Life-changing nonfiction books you can finish in a day

One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way

by Robert Maurer

I loved this book for its straightforward explanation of the kaizen concept and the numerous anecdotes showing the method put into practice. A short, easy read and well worth the time if you're interested in habit formation.

Help Thanks Wow: The Three Essential Prayers

by Anne Lamott

In this short memoir of sorts, Lamott distills everything she's learned from a lifetime of praying down to the basics. She wanders a bit, but there are so many gems in these pages.

A Room of One’s Own

by Virginia Woolf

Woolf's long essay about society and art and sexism is thoroughly of its time and timeless. She argues that a woman must have money and a room of her own (literally and figuratively) in order to write well. It's a little slow to get into but keep at it: this is one of Woolf's most accessible and rewarding works.

Zen In The Art Of Writing

by Ray Bradbury

Bradbury is remembered for his inventive stories and fantastically creative mind. In this essential book for writers, he shares his process and spills his secrets. Bradbury dishes a surprising amount of practical advice for a book with the word "zen" in the title.

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles

by Steven Pressfield

An instant classic. This is THE BOOK on the subject; everything else is derivative. Highly recommended.

The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction

by Alan Jacobs

Jacobs's manifesto aims to convince readers everywhere: reading is supposed to be fun! I expected Jacobs to be stuffy, but he won my heart when he called Harold Bloom a snob. Lots of good nuggets and insights for book lovers, plus inspiration to expand your reading list and spend more time between the spines. This book is best enjoyed slowly, a few pages at a time. 162 pages.

What The Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast

by Laura Vanderkam

Successful people purposefully use their mornings to focus on things that are important, but not urgent: things like nurturing your career, nurturing your relationships, and nurturing yourself. Read this guide, keep a time diary for a week as Laura suggests, and reap the benefits. (Read about my experience with making over my mornings here.) Add Audible narration for $2.49.

The Elements of Style

by E. B. White, William Strunk

This is THE classic style guide for writers of all sorts. In their distinctive witty style, Strunk and White advocate for clear, concise, and accurate English. Time magazine named it one of the 100 best and most influential books written in English since 1923.

The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy and “Women’s Work”

by Kathleen Norris

“Quotidian” means “ordinary,” or “everyday,” and in this slim volume (88 pages!) Norris affirms the inherent worth of the mundane tasks that consume our everyday–the cooking, the cleaning, the dishes, the diapering. “What is it about repetitive acts that makes us feel that we are wasting our time?” Norris asks. Yet she insists that our daily activities are anything but trivial, and have the power to shape our souls, if we let them. A beautiful book worth reading over and over again.

Pray, Write, Grow: Cultivating Prayer and Writing Together

by Ed Cyzewski

I heard Anne Lamott say once that everything she knows about writing also applies to faith, and everything she knows about faith also applies to writing. She wasn't the first writer to make that connection and she certainly won't be the last. Cyzewski explores the interweaving of writing and faith, and specifically prayer in this thought-provoking and genuinely useful little book. The book is written from a Christian perspective (albeit a generously inclusive one), and as the author himself says, "if you're already inclined to both write and pray, you may as well figure out how they can help each other." Indeed.

As a Man Thinketh

by James Allen

The Nesting Place: It Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect to Be Beautiful

by Myquillyn Smith

A decorating book that's much more than a decorating book. In Myquillyn Smith's first book, she walks the reader through all fourteen (!!!) homes she's lived in as an adult, explaining how she learned to create a beautiful home despite the many limitations. Her mantra is "it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful," and she'll fill you with confidence that you, too can create a beautiful, welcoming home that also feels lived-in and loved-on, despite your own lovely limitations. Practical and inspiring.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death

by Jean-Dominique Bauby

A wonderful and moving memoir. Following a catastrophic stroke, Jean-Dominique Bauby spent several weeks in a coma, then wakened to a new reality. The 44-year-old sharp, high-living editor of French Elle was now a victim of "locked-in syndrome": he was mentally alert but unable to move or speak. Through sheer determination and a dose of the miraculous, Bauby learns a new way to communicate: by blinking to "speak," selecting one letter at a time, as someone read aloud a new alphabet rearranged in order of the letters' frequency of use. The diving bell of the title is the sheer weight of his useless body, but the butterfly is the human spirit that flies free.

Gift from the Sea

by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Equal parts memoir, meditation, and practical guide, this one is worth coming back to again and again: you'll discover new insights with each reading. Lindbergh muses on womanhood, solitude, busyness, contentment, growing older, and more. This short book was first published in 1955 yet still feels fresh and relevant for today.

A Briefer History of Time

by Stephen Hawking

The Little Book of Talent: 52 Tips for Improving Your Skills

by Daniel Coyle

I'd heard great things about this little handbook, but I couldn't get over the fact that it looked like a cheesy gift book—not the kind of thing I typically read. I checked it out of the library anyway, and finally opened it out of guilt the day before it was due. I was riveted. This surprisingly readable guide is packed with fascinating insights and practical tips covering diverse fields like sports, music, art, math, and business.

The Origin of Others

by Toni Morrison

In 2016, Morrison delivered the Norton lectures at Harvard University about race, human nature, and other-ness. This is the book form of those addresses; because they were first delivered as lectures they are exceptionally easy to read, although the themes themselves are hard. I especially enjoyed Morrison's discussions of her own popular works, like Beloved and Paradise, and her references to authors like Ernest Hemingway, Flannery O'Connor, and William Faulkner. With a foreword by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Publication date: September 18.

The Alchemist

by Paulo Coelho

This is the story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who dreams of treasure and sets off on a journey to find it, meeting all kinds of interesting characters along the way. This little book has been on the bestseller lists for years and has over a million ratings on Goodreads.

Night

by Elie Wiesel

"What does it mean to remember? It is to live in more than one world, to prevent the past from fading and to call upon the future to illuminate it." In this moving memoir, Wiesel recalls his experience as a young boy with his father in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps in 1944-45, during the Holocaust at the height of World War II. It's amazing how much Wiesel packs into 100 pages. "Never shall I forget ... "

The Getaway Car

by Ann Patchett

Patchett realized she wanted to be a writer about the same time she learned to ride a tricycle. In this mini-memoir, Patchett sketches a path from childhood all the way to the completion of her first novel, The Patron Saint of Liars. Stops along the way include her college years (complete with fabulous teachers), a failed marriage, the Iowa writing program, and a waitressing stint at TGIFriday’s. You’ll come away inspired to sit down at your keyboard and write.

Life-changing nonfiction books you can finish in a day

The MMD Summer Reading Guide

your guide to reliable readerly joy this summer

a gateway

to reliable joy this summer

Buckle Up!

summer reading starts May 16th