Inspired Reading Suggestions
There are many excellent books to help enrich and support your journey. This list was compiled from the personal library of Karen Ely, founder/director of the Sedona Women’s Institute. They are all books that have touched her in deep and meaningful ways. They’ve been grouped into categories but many of them belong in all five. Enjoy!
Click here for a printable version of this list.
TO INSPIRE YOU
All the Light We Cannot See by Anothony Doerr
A Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas
A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman by Joan Anderson
Becoming Fully Human by Joan Chittister
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters at the End by Atul Gawande
Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow by Elizabeth Lesser
Daring to Dream: Reflections on the Year I Found Myself by Karen Ely
Deep Water Passage by Ann Linnea
Drinking the Rain by Alix Kates Shulman
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Floor Sample by Julia Cameron
Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
I Will Not Die an Unlived Life by Dawna Markova
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Journal of a Solitude by May Sarton
Kitchen Table Wisdom by Rachel Naomi Remen
Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation by Parker J. Palmer
Let’s Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship by Gail Caldwell
Long, Quiet Highway by Natalie Goldberg
Marmee & Louisa by Eve LaPlante
Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
My Grandfather’s Blessings by Rachel Naomi Remen
Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen
Refuge by Terry Tempest Williams
Spot of Grace: Remarkable Stores of How You Do Make a Difference by Dawna Markova
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
The Book of Gutsy Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Gift of Years: Growing Older Gracefully by Joan Chittister
The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America’s National Parks by Terry Tempest Williams
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Road from Coorain by Jill Ker Conway
The Woman at Otowi Crossing by Frank Waters
Travels with Epicurus: A Journey to a Greek Island in Search of a Fulfilled Life by Daniel Klein
West with the Night by Beryl Markham
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalinithi
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
TO AWAKEN YOU
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
A Woman’s Journey to God: Finding the Feminine Path by Joan Borysenko
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters at the End by Atul Gawande
Be Here Now by Ram Dass
Breathing Space: Mini-retreats For the Heart and Soul by Karen Ely
Crossing to Avalon: A Woman’s Midlife Quest for the Sacred Feminine by Jean Shinoda Bolen
Dark Nights of the Soul by Thomas Moore
Diana, Herself: An Allegory of Awakening by Martha Beck
Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There by Sylvia Boorstein
Enduring Lives: Portraits of Women and Faith in Action by Carol Lee Flinders
Everyday Zen by Charlotte Joko Beck
Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth and Everyday Magic by Martha Beck
Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience by Sharon Salzberg
Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott
Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy by Anne Lamott
Help Thanks Wow: The Three Essential Prayers by Anne Lamott
Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart by James Doty, MD
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Off the Cliff: How the Making of Thelma & Louise Drove Hollywood to the Edge by Becky Aikman
Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh
Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott
Reflections on the Art of Living: A Joseph Campbell Companion by Diane Osbon
Slow Love by Dominque Browning
Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace by Anne Lamott
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
The Buddhist Path to Simplicity by Christina Feldman
The Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd
The Seeker’s Guide: Making Your Life a Spiritual Adventure by Elizabeth Lesser
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra
The Tao of Leadership: Lao Tsu’s Tao Te Ching Adapted for a New Age by John Heider
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche
The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael Singer
Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott
Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman
When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chodron
When Women Were Birds by Terry Tempest Williams
Wherever You Go There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn
FOR PERSONAL GROWTH
A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life by Parker J. Palmer
127 Hours: Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston
Attitudes of Gratitude by M. J. Ryan
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink
Everyday Sacred by Sue Bender
I am a Woman Finding My Voice by Janet Quinn
Plain and Simple by Sue Bender
Rising Strong by Brene Brown
Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach
The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander & Benjamin Zander
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
The Heroine’s Journey by Maureen Murdock
The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer
The Places that Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times by Pema Chodron
The Road Less Traveled by M Scott Peck
The Second Half of Life by Angeles Arrien
The Three Marriages: Reimagining Work, Self and Relationships by David Whyte
Time Shifting by Stephan Rechtschaffen
Trusting Yourself by M.J. Ryan
TO TAKE ON RETREAT
A Retreat of My Own by Karen Ely
A Weekend to Change Your Life by Joan Anderson
Breathing Space: Mini-retreats For the Heart and Soul by Karen Ely
Circle of Stones by Judith Duerk
Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words by David Whyte
Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words by David Whyte
I Sit Listening to the Wind by Judith Duerk
The Woman’s Retreat Book by Jennifer Louden
Walking: One Step at a Time by Erling Kagge
ON CREATIVITY AND WRITING
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
Bryson’s Dictionary of Troublesome Words: A Writer’s Guide to Getting it Right by Bill Bryson
For Writers Only by Sophy Burnham
Life’s Companion: Journal Writing as a Spiritual Practice by Christina Baldwin
My Reading Life by Pat Conroy
Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir by Natalie Goldberg
On Writing: A Memoir on the Craft by Stephen King
One Continuous Mistake: Four Noble Truths for Writers by Gail Sher
The Right to Write by Julia Cameron
The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler
Unreliable Truth: On Memoir and Memory by Maureen Murdock
Walking in this World by Julia Cameron
Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life by Natalie Goldberg
Writing as a Way of Healing by Louise DeSalvo
Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg
Writing for Your Life by Deena Metzger
INSPIRED BUSINESS
A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel Pink
Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motives Us by Daniel Pink
Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
The Corner Office: Indispensible and Unexpected Lessons from CEOs on How to Lead and Succeed by Adam Bryant
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Galdwell
Think Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman