Editors Reads

Best Self-Help Books

Most self-help books repeat the same ideas in different packaging. These are the exceptions — books that contain genuinely original insights, backed by research or hard experience, that can change how you think and act.

See our full guide to the best self-help books →

147 expert-reviewed books — page 1 of 7

Editorial Top Picks

Influence book cover
BestsellerEditor's Pickpsychologycareer

Influence

by Robert Cialdini

4.7

The definitive book on the psychology of persuasion. Cialdini identifies six universal principles — reciprocity, commitment, social proof, authority, liking, and scarcity — that drive human compliance, and shows how they are exploited in sales, marketing, and everyday life.

Never Split the Difference book cover
BestsellerEditor's Pickcareerpsychology
4.7

Former FBI lead hostage negotiator Chris Voss reveals the counter-intuitive techniques he developed for life-or-death negotiations — and shows how they apply to salary talks, business deals, and everyday persuasion. The key insight: humans are not rational actors, and the best negotiators use emotional intelligence, not logic.

The Book of Joy book cover
BestsellerEditor's Pick

The Book of Joy

by Dalai Lama XIV & Desmond Tutu

4.7

A record of a week-long conversation between the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu on the occasion of the Dalai Lama's eightieth birthday — two of the world's most joyful people discussing how to find lasting happiness despite suffering, ageing, and loss.

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I Will Teach You to Be Rich book cover
BestsellerEditor's Pick
4.6

Ramit Sethi's blunt, practical, six-week programme for getting your financial life in order — automating savings, paying off debt, investing in low-cost index funds, and negotiating better deals on everything from bank fees to salary. Written for people in their 20s and 30s who find most personal finance books boring.

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Mindset book cover
Editor's Pick

Mindset

by Carol S. Dweck

4.6

Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck's research on achievement and success reveals that one simple belief about your own intelligence and abilities has a profound effect on outcomes. People with a growth mindset — who believe abilities can be developed — consistently outperform those with a fixed mindset, regardless of starting talent.

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Flow book cover
Editor's Pick

Flow

by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

4.4

The landmark study of the state of optimal experience — deep concentration and complete involvement that makes an activity intrinsically rewarding.

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