10 New Self-Help Books Explained in 2 Sentences or Less

Activist Chidera Eggerue (aka the Slumflower) has blunt advice for heartbroken women: Stop treating men like the prize and start treating yourself like one. When you take the reins and gain control of your relationships, you get to decide how much power he has (or doesn’t have) over you.

Christian self-help author Jennie Allen combines scripture and neuroscience in this book that helps readers quiet the constant buzzing of our thoughts, anxieties and insecurities.

The bestselling author and mom encourages women to push back against the expectations society has forced on them for centuries and unleash their wild, untamed selves. “The braver we are, the luckier we get,” she writes.

If you’re having trouble forgiving someone from your past, Schwarzenegger Pratt (yes, the daughter of Arnold and wife of Chris) offers advice through interviews and true stories of people who were able to do just that. If Elizabeth Smart can do it, so can you.

On the outside, Schuster was a successful Comedy Central exec who seemed to have her life together—but on the inside, she was miserable. Now, the transformed “ninja of self-love” is here to teach us the lessons she’s learned (like you should always treat yourself to the massage, the flowers, the guac or whatever tiny thing you really love).

White people: It’s time for you to identify your biases and examine your privilege. It’s not just about being not racist, it’s about being anti-racist, and this book by the host of the Good Ancestor podcast will help you understand how to be an effective ally moving forward.

Well, this is meta. In their podcast By the Book, Greenberg and Meinzer do a deep dive of one popular self-help book every week and apply the advice to their lives—here, they talk about what advice worked (learning to declutter) and what didn’t (becoming a morning person, ha).

If you loved The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, it’s time to apply the “spark joy” philosophy to your work life. Here, the organizing guru teams up with a Rice University Business professor to streamline everything about your workday, from cleaning that cluttered desk to skipping out on unnecessary meetings.

In this gut-busting anti-diet book, the journalist-turned-standup comedian posits that the same society that shames us for being fat is also responsible for the socioeconomic issues, stress and chemicals in food that cause us to be fat in the first place.

Pastor Michael Todd’s theory is that most people don’t aim for long-lasting, real love while they’re dating, which then lowers the standard for everyone else. His advice: “If you wouldn’t marry the person, don’t go out with him.”