One of my favorite ways to get inspired is through reading – probably because I can sit on my couch with a glass of wine while doing so. With the arrival of a new year, it is yet another starting line and another chance to make sustainable changes. If you feel like you are stuck in a rut and don’t know what to change to make your life better, consider these 18 books to read in 2017 to help you transform yourself and your life.
Weight Loss
Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss by Joel Fuhrman
If you need a major change in your health and eating habits, and you are prepared to completely change how you look at food, this book will be your guide. This book delves into so much more than weight loss. It is a look at how modern day eating habits are destroying our health, well being, finances, and happiness. Stripping away everything you thought you knew about food, it gets to the root of why we crave certain foods and overeat, while breaking down how to overcome this cycle of bad habits and weight gain. We tend to only think of what food does to our outer appearance and forget that what we eat is the fuel for every function within our body. If you want to feel better and live a happier, healthier life, you have to start by putting better food in your body.
The Whole30: The 30-Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom by Dallas Hartwig and Melissa Hartwig
Featuring over 100 recipes created by chefs to help you eat healthier, curb your cravings, and transform your diet, this book is an amazing compilation of food inspiration. It also has the success stories of others that have followed the program and resources to help insure your own success.
If food is your comfort, here is the real relief you have been looking for in your overeating. Julie Simon, a therapist and life coach, will help you discover the real reasons you eat and how you can break the unhealthy attachment you have to food. If you don’t understand the root cause of the problem, you can’t ever truly fix it.
Finances
We all want to be free from financial burdens, but it often feels like it is just part of life. However, this book illustrates that it doesn’t have to be this way. There is so much more you can be doing to create financial stability and a sense of true freedom. This books comes with a lot of hard work and reflection, but it will transform how you look at money and provides real world advice to put yourself on the path to financial freedom.
Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey
After 200 weeks on the New York Times Bestsellers List, this book has sold over 5 million copies. It has 7 easy to understand steps to change your life and pull yourself out of debt. Gaining control of your finances is absolutely possible. You don’t have to live paycheck to paycheck anymore. Take control of your money this year.
The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy by Thomas J. Stanley
If you are searching for more than just getting out of debt and want to turn your money into a fortune, in this book you will find the surprising habits of America’s most wealthy. Amassing wealth might not be as difficult as you think, and you don’t have to be famous to make it happen. Read about how some of the most wealthy people in the country earned their fortunes and how they keep them.
Parenting
You need this if you are a new parent. There are so many obstacles that come with the infancy stage, but none may be as exhausting as trying to get a baby to sleep through the night. If you can get a baby to sleep through the night, you can sleep and start clearing the fog of new parenthood. Sleep is so important to our bodies and getting your baby to sleep soundly sets them on a path of good habits. Most importantly, it gives you back your own sleep, energy, and ability to be a great parent.
1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children Age 2-12 by Thomas W. Phelan
I remember thinking infancy would be one of the hardest stages of raising a child. The lack of sleep, constant feedings, diaper changes, and being unable to have them tell you why they are screaming nonstop. Then, my son turned two, and I had a major epiphany. This book is a parent’s saving grace. It will guide you through the complicated and messy department of discipline. If you are at the end of your rope when it comes to laying down the law for your kids, give this book a try.
How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish
This is a parenting classic that has been revamped with updates. Communication is everything when it comes to any relationship, but it is the key to creating a trusting relationship with your kids. This book is a detailed guide to opening communication with your child and learning how to cope with the ups and downs of growing up. As you embark upon a new year, this book could be a major step that helps transform not only your life, but your children’s and give you a happier family life.
Inspirational
Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice On Love and Life From Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed
Author Cheryl Strayed has been through it all. She is the best selling author of the book Wild (also a movie) which featured her struggles from childhood to her battle with heroin. Somehow she managed to turn her life around, and she has plenty of advice to help the rest of us still lost in our own struggles. Cheryl worked as an online anonymous columnist that doled out advice for those seeking answers. Now, she has turned her column into a book that offers insight and help to almost every predicament you can conjure.
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
The amazing Joan Didion has captured the disorienting and confusing waves of grief in this book about the year after her husband’s death. If you have had a particularly hard year, this book is like a cleansing rain that will flood you with emotion only to wash away the muddy mess of grief and make you feel stronger. Didion will walk you through tragedy with language like a warm, knowing touch, and hand you pieces of sanity with her concise insights.
Mortality by Christopher Hitchens
These are the thoughts and emotions Christopher felt in his final months as he battled esophageal cancer until his death. As a gifted writer with a long career, he spent his final time on earth capturing the extremes of grief as he faced the unknown and refused to use religion to comfort himself. He faces death like he faced life, with fascinating insight and unwavering determination. Christopher’s talent shines through even as he clings to life and fights to leave behind a legacy of thought. It is the kind of book that will shock you into living your life with purpose.
Beauty
Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual by Bobbi Brown
If you are stuck in a rut, sometimes even just small changes can breathe new life into your stale daily routine. Try a new approach to your makeup if you are looking for some simple changes to inspire a new you. Bobbi Brown condenses almost three decades of beauty knowledge in this guide. It is useful for everyone from those that have never worn makeup to those that think they know it all. This has amazing beauty advice, and it will give you the chance to put your best face forward.
Less is more. You don’t often hear this from those in the beauty industry, but Jemma Kidd shows you how to enhance your beauty with simple techniques that won’t make you look like your face has been painted on. With step by step instructions on everything from a clear complexion to keeping your makeup updated and age appropriate, this is a fantastic guide to looking flawless with effortless ease.
This is an in depth account of makeup techniques from tv and film. If you are interested in how to apply makeup in a professional way that will translate well on camera, this has amazing tips and tricks. It will help you create a flawless look especially if you spend a lot of time in front of the camera whether for work or to up your social media game.
Fashion
Do you get lost in your closet every time you have to put together an outfit? It is time to create the ideal closet with clothes you will actually wear. With this book you will learn how to shop like a style pro and stay in your budget. No more ill fitting sales items or shoes so expensive and uncomfortable they won’t ever be worn. Become your own stylist and dress for the life you want.
This is your fashion guru…Buy this today! It can be such a struggle to piece together an outfit with the mismatched garments strewn throughout our closets, but if you have the right staples, you will never again say, “I have nothing to wear!” If you want a fantastic wardrobe, follow these simple and straightforward guidelines to round out your style.
Sometimes the biggest mistake we make in buying clothes is not knowing how to buy clothes that actually fit. Alison is a costume designer that has spent her career creating looks meant to enhance every body type. She will guide you on how to choose clothes starting from what under garments to wear, how to have clothes tailored, and even how to save clothing disasters.
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What a great post.I am really interessted in weight loss and fashion read. Will try to grab those books