30 books that could change the way you love and live

Most people have got at least one book that they can name that has had a profound impact on their life. That has inspired them to follow their dreams, make positive changes, approach their relationships in new positive ways or helped them to heal.

So we decided to ask our friends on FB and in the Love Tribe to tell us which books have really inspired them so that we could put together a list of books that can help to inspire you.

And here they are...
 

30 books that could change the way you live and love

1. The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
2. How to be a Free Range Human by Marianne Cantwell
3. Wild by Cheryl Strayed
4. What I know for sure by Oprah Winfrey
5. Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
6. Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
7. Rising Strong by Brene Brown
8. Zen and the Art of Falling in Love by Brenda Shoshanna
9. Five regrets of the dying by Bronnie Ware
10. Money, a Love Story by Kate Northrup
11. The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod
12. The Top Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware
13. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
14. Steering by Starlight by Martha Beck
15. Women that Run with Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
16. The Dance of Anger by Harriet G Lerner
17. Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach
18. The Dark Side of the Light Chasers by Debbie Ford
19. The Road Less Travelled by M. Scott Peck
20. Linchipin by Seth Godin
21. Happiness by Design by Paul Dola
22. The 5 languages of love by Gary Chapman
23. Thrive by Arianna Huffington
24. Return to Love by Marianne Williamson
25. Essentialism by Greg McKeown
26. Reconciliation: Healing the Inner Child by Thich Nhat Hanh
27. The Art of Extreme Self-care by Cheryl Richardson
28. How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran
29. The Examined Life by Stephen Grosz
30. Vagina by Naomi Wolf

So take your pick and let us know which of these books have inspired you (or any others you think we should add here).

x Selina & Vicki

If you read just ONE book on love, make it this one

This book was given to me by a friend as we lay on a beach in Goa, while I was single and Project Love was in its infancy.

That same copy is now sitting by me as I write. It's now dog-eared with half of the corners turned down, paragraphs underlined throughout and notes in every margin.

It had a profound effect on me.

And since reading it I've recommended it to almost everyone I know.

And now I'm recommending it to you.

The book?

Zen and the Art of Falling in Love by Brenda Shoshana

So what makes this book so special?

Well for me it totally transformed my whole understanding and approach to love.

It offers a deep wisdom about love and the nature of it that I believe we all instinctively know, but have forgotten.

It showed me that I had been doing it all wrong: I had been looking for love on the outside to fill me, when what I actually had to do was to open up to the love that already existed within me, so that it filled me up with love and flowed outwards to connect me with other loving people. It was about opening up to love, not finding it.

It introduced me to so many subtle, gentle and profound new ways of looking at love that's it hard to really summarise it, but what I can say is that it shifted me into a whole new space when it came to love and I've remained there ever since. That is the power of the book.

Throughout the book Brenda Shoshana, a psychologist, relationship expert and Zen practitioner, draws on the principles of Zen practice in a way that offers new insights to love, relationships and communication. You don't have to know anything about Zen practice and she's not telling you to go on a silent retreat to change your love life (although by the sounds of it it does seem to help!). What it does is offers a totally fresh way of looking at love and relationships, grounded in the lessons of a wise and ancient practice, that sets you free from the limited and fear-led way we're brought up to approach love and relationships in modern society.

It's no exaggeration to say that this book set me free. And I have seen it do the same for numerous other people that I've recommended it to.

Here's a little quote from it to leave you with, but what I recommend is that you just order it right now and get stuck in. And if you've read the book, or once you have read it, please come back here and let us know what you think by leaving your comments below!

"Now with a little patience it's only a matter of time before the person who knows how to love starts emerging from within. This person knows how to discover the 'right relationship' and how to thrive in it completely. Isn't it time you let her free?"

x Selina