January is the season of New Year's resolutions. Everyone wants to be a little healthier, a little smarter, a little happier. And Amazon's best-selling books of 2016 (so far) really reflect that desire for self-improvement. There are titles to help you get a cleaner house, and a cookbook to help you eat clean. There are books that will help you at work. There are titles that can help you with your love life. And then, at the end of your optimized day, you can unwind with one of the many adult coloring books that are among the top sellers. There are also a few holdovers from best-of 2015 lists, in case you didn't have enough time last year to hit all the important reads. It's a book list to jump-start your 2016 reading goals.Opener Photo: Courtesy of Riverhead Books.
Swear Word Adult Coloring Book By Adult Coloring Books
Because you want everyone to know this isn't a coloring book for your little cousin.
How To Win Friends & Influence People By Dale Carnegie
This classic, which was first published in 1937, explains how to use your own natural charms to round out your social circle and generally be well-liked in the break room.
Secret Garden By Johanna Basford
One of the most recognizable titles riding the adult coloring book trend.
When Breath Becomes Air By Paul Kalanithi
You can read an excerpt from the memoir of the late Paul Kalanithi, a neurosurgeon who started the book after receiving a cancer diagnosis, here. You can also check out the beautiful essay his widow wrote about her grieving process.
Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up By Marie Kondo
For the visual learner who wants a decluttered apartment, this is presented as a companion to Kondo's original tidying up manual, which includes cute illustrations explaining how you can live a tidier life.
Adult Coloring Book: Stress Relieving Animal Designs By Blue Star Coloring
De-stress as you make a lion 100% more colorful.
Strengths Finder 2.0 By Tom Rath
A self-help book that you can really personalize, this guide helps you discover your unique strengths. And, more importantly, gives you ways you can use those strengths to your advantage.
Enchanted Forest: An Inky Quest & Coloring Book by Johanna Basford
Because there's no longer any doubt that adults love coloring, too. These detailed designs pose a bit of a challenge for artists who are hell-bent on staying within the lines.
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up By Marie Kondo
With a new year comes the desire to organize. If you commit to the methods outlined by author and Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo you won't need to make a decluttering resolution in 2017. (This is the original tidying up manual we mentioned earlier!)
Adult Coloring Books By Coloring Books for Adults/Twiggler
The adult coloring book trend obviously isn't going anywhere.
The 5 Love Languages By Gary Chapman
Appropriate for Valentine's Day month, Chapman's book explains how to keep your romantic relationships strong.
Adult Coloring Book Designs By Adult Coloring Book Designs/Twiggler
As you color, get inspired for your home-decor projects — that pattern could be perfect for your walls.
Between the World and Me By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Coates' slim book, written in the form of a letter to his son, spent 2015 on every best-of list, and won the National Book Award. The book examines the African-American experience, covering everything from slavery to present-day police brutality.
Creative Haven Creative Cats Coloring Book By Dover
It makes sense that you'd want to relax by coloring in pictures of cats, the chillest of all animals.
Whole30 By Melissa Hartwig and Dallas Hartwig
A guide to the Whole30 program, which asks those who follow it to eat fish, meat, vegetables, fruit and nuts, and skip things like alcohol, refined sugar, and grains. The book offers a variety of recipes featuring the allowed foods.
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