(#108) Reading in 2025: My Favorite Wellness & Self-Help Books for Healing, Personal Growth & Fun

In this cozy, reflective episode, Rae shares her favorite books from 2025 and the powerful mental, emotional, and somatic benefits of reading.

Whether you're a bookworm or a curious beginner, you'll walk away feeling inspired to make reading a bigger part of your wellness toolkit.

📖 Inside this episode:

• How reading boosts nervous system health, creativity & cognitive function
• Why it helps with stress relief, better sleep, and emotional resilience
• Rae’s favorite way to alternate fiction & nonfiction based on her mood
• Reflections on reading for personal development, healing & client work
• Tips for reading more often (even if you're busy or overwhelmed)
• How certain books deepened her work around nervous system regulation, neurodiversity, shame, and self-worth
• Rae’s top 2 nonfiction & 3 fiction picks of 2025, plus what she’s reading now

🌟 You'll also hear about:

• How Rae organically brings books into her coaching & therapy sessions
• Her “just for fun” favorites and the book that kicked off her 78-book year
• Why audiobooks, e-readers, and flexible formats can help you fall back in love with reading

🎁 Want access to the Breathwork Resource Library? Sign up for the free Somatic Healing Resource Library to access 20+ guided breathwork meditations, journaling tools, and Rae’s favorite healing practices.

CONNECT
Work With Me
The Somatic Healing Newsletter
Instagram
Website
Subscribe & Review Apple Podcasts
Follow & Rate Spotify

Disclaimer: Please remember that the information shared on this podcast is intended to inspire, educate, and support you on your personal journey. It does not substitute for professional mental health advice. I am not a psychologist or medical professional. If you are experiencing distress, mental health challenges, or medical conditions, please seek help from a qualified professional.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Why Books Today
• 1:18 Reading’s Science Backed Benefits
• 3:10 Formats, Habits, And Making Time
• 5:00 Personal History And Reading Rituals
• 6:20 How Nonfiction Fuels Growth
• 8:20 Using Books With Clients
• 9:41 Year In Review And Reading Stats
• 10:20 Top Nonfiction Picks Explained
• 13:05 Current Nonfiction On The Nightstand
• 17:42 Favorite Fiction And Why It Hits
• 20:04 What I’m Reading Next
• 20:25 Recommendations, Newsletter, And Wrap

