Next Reads

The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery by Ian Morgan Cron

Reviewed by Betsy Barnum Morris

A divorce provides the perfect opportunity to explore this ancient (but currently very popular) personality typing system. It is a tool that can be used in all relationships, especially the relationship with yourself. What better time than post-divorce to get a better understanding of who you are and why you see and interact in the world as you do so that you can get out of your own way? The authors provide an easy to read and digest format, with tools to help you determine your type (or number), examples from the lives of real people who are each type, and 10 steps to growth so that you can be the best version of your sweet self. Do take time to read about all the types before you decide what best fits you. And try not to spend too much time focusing on someone else’s type (especially your ex’s). Focus on yourself first. That’s where you can make the most impact - in your life.

The Grown Woman’s Guide to Online Dating: Lessons Learned While Swiping Right, Snapping Selfies, and Analyzing Emojis by Margot Starbuck

Does the thought of joining a dating site invoke feelings of fear and anxiety—or, worse, insecurity or unworthiness? If so, then The Grown Woman’s Guide to Online Dating is the book for you. With practical advice about how these sites work and proven tips for making the most of them, The Grown Woman’s Guide equips readers with all they need to take the plunge.

Four years after an unexpected divorce, bestselling writer and funny lady Margot Starbuck found herself venturing into the unknown waters of online dating. What she discovered surprised her—and changed her. With her signature sharp wit and a solid biblical foundation, Margot shares what she learned, including determining which sites are best and what to expect, how to write a first message that is most likely to get a response, avoiding common pitfalls in creating your profile, and living out the truth that you are God’s beloved.

Whatever your endgame might be, Margot promises, richness awaits. “You got this, girl!”

Stop Walking on Eggshells by Paul Mason

Do you feel manipulated, controlled, or lied to by someone close to you? Are you the focus of their intense, violent, and irrational rages? Do you feel criticized and blamed all the time? If the answer is "yes," someone you care about may have borderline personality disorder (BPD)-a personality disorder that causes negative self-image, emotional volatility, and difficulties with interpersonal relationships. The good news is you can bring peace and stability back into your life. Stop Walking on Eggshells has already helped more than one million people who have friends and family members diagnosed with BPD to understand this difficult disorder, communicate without apology, and set limits. This edition includes information on narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), men with BPD, children with BPD, and coping and communication skills you can use right now to stabilize your relationship with your loved one.

Single On Purpose: Redefine Everything. Find Yourself First. by John Kim

There’s more to life than loving someone. But being single can feel like a death sentence. Why does being alone = being lonely? And why do we stop working on ourselves when we’re in a relationship?

After a painful divorce, “The Angry Therapist” John Kim realized he had never truly been on his own. He went on a journey to rebuild his relationship with himself, going from alone and disconnected to alone and fulfilled.

Kim has gone on to help thousands of clients find their own unique way to break free of expectations and finally live their truth. With Single on Purpose, Kim takes his signature no-BS “self-help in a shot glass” approach as he shares his own singlehood story and shows readers how to own their shit, break their patterns, and find a grounded sense of self.

Secrets of Dating After Fifty: The Insider's Guide to Finding Love Again by Karen Haddigan

If you're feeling like a dinosaur in the modern world of dating, this author feels your pain, sharing from her personal experience everything from post-divorce commitment issues to the realities of sex in an aging body, and she tells us why you should NEVER ask your married friends for dating advice. Whether you’re currently dating, thinking about taking things online, or totally committed to life with just you and your dog, Secrets of Dating After Fifty is a vicarious thrill ride that is as entertaining as it is instructive.

The Princess Who Believed in Fairy Tales - A Story for Modern Times by Marcia Grad

The Princess Who Believed in Fairy Tales is a modern-day story staged as a fairy tale that illustrates the journey we all take through life as we sort out illusion from reality, come to terms with our childhood dreams and pain, and discover who we really are and how life works. As the princess wrestles with feelings of not being good enough, confusion about why her fairy tale didn’t have the happy ending she dreamed of, and sees how she gave up her power to a hurtful prince, we can see our own lives in a new perspective. The princess’s adventure and journey to love herself reveals that happy endings - and new beginnings - are always possible.

