8 inspiring books that could act as your next conversation starter

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear

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1/8

In one line: A practical guide on how you can change your habits and get a little better each day.

New year, new you? If you want to achieve your new year resolutions – whether in health, relationships, productivity or finances, focus on your habits and system. James Clear introduces the idea that tiny habits – those that are easy to do and part of your everyday routine – can impact progress and growth. Sure the changes might seem minute at first but they can compound into massive results if you stick with them over a period of time.

Start with repetition, not perfection. While goals set you in your direction, systems enable you to make progress. For example, if you want to exercise more, try tracking your workouts and make specific plans for how and when you exercise during the week. Being specific about what you want would help you to stay on track and it’ll make it easier for you to say “no” to distractions. To make it more attractive, how about joining a running group?

Productivity isn’t just about willpower but our environment too. If your plan is to run in the morning, lay out your running clothes on a chair the night before – as a cue. Make the habit a part of your identity – maybe it’s wanting to be fit that is driving you, and reward yourself with that identity in mind (eating junk food might be guilt inducing but you could always treat yourself to a relaxing massage). It’s not failure but boredom that might just be holding you back from success, so learn to be at ease with boredom. The secret to lasting results is to never stop making improvements.

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Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

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2/8

In one line: Part memoir, part self-help book, it is written by a psychotherapist who shares her world as both a therapist and patient on the receiving end of therapy.

A heartfelt, insightful read about mental health, author and psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb lands on the therapist’s couch herself when a long-term relationship comes crashing down, leading her into a state of grief and friends encouraging her to see a therapist.

The book explores the emotional journey of five patients, including the author’s. There are the tragedies and the breakthroughs so yes, it gets up close and personal. It’s all part and parcel of what makes Maybe You Should Talk to Someone profound – in how it resonates and unveils the benefits of therapy and the stigmas.

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The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama

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3/8

In one line: A down-to-earth toolkit on learning to cope with change and overcome adversity.

With the climate crisis, inflation and a whole bunch of things to worry about, the world can feel like a scary place sometimes. But as Michelle Obama wisely put it, “our hurts become our fears. Our fears become our limits”. This is especially rough if you’re the victim of prejudice and discrimination, as her grandfather was. Her advice: focus on the small things, which have the potential to “become an instrument for your own visibility, your own steadiness and sense of connection”. It is uplifting.

Self-help books can sound a little too holier than thou but the former first lady knows how to connect and relate to her audience. When the world seems overwhelming, she talks about the small wins like learning to knit thanks to YouTube. Something she managed to do with her own two hands, it felt “good, simple and accomplishable”.

A self-proclaimed nervous Nelly, she shares coping strategies for surviving stress and uncertainty. The Light We Carry is peppered with nuggets of wisdom and one for your bookshelf in 2023.

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Know My Name: A Memoir by Chanel Miller

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4/8

In one line: A brilliant, empowering – devastating yet hopeful – read penned by a sexual assault survivor reclaiming her identity by telling the story of her trauma.

You might have read about the 2015 sexual assault case in headlines: for four years, Chanel Miller was known as Emily Doe, the unconscious victim who was sexually assaulted by Brock Turner on Stanford University’s campus. Two Swedish graduate students were passing by on bikes and chased Brock Turner off. The case became notorious for its illustration of the race and wealth gap in sentencing; while he was convicted of three felonies, he served only three months of a six-month sentence in county jail.

Chanel Miller’s powerful victim statement on BuzzFeed went viral and in response, California’s laws for sexual assault were amended to support future victims. In this immersive memoir, we see Chanel’s strong command of words once again, and her relationships with her parents, sister, boyfriend, the general public, and most importantly – herself.

Chanel Miller is a full person, a loved person, a named person. She sets the record straight: "I am a victim, I have no qualms with this word, only with the idea that it is all that I am," she writes. "However, I am not Brock Turner's victim. I am not his anything."

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Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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5/8

In one line: An emotional rollercoaster that follows the fictional rock n roll journey of a 1970s band navigating the messiness of fame, addiction, ego, love, and family.

Set to premiere on Amazon Prime Video in March 2023, starring Riley Keough, Sam Claflin and Suki Waterhouse, the book itself is written documentary-style, revolving around a fictional band that’s said to be partly inspired by Fleetwood Mac. It chronicles the rise of a rock group – how Daisy Jones came to join The Six, then revealing what led to their split at the height of their popularity.

It might be fictional but there’s something infectious about the characters’ pursuit of making their dreams come true. Channel some of that main character energy this 2023.

You might be familiar with Taylor Jenkins Reid’s other hits such as The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and if so, you’d be well-versed with how talented a writer she is at drawing out that raw emotion in her storytelling. One for your daily commute, the audiobook has drawn high praise too.

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The Measure by Nikki Erlick

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6/8

In one line: A reminder to live life to the fullest.

Imagine waking up one morning and discovering a box at your doorstep containing a string that reveals how much more time you have before you die. Everyone aged 22 and above receives the box. Would you open it? Would you want to know exactly when your life ends?

Gone is the illusion that you could live well into your 80s, and pass peacefully in your sleep. Though it remains unclear how it’ll happen – if it’s an illness or accident that would take you.

Maybe knowing how much time you have left would determine if you’d quit your job or get married. Nikki Erlick’s 2022 debut novel The Measure makes a thought-provoking read, especially as society begins to discriminate against the short-stringers – their despair seen as dangerous and support groups begin to form. The reader gets a glimpse of eight different perspectives, each with different relationships, hopes and dreams. Without giving too much away: The Measure echoes Ralph Waldo Emerson’s saying that it’s the depth of life, rather than the length of it that truly matters.

There’s also a Tuesdays with Morrie-slant to it as a recurring theme is that the way you get meaning in your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.

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The Candy House by Jennifer Egan

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7/8

In one line: Like an episode of Black Mirror though more imaginative than eerie

From Pultizer prize-winning author of A Visit From the Goon Squad Jennifer Egan, The Candy House brings back some familiar characters but it’s hardly a must to read A Visit From the Goon Squad before diving into The Candy House. The Candy House explores the idea of uploading memories onto the Collective Consciousness – both conscious and hidden memories – which can later be accessed by yourself and by others.

It’s like the next phase of social media. Think: a grown up daughter accessing the memories of her late father, seeing a trip they made together during her teenage days through his eyes (and hearing his thoughts).

Characters are aplenty in The Candy House and the technological innovation sounds a little far out but if you think about it, social media is already a popular means for documentation and social connection. The Candy House riffs on authenticity, privacy and community. One for dinner party conversations to come.

Fun fact 1: Barack Obama included The Candy House in his 2022 summer reading list

Fun fact 2: Jennifer Egan dated Steve Jobs for about a year back in college

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Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park

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8/8

In one line: A coming-of-age novel of a gay man in Seoul that tackles heavy themes such as the stigma faced by couples in same-sex relationships, an elderly parent’s declining health, and HIV with more humour than you’d expect.

Nearly as hilarious as it is heartbreaking, Love in the Big City can be split into four parts, each narrating a different season of the main character’s life. The first showing how his life diverges from his heterosexual female best friend’s, the next detailing caregiving for an elderly parent, and the rest playing with the highs and lows of dating – love, lust, and loss, set against the current of the conservative mainstream.

Longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2022 and the first book by Sang Young Park that’s published in English, Love in the Big City is loosely autobiographical. It has the ability to resonate. Even if it doesn’t mirror your personal experience, there’s something magical about immersing yourself in a world beyond your own.

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