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome back to the podcast. If you are new here, I'm Ray. I'm a schematic coach and breath work facilitator. And if you aren't new here, welcome back. I'm so glad that you're tuning in for today's episode. For today's topic, I'm going to share all about the books that I've read for uh this year. I was gonna say last year, but nope, still 2025, so this year, and a bit of reflecting on the past year. And I chose this topic because from episode 106, I realize I realized that I've actually read quite a bit this year. So I wanted to talk more about the topic and kind of see where it takes us. And when I originally thought of recording this episode, I thought that I would just kind of share my highlights of the books I read this year, and then it kind of grew into sharing more about reading in general. So it's going to be like a mix of some information on how reading can be beneficial. Um, and if you're not a reader, no biggie, you'll still find value in today's episode or maybe be inspired to start reading a bit more. And I'll also share at the end my top nonfiction and fiction books of the year. So let's dive in. So I did a bit of research for this episode, and I learned that if you read for six minutes, you can reduce your stress by 68%. I didn't dive deep into like what form of reading, whether that's like an audiobook or an e-reader or a standard book, but I imagine that these benefits would apply to all formats, like reading in general. So some of those benefits um include physically reading will lower your blood pressure, reduce stress, improve your quality of sleep. And it's also linked to more longevity, which is, I feel like a big like buzzword right now in terms of like in the wellness field, um, increasing your longevity. When it comes to brain health, reading stimulates your brain's neural pathways, which shows that it enhances your memory, your cognitive function, it boosts your creativity, and it expands your capacity to learn. Pretty awesome. Definitely not bad. And then when it comes to emotional health, it allows you to feel different emotions, it allows you to build resiliency, empathy, even connect with other cultures through storytelling. It can be helpful for entertainment, funny, feeling those feel good, hormones, stress relief, relaxing. And there are also social benefits. So you can join things like book clubs, have book swaps, maybe you're big into like book talk or you have connections on social media through reading. And of course, the library, definitely a big community space when it comes to reading and just like being engaged. And if you don't like reading books, like I totally get it. I feel like when people are super on the go, or maybe they are more like high energy, like more buzzy energy, it can be really hard to like sit down and focus and read a book. And yeah, you might like not want to do that. So I totally get it. Some ideas is you could always like swap an activity that you're currently doing for getting some reading in. You could read before bed, so something that will help you to like calm down and feel a bit more grounded. And you can kind of limit your reading to areas that only pique your interest. So whether that's like a specific topic or a person or you know, something that really is interesting to you. Um, audiobooks are great for being on the go. So if you have a commute or if you want to like stack functions and listen to a book while you're on a walk, there are so many forms of reading now. I think it's really just finding the form that works best for you, that you're one, able to enjoy it. And then two, if it comes to like learning like a nonfiction realm, something that you can also like digest. So a form that really works for you. Personally, I like to use my Kindle because I like to just be super light and on the go with being able to have like multiple options. Um, I like to read a fiction and a nonfiction book, usually is what I'm like rope rotating between. So it's nice to just like have a bunch of options in one place, especially if I'm traveling. Um, I just went on a trip and I read like three books. So it was really nice to be able to not have to carry three books. They were just kind of like on my Kindle. Um, so that was really nice. And I got started this year really with reading. I always read in the past, but nothing like this year. Like this year, I really like got really into it. So I got started with it because there was a new book that came out in January, and so January of this year, and it really like kicked things off for me. So I'm gonna share some more about like the things I do when it comes to reading. But generally speaking, it's always been something that I've loved to do, and I have a lot of like fond memories. For some reason, it makes me think of like my nana and pop up, but I don't know why, but like my nana would always buy me these like really interesting books. It's like she knew what I liked. So she would rent them from the library for me, or she would buy me a book. And whenever we would go over to their house or we would visit them, uh they had like basically like an enclosed porch, which I would call like a Florida room, but they had an enclosed porch, which was so nice. So I just like remember like sitting out there and reading a book, and it's just like the best thing to do, even if you're on like vacation or at the beach or something by the pool, to have something that you can just kind of like read and relax. But I also like to do it too, just sitting in front of the fireplace and like relaxing, and it's just really nice. And then there's another aspect too of reading that I really enjoy. So fiction, nonfiction, but personal development-wise, when it comes to nonfiction, I find it so helpful to like nerd out on a specific topic. So maybe that's love and relationships, nervous system regulation, the inner child, energy work, autism, shame integration, consciousness. These are things that you can like really dive into when you read a whole book on it, especially if you like the author or you like the teacher. It's really nice to have just another way to learn and for it to all be at your pace. So I really appreciate that like aspect of it because sometimes I find for me, depending on the book, depending on the topic, it can be a bit much to ingest like all at once. So, what I do with nonfiction or like self-help or kind of more of those like cognitive learning books, I'll just read it as I feel like it throughout the years. So maybe it looks like I read a few chapters and then I don't pick it up again for like a few months or a few weeks. Uh, there are a few books that have been in like the personal development field that I've loved that I can't put it down, but that is less common for me. I find like after a