Books like The Power of Full Engagement

01

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

Daniel H. Pink · Psychology

Drive is Daniel Pink's argument that the motivational model most organizations still run on — reward the behavior you want, punish the behavior you don't — is badly mismatched to the kind of work that matters most in a modern economy.

A kindred self-help read.

02

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

Angela Duckworth · Psychology

Duckworth's central claim is that talent is overrated.

A kindred self-help read.

03

Deep Work

Cal Newport · Self-help

Deep Work is Cal Newport's case that the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task is becoming both rarer and more valuable, and that people who cultivate it will thrive while everyone else stays stuck in shallow busywork.

A kindred self-help read.

04

Why We Sleep

Matthew Walker · Science

Why We Sleep is Matthew Walker's attempt to do for sleep what no amount of public health messaging has managed: make people genuinely afraid of what they're losing.

Both dig into performance.

05

Atomic Habits

James Clear · Self-help

Atomic Habits is James Clear's framework for how very small changes — habits so minor they seem to make no difference on any given day — compound into remarkable results over months and years.

A kindred self-help read.

06

Sleep Smarter

Shawn Stevenson · Health

Sleep Smarter is Shawn Stevenson's practical guide to improving sleep quality.

Shares performance and recovery with The Power of Full Engagement.

07

The Passion Paradox

Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness · Self-help

The Passion Paradox is Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness's examination of why passion — the force that drives many people toward excellence — also burns so many of them out.

Both dig into performance.

08

80/20 Running

Matt Fitzgerald · Health

80/20 Running is Matt Fitzgerald's evidence-based argument that the most common mistake recreational runners make is training too hard, too often.

Both dig into performance.

09

A Beautiful Mind

Sylvia Nasar · Biography

Sylvia Nasar's biography of the mathematician John Nash — Nobel laureate, game theory pioneer, and paranoid schizophrenic — is one of the finest accounts of genius and mental illness in biographical literature.

Both dig into recovery.

10

Adult Children of Alcoholics

Janet G. Woititz · Psychology

Adult Children of Alcoholics is Janet Woititz's clinical guide to the lasting psychological patterns that develop in children raised in alcoholic families.

Both dig into recovery.

11

Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction

David Sheff · Memoir

Beautiful Boy is David Sheff's account of watching his son Nic become addicted to methamphetamine through his late teens and early twenties, and of the years Sheff spent trying to understand it, respond to it, and survive it as a parent.

Both dig into recovery.

12

Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted

Suleika Jaouad · Memoir

Suleika Jaouad was twenty-two and newly graduated, living in Paris with her first real job and a boyfriend, when she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.

Both dig into recovery.