Reading List
Starting this list with a few heavy hitters! And it will be continually updated with more amazing books to support the best relationships of your life, so check back!
It’s been awhile since I read this, but it is an awesome book! Here’s the description:
Charlotte Kasl, best-selling author, spiritual practitioner, and therapist, brings a compassionate understanding to the anxiety and uneasiness of new love, and helps listeners discover their potential for vibrant human connection based on awareness, kindness, and honesty. She approaches the dating process as a means for awakening, reminding us that when we live by spiritual rules, we bring curiosity and a light heart to the romantic journey.
Filled with quotations from Zen, Sufi, and other wisdom traditions, and informed by the experiences of people from all walks of life, here is a relationship book that will appeal to audiences looking for more than a Venus-meets-Mars solution to the complex affairs of the heart.
Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Heard by Alison Wood Brooks
In this book talk, Alison Wood Brooks, a Harvard Business School professor and behavioral scientist, explores why conversations so often go wrong—and how to make them go better. Drawing on years of research in psychology and behavioral science, she explains how to communicate more effectively in high-stakes conversations at work, in relationships, and in everyday life.
Brooks introduces practical, research-backed strategies for:
Asking better questions
Navigating difficult or emotionally charged conversations
Being more engaging and memorable when you speak
Reducing awkwardness and misunderstanding
Creating connection, trust, and influence through conversation
Official Harvard Business Review page (talk + book context):
https://hbr.org/2025/01/talk-the-science-of-conversation-and-the-art-of-being-heard
Never Split the Difference completely changed how I understand communication. It’s not really about negotiating — it’s about listening so deeply that people feel heard, safe, and understood. Chris Voss shows that real influence doesn’t come from logic or compromise, but from emotional intelligence: labeling feelings, asking calibrated questions, and slowing conversations down. This book taught me that when people feel heard, they naturally become more open, collaborative, and honest. It’s one of my all-time favorite books because it turns listening into a skill — and connection into a strategy.
Getting the Love You Want is incredible for understanding how our childhood experiences shape who we’re drawn to, how we fight, and what we long for in adult relationships. It gave me language for patterns that felt confusing or painful — and, more importantly, hope. This book reframes intimate partnership as one of the most powerful places for healing, growth, and consciousness, instead of something to escape when it gets hard. It shows that relationships aren’t failing us — they’re inviting us to heal what’s unfinished, together.
Unbound is an absolute must-read for women. It’s incredibly packed with practical tools, embodied practices, and mind-blowing reframes around power, boundaries, desire, and self-expression. What I love most is how actionable it is — this isn’t theory, it’s lived, embodied wisdom. Unbound helps women reclaim their voice, their yes and no, and their authority in relationships and in life. It’s empowering, clarifying, and deeply liberating.
The Queen’s Code is a transformational read for women who want to understand men — not as mysterious enemies, but as human beings with patterns, drives, and needs that make sense. This book gave me such clarity around how gender differences show up in communication, desire, and connection, and it offers practical ways to create deeper partnership, respect, and harmony. It’s not just a book — it’s a way of seeing the dance of relationship in a whole new light.
And truly, if you want to go deeper, read anything and everything Alison Armstrong has written and explore her online workshops and courses — they expand these insights into real-world tools for transforming how women relate to men, themselves, and the people they love.
No More Mr. Nice Guy is a raw, honest, and transformational read for both men (and women). It shines a light on the “Nice Guy” pattern — people-pleasing, avoidance of conflict, and seeking approval — and shows how it keeps us small in relationships and life. This book gave me such clarity around how fear of discomfort can trap us in cycles of resentment and unmet needs. The real gift of the work is learning how to step into integrity, clarity, and authentic self-expression — so you can show up as a whole person instead of a people-pleaser. It’s equal parts eye-opening and liberating, and it offers tools to build real connection, confidence, and boundary-rooted intimacy.
This book is incredible. A long-time favorite. I usually re-listen to the audiobook at least once a year. It’s only about 4 hours long but wowza is it packed with actionable gems!
This is a great book to help you understand more about yourself and the way you experience and show up in relationships. Don’t get to attached to labeling yourself and your attachment style- it is more of a spectrum than a fixed set of traits. Secure attachment starts WITHIN YOURSELF! If you desire support creating secure attachment- reach out.
This is a must read if you are desiring a wonderful erotic life! Read this if you’re single, and men, please read this if you love to please women, and you also love it when your woman is an enthusiastic lover and can’t get enough of you.
Here’s another one I haven’t read personally, but came highly recommended from people I care about.
This book comes as a recommendation for Christian folks or Christian-curious folks. (I haven’t read this one personally, but it was highly recommended by people I love.)
Everything by the Gottman’s is AMAZING!