few chapters, I might like lose interest, but then something will connect me with that book again. And I just let that happen. I just let that kind of be what it is, and then eventually I will finish the book, but I don't make myself finish it all in one set, like sitting. Whereas like with fiction, if I don't like the book, I'm just not gonna read it. Same thing with nonfiction too, but it's a bit different. Like with fiction, I might get like pulled in where I, you know, I want to read it and finish it, and it's more like for entertainment. So I always like to rotate between the two. I find that really helpful, depending on like what mood I'm in and what I'm feeling. Then I can choose one that's on a specific topic that I want to learn about, or I can read in more of like a lighthearted read. And I'll share more in a little bit about uh what my favorite books were from this year. But something that I thought was really fun that I ended up doing this year just organically, was the books that I've been reading in like the nonfiction space naturally would come up in session when I was working with clients. And there were even times where I was working with a client and they started to read the same book that I was reading, and it was so interesting and cool to see how that would like weave in and out of our time together. And I just find it really helpful if the client is also interested in what I'm interested in, then it just kind of just like happens organically. And there are other times where in I'll you know, share a book as like something that a client could read, but I'll also provide other resources and insights because sometimes like reading an entire book can be overwhelming. So not everybody is a reader. What could that look like for you? Whatever is like piquing your interest right now in terms of professional development or personal development, how does that relate and connect with the work that you're currently doing and what might that look like? And so I'm gonna dive into my reading list, my top nonfiction and fiction books that I like this year. And according to my apps, which seems pretty insane, but apparently I read 78 books this year. So I don't know if that's accurate, but I did read a lot this year. So I'm excited to just like pick a few that really spoke to me. Some for fun, some for well, all for fun, really. I I loved all of these books, but um, these I think it's five that I picked. I don't know, these few that I picked uh really stood out to me. So the first one that I absolutely loved, which I think I've talked about on the podcast this year already, maybe a little bit, but it's called It Begins With You by Gillian Torecki. And I read this book and it was nonfiction and just really pulled me in. This was one of those books that I could not put down. I thought it was so good. And it organically would come up with my clients throughout the year too. So I found that any form of relationship, whether it was like platonic, friendships, romantic, the relationship with yourself, this book spoke to it. And it became a book that I could walk through the book with clients, whether that was like journaling questions that are in the book or just like reading a chapter and then reflecting on it and like, okay, like like what are our insights here? It was just so interesting. And the book itself talks about what's called these nine hard truths. And it was a very compassionate book, but it was also very direct. And the first chapter itself is the title of the book. It begins with you, and it's about how the relationship with yourself is the most important one. And so if you've been here and you've been listening to the podcast for a while, or you've been in my world for a while, you know that I resonate with that message so hard and with that perspective. The most important relationship is going to be the relationship that you have with yourself. And then there are so many other gems that are in that book. Definitely worth checking out. Something that I really appreciated for my own inner experience, and definitely something that I really enjoyed talking about and with my clients. My second nonfiction book, don't come at me for this, because this might be controversial, especially if you're in like the coach, healer, therapist world. I feel like this book came out and caused made a few, made a few waves. Uh, but it's the Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins. And, you know, I know this one is controversial. I think because there was my understanding at least of the controversy, controversy is two things. One, there was, I don't know if it's true or rumor because I don't know, that the let them theory or the the quote of let them was based around a poem, and Mel Robin saw the poem and a year later came out with this book. So that was the first thing that I think was controversial. And then the second was that um my understanding is that her background is like from being a news anchor. So I think people were a little bit upset that she was writing this like self-help book, but she didn't necessarily have like the credentials, quote unquote, to do so. Like she's not like a therapist or a doctor or anything like that. So I get it. I know that it's controversial. I read the book, my opinion on it, I loved it. I thought that it was simple, I thought that it was straightforward, I thought it was insightful. At times it was even funny, and it was really focused on the mind, like allowing this big, big reframe of like letting go of control and really being able to take your power back when you do that. I think that that is a reminder I could benefit from like pretty much every day. So I will take that reminder in vote form and I will love it. I thought it was great. I also think it's important to just let people resonate with what resonates, and sometimes like the education, the credentials, uh, you know, don't really. I don't want to say like it doesn't matter because when it comes to trauma, I think it really does matter, but it's okay for something to resonate with people and it not be, you know, the most like clinical polished thing. I think sometimes that's that's okay. And it's important for people to receive like the message in the way that they're meant to receive it. Somebody could, you know, I could say some something one way and somebody else could say the same exact thing, but it's really the delivery, the articulation, the energy, like what you resonate with, what you resonate with. So I really, really love this book. I think it helps, has helped so many people, including myself. Also something that I've worked with clients on and brought up in session, and just been like a really nice, direct, straightforward way to yeah, work on our sense of like feeling like we need to control everything. So those are my top