We’ll Prescribe You A Book

Self-Help Selects From Your Non-Fiction Besties

By: Lindsey Bluher

Inspired by one of the coziest translated fiction books perhaps to ever exist, We’ll Prescribe You a Cat, I’m excited to share a few non-fiction self-help books for Mental Health Awareness month. The self-help genre gets a bad rap because of pseudo scientist authors who try to peddle snake oil, bad advice, and general mumbo-jumbo, but the genre shouldn’t be written off—you simply need to find the right Book Rx. That’s why I’m here to help you self-help yourself. Below are some of my personal favorite books that have encouraged me to think about something differently or shifted my perspective in a positive way. There are a million different self-help circumstances, so consider this just a starting point for your journey towards healing whatever ails you (alongside therapy, duh). 

Alcohol

Let’s start things off with something that makes many people uncomfortable: a reflection on our own and our larger society’s relationship with alcohol. I’ll also start off by saying I am not presently sober, but I have read a lot of QuitLit over the last 3 years and I believe that exploring a person’s relationship with booze is a really interesting road to venture down. You’ll learn a lot about yourself (and the world around us) if you consider picking up one of these books. And if you want other recs, feel FREE to slide into my DMs—it was hard to pick just 2 titles. 

Quit Like a Woman by Holly Whitaker

This is the first QuitLit book I read, and thus I personally think everyone should start with it since it gives such good background about why drinking and quitting drinking is different for women specifically. 

First in the Family by Jessica Hoppe

QuitLit as a self-help subgenre is heavily dominated by white women (which is a whole other article in and of itself…) so a woman of color sharing her story is incredibly important as sobriety—and specifically AA—is a white-washed topic. In Quit Like A Woman, Whitaker addresses why AA is a misogynistic organization, and in First in the Family, I walked away understanding just how racist and out of touch with modern societal issues it is, too. Overall, Hoppe’s story was insightful on how a sobriety journey is not just a personal experience, but can shed light on family history as well. 

Unconventional Grief

When it comes to grief, there are so many different types. There’s losing a loved one, the demise of a relationship, and so many others. Your life experiences dictate what sort of grief self-help books will be the most useful, and in this case, I’d like to speak to two types of grief and corresponding book recs that are a bit less common on the self-help shelf: pet grief and friendship grief. 

Good Grief by E.B. Bartels

Going through the loss of a pet is a special kind of experience because most people don’t talk about it outside of a tribute post on the ‘gram when their pet crosses the rainbow bridge. It can be isolating, and the considerations leading up to pet loss (like having to decide when to choose euthenasia for a sick critter) are sometimes filled with shame. Good Grief is a unique read for anyone grieving or preparing to grieve the loss of a pet—I personally found it so helpful even 2 years after saying goodbye to my first pup (RIP Mac). 

Best Friends Forever by Irene S. Levine, Ph. D

Listen, if you’ve never gone through an epicly bad friendship breakup, I’m a little jealous. Television, movies, and fiction don’t tackle this scenario often, so when it happens to you, it can feel so isolating and unique. Spoiler alert: friendship breakups happen more often than you think, and Best Friends Forever normalizes them and helps you work through all the complicated feelings surrounding one.

Body Acceptance

Or more specifically, anti-fatphobia armor is perhaps what this section should be called. As a fat person existing in the year 2025, you truly cannot watch TV or scroll your social media app of choice without hearing about a weight loss drug or surgery. It’s exhausting. These books were extremely helpful for me in evaluating my relationship with society, fatness, and my own experiences at the intersection of both. 

Unshrinking by Kate Manne

The way Manne broke down how anti-fatness is actually not at its core an individual problem but a societal one gave me a better understanding of the anti-fatness movement we’re seeing today in the media and the world at large. I hadn’t considered fatphobia as a societal issue until this book—and wow was it enlightening.

You Just Need to Lose Weight by Aubrey Gordon

What else is there to say besides go check this out at your local library right this second if you’re a fat person or a person who cares about a fat person? This is a great starting point in your anti-fatphobia journey full of insights and activities (but, like, more useful than math homework, I promise). 

Reevaluating Work

I have always been an overachiever who connected my self-worth with what I could accomplish at work (and my middle managers loved me for it, until they didn’t anymore). And then, your girl had a breakdown. Alongside a lot of therapy, I began to read books about rethinking the modern obsession we have with work and perfectionism. These are two titles I recommend to anyone who tells me they’re having trouble sleeping or thinking about working on a PowerPoint slide over the weekend (reminder from a dear friend: in most jobs, you’re not saving lives, you’re saving PDFs). 

The Good Enough Job by Simone Stolzoff

A book so good that after I listened to the audiobook, I immediately went out and bought a physical copy I could annotate. With a mix of research and interviews, this book  reshaped my feelings about work as part of life vs. my life’s center. I’d give it 6 stars if I could. 

All the Gold Stars by Rainesford Stauffer

Speaking of stars! These books compliment one another as both are about the necessary reevaluation we must do around the idea of “ambition” and what truly makes us happy. If you’re looking to stop measuring your worth in deliverables, read this book. 

“Adulting”

This phrase in and of itself is proof an elder millennial is writing this listicle… but anyway! School and my parents taught me a lot of useless stuff (except when my dad taught me how to change a tire, that’s a great life skill—thanks Shawn). I didn’t learn shit about things that actually matter, and these two books are ones I think about constantly as I stumble my way through a mostly functional life. 

How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis

If you’re a person who struggles to keep a household running, you’re not alone. And if you feel a sense of shame over sometimes letting dishes pile up, you’re extra not alone since I presently have a sink full of them. Davis’ book was a game changer for me as it helped me forgive myself and find tactical practices to improve my life and home. Maybe you’re struggling with depression, or perhaps you are neurodivergent, or hell, maybe you’re just really fucking busy—this book will make you feel seen, and help you through it (and it’s an excellent audiobook). 

Financial Feminist by Tori Dunlap

This book taught me what a high-yield savings account was, and for that I’ll forever be grateful. Finances are scary and women aren’t taught much about them—enter this book from Dunlap. I found it incredibly practical to help wrap my mind around how finances actually work, and figure out some steps to take to improve mine in the short term and long term. It’s not a perfect book, but I found it to be a great starting point and hope it helps you learn just one thing to improve your future.