This season’s lifestyle titles emphasize reachable goals and well-tested strategies. A bestselling author praises the phrase good enough, a fitness magazine brings out a guide to one of the basic weight-loss methods, and even a book about the afterlife emphasizes the here and now.
Lifestyle Top 10
The Best Advice in Six Words: Writers Famous and Obscure on Love, Sex, Money, Friendship, Family, Work, and Much More
Larry Smith. St. Martin’s Griffin, Nov. 3
Even readers who normally shun self-help should be drawn to this collection of very brief advice for the wit promised by contributors such as Daniel Handler and Gary Shteyngart.
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
Elizabeth Gilbert. Riverhead, Sept. 22
As the author of blockbusters like Eat Pray Love and The Signature of All Things, Gilbert offers persuasive credentials as a guide to creativity, the subject of her first self-help book.
Home
Ellen DeGeneres. Grand Central Life & Style, Oct. 27
The comedian and talk-show host has renovated nearly a dozen homes over 25 years, and shares the lessons she’s learned and the love of design she’s gained.
Knitting Pearls: Writers Writing About Knitting
Edited by Ann Hood. Norton, Nov. 9
Crafters with a literary bent, and readers with a crafting bent, should equally enjoy this collection of pieces written by stars from both worlds.
Life Is Good: The Book
Bert and John Jacobs. National Geographic, Sept. 1
The brothers behind the wildly popular eponymous T-shirt company tell their Horatio Alger–like success story and the “superpowers” they learned to value in themselves along the way.
The Light Between Us: Lessons from Heaven That Teach Us to Live Better in the Here and Now
Laura Lynne Jackson. Random/Spiegel & Grau, Nov. 10
Books exploring the nature of the afterlife are perennial draws, and this addition to the genre promises to focus less on cosmological speculation than on insights into life here on Earth.
Run to Lose: A Complete Guide to Weight Loss for Runners
Jennifer Van Allen and Pamela Nisevich Bede. Rodale, Dec. 22
The diet industry may thrive on continual innovation, but it’s hard to beat techniques that go back millennia, as outlined by the experts from Runner’s World magazine.
Stop & Drop a Pound a Day: The Easiest Diet Ever
Liz Vaccariello, with Mindy Hermann. Reader’s Digest, Dec. 22
Dieters tired of rigorous weight-loss programs should appreciate a guide focused on easy adjustments to eating and fitness habits, assembled by the editor-in-chief of Reader’s Digest.
Strong Is the New Sexy: A Kick Ass Memoir
Nicole Polizzi. Running Press, Dec. 22
Polizzi, aka Snooki, the breakout star of TV’s Jersey Shore, partly shed her party-girl image with her debut book, Baby Bumps, but didn’t lose her following, a trick she is likely to pull off again with this follow-up, a blend of self-help and memoir about family life.
The Youth Habit
Twyla Tharp. Penguin/Blue Rider, Jan. 5
Not your average health and fitness guru, the acclaimed dancer and choreographer has a sparkling career to back up her tips on aging gracefully and healthfully.
Lifestyle Listings: Body, Mind & Spirit
Black Dog & Leventhal
(dist. By Workman)
2,100 Asanas: The Complete Yoga Poses by Daniel Lacerda (Oct. 27, hardcover, $35, ISBN 978-1-63191-010-4). A complete collection of yoga asanas, this lavishly designed and photographed book is intended for yogis of all levels and every practice.
Harmony
Super Genes: Harnessing the Vast Potential of Your Genome for Optimum Health and Well-Being by Deepak Chopra and Rudolph E. Tanzi (Nov. 10, hardcover, $26, ISBN 978-0-8041-4013-3) mixes science and spiritual wisdom to propose that both lifestyle changes and Vedic practices like yoga and meditation can influence our genetic predispositions to diseases as well as improve psychological well-being.
Hay House
Uplifting Prayers to Light Your Way: 200 Invocations for Challenging Times by Sonia Choquette (Sept. 1, hardcover, $19.99, ISBN 978-1-4019-4453-7). New York Times bestselling author Choquette shares prayers designed for those challenging times when people are asked to grow on a soul level.
