The Best Self-Help Books to Brighten Your January

January 29, 2024 Laura Barry

Looking for best self-care books to support your mental health? Or perhaps you're looking for inspiration on how to grow and develop as a Christian? Here, we round up our top ten books about mental health, anxiety, depression, stress, and personal growth.

See all of our mental health books here.

See all of our personal growth books here.

1. Practicing the Way

Be with Jesus. Become like him. Do as he did.

By John Mark Comer 

John Mark Comer, the New York Times bestselling author of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry and Live No Lies, shows readers what is holding them back from authentically following Jesus - and reveals the countercultural practices to connect us with a vibrant lifelong faith.

We all have experienced unwanted parts of our spiritual journey: distance from God, gaps in our character, the fear that our lives will be trivial and empty... Jesus is calling us into more. Calling us to be shaped in his likeness. To experience his abundance of life.

But how, practically, can we do that? By becoming his apprentice. By practicing the Way.

Outlining the timeless process of being with Jesus, becoming like him, and living as he did, bestselling author and pastoral voice John Mark Comer delineates God's vision for the journey of our soul.

In this powerful and practical work, he defines his core philosophy of spiritual formation to help us form a "rule of life."

Along the way, readers benefit from his rich cultural insight, deep biblical teaching, and honest and hopeful view of the potential of each human soul.

You feel like there's more to life than this? You're right. Now come discover just how much life awaits you.

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2. Brighter Days

12 steps to strengthening your wellbeing

By Patrick Regan

'To keep mentally healthy is essential if we are to live life to the full. No book can provide all the answers, but it can provide us with a guide to keeping mentally well. This book may help you more than you realise.' - Sir Terry Waite CBE

Discover practical tips and stories of strength in "Brighter Days" to invest in your emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual health for a brighter future. For readers of Katie Piper OBE and Matt Haig.

You probably don't need to be told that the demands of modern living are taking their toll on our wellbeing. You likely feel it.

And yet, some of us feel as though we’re the only ones who are weary, overwhelmed or anxious so we don’t talk about it and try and pretend that it’s not happening.

The truth is that we’re far from alone; we all have days where life feels too much, and we’ve all had times when we’re desperate to know that brighter days are ahead.

Packed-full of practical tips alongside stories of struggle and strength, Brighter Days is for all of us who want tools to invest in our emotional, mental, physical and spiritual health so we can look forward to a healthier and more hopeful future.

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3. Why Less Means More

Making Space For What Matters Most

By Cathy Madavan

Do you feel frazzled? Frantic? Fearful you haven't got enough?

In a world obsessed with more, where potential is maximised, and busyness is glorified, another reality also exists: we all have limits - and many of us are living at the edge of them.

Why Less Means More shows you how saying no to one thing might mean saying yes to something far better.

What would it look like to pursue less success and more significance? To live with less complexity and more clarity? To chase less of the 'extraordinary' and celebrate more of the 'ordinary' moments that make up an extraordinary life?

Cathy Madavan, accomplished author and speaker, invites you to leave your fear and franticness behind and discover more space, simplicity and the truth that less really can lead to more.

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4. How to be (Un)successful

An Unlikely Guide to Human Flourishing

By Pete Portal

Nowadays it seems like everyone wants to be successful, but how many of us actually feel it?

We may know that true success is found in following the one who made us. And yet, in our increasingly polarised and comparison-rife world, many of us find our hearts yearning for an ever-elusive 'success': in money and power, in influence and accolades.

It is time for us to remember that success is attainable - not in what we have but how we live.

This book invites you to recognise the beauty and complexity of the world we live in and how we, individually and collectively, may have conformed our faith in Jesus to simple consumer culture and cultural preferences. It is an opportunity to redefine success, choosing love over efficiency, depth over volume and real friendship over cold transactions.

Jesus' life and teaching are the perfect antidote for a world growing sick with the wrong sort of success. And, he invites us again to experience a success that truly satisfies our souls.

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5. Against All Odds

My life with Down Syndrome : 'Will inspire you never to dim your light.' - Katie Piper OBE

By Ellie Goldstein

Foreword by Katie Piper

Will inspire you never to dim your light.' - Katie Piper OBE

The debut book in Katie Piper's UnSeen series looks at fashion model's Ellie Goldstein's astounding journey as she overcomes adversity and makes history by becoming the first supermodel with Down Syndrome to represent prestigious brands, such as Gucci and Adidas, in major campaigns around the world.

When Ellie Goldstein was first diagnosed with Down Syndrome, her mother was soon told that her new-born would amount to nothing. For 21 years and counting, Ellie Goldstein has been defying the odds and overcoming every hardship thrown at her.

Told she wouldn’t walk, Ellie has danced on mainstages. Told she wouldn’t learn, she has gained a college education. And told not to dream, Ellie has gone on to become the first model with Down Syndrome to be photographed for Gucci and continues to change the face of fashion from the inside out in countless international campaigns.

