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10 Best Inspirational Life Guides and Memoirs Written by Women

We all need a little help sometimes, those moments where we feel like we really need to get our shit together. Whether it’s a career stumble, or a relationship break up, or just an emotional road block you’re trying to navigate, life coaching books can be a godsend and a great way to add some direction when you feel like you’re floating away.

Whether you’re looking for motivation or inspiration, you’ll be looking for something that speaks to you personally and so today we’re recommending ten motivational and inspirational life guides, memoirs and motivational reads all written by women!

Year of Yes – Shonda Rhimes

Shonda Rhimes is the creator and producer of some of the most groundbreaking shows on the screen today, with bold and audacious characters. However, Rhimes herself is an introvert who hired a publicist to avoid public appearances as she suffered panic attacks. In this brilliant and hilarious memoir she explores her life before her Year of Yes to when she forced herself out of the house and onto the stage to find her love of her truest self.

Year of Yes

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#GirlBoss – Sophia Amoruso

After some wild teenage years, Amoruso had dropped out of school and was broke, directionless and checking IDs in the lobby of an art achool, a job she only took for the health insurance. In that lobby, Amoruso starting selling vintage clothes on eBay. Fast forward to today and she’s the founder of Nasty Gal and the founder and CEO of Girlboss, and now she’s written Girl Boss, inspiring for other girls like her who are seeking a unique path to success!

#GirlBoss

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Leaving the Witness – Amber Scorah

Amber Scorah was a third-generation Jehovah’s witness and had devoted her life to sounding God’s warning about the impending Armageddon. She took her message to China where preaching is illegal, but the distance from her community this offered turned her life upside down and led her to doubt all that she thought true. After leaving the religion she was shunned by her friends and family, alone in Shangai she was thrown into a world alien to her. In her thirties, she experienced her coming of age. This is her story.

Leaving the Witness

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In Conclusion, Don’t Worry About It – Lauren Graham

From the star of hit show, Gilmore Girls comes this reflection and advice on life. An extension of the 2017 commencement speech she gave at her hometown Langley High, Lauren Graham,  reflects on growing up, pursuing your dreams, and living in the here and now. “Whatever path you choose, whatever career you decide to go after, the important thing is that you keep finding joy in what you’re doing, especially when the joy isn’t finding you.” In her hilarious, relatable voice, Graham reminds us to be curious and compassionate, no matter where life takes us or what we’ve yet to achieve. Grounded and inspiring—and illustrated throughout with drawings by Graham herself—here is a comforting road map to a happy life.

In Conclusion

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How to Be Bawse – Lilly Singh

Popular You Tuber Lilly Singh is Superwoman, and it’s not just the name of her You Tube channel! Funny, smart and insightful the actress and comedian gives life advice on everything from relationships to career choice, and here she wants to learn the lessons she learned while taking the world by storm in this definitive guide to conquering life.

How to Be Bawse

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Note to Self – Gayle King

In Note to Self, CBS This Morning cohost Gayle King shares some of the most memorable letters from the broadcast’s popular segment of the same name. With essays from such varied figures as Oprah, Vice President Joe Biden, Chelsea Handler, and Maya Angelou—as well as poignant words from a Newtown father and a military widow—Note to Self is a moving reflection on the joys and challenges of growing up and a perfect gift for any occasion.

Note to Self

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Girl, Wash Your Face – Rachel Hollis

Rachel Hollis is the founder of the lifestyle website TheChicSite.com and CEO of her own media company, and developed an immense online community by sharing tips for better living. Now in this inspiring read, Rachel exposes the twenty lies and miconceptions that too often hold us back from living joyfully and productively. With unflinching faith and rock-hard tenacity, Girl, Wash Your Face shows you how to live with passion and hustle–and how to give yourself grace without giving up.

Girl, Wash Your Face

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Well That Escalated Quickly – Franchesca Ramsey

Franchesca Ramsey didn’t set out to be an activist, or a comedian, or a commentator on identity, race, and culture, really. But then her YouTube video “What White Girls Say . . . to Black Girls” went viral. Twelve million views viral. Faced with an avalanche of media requests, fan letters, and hate mail, she had two choices: Jump in and make her voice heard or step back and let others frame the conversation.  In her first book, Ramsey uses her own experiences as an accidental activist to explore the many ways we communicate with each other–from the highs of bridging gaps and making connections to the many pitfalls that accompany talking about race, power, sexuality, and gender in an unpredictable public space…the internet.

Well That Escalated Quickly

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Very Good Lives – J. K Rowling

The struggles that Jo Rowling faced before becoming famous are well documented since her deeply affecting commencement speech at Harvard University. VERY GOOD LIVES presents J.K. Rowling’s words of wisdom for anyone at a turning point in life. How can we embrace failure? And how can we use our imagination to better both ourselves and others?

Very Good Lives

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You are a Badass – Jen Sincero

n this refreshingly entertaining how-to guide, bestselling author and world-traveling success coach, Jen Sincero, serves up 27 bitesized chapters full of hilariously inspiring stories, sage advice, easy exercises, and the occasional swear word, helping you to: Identify and change the self-sabotaging beliefs and behaviors that stop you from getting what you want, Create a life you totally love. And create it NOW, Make some damn money already. The kind you’ve never made before.

By the end of You Are a Badass, you’ll understand why you are how you are, how to love what you can’t change, how to change what you don’t love, and how to use The Force to kick some serious ass.

You are a Badass

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We hope you find some good suggestions there and we’ll be back with more recommendations lists soon. If you want to ensure you never miss any of these, subscribe now.



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