Random/Spiegel & Grau
The Light Between Us: Lessons from Heaven That Teach Us to Live Better in the Here and Now by Laura Lynne Jackson (Nov. 10, hardcover, $26, ISBN 978-0-8129-9838-2) relates a medium’s story of helping people feel a renewed connection to loved ones who have died, and lays out a blueprint for a more loving and meaningful life.
Sounds True
(dist. by Ingram)
Everything Mind: What I’ve Learned About Hard Knocks, Spiritual Awakening, and the Mind-Blowing Truth of It All by Chris Grosso (Oct. 1, paper, $16.95, ISBN 978-1-62203-529-8). Grosso, presenting insights from his battle with substance addiction, invites readers to join a raw, challenging spiritual quest to find the sacred in every moment.
Health & Fitness
American Diabetes Association
Your Type 2 Diabetes Action Plan: Tips, Techniques, and Practical Advice for Living Well with Diabetes by the American Diabetes Association (Nov. 10, paper, $17.95, ISBN 978-1-58040-564-5). For the nearly two million Americans diagnosed with type 2 diabetes every year, this guide presents a concise, step-based approach to quickly improving blood glucose management and quality of life.
ECW
(dist. by Legato)
Heal: The Vital Role of Dogs in the Search for Cancer Cures by Arlene Weintraub (Oct. 13, paper, $16.95, ISBN 978-1-77041-270-5) introduces the field of comparative oncology, which aims to find therapies for cancers that are similar in dogs and people; the book also shares journalist Weintraub’s journey through grief after losing her sister to gastric cancer.
Firefly
Preventing Cancer: Reducing the Risks by Richard Beliveau and Denis Gingras (Sept. 1, paper, $24.95, ISBN 978-1-77085-633-2) presents 10 major recommendations, based on decades of research, for lifestyle changes that may help reduce the chances of cancer. Beliveau and Gingras explain the science behind each recommendation and its statistical potential for disease prevention.
Hachette
Extreme Transformation: Lifelong Weight Loss in 21 Days by Chris Powell and Heidi Powell (Dec. 22, hardcover, $27, ISBN 978-0-316-33948-3). The hosts and transformation specialists from ABC’s hit show Extreme Weight Loss share a step-by-step guide to losing weight and changing your health in just 21 days. The authors also discuss how to keep those lost pounds off.
Harmony
Trim Healthy Mama Plan: Keep It Simple, Keep It Sane by Pearl Barrett and Serene Allison (Sept. 15, paper, $18, ISBN 978-1-101-90263-9). A simplified, more practical version of the New York Times bestselling self-published book Trim Healthy Mama teaches readers how to stop cravings and boost energy while losing weight quickly and getting healthy.
HarperOne
Proteinaholic: How Our Obsession with Meat Is Killing Us and What We Can Do About It by Garth Davis (Oct. 6, hardcover, $26.99, ISBN 978-0-06-227930-9). The acclaimed surgeon, a weight loss specialist, looks at the diet and health industry’s focus on protein, explaining why it is detrimental to health and unhelpful during dieting.
Morrow
Power Souping by Rachel Beller (Dec. 29, paper, $24.99, ISBN 978-0-06-242492-1). Step aside, juicing—Beller explains that the next big diet sensation is souping, as in big, steaming bowls filled with real, satisfying ingredients. She first outlines a rapid, three-day weight-loss plan, followed by 21 days of soup-powered meals.
Overlook
The Diet Myth: Why the Secret to Health and Weight Loss Is Already Inside Us by Tim Spector (Sept. 8, hardcover, $28.95, ISBN 978-1-4683-1151-8) explores the hidden world of the microbiome and common misconceptions about fat, calories, vitamins, and nutrients. Spector (Identically Different) explains how the microbes in our stomachs can hold the key to healthy, balanced diets.
Penguin/Blue Rider
The Youth Habit by Twyla Tharp (Jan. 5, hardcover, $28, ISBN 978-0-399-16251-0). The award-winning dancer and choreographer, now 73, shares her secrets for maintaining mental and physical agility in one’s later years. Tharp lays out physical, mental, and spiritual techniques for forestalling aging and, more importantly, convincing yourself that you are only as old as you feel.
Penguin/Perigee
The Joy of Half a Cookie: Using Mindfulness to Lose Weight and End the Struggle with Food by Jean Kristeller and Alisa Bowman (Dec. 29, hardcover, $24.95, ISBN 978-0-399-17215-1) explains Kristeller’s Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training Program, which aims to show dieters how to lose weight while getting rid of guilt and cravings.