Ellie's heart, humour, and hard work has allowed her to achieve her dreams. An advocate for disability, Ellie uses her platform as a disabled model to act as a role model and inspire other people with Down Syndrome.

Ellie's story highlights the importance of family, and how community and support can carry people through the toughest of times. Against All Odds includes the perspective of both Ellie and her mother Yvonne, making Ellie's story the perfect read for parents and carers of those with disabilities or those who, like Katie Piper OBE, are passionate about championing the most vulnerable in society.

Against All Odds is the first book in Katie Piper's UnSeen series, which shed light on untold stories of unwavering hope that deserve to be heard. The UnSeen empowers readers to own their stories and know that they too deserve to be seen.

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6. Honesty Over Silence

It's Ok to not be Ok

By Patrick Regan

'The Bible is way more honest than most churches about the actual levels of pain and confusion in life. That's why we need this book. It's going to provoke ten thousand honest conversations, helping to bring healing, hope and understanding to many who currently suffer in silence.'
PETE GREIG, FOUNDER OF 24-7 PRAYER

Honesty Over Silence seeks to open up conversations around topics that many find difficult, such as trusting God when life is painful, dealing with anxiety and depression, learning to look after ourselves, developing our character, and living with thankful hearts even in tough seasons.

It examines our strength in letting go of our need to be in control, as well as looking at how we can stop comparing ourselves to others, and instead live authentically and honestly as we grow into the people God has created us to be.

'The power of this book is in its piercing honesty and vulnerability. It gives a voice to those issues that we as Christians sometimes want silenced: what happens when darkness falls? Where is God in mental illness? Can I ever be enough? Through Patrick's stories of his own life and those of others, he powerfully reminds us that a life of faith is smattered with, but not shattered by, dark places. This is an amazing book which will bless, encourage and comfort many.' -Tim and Rachel Hughes, Lead Pastors at Gas Street Church, Birmingham

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7. A Little Bit of Hope

100 affirmations for positive living

By Katie Piper

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8. You Are Free (Even If You Don't Feel Like It)

Mental health, faith and finding your way

By Hope Virgo

In You Are Free (Even if You Don’t Feel Like It) award-winning campaigner Hope Virgo opens up about her own journey with mental health and illness. With powerful honesty, she relates her experiences from being sexually abused in her youth group when she was just 13 and admitted to a mental health hospital with a failing heart at 17, to feeling like she was ready to end it all at 28 – when a new hope found her after a stranger told her about Jesus.

Raw and relatable, this is more than a memoir, as Hope draws on her own story to offer advice and guidance to those living and struggling with their own mental health and wellbeing. Sharing what she has learned, Hope candidly lays out how she worked through her rage, hurt, disappointments and doubts to help others dealing with the ongoing stigma and shame that still follows mental health issues around.

A testimony both to the resilience of the human spirit and to the power of God, Hope’s is an understanding voice for all those in the midst of their struggles, offering support and encouragement that they too will find their way on to the path towards healing.

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9. A Little Bit of Faith

Hopeful affirmations for every day of the year

By Katie Piper

'Katie radiates positivity! A book for those who need daily uplifting affirmations from one of the most inspiring women I know. A must read to brighten up your days.' -- Laura Whitmore

‘Katie Piper is such an empowering person. Anyone who has struggled with adversity and fought their way out of tough situations can take comfort and inspiration from her approach to life.’ -- Matt Haig

‘Katie personifies both heart, courage, endurance and hope as the extraordinary woman she is. It is beautifully expressed in this gift of a book that everyone of us can learn and grow from.’ -- Julia Samuel

A Little Bit of Faith is the perfect daily devotional for anyone trying to fill their days with hope, faith and positivity.

Providing 365 bite-sized affirmations, Katie Piper encourages us to see that heartbreak and hardship can become fuel for your fight. Whatever life has thrown at you lately, you can fall countless times and still get back up again – all you need is a little bit of faith.

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10. Curious Contemplative

Daring to Discover New Depths with God

By Chris Webb

Chris Webb offers a thoughtful and practical exploration of contemplative spiritual practices for those who long for a richer experience of God.

Do you hunger for a richer experience of God, but just don’t know where to start?

You’re not alone. Many are aching to move beyond the superficialities that seem to plague so much of Church life and instead turn back to the contemplative spiritual practices of silence, solitude and stillness to help cultivate a deeper relationship with God, others and themselves.

In Curious Contemplative, Chris Webb invites you to join him in a thoughtful exploration of Christian contemplation. Following the remarkable journey of Elijah from attention seeking self-appointed leader to reflective and deep-rooted contemplative, he explores what we can learn from this story and how we can incorporate such spiritual disciplines into our own lives.

Journeying through crisis, revelation and transformation, Curious Contemplative is an ideal guide for anyone looking to explore contemplative spiritual practices for the first time or wanting ideas for revitalising and strengthening their relationship with God.

Filled with practical advice as well as discussion questions and Biblical exploration, Curious Contemplative will help you to engage confidently with the contemplative tradition so that you can live a deeper, richer life of prayer.

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