2025 Q1 Book Recommendations
Between the holiday break and breaking my foot, I carved out time to read and listen to a number of books in Q1. Below are some of my favorites (links go to blog entries about the book):
How Full Is Your Bucket? by Tom Rath and Don Clifton (Aug 2004) - classic on how our interactions affect us and others.
Whole Brain Living: The Anatomy of Choice and the Four Characters That Drive Our Life by Jill Bolte Taylor PhD (May 2021) - exploring parts and how they can help us pause/thrive.
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty (Apr 2012) - Very interesting take on what relationships might be like if we lost our memories of years of growing challenges.
Primal Leadership: Unleashing the Power of Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, Annie McKee (2013) - classic on being an emotionally intelligent leader.
Life Is in the Transitions: Mastering Change at Any Age by Bruce Feiler (Jul 2020) - our lives (stories) are made up of transitions; we manage them (saying goodbye, the messy middle, and new beginnings) differently.
Fight Right: How Successful Couples Turn Conflict Into Connection by Julie Schwartz Gottman PhD and John Gottman PhD (Jan 2024) - helpful advice on how to argue (agenda, persuasion, compromise) and the importance of how we handle bids for attention.
Reset: How to Change What's Not Working by Dan Heath (Jan 2025) - How to find leverage points and utilize resources for change.
Validation: How the Skill Set That Revolutionized Psychology Will Transform Your Relationships, Increase Your Influence, and Change Your Life by Caroline Fleck (Feb 2025) - Acceptance is a process, plus tips.
Shift: Managing Your Emotions--So They Don't Manage You by Ethan Kross (Feb 2025) - There isn’t one way to manage emotions, turn mental time travel into an asset, find sensory triggers that work for you, and more!
Beyond Anxiety: Curiosity, Creativity, and Finding Your Life's Purpose by Martha Beck (Jan 2025) - Tips for breaking free of expectations to reduce anxiety and thrive as you.
Life in Three Dimensions: How Curiosity, Exploration and Experience Make a Fuller, Better Life by Shigehiro Oishi (Feb 2025) - Tips for a psychologically rich life.
Why We Remember: Unlocking Memory's Power to Hold on to What Matters by Charan Ranganath (Feb 2024) -Fun journey into why we remember, how it can take us back to a time and place, and how our memories change.
The Davenports by Krystal Marquis (Jan 2023) - Historical fiction about four determined women in 1910.
You Are the One You've Been Waiting For: Applying Internal Family Systems to Intimate Relationships by Richard Schwartz (May 2023) - How IFS can help your relationships.
Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World by Anne-Laure Le Cunff (Mar 2025) - Tips for tiny experiments to manage physical, cognitive, and emotional resources instead of setting big goals based on what is expected to come next.
What books have you enjoyed this year, and what’s on your reading list?
