Self-actualization (psychology) book series in reading order

by Nancy Thayer

Wayne W. Dyer

47 books• 1 series

Wayne W. Dyer (May 10, 1940 - August 29, 2015) was an American self-help author and motivational speaker. Dyer completed a bachelor's degree in history and philosophy, a master's in psychology and, in 1970, an Ed.D. in guidance and counseling at Wayne State University. After working as a high school guidance counselor and running a private therapy practice, Dyer taught counselor education at St. John's University, where a literary agent's approach produced Your Erroneous Zones (1976). Success, spiritual life, meditation and self-realization appear among the subjects, and Pulling Your Own Strings (1978) and You'll See It When You Believe It (1989) are among the 47 catalogued books.

Robin S. Sharma is a Canadian writer of self-help and motivational books, trained in law at Dalhousie University and known as a leadership expert. The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari (1996) is Sharma's signature book and spawned several follow-ups on leadership and family wisdom. Toastmasters International gave Sharma its Golden Gavel award in 2011. The catalogue lists 26 books from Megaliving! (1995) to Digital Harmony (2026), covering success, leadership and happiness.

John C. Maxwell

208 books• 10 series

Leadership is the main subject of John C. Maxwell, an American author, speaker and pastor. Maxwell's leadership books include The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader and The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, and some have reached the New York Times Best Seller list. The catalogue lists 208 titles from Think on These Things: Meditations for Leaders (1979) to The Resilient Leader (2026). The Winning Attitude (1984), Be a People Person (1989), Developing the Leader Within You (1993) and The Power Of Attitude (1995) are earlier entries. Series include Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Leadership Gold, John C. Maxwell's 101 and Lunch & Learn. Success, attitude and Christian life run through the subject tags.

Jack Canfield, born August 19, 1944, is an American author and motivational speaker. Canfield co-authored the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, which has more than 250 titles and 500 million copies in print across over 40 languages. The Success Principles, written with Janet Switzer, followed in 2005. The catalogue lists 182 books from Dare to Win (1988) to Everyday Catholicism (2020), with Mark Victor Hansen co-credited on 148 and Amy Newmark on 46. Chicken Soup for the Soul appeared in 1993.

Rhonda Byrne is an Australian television writer and producer who turned to self-help publishing with The Secret (2006), a book built on the law of attraction. Byrne followed it with The Secret Gratitude Book (2007), The Secret Daily Teachings (2008), The Power (2009), The Magic (2012) and Hero (2013). Ten titles are catalogued in all, through to Countdown to Riches: 21 Days of Wealth-Attracting Habits (2025). Self-realisation, New Thought, positive thinking and happiness carry the subject tags.

Meera Lester writes non-fiction on spirituality and self-improvement alongside a mystery series. Saints' Blessings (2004), Mary Magdalene (2005) and several Everything guides, on the Gnostic Gospels, women of the Bible and the law of attraction, form the first strand, with 1001 Ways to Do Good and 365 Ways to Live Happy beside them. The Henny Penny Farmette Mysteries put a farmer and beekeeper at the centre of investigations. 28 titles are catalogued to The Self-Care Planner in 2019, at a median of 263 pages.

Gay Hendricks, born 20 January 1945, is an American psychologist, writer and teacher working on personal growth, relationships and body intelligence. Hendricks is known for work on relationship enhancement and conscious breathing exercises. After a Stanford University PhD in psychology in 1974, Hendricks spent 21 years at the University of Colorado, becoming a full professor in Counseling Psychology, and founded The Hendricks Institute. Hendricks and Dr. Kathlyn Hendricks have written more than 35 books together. The catalogue lists 59 books from The Centering Book (1975) to Your Big Leap Year (2024), plus the Tenzing Norbu Mystery and Sir Errol Hyde series.

