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As many of you know, I’m a HUGE fan of books and reading. Making reading a priority — even if it’s just a few pages a day — can make a big difference in your life! These are 14 of the best non-fiction books I have ever read. I hope you love them as much I do!

Why I Love Reading Non-Fiction:

1. Good Books Challenge Your Mind

While it’s important to relax and enjoy entertainment, if that’s all we feed our minds, our thinking can become stagnant. For those who don’t regularly engage in mentally demanding work or study, reading is a powerful way to sharpen critical thinking skills.

I’ve always been an analytical person. I naturally ask questions and want to understand why something is true rather than simply accepting it at face value. That’s one reason I love good books. They challenge me to reconsider long-held beliefs, examine ideas from new perspectives, and better understand what I believe and why. Reading stretches the mind, encourages deeper thinking, and helps us continue learning and growing.

2. Good Books Change Your Perspective

Beyond the mental exercise, books also expand our understanding of the world. They introduce us to experiences, people, and situations we may never encounter firsthand.

For example, reading biographies of single mothers or parents raising children with disabilities has given me a deeper appreciation for their challenges and strengthened my ability to empathize with them. Books about different cultures, historical periods, and life experiences have broadened my perspective, deepened my understanding of history, and increased my gratitude for many of the freedoms and conveniences we enjoy today.

Books have challenged, shaped, and changed me. They continue to influence how I live as a wife, mother, friend, business owner, writer, and thinker. They have encouraged me to deepen my faith, learn new concepts, develop stronger character and leadership skills, and communicate more effectively. Perhaps most importantly, they have pushed me to think beyond my own experiences and see the world through a wider lens.

Reading doesn’t require hours each day to make a difference. Even a few minutes a day can help sharpen your mind, broaden your perspective, and enrich your life.

With that in mind, I wanted to share 14 of my very favorite non-fiction reads today. These are books that have truly stuck with me for months and years after reading them and ones I often refer to and recommend in conversations with others…

My 14 Favorite Non-Fiction Books:

1. Find Your People

I picked this book up after Micah was born. I was feeling like I had pulled back into my shell the last few months of his pregnancy due to feeling so sick and tired and I had lost some of the regular connection and community in my life as a result. I knew things needed to change and this book served as the perfect launching pad for me to step out and start initiating again.

If you are longing for community, if you’ve been hurt by relationships, or you just feel a little lonely where you are, Find Your People is a fantastic read. I read it and then followed through with her suggestions… and they worked! In fact, in just a few months, I had developed multiple new relationships and deepened relationships I already had, and I felt so much more connected as a result.

Sometimes, we just need a little nudge. This book was that nudge for me. I appreciated the author’s honesty and vulnerability — and the practical encouragement she gave to take steps to build deeper connections. I feel like the new community and deepened connections that came as a result of what I learned through this book are something that will forever impact my life.

2. Unoffendable

One of my favorite books in 2022, I still have not been able to stop recommending it, thinking about it, or talking about it!

In a society where it feels like we are wired to find offense everywhere we look, what would it be like to choose to not be offended? Regardless of what other people have said or done, We get to choose how we respond. 

This doesn’t mean that we let people walk all over us or that we don’t set boundaries, but it does mean that we can choose to either be a victim or a victor. We can choose to either be offended and hurt and upset, or we can acknowledge our feelings, grieve our loss, and choose to forgive.

I highly recommend that every Christian read this book! Jesse and I did an entire podcast episode centered on it because I found it so helpful!

3. Raising Emotionally Strong Boys

Do you struggle with kids who get easily irritated or have angry outbursts? Do YOU find yourself getting frustrated by your kids and then beating yourself up because you are frustrated at your kids and you don’t want to be? 

Do you wish you had practical tools and suggestions for how to navigate hard conversations with your kids and how to help them face difficulty and disappointment in life?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, PLEASE do not walk, RUN and go get a copy of Raising Emotionally Strong Boys by David Thomas. Of all the books I’ve read in the last few years, I feel like this one is the one I have recommended the most, by far. 

Even if you don’t have boys, even if you don’t have kids, it’s worth a read. If you want a taste of it, go listen to the 30-minute interview I did with the author on The Crystal Paine Show. I learned so much and it impacts me every single day in how I parent.

4. Raising Worry-Free Girls

Whether you have sons or daughters, I think this is a valuable read. Yes, all of her stories, anecdotes, and advice are more girl-driven, but I think much of it applies to boys (and adults!), too.

There is an epidemic of anxiety going on among our youth. This book will give you some starting places, great tools, and lots of food-for-thought to help you combat your kids’ anxiety.

I found so many new insights, wise advice, and practical ideas for us to implement in our home through the pages. This book is not a replacement for counseling or therapy, but it would be a fantastic starting place if you feel like your child might be struggling with anxiety.

5. Atomic Habits

This is, by far, my very favorite book on habits. James Clear, the author, does such a great job of unpacking why and how to build good habits.

