For the Love of Books: The Best Personal Development and Growth Books List EVER

My first love was books. I was 5 years old when Ms. Simpson dubbed me the class reader for a short stint and I was hooked. I read them, wrote them, collected them.

As “the shy kid”, getting in front of the class every Tuesday promptly at 8:30 was exactly the challenge I needed. Bless our educators— Ms. Simpson probably knew that.

What she didn’t know is that beneath my bouncy brown curls and shining eyes, I was sad and scared.

Trauma, divorce, estrangement and addiction (all stories for another day) had already affected me by Kindergarten.

Books helped me cope, gave me solace, and helped me feel less alone. I would visit far-off lands, pretending I was the brave and brilliant character overcoming insurmountable odds (spoiler alert: I was her).

Books helped me believe that one day I’d be on a wild adventure of my own…

Turns out that wild adventure is the journey of falling in love…with myself. I’m still on the path— it gets rocky and winding then smooth sailing and at each step I remind myself: here I am.

Get the Book List Here

100+ book recommendations from the experts and authors who’ve been on the Raising Wild Hearts Podcast 📚

A decade ago, I realized (after a whole lotta suffering) that I needed to figure out what happiness was, how to find it, and why it was so elusive.

So I called up my first love for a rendezvous (books, guys, it was books) and searching for treasure, like Santiago in ‘The Alchemist’, found everything I needed at just the right time.

Books can be helpful guides on the journey back home to yourself like they were for me.

Need to reframe your beliefs? There’s a book for that. Need to re-pattern your nervous system? There’s a book for that. Need to figure out why your kids don’t listen? It’s because kids don’t listen (and there’s a book for that, too🤣).

Enter: the book list. Recommendations from the 100+ experts and authors interviewed on the Raising Wild Hearts podcast.

It’s lots of nonfiction, a few good stories, and some hidden gems. If you wanna check out the full list—my gift to you— you can grab it here!

Here’s to the books that change us, the ones that show up at just the right time, and especially… the ones that point us back home to ourselves.

Happy reading,

Ryann 🌙