The best books to find joy

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve worked on the frontlines of the hospital, clinic, and delivery rooms for the last 25 years and in global settings after traumatic disasters…As a physician activist, Justice is my act of service. And yet, the moment I found out my young son had a fatal illness, fighting for Justice felt elusive. Until I started fighting for myself. Until I realized that if I walked back toward my unfathomable pain, I could find something revolutionary... Joy. Now, this work of finding Joy has become my most potent medicine for my patients and myself. It is my mission to make sure everyone knows Joy is accessible. No matter what. 


I wrote...

Joy Is My Justice: Reclaim What Is Yours

By Tanmeet Sethi,

Book cover of Joy Is My Justice: Reclaim What Is Yours

What is my book about?

If you think finding Joy is too much to hope for, or only for people who are “resilient enough,” Joy Is My Justice is a radical exploration of your healing and liberation. Joy is not a commodity or a destination; it is within you, the deepest Justice you will ever know. You can reclaim Joy despite this unjust world, past traumas, or what a whitewashed wellness world says about your capacity to do so.

Joy is your birthright. And it’s this book’s mission to make sure you find yours.

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

The books I picked & why

Book cover of Inciting Joy: Essays

Tanmeet Sethi Why did I love this book?

This collection of essays feels so intimate into the author’s heart, yet universal into all of ours.

It’s a collection of essays that explore connection and meaning in our lives as a path to Joy. It’s exactly why I describe Joy as so different than happiness. In each exploration the author offers shows how Joy can spring from whatever is happening in our life, not from a cognitive evaluation of how it is going.

He speaks of how Joy springs from our pain and sorrow which I deeply believe. They live so close to each other and each essay invites us to recognize this.

By Ross Gay,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Inciting Joy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A collection of gorgeously written and timely pieces in which prize-winning poet and author Ross Gay considers the joy we incite when we care for each other, especially during life's inevitable hardships.

In "We Kin" he thinks about the garden (especially around August, when the zucchini and tomatoes come on) as a laboratory of mutual aid; in "Share Your Bucket" he explores skate-boarding's reclamation of public space; he considers the costs of masculinity in "Grief Suite"; and in "Through My Tears I Saw," he recognizes what was healed in caring for his father as he was dying.

In an era…


Book cover of All Along You Were Blooming: Thoughts for Boundless Living

Tanmeet Sethi Why did I love this book?

I love this book of poetry because it is so easy to pick up and read one poem like a meditation.

Each one invites the reader to explore Joy in their surroundings and inner world as something that is so accessible to them. I use it almost as a mirror to reflect back to myself my most powerful and Joyful capacity when I have forgotten it. It’s a perfect book for anyone’s bedside or altar. 

By Morgan Harper Nichols,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked All Along You Were Blooming as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A celebration of hope. An encounter with grace. A restoration of the heart. A healing of wounds. An anthem of freedom. This illustrated collection of poetry and prose invites you to stumble into the sunlight and delight in the wild and boundless grace you've been given.

Popular Instagram poet and bestselling author Morgan Harper Nichols gives you the ultimate love letter to your mind, heart, soul, and body, reminding you:

There is a purpose in every season No matter how you want to race through this day or run away from this place, you are invited to live fully-right here,…


Book cover of Microjoys: Finding Hope (Especially) When Life Is Not Okay

Tanmeet Sethi Why did I love this book?

This book is exactly the upward spiral of Joy someone needs when they ask me, “But, how, Dr. Sethi, how do I even start to feel Joy?”

It’s so simple and accessible. Each essay or prompt brings the reader closer into seeing their own life as the way to get to Joy, especially when things are hard. 

By Cyndie Spiegel,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Microjoys as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Bighearted and hopeful. Unflinchingly honest and healing. A profound compendium of intimate, inspiring essays and thoughtful prompts that will keep you afloat in difficult times and sustain you in the everyday.

Microjoys are a practice of uncovering joy and finding hope at any moment. They are accessible to everyone, despite all else. When we hone the ability to look for them, they are always available. Microjoys are the hidden wisdom, long-ago memories, subtle treasures, and ordinary delights that surround us: A polka-dot glass on a thrift store shelf. A dear friend's kindness at just the right time. The neighborhood spice…


Book cover of Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole

Tanmeet Sethi Why did I love this book?

I love this book. It’s the exact intermingling of sorrow, melancholy, and connection and Joy that I espouse in mine.

Susan Cain takes us on a global search of how the connection and creativity that arises from sorrow is universal, so very human. And how this acknowledgment of the pain can lead us to greater connection and belonging.

This book is one I have post-it noted, ear flapped, and come back to over and over.

By Susan Cain,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Bittersweet as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

AN OPRAH BOOK CLUB PICK

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER -- FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER QUIET: THE POWER OF INTROVERTS IN A WORLD THAT CAN'T STOP TALKING

In her inspiring new masterpiece, the author of the bestselling phenomenon Quiet describes her powerful quest to understand how love, loss and sorrow make us whole - revealing the power of a bittersweet outlook on life.

Bittersweetness is a tendency towards states of longing, poignancy and sorrow; an acute awareness of passing time; and a curiously piercing joy at the beauty of the world. It recognizes that light and…


Book cover of Women Are the Fiercest Creatures

Tanmeet Sethi Why did I love this book?

I had to put this book in because sometimes it gives me great Joy to get lost in a good story, especially one where women come out victorious.

This is set in Seattle, where I currently live, which also was fun and literally I turned page to page and lost track of time. It’s been a long time since I’ve read fiction and reading this was pure Joy. At the end, I wanted it to keep going and am secretly hoping for a sequel!

You might also like...

Transforming Pandora

By Carolyn Mathews,

Book cover of Transforming Pandora

Carolyn Mathews Author Of Transforming Pandora

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Creator Meditator Messenger Shopaholic

Carolyn's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

Transforming Pandora, women's fiction with a metaphysical undercurrent, is written with humour and a light touch. As the plot slips between two time frames, separated by more than thirty years, the reader explores her life and loves: her ups and downs.

In the opening chapter, Pandora is attempting to come to terms with her husband's death. At a friend's suggestion, she reluctantly attends an evening of clairvoyance, after which her life is transformed by a mysterious spirit who sets her on a new path.

Her romantic life is reignited when she encounters a new man, but complicated by the appearance of a significant figure from her past. At the same time her spiritual life is presented with a challenge when she's offered the chance of enlightenment via a heavenly correspondence course. Her quest in life to find her true purpose is within her reach. Will she grasp this opportunity? Or will she choose love over light?

Transforming Pandora

By Carolyn Mathews,

What is this book about?

Pandora, 51, childless, and still beautiful, is attempting to come to terms with her husband's death. Having a history of being drawn to the esoteric, yet remaining a healthy sceptic, she reluctantly attends an evening of clairvoyance and raises a spirit who sets her on a new path...


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in extraversion and introversion, spirituality, and hope?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about extraversion and introversion, spirituality, and hope.

Extraversion And Introversion Explore 26 books about extraversion and introversion
Spirituality Explore 291 books about spirituality
Hope Explore 18 books about hope