I’ve read a lot of books on this topic and I feel like he has a very fresh and encouraging approach. The book is not written from a Christian perspective so I disagree with some of his worldview and conclusions, but there are so many great nuggets of truth and inspiration in this book.

If you feel like you are forever failing at follow through or you just can’t seem to stick with good habits, I highly recommend reading this book.

I listened to it first and loved it so much that I bought a hard copy and then slowly read it again a year later. That tells you how valuable I found it!

6. The Whole-Brain Child

I honestly cannot stop talking about this book. Poor Jesse has had to listen to me rave again and again about it!

This was highly recommended to us by one of our kids’ counselors and one of their therapists a few years ago and I was so glad I read it. It is packed with great suggestions and strategies for helping our kids process the world, relate better with others, and feel more loved and secure.

It is not written from a Christian perspective, but I found the sections on brain science to be fascinating and really enlightening. If you are a parent or work with kids in any capacity, I highly recommend this book to help you better love, understand, teach, and nurture the kids in your life.

7. Deep Work

Deep Work is a little more scholarly than most books I read, but I’m so happy I stuck with it because it really challenged me to think of how I’m approaching life and work and whether I’m investing time every day in what the author refers to as “deep work” — that kind of work that is meaningful and really makes a difference.

In this book, Cal Newport encourages you to have periods every day where you are completely offline and not distracted by all of the hustle and bustle of life to allow for this “deep work”.

If you struggle to focus or get things done, if you wish you could be more structured in your day, or if you’d like to look back on your week and guarantee that you devoted time to work that matters, I’d definitely recommend reading Deep Work.

Note: I was privileged to have Cal Newport on my podcast. You can hear our interview here.

8. Sacred Rest

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it. It addresses rest from a very different perspective than other books I’ve read on this topic and I loved how it wasn’t just about getting more sleep or slowing down or taking a Sabbath.

This book is written by a doctor (Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith) and I thought the author’s medical background shed a lot of wisdom on the topic of rest and how being well-rested impacts our lives.

However, what really stood out to me in this book was the author’s differentiation between the types of rest we need — physical rest, mental rest, emotional rest, spiritual rest, social rest, sensory rest, and creative rest. I had never heard rest and our need for the different kinds of rest broken into these categories and I found it very insightful.

In fact, it helped me to understand why I can feel drained sometimes — even if I’ve been getting plenty of sleep. I might not be rested in other areas such as getting creative rest or sensory rest or social rest.

And I loved the practical suggestions that the book gave for ways to recognize which kinds of rest you are lacking in and how to get more of each kind of rest in your life.

Listen to the podcast episode I did with the author on The Real Reason You’re So Tired and a more recent one on Being Fully Known.

9. The Unplugged Hours 

This was one of those books that challenged and stuck with me. And it was one of two books that inspired my word for 2025 (the other one was this book). I especially loved how the book felt inspiring and doable, not guilt-ridden or legalistic! It made you want to unplug more because of how it would enrich your life and relationships, not unplug because you felt like you must or you should or that all technology is bad.

Inspired by this book, I set the goals of unplugging 1000 hours in 2025 and of trying to enjoy a more untethered life. Read more details in my Word for 2025 post!

By the way, I got to do an Instagram Live with the author of this book all about The Unplugged Hours. It’s very worth listening to/watching if you have a little time! Go here to listen.

10. Love Idol

I read this book back in 2014 and it made my Top 10 Books Read in 2014 list. And then I read it a second time in 2020 (I rarely re-read books, so you know it was a really good book if I read it more than once!). It was just as good the second time around!

It’s packed with powerful and wise reminders of how we are pre-approved by God. As such, we don’t need to chase after the approval, the praise, the admiration, or the affirmation of others.

If you struggle to believe you are loved, enough, and valuable, this book is for you. It’s also a fantastic read if you battle against having perfectionistic, people-pleasing tendencies.

It’s well-written and engaging, but more than that, the message is powerful, freeing, life-changing!

11. Mom Set Free

Mom Set Free is one of my all-time favorite parenting books. And it’s only fitting that my copy is so worn out and has ink and water stains on it! I slowly savored it — reading just a little bit every day — to make it last as long as I could and to really soak in the truths from it.

If you struggle with Mommy Guilt or feel like you are always failing or never doing enough or just can’t get it right as a mom, this book will encourage you in powerful ways!

I shared more about how a quote from this book impacted me on Instagram (and this gives you a little bit of a teaser of what you’ll find in the book):

It’s not the perfect parenting book. Or the right chore chart. Or whether we feed our kids enough organic food. Or if we homeschool. Or if we give our kids enough opportunities. Or if we protect them enough…

We can’t save our kids, bubble wrap our kids, fix our kids, or transform their hearts.

We can sure exhaust ourselves trying, though. We can stress and worry over them. We can feel frustrated and overwhelmed by their actions. We can live in fear over their futures.