Robin Jones Gunn

99 books• 14 series

Robin Jones Gunn is an award-winning Christian author of more than 100 books. Christy Miller and Sierra Jensen are series for teen girls, and Christy Miller's characters carry on in Christy and Todd: College Years, Christy & Todd: The Married Years, Christy & Todd: The Baby Years and Katie Weldon. Glenbrooke and Sisterchicks are further series, and Sisterchicks in Gondolas won the Christy Award in 2007. The site lists 99 books from 1985 to Shortbread in the Highlands (2026), starting with the Billy 'n' Bear titles of 1985.

Gayle Forman

16 books• 4 series

Gayle Forman, born June 5, 1970, is an American author of young adult fiction. If I Stay (2009) is the best-known novel: it topped the New York Times Young Adult best sellers list and became a film of the same name. Where She Went followed in 2011, and Just One Day and Just One Year both appeared in 2013. The catalogue holds 16 titles from You Can't Get There from Here (2005) to After Life (2025), with Sisters in Sanity (2007), I Was Here (2015), Leave Me (2016) and I Have Lost My Way (2018) among them. If I Stay and Just One Day are the series on the author page. Grief, love, friendship and coming of age appear in the subject tags.

Roland Merullo

32 books• 2 series

Roland Merullo, born in 1953, is an American writer of novels, essays and memoir. 32 catalogued books span 1991 to 2026, opening with Leaving Losapas and reaching The Eight Visits. Breakfast with Buddha (2007) and the Revere Beach Trilogy are the best-known work, beside In Revere, In Those Days (2002), A Little Love Story (2005) and the memoir Revere Beach Elegy (2002). Italian American families, golf, Buddhism and self-realisation recur as subjects, and Merullo's books have been translated into eleven languages.

Robyn Carr is the American author of the Virgin River books, and an executive producer on the television versions of Virgin River and Sullivan's Crossing. The catalogue records 70 Carr books, from Chelynne (1980) to The Friendship Club (2024). Thunder Point, Sullivan's Crossing and the Grace Valley Trilogy are Carr's other series. Several novels, The Hero among them, reached The New York Times Best Seller list. Subject tags on the books include contemporary romance, California, single mothers, veterans and city and town life.

Max Lucado

278 books• 6 series

Max Lucado has 278 books in the catalogue, published between 1985 and 2026, and subject headings centre on Christian life, the Bible, Jesus Christ, meditations and biblical teaching. Lucado, born January 11, 1955, is an American author and minister at Oak Hills Church, formerly Oak Hills Church of Christ, in San Antonio, Texas. The earliest titles are No Wonder They Call Him the Savior and On the Anvil (both 1985), then God Came Near (1986), The Applause of Heaven (1990) and He Still Moves Stones (1992). Series include Life Lessons, Hermie & Friends, Max Lucado's Wemmicks and Just in Case, and children's fiction is also among the subjects. The newest listed title is Unbreakable Courage Bible Study Guide (2026).

Ryan Holiday

17 books• 1 series

Ryan Holiday writes non-fiction about stoicism, marketing and success. Trust Me, I'm Lying (2012) opens a list of 17 catalogued books that holds The Obstacle Is the Way (2014), Ego Is the Enemy (2016), The Daily Stoic (2016), Stillness Is the Key (2019) and Lives of the Stoics (2020). Stoic Virtue is the one grouped series, and titles appear about every ten months.

Eckhart Tolle

49 books• 1 series

Eckhart Tolle, born Ulrich Leonard Tölle on 16 February 1948, is a German spiritual teacher and self-help author. Tolle left doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge in 1977 after what Tolle describes as a spiritual awakening, and gained prominence in the 2000s with promotion from Oprah Winfrey. Key books are The Power of Now (1997), A New Earth (2005) and the picture book Guardians of Being (2009). The catalogue holds 49 Tolle titles through 2023, and some of those entries sit in an Audio series.

Andy Andrews writes inspirational fiction and self-improvement books, and works as a corporate speaker. Success, motivation, perspective and Christian living run through the catalogue, alongside children's fiction. Andrews has 26 catalogued books published between 1995 and 2024, grouped into the Traveller's Gift, Noticer and Sawyerton Springs series. Tales from Sawyerton Springs (1995) opens the run; The Traveler's Gift (2002), The Lost Choice (2004) and Mastering the Seven Decisions (2009) follow; and Lost in the Swamp (2024) is the most recent title.

