“I will participate, but not as asked.”
Not everyone loves traditional self-help books. If you’ve ever picked one up and felt overwhelmed by cheesy advice, fluff-filled pages, or a preachy tone, you’re far from alone. Thankfully, there’s a number of self-help books that don’t feel like self-help books at all – ones that deliver meaningful insights through storytelling, personal reflection, or even fiction. These non-traditional self-help books skip the cliches and offer value in a more relatable way. Whether you’re after self-help books that read like novels or are simply on the hunt for books that help without being preachy, this list is for you. If you’re a bit sceptical about the genre but are still craving inspiration and growth, join us at What We Reading for the best books that prove development doesn’t have to come from a bullet-point action plan. So, dive in and discover unconventional self-help books that might just change your life.
The Beauty In Breaking – Michele Harper
First up on our list of non-traditional self-help books is Michele Harper’s beloved memoir, The Beauty in Breaking. Having escaped an abusive household, Harper is an African American emergency room physician who met her husband at Harvard, only to be told by him that he wouldn’t be moving to Philadelphia with her just two months before she was scheduled to leave. With her marriage at an end, Harper embarked on her new life as a single woman in a white, male-dominated industry in an entirely new city.
The Beauty in Breaking is the poignant story of Harper’s journey toward self-healing. She chronicles the patients who taught her something about recuperation and recovery. How to let go of fear, even when the future is up in the air. And how to understand that compassion isn’t the same as justice. In this hope-filled, moving and beautiful book, she shares with readers the precious, necessary lessons that she has acquired as a daughter, a woman, and a physician.
How To Do Nothing: Resisting The Attention Economy – Jenny Odell
In How to Do Nothing, artist and writer Jenny Odell offers a thought-provoking, deeply philosophical alternative to our culture’s obsession with productivity, hustle and constant online engagement. Yet, this isn’t your typical self-help book – it doesn’t offer a quick fix or a step-by-step guide. Instead, Odell invites readers to reconsider what it means to pay attention, reclaim their time, and rediscover meaning through slowness, observation, and actual connection to place and community.
Through essays that blend personal reflections, ecology, art, and political commentary, Odell makes the case that “doing nothing” isn’t the same as being lazy – it’s an act of resistance against a structure that commodifies our attention. Insightful, meditative, and quietly radical, How to Do Nothing is perfect for readers who have been burned out by life-hacking advice and are looking for a more grounded, expansive approach to living well. It’s a book that challenges you to be more present, not more productive.
H Is For Hawk – Helen Macdonald
As a child, Helen Macdonald was obsessed with becoming a falconer. She learned the arcane terminology and read all the classic books devoted to the topic. When her father dies and she is knocked sideways by grief, she buys a goshawk named Mabel for £800. Taking Mabel from a Scottish quayside down to her home in Cambridge, Helen unplugs her phone, fills up her freezer with hawk food, and sets out on the long, strange business of attempting to train this wildest of animals.
Primed to be one of the classics of nature writing and one of the best unconventional self-help books, H is for Hawk is a record of a spiritual journey – a candid account of Helen Macdonald’s struggles with grief during the difficult process of taming the hawk and her own untaming. It’s a book about memory, nature, and nation, as well as how it may be possible to try and reconcile death with love and life.
On Being Human: A Memoir Of Waking Up, Living Real, And Listening Hard – Jennifer Pastiloff
On Being Human by Jennifer Pastiloff is an honest, heart-opening blend of memoir and inspiration, ideal for readers looking for growth without the usual self-help cliches. Pastiloff, who struggled with deafness, body image issues, and self-doubt, charts her journey from feeling invisible and stuck to discovering purpose through connection, vulnerability, and radical self-acceptance.
Rather than presenting readers with polished advice or an exhaustive list of tips, Pastiloff weaves powerful personal stories with moments from the yoga and writing workshops she heads, inspiring readers to embrace their imperfections and live unapologetically as themselves. Her writing is raw, funny, and incredibly personal, making On Being Human feel more like a conversation with a no-nonsense friend rather than a lecture. For anyone who has ever felt like “not enough” or lost in the noises of contemporary life, this book offers a refreshing reminder that transformation starts when you let go of perfection and simply show up as you are.