But none of that accomplishes anything worthwhile.

There is one thing we CAN do and that is to pray. And I believe it’s one of the greatest things we can do on behalf of our kids

Because — as I am learning anew — prayer changes us. One thing I try to do almost every day is to I start my day on the treadmill running & praying over the day and praying for Jesse and each of my kids.

It’s an important piece of my day… to acknowledge my need for God’s help in my parenting, to pray for specific areas where my kids are struggling, to thank God for how He’s working in their hearts, to release my stresses and frustrations in parenting to God, and to ask Him to give me grace to love each of my kids in a way that makes them feel loved.

I’ve noticed that this time in prayer for my kids not only calms me and helps me to rest in Christ’s finished work on the Cross; it also changes my heart and attitude toward my kids, too. You see, I’m much more apt to respond to them in grace and love when I’ve just prayed that I can love them well and walk with them well!

Here was another quote I loved that really impacted me and here was yet another quote. Suffice it to say, I highly, highly recommend this book. Listen to my podcast on it with the author here (also, that was one of my very first podcast episodes ever so please laugh at how uncomfortable I seem on it — I was!!)

12. The Fight for Us

I chose this book as one of my favorite reads in 2025 because of how it impacted our marriage. The section on a lopsided marriage really deeply challenged me as I realized we definitely had a lopsided marriage — meaning that our marriage was unequally in favor of me. A lot of decisions were made around me since I’m the breadwinner and the one who works full-time. Jesse is quieter and less assertive than me and so he oftentimes was the one who was making a lot of sacrifices for my schedule and needs.

A lopsided season in a marriage can happen when one partner’s work or business begins to take up more space than the relationship itself. In our case, my role as the breadwinner and the demands of my business had slowly tilted the balance, even though that was never the intention. Over time, that unevenness created distance between us that neither of us even realized. We’d slowly slipped into a pattern where Jesse had been carrying a lot of the load of serving behind-the-scenes and adapting his life to mine instead of us both carrying the weight equally.

(Note: Some imbalance is natural for a short-term, but it had become the norm for us.)

As a result of reading this book (and having the authors on my podcast – listen to their episode here), I apologized to Jesse and we had some really honest conversations and I started being super intentional about making changes so that our marriage was more equal instead of lopsided. It took a lot of work and discussions and trial and error and practice, but we have moved to a much different (and healthier!) place as a result of this book!

13. Habits of the Household

I had avoided reading this one for a long time — mostly because I was sure it would make me feel like I wasn’t doing enough or would feel like a legalistic list of do’s and don’t’s. I finally read it because so many people recommended it and I instantly understood why!

It was packed with encouragement and inspiration that felt very doable and grace-filled. Instead of making me feel like I wasn’t doing enough, it gently motivated me with simple ideas of ways we could make discipleship such an integral part of our daily lives. 

The most surprising part of reading this book was that it actually made me realize how many habits and rhythms we already have in place that happen so naturally I didn’t even realize we had so many positive “habits of the household” already in place! That was so encouraging to me!

Also, I was in the very beginning stages of writing my next book when I read this and it completely changed the path and structure I decided to go with for the book. You’ll understand why as you see what my next book is about!

14. The Body Teaches the Soul

I highly, highly recommend everyone read this. I slowly savored it just a few pages at a time.

I loved the balanced approach and especially appreciated the section on building muscle. It actually challenged me in some areas where I want to build metaphorical muscles — and his challenge that you need to do the hard thing again and again in order to build those muscles really encouraged me. I have thought of that part of the book so many times since reading it — and have shared it with so many others, too.

This is not your typical diet and nutrition or physical fitness type of book. Trust me on that! It’s deep. It’s theological. But it’s also really practical on why God created our bodies, what it means to use them to glorify God, and what it looks like to embody the fact that we are created in the image of God.

Also, I loved that he addressed those who have disabilities/are unable to exercise for various reasons. It was a really sound, solid, and challenging book while not being legalistic and taking every body — and the many struggles and limitations that are in existence — into account.

Want to Find More Time to Read?

Want to read more but can’t seem to find the time? You’re not alone — and it’s more doable than you think. Check out my post on how to find more time to read, even when life is busy.

My favorite trick? Audiobooks. Folding laundry, waiting in the carpool line, washing dishes — all of it becomes reading time with audiobooks, making it one of the easiest ways to sneak in more books without rearranging your whole day. Browse my favorite audiobooks here and find your next listen!

More Links You’ll Love:

• 15 Ways to Start Your Day Well
• How I Finally Found Time to Read Again and How You Can Too
• The 43 Books I Read in 2025
• Best Devotionals & Christian Books for Women
• My Favorite Audiobooks
• Where to Buy Cheap Books (So You Can Read More Without Spending a Fortune)
• Where to Get Books for Free (Yes, Really!)

What‘s the one non-fiction book you think everyone should read? Leave it in the comments — I’m always looking for my next read!