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9 Self-Help Books That Will Inspire You to Better Yourself in the Coming Year

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If there’s one area of the book industry that has seen a boom over the last decade, it’s the self-help section. In 2016 alone, marketresearch.com analysts report the total worth of the US self-improvement market was $9.9 billion (yep, that’s billion, with a b!), with estimations predicting that figure to cross well over the $13 billion threshold by 2022. Suffice it to say, it’s no longer taboo to not only peruse the self-help section, but to actively seek it out in the hopes of bettering yourself. 

The History of Self-Help Books 

Dating back to the philosophical and ethical teachings of ancient Greek minds, such as Plato and Socrates, self-help books are the oldest and most popular medium when it comes to self-help advice. Things really exploded with modern writers like Rhonda Byrne, however, whose 2006 phenomenon The Secret ($11.89, Amazon) sold more than 30 million copies, and Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love ($10.71, Amazon), which sold more than 12 million copies, all but taking over, leading to a breakdown of a previously growing stigma against self-help advice and the genre’s all-out explosion. 

Though advancements in technology have since led to an expansion of even more ways to indulge in self-help, from podcasts that harken back to the heydays of radio advice shows to the self-help apps that followed the rise of the smartphone (we’re looking at you Calm and Headpspace), these formats are no replacement for the original. 

An easy way for you to indulge the mind at your own time and pace, self-help books are the best way to kick off the new year. We’ve rounded up some of the genre’s best page-turners of 2019 to help you start things off on the right foot. 

Best Self Help Books of 2019

Whether you’re searching for a little guidance or simply looking for a great inspirational read, we’ve found nine self-help books that people all over the world were raving about this year. Keep scrolling for FIRST for Women’s picks for the best self-help books of 2019. 

This story originally appeared on our sister site, Woman’s World

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