Embracing Resilience and Transformation

7 more books for fans of ‘Tiny Beautiful Things’

From 2010 to 2012, Cheryl Strayed was the anonymous voice behind Dear Sugar, a popular online advice column. Her book, Tiny Beautiful Things is a compilation of some of the best of her columns, which are rich with humor, insight, and absolute honesty. Strayed offers a no-holds-barred approach to her guidance. Her advice is raw, confessional, and incisive.

A new Hulu adaptation combines aspects from the book and details from Strayed's life. Kathryn Hahn stars as Clare, a floundering writer who reluctantly takes on an anonymous, unpaid position as, yes, an advice columnist even as her own personal life is falling apart. Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern serve as executive producers on the show, which begins streaming April 7.

More titles like Tiny Beautiful Things 

If you haven't read it yet, you'll want to check out Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, Strayed's memoir about impulsively setting out solo on the 1,100-mile hike from the Mojave Desert to the Oregon-Washington state line. Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern starred in the film adaptation. Here are seven other inspiring titles to check out:

Untamed
Like Strayed, Glennon Doyle doesn't shy away from offering an intimate look into her life. Equal parts memoir and manifesto, this book tells the story of Doyle's unexpected romance with soccer star Abby Wambach. As the relationship developed, Doyle began to see how she had become conditioned to suppressing her own desires. 

The Anthropocene Reviewed
John Green's gift for storytelling threads through this deeply moving collection of personal essays. Adapted and expanded from the author's groundbreaking podcast, the material is funny, complex, and rich with detail offering an open-hearted exploration of the paths we forge and an unironic celebration of falling in love with the world.

Deep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country
In a series of essays as lucid and invigorating as mountain air, writer Pam Houston explores what it means to care for her 120-acre homestead high in the Colorado Rockies. Alongside a spirited menagerie of dogs, horses, donkeys, and sheep she discovers how the natural world has mothered and healed her after a childhood of horrific abuse and neglect.

When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
How can we live our lives when we are overcome by fear, anxiety, and pain? The answer, Pema Chödrön suggests, might be just the opposite of what you expect. Drawing from traditional Buddhist wisdom, she shows that moving toward painful situations and becoming intimate with them can open up our hearts in ways we never imagined possible.

Heart Talk: Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life
As with her hugely popular Instagram account, Cleo Wade brings her sage wisdom to this inspiring, accessible, and spiritual book. Featuring over one hundred and twenty original poems, mantras, and affirmations, the collection serves as a daily pep talk that can help you discover and unlock what is blocking you from thriving emotionally and spiritually.

The People We Keep
This luminous novel by Allison Larkin centers on a young singer-songwriter trying to find her place in the world. It's Upstate New York in the mid-1990s and April feels stuck, fighting with her shiftless dad and flunking out of school. So when she "borrows" a neighbor's car to perform at an open mic night, she decides to leave for good in search of a life that's all hers.

The Comfort Book
This collection of notes, lists, and stories written over a span of several years began as author Matt Haig's life raft—gentle reminders that things are not always as dark as they may seem. Incorporating his own experiences and a diverse array of sources, Haig offers reassurance, reminding us to slow down and appreciate the beauty and unpredictability of existence.

When difficult things happen in our lives, we must draw from our wells of resilience and forge a new path to transformation. This brings to mind one of the quotes we love from Tiny Beautiful Things: "It is impossible for you to go on as you were before, so you must go on as you never have."

As always, we love hearing from you. So let us know if you have any recommendations to add. You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for daily book recommendations, literary tidbits, and more.

Read more by Ashly Moore Sheldon