100 Books Like A Manual for Being Human

Whilst this is a ‘fly-on-the-wall’ book that takes you through the experiences of clients in therapy, Charlotte also shares her side of the story as the therapist in question. This bridges both her professional and personal experiences, which completely draws you in.

There are so many thoughtful and interesting quotes throughout this book and I found myself scribbling notes the whole way through reading it. Whilst the book is provocatively titled around the topic of desire, it’s not all sexual or erotic. It connects with something that we all want in some way – freedom, to belong, control, understanding, and love.

It’s a really smart book – not in an intimidating way, but in a ‘I wish I had written that’ kind of way. 

This book is the follow-up to a postcard series and book called Lockdown Secrets, where Eleanor who owns a stationery shop in London, sent out blank postcards that people anonymously returned to her with their stories, secrets, and confessions.

The Sex Secrets series really puts light to the fact that there really is no normal when it comes to how we think about, feel, and have sex. Firstly the cards are beautiful, some of them almost works of art – you can feel people’s personalities in them. Some are heartbreaking, others heartwarming – they take you through a complete range of emotions.

If you think you know what’s happening in other people’s sex lives then think again.

This is a book that everyone should read. It’s a celebration of love in all its forms, and it brings together the most incredible range of experts and authors which makes it impossible for you not to widen your perspective, and start to think about things a little differently.

Love stories are such a critical part of our humanness – even if we are not in love, we will likely have some love in our lives and some experiences of it. The questions I get asked as a therapist are often about how we can make love, relationships, desire, and sex last – love is so complex, and it continues to be one of life’s biggest mysteries; which is why this book feels so important.

I really felt like I emotionally connected to something in every conversation. 

Quite simply this book explains why nearly everything that we have been taught about desire is wrong – which explains why so many of us misunderstand that desire changing doesn’t mean that it’s completely lost.

On page one Dr Gurney addresses the fact that we have unrealistic socially-set standards when it comes to sex, and these result in a huge number of us feeling in some way that we are failing at sex ( and also that we are the only ones because nobody talks about it ).

Loss of desire is one of the most common presentations to psychosexual therapists and so much of it is in the mismatch of what the science tells us, and what society tells us. I honestly feel that if every woman, and couple read this book that they would feel more positive, more empowered, and more able to change their sex lives and… show more.

This was a perspective changer for me. This book not only taught me practical ways to manage anxiety but also transformed my outlook on life’s challenges, truly opening my mind with its insights.

It guided me through addressing unresolved issues without overwhelming sadness or fear, instead fostering a sense of empowerment. The light-hearted tone and moments of humor made me laugh and brought unexpected joy, making the exploration of personal growth enjoyable rather than daunting.

Smith's approachable style makes complex psychological concepts accessible. It helped me to find a calm in the chaos of my daily life.

This book contains lots of great ideas for handling your stress, again with humor. The book gives a “Stress’s Job Description,” notes how “sneaky” stress can be in getting you upset, and gives directions on how to become a “panic mechanic” by learning to identify what’s wrong (the “stress mess” and ways to cope) and how to avoid the world’s worst stress relievers, such as hurting or blaming others.

This book focuses on “normal” worry rather than clinical manifestations of anxiety but still, it is chock full of practical tips for stressed-out tweens. Like all of the books in the Smart Girls series, Worry educates and empowers readers, helping them understand why they feel what they feel while giving practical advice about making changes. The only downside is that – while the information in this book is universal – it is clearly pitched to girls. It’s a pity because boys could use a book like this, too.

I really like the title of this book because it captures why your brain reacts as it does to fear, anxiety, and stress. Because of the fight-or-flight reaction in response to danger, your brain revs your body up to get ready to fight a tiger or run away. But that reaction doesn’t help when your stress is about taking a test, introducing yourself to someone, or handling a rough situation at home. It’s like your brain is reacting to invisible tigers chasing you. Self-care for “tiger bites” is a fun way to think about ways to reduce the impact of stressful situations.

In 2016, after my Mum passed away suddenly from lung cancer, I was in desperate need of a reset in my life. Fortunately for me, that’s when I came across this book.

The thing that’s so wonderful about it is that it’s a really simple system, which encourages you to start your day by spending time on just six easy activities - which you can remember by using the acronym S.A.V.E.R.S. What I found when I started doing The Miracle Morning every day was that it helped me to knock so much of my anxiety on the head that it then allowed me to be creative every day.

I can’t recommend this book highly enough. There’s a really vibrant community on Facebook where people share hints and tips on how to keep their practice going long-term and share their successes!

I have always been self-motivated, but this book gave me the tools to turn up the dial from a 7 to a 10.

In this book, I learned to apply the SAVERS system every morning (Silence, affirmation, visualization, exercise, reading, and scribing), and I have been doing it for years now. I wrote my book by heeding this advice and waking up at 4 am for months in order to write before working out and heading to the office. Every morning, including today, I read excerpts from at least 20 books, review my annual goals, study a foreign language, exercise, and more. One of the things I have learned about this framework since building it into my life is that it is much easier to hang new habits you want to start onto this system.

Once you implement this, you never have to start from scratch again. I have been… show more.