Choosing Me Before We: Every Woman's Guide to Life and Love by Christina Arylo

Full of sass, soul, and empowering wisdom, Choosing ME before WE is like a heart-to-heart with your closest girlfriend. And best of all, you’ll discover that your closest girlfriend is your own truest self, inside you, always ready to offer wise, loving advice about what is best for you. Designed to challenge and guide women to create the relationships they want instead of the ones they often find themselves stuck in, this book offers stimulating questions to uncover what’s true for you, powerful techniques to change old habits that sabotage you, and real-life experiences shared by the author, her friends, and her clients. Christine Arylo speaks to women of all ages, whether they’re seeking a relationship, evaluating a less-than-fulfilling one, rebounding from a bad breakup, or working through issues with a partner. Choosing ME before WE teaches women to stop settling, to get real about the kind of partner they’re looking for, and to start exploring and creating what they truly want in themselves and their relationships.

The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are by Brené Brown

For over a decade, Brené Brown has found a special place in our hearts as a gifted mapmaker and a fellow traveler. She is both a social scientist and a kitchen-table friend whom you can always count on to tell the truth, make you laugh, and, on occasion, cry with you. And what’s now become a movement all started with The Gifts of Imperfection, which has sold more than two million copies in thirty-five different languages across the globe.

What transforms this book from words on a page to effective daily practices are the ten guideposts to wholehearted living. The guideposts not only help us understand the practices that will allow us to change our lives and families, they also walk us through the unattainable and sabotaging expectations that get in the way.

Brené writes, “This book is an invitation to join a wholehearted revolution. A small, quiet, grassroots movement that starts with each of us saying, ‘My story matters because I matter.’ Revolution might sound a little dramatic, but in this world, choosing authenticity and worthiness is an absolute act of resistance.”

The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again by Catherine Price

After a big breakup, it's easy to lose sight of the FUN side of life. But if you’re not experiencing some form of that magical mix of playfulness, connection, and flow, you’re not fully living, writes Price. Far from being frivolous, fun is actually critical to our well-being, and this book helps you find the road back to the joyful life you may have forgotten ever existed.

Buy Yourself the F*cking Lilies: And Other Rituals to Fix Your Life From Someone Who's Been There by Tara Schuster

This is a book many of us desperately need: a candid, hysterical, addictively readable, practical guide to growing up or re-parenting yourself (no matter where you are in life) and learning to love yourself in a non-throw-up-in-your-mouth-it’s-so-cheesy way. The author shares simple, daily rituals that can guide you to living a life you truly, totally f*cking love while also doing the hard work of identifying the self-limiting beliefs that have held you back and healing the wounds we all end up with from hard life experiences, especially divorce.

InvestiDate: How to Investigate Your Date by Maria Coder

Written by Maria Coder, a former crime and general assignment reporter, InvestiDate teaches daters how to investigate their dates using modern day scenarios. A tongue-in-cheek, secret weapon-like book that arms women with tools to maneuver through this minefield called love, daters of all ages will learn step-by-step how to: conduct criminal background checks, verify employment, gauge marital status, scour property records, and more.

Fuckless: A Guide to Wild, Unencumbered Freedom by Gianna Biscontini

In Fuckless: A Guide to Wild, Unencumbered Freedom, behavior scientist and lifestyle design coach Gianna Biscontini guides women through the process of liberating themselves from the ten archaic, stifling expectations (a.k.a. Fucks) society has placed on them for over a century so they can finally live life on their own terms.

Through humor, storytelling, and a healthy dash of behavioral science, you’ll learn step by step how to leave it all behind, dropping the beliefs that no longer fit and creating a new narrative about what it means to be female—and what exactly life looks like from here.

Full of thoughtful questions, gut-check exercises, and interview content from both men and women, Fuckless stands out as a book with a mission: to give women the applicable tools they need to change the way they show up in the world and to pour gasoline on the fire of the women's movement.