Maybe You Should Talk To Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, And Our Lives Revealed – Lori Gottlieb
One day, Lori Gottlieb is a Los Angeles-based therapist. Next, a crisis upends her entire world. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist whose office Gottlieb suddenly finds herself in. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he appears to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will soon prove to be anything but. As Gottlieb explores the inner chambers of her patients’ lives, she finds that the questions they are grappling with are the very ones she, too, is bringing to Wendell.
With startling wisdom and infectious humour, Gottlieb invites readers into her world as both a clinician and patient, examining the truths and fictions we tell ourselves and others as we walk the fine line between love and desire, meaning and mortality, guilt and redemption, terror and courage, hope and change. Maybe You Should Talk To Someone is an original look at what it truly means to be human, and a disarmingly funny account of our mysterious lives and the power we have to transform them.
Tiny Beautiful Things – Cheryl Strayed
Tender, raw, and unexpectedly life-affirming, Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed is a collection of real-life advice columns from her time writing anonymously as “Sugar” on The Rumpus. But, don’t let the “advice” label fool you – this book is far from a typical self-help guide. Instead of offering pat answers or tidy solutions, Strayed responds to readers’ deepest fears, heartbreaks, and longings with compassion, vulnerability, and brutal honesty taken straight from her own personal experiences.
Through letters on love, loss, regret, and resilience, Strayed reminds us that life can be messy – and that’s okay. Her words are equal parts wisdom and storytelling, turning each reply into a miniature memoir. Tiny Beautiful Things doesn’t attempt to fix you; it sits with you, understands you, and gently pushes you toward healing. It’s the sort of book you find yourself returning to when you need comfort, clarity, or simply to feel like you’ve been seen, making it perfect for readers who normally avoid self-help books but crave something real.
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Untamed – Glennon Doyle
Soulful and uproarious, forceful and tender, Untamed is both an intimate memoir and a galvanising wake-up call. It chronicles the story of how one woman learned that a responsible mother is not one who slowly dies for her children, but one who shows them how to fully live their lives. It is the story of navigating divorce, forming a new blended family, and discovering that the brokenness or wholeness of a family depends not on its structure, but on each member’s ability to bring their full selves to the table.
Most of all, it is the story of how each of us can begin to trust ourselves enough to lay down boundaries, make peace with our bodies, honour our anger and our heartbreak, and unleash our wildest, truest instincts so that we become individuals who can finally look at ourselves and believe that we are enough.
The Comfort Book – Matt Haig
Matt Haig’s The Comfort Book is exactly what it sounds like: a gentle, reassuring collection of thoughts, reflections, and reminders designed to soothe the anxious mind and uplift the heavy heart. But, unlike traditional self-help books that push for productivity or radical change, this one invites you to slow down, breathe, and simply be. Haig draws from his own experiences with depression and anxiety to offer encouragement in small, digestible pieces – from personal anecdotes to quotes, lists, and quiet truths.
There’s zero pressure here to transform your life or overhaul your habits. Instead, The Comfort Book feels like a warm, tender companion – something to reach out to on difficult days or long sleepless nights. It’s perfect for readers who want emotional support without judgment or structure. With its compassionate tone and thoughtful simplicity, this is one of those unself-help self-help books that delivers real comfort without ever feeling like a lesson.
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What I Talk About When I Talk About Running – Haruki Murakami
In What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, acclaimed novelist Haruki Murakami offers a quiet, reflective meditation on writing, endurance, ageing, and – of course – running. Part memoir, part philosophical essay, this slim book doesn’t present any motivational strategies or training tips. Instead, it captures the internal dialogue of someone deeply attuned to the rhythms of solitude, creativity, and persistence.
Murakami draws compelling parallels between long-distance running and the discipline required to write novels, unveiling how both are sustained less by raw talent and more by consistency, patience, and the willingness to keep going. His prose is sparse and thoughtful, offering no grand revelations, just the sort of insight that stays with you. For readers looking for personal growth through quiet reflections rather than bold transformation, this book delivers subtle wisdom – ideal for those readers who self-help books that don’t feel like self-help books. It’s a meditation on movement, time, and the deeply personal reasons we continue to put one foot in front of the other.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
