-laws are crazy or crazy-annoying, Tropper will make sure you know you are not alone.