Reader’s Digest
Stop & Drop a Pound a Day: The Easiest Diet Ever by Liz Vaccariello with Mindy Hermann (Dec. 22, hardcover, $25.99, ISBN 978-1-62145-260-7). Reader’s Digest editor-in-chief Vaccariello (21-Day Tummy Diet) reveals the hidden fat bombs in common supermarket, chain restaurant, and homemade items, and then presents a mix-and-match meal plan designed for fast weight loss and good health.
Rodale
The Micronutrient Miracle: The 28-Day Plan to Lose Weight, Increase Your Energy, and Reverse Disease by Jayson Calton, Ph.D., and Mira Calton, C.N. (Aug. 11, hardcover, $25.99, ISBN 978-1-62336-532-5), presents an innovative guide to reversing illness and common ailments by tackling hidden nutritional deficiencies.
Run to Lose: A Complete Guide to Weight Loss for Runners by Jennifer Van Allen and Pamela Nisevich Bede (Dec. 22, paper, $16.99, ISBN 978-1-62336-599-8). The experts at Runner’s World magazine present a comprehensive guide to one of the most effective weight loss strategies around.
S&S/Gallery
Love, Detox, & Changing Normal: How I Helped My Husband Beat Cancer by Marilu Henner (Jan. 12, hardcover, $26, ISBN 978-1-4767-9394-8) shares the Taxi star’s story of helping her husband, Michael Brown, battle cancer. Henner lays out a holistic approach that included superfoods, exercises, and immunotherapy, and avoided chemotherapy.
S&S/Touchstone
No Grain, No Pain: A 30-Day Diet for Eliminating the Root Cause of Chronic Pain by Peter Osborne (Jan. 12, hardcover, $27, ISBN 978-1-5011-2168-5) ties grains to tissue inflammation, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and harmful autoimmune responses. Dr. Osborne accordingly proposes a gluten-free diet as an alternative to painkillers for chronic pain sufferers.
Home & Hobbies
Abrams
Habitat: The Field Guide to Decorating by Lauren Liess (Nov. 10, hardcover, $35, ISBN 978-1-4197-1785-7) is the first book from the founder of the popular blog Pure Style Home, presenting a practical decorating guide for bringing natural elements into your home with sophistication, style, and comfort.
Chelsea Green
The Permaculture City: Regenerative Design for Urban, Suburban, and Town Resilience by Toby Hemenway (Sept. 25, paper, $29.95, ISBN 978-1-60358-526-2). The author of Gaia’s Garden demonstrates that the same nature-based approach that works in food growing—connecting the pieces of the landscape together in harmonious ways—applies to making improvements to urban communities.
Firefly
Decluttering Your Home: Tips, Techniques and Trade Secrets by Geralin Thomas (Sept. 1, paper, $19.95, ISBN 978-1-77085-585-4). An organized, clutter-free home appeals to everyone. But where to begin? This guide promises a roster of fun, creative, and painless ways to get started using the techniques of professional organizers.
Grand Central Life & Style
Home by Ellen DeGeneres (Oct. 27, hardcover, $35, ISBN 978-1-4555-3356-5). The popular comedian and talk show host opens up for the first time about her love of home design and style, offering a look at her homes and sharing the secrets she has learned during 25 years of renovation and decoration.
HarperOne
DIY, Dammit! A Practical Guide to Curse-Free Crafting by Joselyn Hughes (Nov. 3, hardcover, $23.99, ISBN 978-0-06-237146-1). Comedian-turned-crafter Hughes, creator of the DIY, Dammit! web series, shares a full-color illustrated guide to 35 projects readers can make at home.
Norton
Knitting Pearls: Writers Writing About Knitting, edited by Ann Hood (Nov. 9, hardcover, $25.95, ISBN 978-0-393-24608-7). The rhythm, ritual, and pleasure of knitting are celebrated in this collection of essays from two dozen writers, including Laura Lippman, Jodi Picoult, and Bill Roorbach, not to mention knitting rock stars Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed and the Yarn Whisperer, Clara Parks.
