We Are Shine's Top 13 Books to read this December.

1. On Her Best Behaviour by Elise Loehnen

A provocative manifesto on what it means for women to be 'good' – and what happens when we stop. In this exploration of the ancient rules that women unwittingly follow in order to be considered 'good', journalist and podcast host Elise Loehnen explains that these impulses – for instance, to show restraint, to be selfless or to prove ourselves in a male-dominated workplace – are ingrained in us by a patriarchal culture that reaps the benefits. So, what would happen if we stopped trying to be 'good'?

2. The Age of Magical Overthinking by Amanda Montell

Amanda Montell blends cultural criticism and personal narrative to explore our modern cognitive biases and the power, disadvantages and highlights of magical overthinking.

3. Wordslut by Amanda Montell

A brash, enlightening, and wildly entertaining feminist look at gendered language and the way it shapes us, written with humour and playfulness that challenges words and phrases and how we use them.

4. Women, Food and Hormones by Dr Sara Gottfried

Dr. Sara Gottfried MD has spent her career demystifying hormones and helping patients improve their health more broadly with personalized medicine.

In Women, Food, and Hormones, Dr. Gottfried presents a groundbreaking new plan that helps women balance their hormones so they can lose excess weight and feel better.

5. Reunion: Leadership and the Longing to Belong

“Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing up” by Jerry Colonna

Jerry?Colonna?is the CEO and co-founder of Reboot.io, an executive coaching and leadership development firm dedicated to the notion that better humans make better leaders. This venture capitalist turned?executive coach?shares his unusual yet highly effective blend of Buddhism, Jungian therapy, and entrepreneurial straight talk to help leaders overcome their own psychological traumas.

6. Fierce Self-Compassion by Dr Kirstin Neff

A follow up from the bestselling?Self-Compassion, this book?shows why it is more urgent than ever that women acknowledge their areas of suffering, celebrate their inner voice and challenge the male-orientated status quo.?Fierce Self-Compassion involves protecting, providing for and motivating ourselves. This book expands on how self-compassion can be used to transform ourselves and the world around us.

7. She Said – Witty Words from Wise Women by Dominique Enright, ?2018

This inspirational collection is a wonderful celebration of the wit and wisdom of women through the ages.

In it you’ll find writers, artists, politicians, actors, musicians, fashionistas, from Sappho to Beyonce? and Dorothy Parker to Carrie Fisher, all of whom have two things in common: brilliant minds and barbed wits that sting with their precision.

Featuring women from as far back as 700 BC and right up to the modern day, the quotations and classic one-liners found here will inspire and delight, whether they are cheeky retorts from the outspoken, barbed reflections from the thoughtful or righteous indignation from the slighted.

In the words of Elizabeth von Arnim (1866–1941), 'A woman's tongue is a deadly weapon and the most difficult thing in the world to keep in order.'

Classics Shine loves:

8. The School of Life by Alain De Botton

The School of Life?is nothing short of a crash course in emotional maturity. With all the trademark wit and elegance of Alain de Botton's other writings, and rooted in practical, achievable advice, it show us a path to the better lives we all want and deserve

9. Work Like a Woman - A Manifesto for Change by Mary Portas

Are you ready to be your best self at work? Packed with advice, tips and decades of business experience from Mary Portas, this is a book for every one of us: whatever level you are, wherever you work. It's about calling time on alpha culture and helping every one of us to be happier, more productive and collaborative.

10. The Tools – Life Changing Techniques to Unlock your Potential by Phil Stutz and Barry Michels

The Tools' by Phil Stutz & Barry Michels is a self-help book that provides practical tools to confront and overcome fear, pain, and other emotional obstacles. It offers a new perspective on life, helping readers to thrive and live in the present moment.

11. The Power of Now by Eckhardt Tolle

To make the journey into the Now we will need to leave our analytical mind and its false created self, the ego, behind. From the very first page of Eckhart Tolle's extraordinary book, we move rapidly into a significantly higher altitude where we breathe a lighter air. We become connected to the indestructible essence of our Being, “The eternal, ever present One Life beyond the myriad forms of life that are subject to birth and death.” Although the journey is challenging, Eckhart Tolle uses simple language and an easy question-and-answer format to guide us.

12. The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Luiz

In The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Luiz reveals the source of self-limiting beliefs that rob us of joy and create needless suffering. Based on ancient Toltec wisdom, The Four Agreements offer a powerful code of conduct that can rapidly transform our lives to a new experience of freedom, true happiness, and love.

13. Upping Your Elvis by Chris Baréz-Brown

This short book is full of tips on how to get your energy right to make every day count. Two hours read.

Anna Baréz-Brown