Dan Millman writes and lectures in the personal development field. The catalogue of 22 titles opens in 1992 with No Ordinary Moments, Quest for the Crystal Castle and Warrior Athlete, takes in The Life You Were Born to Live (1993), Body Mind Mastery (1999) and Divine Interventions (1999), and closes with Peaceful Heart, Warrior Spirit in 2022. Spiritual life, self-actualisation and the psychology of athletics and physical fitness are the recurring subjects. The film Peaceful Warrior, drawn from one of Millman's books and from his own life, is the work he is best known for.

Sarah Knight writes profane self-help, parodying the tidy-your-life genre while giving practical advice on attitude, anxiety and priorities. The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck (2015) set the pattern, followed by Get Your Sh*t Together (2016), You Do You (2017), Calm the F*ck Down (2018), F*ck No! (2019), No F*cks Given (2022) and Grow the F*ck Up (2023). Eight books in total, with nothing new since 2023.

Gretchen Rubin

12 books• 1 series

Twelve catalogued books carry Gretchen Rubin's name, from Power Money Fame Sex (2000) to Get It Done (2026). Rubin, born in 1965, is an American author, blogger and speaker, and happiness and habit are the subjects the work returns to: The Happiness Project (2009), Happier at Home (2012), Better Than Before (2015), The Four Tendencies (2017), Outer Order, Inner Calm (2019) and Life in Five Senses (2023). Two early books, on Winston Churchill and John F. Kennedy, sit apart from the rest.

Three books make up Jen Sincero's catalogue, all of them self-help: You Are a Badass (2013), You Are a Badass at Making Money (2018) and You Are a Badass Every Day (2020). Self-actualisation, personal growth, success and personal finance are their subjects. Sincero is an American writer, speaker and success coach.

Gitty Daneshvari writes humorous children's fiction across three series: School of Fear, Ghoulfriends and League of Unexceptional Children. Class is Not Dismissed! (2010) and The Final Exam (2011) are early catalogued titles. Ghoulfriends Forever and Who's That Ghoulfriend? appeared in 2012. The League of Unexceptional Children (2015), Get Smart-ish (2016) and The Kids Who Knew Too Little (2017) are the latest titles. Subject headings name phobias, monsters, spies, schools, tweens and Monster High.

Nancy Thayer, born December 14, 1943, is an American novelist. The catalogue here lists 39 books spanning 1980 to 2026, from Stepping to Nantucket Christmas Stroll, and includes the Hot Flash Club series. Recurring subjects are female friendship, family life, middle-aged women, mothers and daughters, and Nantucket Island. Thayer's release status is ongoing.

Brene Brown

18 books• 1 series

Shame, vulnerability, courage and resilience are Brene Brown's subjects, treated as psychology and self-improvement rather than fiction. Women & Shame (2004) is the earliest catalogued title, followed by I Thought It Was Just Me (2007), Daring Greatly (2012) and Rising Strong (2015). Dare to Lead names a series within the catalogue, which runs to 18 books through Strong Ground in 2025.

Matthew Kelly, born 12 July 1973 in Sydney, is an Australian motivational speaker, business consultant and founding partner of the management consulting firm Floyd Consulting. The catalogue lists 48 Kelly books from Our Father (1995) to Nothing Is Random (2025). Subjects include the Catholic Church, spirituality, self-help, happiness, parenting and business. Titles include The Rhythm of Life (1999), Rediscover Catholicism (2002) and The Dream Manager (2007).

Markus Zusak

8 books• 1 series

Markus Zusak is an Australian-German writer, born 23 June 1975, and the recipient of the 2014 Margaret Edwards Award. The Book Thief (2005) and The Messenger (2002, also listed as I Am the Messenger) became international bestsellers. The catalogue holds 8 Zusak books from The Underdog (1999) to Three Wild Dogs (2025); Fighting Ruben Wolfe and Getting the Girl are books 2 and 3 of the Wolfe Brothers series. Bridge of Clay appeared in 2018.