Phaidon
Do It Yourself by (Sept. 14, hardcover, $29.95, ISBN 978-0-7148-7019-9). Redefining DIY for the Ikea generation, this book collects simple projects from 50 of the world’s most exciting designers and visionary artists, like a sock puppet by Ai Weiwei, that anyone can make at home.
Rodale
Beekman 1802 Style: The Attraction of Opposites by Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell (Sept. 15, hardcover, $40, ISBN 978-1-62336-507-3). With three successful cookbooks under their belts, the Beekman Boys partner with Country Living magazine to share their home design tips, tricks, and resources, along with an extensive collection of images from the couple’s historic farmhouse home.
Running Press
Knitless: 50 No-Knit, Stash-Busting Yarn Projects by Laura McFadden (Sept. 22, paper, $18, ISBN 978-0-7624-5664-2) gives yarn lovers—both knitters and non-knitters alike—50 fun ways to use their stashes without taking out their knitting needles.
Spring House
(springhousepress.com)
The Minimalist Woodworker: Essential Tools and Small Shop Ideas for Building with Less by Vic Tesolin (Oct. 15, paper, $24.95, ISBN 978-1-940611-35-8) shows that all you need to enjoy woodworking—increasingly popular in the DIY community—is a few tools, a little bit of space, and the desire to make something with your own hands.
S&S/Gallery
Little House Living: The Make-Your-Own Guide to a Frugal, Simple, and Self-Sufficient Life by Merissa Alink (Oct. 20, hardcover, $26.99, ISBN 978-1-5011-0426-8). From the blogger behind Little House Living comes a motivational homemaking book, inspired by Laura Ingalls Wilder’s classic, that features creative recipes and DIY projects intended to help readers live more simply and frugally.
150 All-Time Favorite Crochet Blocks: Make All the Best Blocks in Beautiful Stitches, Colors & Yarns by Sarah Hazell (Sept. 1, paper, $22.99, ISBN 978-1-250-06878-1). Here, crochet designer Hazell brings together many of the classic blocks that hold a special place in a crocheter’s heart.
Trafalgar Square Books
Arne & Carlos—30 Slippers to Knit & Felt: Fabulous Projects You Can Make, Wear, and Share by Arne Nerjordet and Carlos Zachrison (Aug. 11, hardcover, $24.95, ISBN 978-1-57076-741-8). “Knitting rockstars” Nerjordet and Zachrison (55 Christmas Balls to Knit) provide a collection of 30 slipper designs in a variety of styles.
Workman
Home Ec and Shop for Grown-Up Boys and Girls: Everything They Don’t Teach in School Anymore—but Should! by David Bowers and Sharon Bowers (Jan. 26, paper, $19.95, ISBN 978-0-7611-7173-7). A modern and energetically designed encyclopedia of DIY goes over everything readers will need to know before cooking, building, sewing, cleaning, or repairing it themselves.
Relationships & Self-Help
Abrams Image
Work. Pump. Repeat. The New Mom’s Survival Guide to Breastfeeding and Going Back to Work by Jessica Shortall (Sept. 8, hardcover, $19.95, ISBN 978-1-4197-1870-0) covers breast-pump best practices for working moms, explaining how to keep up a pumping schedule whether at the office or during business travel, and giving moral support to women trying to juggle breastfeeding and career.
Atria/Beyond Words
121 First Dates: How to Succeed at Online Dating, Fall in Love, and Live Happily Ever After (Really!) by Wendy Newman (Jan. 12, paper, $16, ISBN 978-1-58270-572-9) is part guidebook, part personal tell-all from relationship expert Newman, who, having made every dating mistake imaginable, dishes up practical wisdom for navigating the online dating trenches.
Bibliomotion
(dist. by Perseus)
The Angst of Adolescence: How to Parent Your Teen and Live to Laugh About It by Sara Villanueva (Sept. 15, paper, $18.95, ISBN 978-1-62956-076-2). A prominent psychologist specializing in adolescents offers a trustworthy resource, written in a conversational, humorous, and relatable style, for parents looking for help with guiding their children through the difficult teenage years.
Flatiron
O’s Little Guide to Finding Your True Purpose by the editors of O, the Oprah Magazine (Dec. 1, hardcover, $17.99, ISBN 978-1-250-06858-3). The second volume in O’s Little Books series collects stories of trial, error, and triumph, along with actionable advice, from such contributors as Elizabeth Gilbert, Michael Cunningham, and Patti Smith.
