Change your life with the top self-help books for women. Self-help books range dramatically in quality, and I did the work of reading dozens of them so you don’t have to. In my experience of reading and implementing the teachings of dozens of popular women’s self-help books over about two decades since my early 20s, I’ve narrowed down the ones that actually worked for me and shared them with you below.
You’ll find a curated genre book list with specific recommendations for exactly what common female struggle each book helps with to make it easy for you to decide which ones to read. You’ll also get a free printable PDF checklist to track your reading of these transformative books, so let’s get literary!
The Top Self-Help Books For Women
- 10% Happier: for improving anxiety
- The 5 Love Languages: for love
- Big Magic: for creative happiness
- The Honest Enneagram: for self-love
- Lean In: for career success
- The Moment of Lift: for confidence and self-esteem
- The Path Made Clear: for spirituality
- Set Boundaries, Find Peace: for self-worth
- Tiny Beautiful Things: for emotional growth
- The Year of Yes: for personal growth
a Note from jules
If you’re a self-employed woman like me, I most especially recommend Big Magic to get your creative business-running juices flowing, The Honest Enneagram to learn more about your strengths and weaknesses, and Set Boundaries, Find Peace to maintain a work/life balance.
My Reviews of the Most Inspirational Self-Help Reading For Women
10% Happier by Dan Harris
My Review: 10% Happier is both a memoir and self-help book by the famous ABC news journalist Dan Harris, whose mental health was crippled by anxiety and restored through meditation.
It helps you feel “seen” and encourages you to try meditation. It’s so universally powerful that it’s also one of the best men’s self-help books.
Reading Tip: For more, check out Harris’s website, Meditate Happier, for podcasts, courses, meditations, and more. My sister swears by it!
The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman
My Review: The 5 Love Languages gives you the keys to transforming your relationships by understanding how people perceive love: physical affection, words of affirmation, acts of service, time spent together, and/or receiving gifts.
By recognizing another person’s love language, you can act in ways that support it and/or understand their acts of love. You can also better understand and communicate your own needs.
This is one of the most popular self-help books of all-time. I refer to in my daily life, considering my husband’s (and even my cats’!) love languages as I relate with them. It easily deepens your relationships.
Related Post: The 5 Love Languages Review
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
My Review: Are you looking to finally write a book, open a paint studio, or learn to play guitar this year? Big Magic draws upon the Eat, Pray, Love author’s experiences with creativity: how to get started, what works, and what doesn’t, to help your creativity grow.
It’s so good that I know numerous people who read it yearly. I, too, still remember many of the anecdotes she shared and refer back to them in my creative life.
The Honest Enneagram by Sarajane Case
My Review: The Honest Enneagram makes it both fun and easy to learn about the Enneagram, a 7-type personality tool that defines how each person’s most basic fears motivate their actions.
The Enneagram gets who you are at your core and exposes your innermost worries. This is where real work can be done to lean into your core strengths and improve your weaknesses. Most importantly, the author provides action steps each type can take.
While there are many great books about the Enneagram, after about an hour into listening to a library copy of this particular one, I bought a hard copy to own forever.
Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
My Review: Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In became an instant catchphrase empowering women. She draws from her own experience as an employee of the world’s most successful businesses and opines how women can make small changes in their work-life that can effect change for working women on a universal scale.
It also makes an excellent book for graduates!
Reading Tip: It pairs well with her follow-up book, Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy, in which she adjusts some of her advice based on the tragic death of her husband. This pairing shows that nuance can be part of self-help teachings.
The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates
My Review: As the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda Gates learned that if you want to lift a society, you should invest in women.
In The Moment of Lift, Gates explains the tremendous opportunities that can catapult change, and she provides simple and effective ways each person can make a difference.
She advocates for family planning, access to jobs, equality in household work, paid family leave for all, and eliminating gender bias.
It’s a very personal and unforgettable book that has the power to change the world. I found her experiences about women around the world to be impactful.
The Path Made Clear by Oprah Winfrey
My Review: The Path Made Clear perfectly compiles Oprah’s learned lessons.
She shares the quintessential “Oprah” guide for recognizing your deepest vision of yourself and creating a life of purpose with that vision.
Oprah is her usual transparent self in sharing her life lessons and personal stories, which have helped her live her best life. She also presents the teachings of experts from various fields.
As with all her work, it’s both educational and relatable. It reiterates some of her best stuff and offers new things. I like to keep it on my shelf because it’s a good summary of all of her work.
Set Boundaries, Find Peace by Nedra Glover Tawwab
My Review: I call Set Boundaries, Find Peace “The Boundaries Bible.” It’s helped me set healthy boundaries that work in all aspects of my life without guilt.
I know I’m not alone in this need because every time I mention this book, it becomes insanely popular with readers of The Literary Lifestyle. If I could scream from the rooftops about one self-help book, this one would be it. The title says it all!
Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed
My Review: In Tiny Beautiful Things, Cheryl Strayed gives the most poetic, brutally honest, and thoughtful advice I have ever encountered. Through a series of advice columns, this book covers real-world messiness and how to deal with it. Every word she writes matters.
While there’s some career advice mixed in, Tiny Beautiful Things is more about raw compassion. It helps you navigate your daily world as a fallible human.
It’s a beautiful “must-read” reminiscent of Love Actually. It’s also one of my favorite audiobooks of all time, as it reads like talk radio (for fans of “Delilah”).
The Year of Yes by Shonda Rimes
My Review: The Year of Yes is the memoir of TV show creator Shonda Rimes, who resolved to say “yes” for one full year to things outside of work and motherhood, which had so often compelled her to say “no.”
Along the way, she gives speeches, loses weight, and even learns to say “no” better.
Beyond being motivational, it’s extremely relatable, and that’s because Rimes writes in a way that makes the reader feel like they know her and are welcomed into her mind.
I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a “friend” (so to speak) to go along with on a journey of self-importance.
Printable PDF Women’s Self-Development Book Checklist
Recap: Where to Start
START HERE
Get started with the top self-help books for women, which have been read by millions of readers:
More of the Best Self-Improvement Books for Personal Development
remember, it’s a good day to read a book. – jules
Thank you for reading and sharing The Honest Enneagram!
I loved it! Thanks for writing it 🙂