Inspirational Book List for 2009 (With More Than a Little Help from My Friends)

As promised, here is my inspirational book list for 2009 (with more than a little help from my friends). First I must thank the Beatles for helping me to build the title for this article. I have compiled this list as a follow-up to my Associated Content article on December 9, 2008. Here's the URL for it: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1317904/my_biggest_new_years_resolution_for.html?cat=9. In that article, I expressed my intent to pester my friends, family and other assorted wise people for books they found to be particularly inspirational. I am going to have to supplement this list later on, as I have not yet heard back from some of my queries. But I am really looking forward to issuing ongoing updates (although I'm hoping they don't extend past the end of February of this year). This is a topic of which I am particularly fond, and I'm always looking for uplifting stuff to read.

Thank you for reading this article, and I hope you find something in this list that helps you to complete the masterpiece that is your life. I am not being sarcastic at all here, and am instead extending to you a big cyber-hug and a friendly punch in the arm. Here's what I have so far, to start you off in 2009 with a bang:

From my dear friend Larry:

The Kama Sutra

The Joy of Sex (by Dr. Alex Comfort)

The Bible

Ulysses (by James Joyce)

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (by Doris Kearns Goodwin)

John Adams (by David McCullough)

The Art of French Cooking (by Julia Child)

From me:

Are You Being Seduced Into Debt? (by John Cummuta)

Awakening the Giant Within (by Tony Robbins)

Walden (by Henry David Thoreau)

The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living (by the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler)

Essential Rumi (by Jalal al-Din Rumi and Et Al Coleman Barks)

From my husband:

Helping Me Help Myself: One Skeptic, Ten Self-Help Gurus, and a Year on the Brink of the Comfort Zone (by Beth Lisick)

My friend Larry is a prodigious reader and always finds fascinating stuff to read, so maybe you should start with his stuff first. I am feeling a little bummed that Larry's list is longer than mine, but I have a competitive streak that comes out at the weirdest times.

At any rate, here's wishing you a happy and productive 2009, with lots of supportive friends and great parties and laughing kids all around you. I also hope you find lots of sources of inspiration that point you in the right direction. Thanks again for reading my inspirational book list for 2009 (with more than a little help from my friends).