Harper
The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed by Jessica Lahey (Aug. 11, hardcover, $26.99, ISBN 978-0-06-229923-9) delivers a manifesto against the extraordinary level of protectiveness that defines modern parenting, proposing that children shouldn’t be deprived of the experience of failure, not to mention success on their own terms.
Morrow/Dey Street
The Truth: An Uncomfortable Book About Relationships by Neil Strauss (Oct. 13, hardcover, $29.99, ISBN 978-0-06-089876-2) is a brutally honest memoir in which the internationally known “pickup artist” and author of The Game confronts the greatest challenge he has ever faced: monogamy and fidelity.
NAL
Been There, Done That by Al Roker and Deborah Roberts (Jan. 5, hardcover, $26.95, ISBN 978-0-451-46636-5). Married couple Roberts, a journalist, and Roker, the Today show personality, offer lessons in marriage, family, and career drawn from their personal experiences, which include overcoming childhood obstacles and raising their own very different kids.
National Geographic
(dist. by Random)
Life Is Good: The Book by Bert and John Jacobs (Sept. 1, hardcover, $25, ISBN 978-1-4262-1563-6). The brothers who founded the Life is Good apparel company use their working-class Boston upbringing and business skills to illuminate the 10 “superpowers” readers need to live their best lives.
Norton
The Art of Grace: On Moving Well Through Life by Sarah L. Kaufman (Nov. 16, hardcover, $24.95, ISBN 978-0-393-24395-6). Pulitzer Prize–winning dance critic Kaufman offers an appreciation of a quality that often seems missing from the modern world—grace—finding it in diverse areas of public life, from sports to the arts, and teaching readers to uncover it in themselves.
Random/Spiegel & Grau
Rising Strong by Brené Brown (Aug. 25, hardcover, $27, ISBN 978-0-8129-9582-4). A research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work who delivered a landmark 2010 TED talk on the power of vulnerability, Brown (Daring Greatly) teaches readers how to begin their own “hero’s journey” toward a life filled with everyday acts of courage.
Riverhead
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert (Sept. 22, hardcover, $24.95, ISBN 978-1-59463-471-0). The bestselling author of Eat Pray Love digs into her own process to share a unique perspective on creativity balanced between soulful spirituality and cheerful pragmatism, encouraging readers to embrace what they most love and face down what they most fear.
Running Press
Strong Is the New Sexy: A Kick Ass Memoir by Nicole Polizzi (Dec. 22, hardcover, $22, ISBN 978-0-7624-5871-4). The star of the MTV series Jersey Shore, better known as Snooki, is now married and a mother of two; she shares the “formula for fierce” that she credits with making her strong in both body and mind-set.
SelectBooks
People Tools for Love and Relationships: The Journey from Me to Us by Alan Fox (Aug. 4, paper, $16.95, ISBN 978-1-59079-356-5). The latest entry in the New York Times bestselling People Tools series offers 49 easy-to-use tools for building and maintaining successful relationships.
She Writes
(dist. by IPS)
Mothering Through the Darkness: Women Open Up About the Postpartum Experience, edited by Stephanie Sprenger and Jessica Smock (Nov. 3, paper, $16.95, ISBN 978-1-63152-804-0), presents a collection of 30 powerful essays aimed at helping mothers—approximately 1 in 7—who suffer from postpartum depression after giving birth, dispelling common myths and exploring the diversity of women’s experiences.
St. Martin’s Griffin
The Best Advice in Six Words: Writers Famous and Obscure on Love, Sex, Money, Friendship, Family, Work, and Much More, edited by Larry Smith (Nov. 3, hardcover, $12.99, ISBN 978-1-250-06701-2), is an inspirational gift book, from the Smith Magazine creator, full of advice written in six-word installments by celebrities like Molly Ringwald, Daniel Handler, and Gary Shteyngart.
Thomas Nelson
Strong and Kind: And Other Important Character Traits Your Child Needs to Succeed by Korie Robertson, with Chrys Howard and Willie Robertson (Oct. 27, hardcover, $24.99, ISBN 978-0-7180-3688-1). The Duck Dynasty stars identify nine specific character traits for parents to instill in their kids, along with tools for putting these qualities in place.