two for nonfiction. I like I mentioned, I'm always reading nonfiction and a fiction book. So two other nonfiction books that I'm currently reading that I'm really enjoying, haven't finished yet. Again, I like to stop, revisit, do the whole thing, da-da-da. The first is Unmasking Autism by Devin Price. I think this book so far, I think I'm about halfway, is really good. It talks about being like high masking when it comes to autism. So it's a deep dive into neurodiversity, into different parts of what we've been like previously taught as what autism might look like, and how we've all learned to like fit in with societal norms, but it's really focused on like understanding what a high-masking adult might look like and celebrating what you know what your special interests might be, how do you cultivate different relationships, reframing different autistic stereotypes? Um it even has some work on there around your values, and so I haven't finished it yet, but I've been really enjoying it, and I'll definitely probably finish it next year in 2026 at some point. And then another book that I'm currently reading and haven't finished yet, but I've been really enjoying it this year, is called Good Energy by Casey and Callie Means. And this is definitely more wellness focused. It's all about uh your health, it's all about your diet, movement, lifestyle changes. What I really like about this book is it's something that I think previously would have intimidated me because it's pretty, I would think that it would be pretty jargony in like the wellness space, science space, all that good stuff, but it's actually not. Um the authors really break it down in a way that I find to be really easy to understand, uh, really helpful, talks about processed foods, unprocessed foods, how your cells communicate with each other, uh, different food principles that will extend your longevity, um, what kind of self-care practices really make an impact on your health, which it was just a really interesting or is an interesting book because like I said, I haven't finished it yet. Um, but I've really been enjoying it and I would definitely recommend it if you're looking to just like understand the wellness space a bit more in a really easy way to understand. All right. So that is what I have for you for the nonfiction top books. And then for my fiction books, I have three that I would love to share with you. So the first, this is the book that I was referring to that came out in January that really kicked off this year for me in terms of reading fiction, and that was Onyx Storm, which is the third book in the series by Rebecca Yarros. And I love this series. This book was so good, and something that it kind of got me into was once I discovered that I was like, oh, I really like this author. Like, let me just try some other books by this author, and that was really fun. So I also read The Last Letter and Things We Leave Unfinished, also both by Rebecca Yarros. Um, The Last Letter was literally the saddest book ever. So I don't know if I would recommend that one, but um Onyx Storm and that whole series loved it, and Things We Leave Unfinished also really liked that book. So that was my my number one for fiction. And then the second non-fiction that I have for you, that was my favorite, was The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reed. And I may have already talked about this on the podcast too, but I really, really liked this book. I thought it was, it really pulled me in. It was like such a good story. And I just liked the main character. She was like, she had a chip on her shoulder, she was beating to her own drum. She was, yeah, like going against societal norms, but also like struggling with that too. So it was just like, yeah, it was a really good book. I really enjoyed it. And that was the first book that I read by Taylor Jenkins Reed, but I know that she has like a other a lot of other books out. So I would definitely read another book of hers just because I love this book so much. And then the third favorite for me was The Wedding People by Ellison Esbatch. And I thought this book was so funny. She brought so much humor to something that is so dark, and it was really entertaining, and it led me to write to read a bunch of her books afterwards because I liked this book so much. So definitely check it out if you haven't already. I know it's been a popular book this year. So if you read it, definitely know let me know if you like it. And the book that I'm currently reading right now is uh People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry. So that's a movie that's coming out in uh in January, I think. Or maybe it's actually coming out this month. I don't know. I'm not really sure, but it's coming out. And so I wanted to read the book first so that I could see the movie and hopefully enjoy it. And so that is what we have for today's episode. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you feel inspired to read something I've shared, or even to share something with me that you think I'll enjoy. So anytime I am open to book recommendations. So anytime I get a recommendation from someone, I know I'll just add it to my list and eventually I will read it. And it's so nice to just have a list. So when I finish a book, I can just go and scroll on my little app and be like, oh, I'm gonna read this one next. So you reach out to me, you let me know, email me, Instagram DM me, it doesn't matter. But I would love to hear your book recommendations if you think there's one out there that I would really enjoy. Feel free to stay connected with me by signing up for the monthly newsletter. It also will give you access to a little resource library that I'm always adding to throughout the year, and it's completely free. It has like 15 or 20 breathwork meditations in there, and so it's just yeah, another great resource for you to have access to. So yeah, I hope you have an incredible rest of your day, an incredible rest of your week. If you're with family, I hope you enjoy celebrating, and I will talk to you soon. Thank you for being here and tuning in to Somatic Healing for Wellness Focused Women Podcast. If you were moved or inspired by today's episode, please take a moment to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. It truly helps the podcast grow and helps more people find me on their healing journey. Make sure to check out the show notes to sign up for the monthly newsletter, links to more resources, opportunities to work with me, and ways that we can stay connected. If we aren't already connected on social media, head over to Instagram to follow me at Ray the Somatic Coach. Send me a DM, I'd love to connect with you, and I answer each note that comes in. I am so happy you're here, and I cannot wait to talk with you on our next episode of the podcast.