7 Inspirational Books To Start The New Year Empowered
It is always a treat to have a few more inspirational books by women authors to add to the dozens of others that have earned their prime positioning on your shelves. The temptation to just keep buying books is real, especially if you just love a good story that educates and sparks positive action in your own life.
Well, we’re here to be enablers, as reading is not only fundamental — it’s beneficial for stress reduction, brain function, and sleep quality. And some researchers have even found it can increase your lifespan.
Here are seven book recommendations to help you set goals, build empowering habits, and level up from top CEOs, entrepreneurs, social media influencers, and more.
The author of this book is a savvy entrepreneur, educator, and investor who went from being a woman who has experienced homelessness to founding Backstage Capital in 2015 to invest in founders who are people of color, women and/or LGBTQ+. She has raised $30 million and invested in more than 200 startups, and she’s also co-founded several companies, including the new thrilling women’s sports league, 3XBA.
The book offers down-to-earth insights on how to pinpoint a need in the market, raise money, choose the right partners and create multiple income streams, among other tips, informed by Arlan’s amazing journey to empower herself and the communities she serves.
This book, written by women who are part of a collective of CEOs, coaches, and business leaders, includes inspiring personal stories on triumphing over obstacles, actionable advice on practical strategies to enhance your business practices and mindset, and insights on how to connect with a supportive community of like-minded women in business.
Everyday women who lead both in business and in their communities offered their own special sauce to this collection of essays, including Caryl Marie Perez, the first woman to serve as director of energy management and contract compliance at New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and Latissia “Coach T” Cobbs, a U.S. Army veteran and CEO of Fyt 2 Live Coaching. While this pick doesn’t offer an audio version, it’s worthwhile in supporting independent publishers and diversifying expert voices in your bookshelf.
A family breadwinner and successful actress by the age of 12, Keke has been the personification of savvy and resilience in Hollywood. She’s tackled everything from childhood dramatic roles in films including “Akeelah and the Bee” alongside Hollywood heavyweights Angela Bassett and Lawrence Fishburn, to comedic roles in films like the Issa Rae-produced “One of Them Days,” alongside Grammy-winning singer SZA, to her biggest role yet, mom to son, Leondis.
The award-winning TV host and comedian also launched her own record label in 2018, and has worked on projects that amplify Black creatives as well as Black-owned brands. Now, in her book, she tells all, providing inspiring fodder for a good New Years Eve read.
What’s truly inspiring about this author’s journey is that she found major success just by being unapologetically herself. The 28-year-old found her very lucrative social media groove as a content creator, to the tune of 8.5 million followers (on TikTok alone) and estimated 2023 earnings at $2.9 million, she’s more than a force. With her knack for comedic and women-focused content, she’s gotten brand deals and also hosts successful podcasts “The Comment Section” and “Two Idiot Girls.”
She also landed a deal in April 2023, she signed a two-year deal with Spotify, which Forbes estimated earnings of $450,000 a year. She made Forbes’ 2025 “30 Under 30” list and, with her book, detailing her family life, tough decisions she’s had to make to honor her values, and fighting against ’isms (ie sexism and racism) along with bigotry.
Her first name, Ketanji Onyika, which has West African origins, translates to the book’s English title, and her fierce demeanor emboldens the meaning. She comes from Southern parenting, graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University (where she performed in musical theater and improv and participated in civic organizations,) and worked for more than a decade in public service. In 2022, she became the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
This read offers expanded context on what’s already been publicly released about her life and career, along with her own recollections via anecdotes and motivating lessons learned along the way.
Nemonte comes from the Waorani tribe of Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest and was taught about shamanism, plant medicines, foraging, and oral storytelling. As a teen, she left her family to study with an evangelical missionary group. Years later she would become a staunch climate change activist, using digital media and in-person platforms in a fight to preserve culture, environment, and pride. She led a campaign and lawsuit that resulted in the legal protection of 500,000 acres of Amazonian rainforest and Waorani territory from oil extraction.
For this book, she partnered with her husband to preserve native oral history and tell the stories of overcoming challenges related to colonialism, racism, environmental piracy, and more.
We Can Do Hard Things: Answers To Life’s Hard Questions By Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, Amanda Doyle
Tackling challenges and overcoming fear with boldness, strategy, and grace is definitely going to be the key to having a great 2025, so this one is a must-read. Glennon, Abby, and Amanda detail those “ah ha” realizations that lead to profound decision-making, and they each share “the most transformative lessons they have learned over years of conversations with world-renowned teachers and everyday visionaries.”
The authors are activists, speakers, and leaders in their industries, and the book is an expansion of their successful podcast (that’s a family affair), “We Can Do Hard Things,” where they talk candidly about things that all women face, oftentimes on the daily, including parenting, addiction, boundaries, relationships, and justice.
