Welcome to the Metanoeo Book Store

Viktor Frankl

Man's Search for Meaning

Providing a personal account of his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp, this book by Viktor Frankl is yet full of love, hope, freedom and beauty. His ability to observe and reflect in the most dire of circumstances eventually became foundational to his theory of logotherapy. Frankl’s methodology, explored in the book, explores how it is finding meaning and purpose, rather than our circumstances, which can inform a life of personal happiness and wellbeing.

The Tools by Phil Stutz and Barry Michels (2012)

As a psychotherapist Stutz was disillusioned by the idea of not being able to offer advice to his clients when offering them a person centred approach to his counselling. So, reflecting on years of experience, Stutz started to develop 5 key tools which would enable people to tackle some of the common challenges of life. Covering concepts as welcoming adversity, channelling love, embracing your whole self, creating a gratitude loop and keeping a sense of urgency, Stutz’ methods are practical and yet embrace a mystical approach to life.

Kevin Hart

This is how we do it

One of the fifteen tools for living Hart introduces in his mental bootcamp book is that of cowboying up. To cowboy up is to take responsibility for the mistakes we’ve made and determine to move forward. It’s an idea, along with positivity, humility, hunger for growth and being relational sits at the core of this pep talk by Hart.

Yukari Mitsuhashi

Ikigai

Ikigai is a Japanese word meaning; iki - life, and gai - value. It refers to the idea of finding our own personal reason why, the reason we get up in the morning. Mitsuhashi encourages us to pay attention to the small details to find pleasure and purpose in the moment, and beyond, to help find what gives us meaning. Full of wisdom and practical ideas , this book is designed to be lived and to bring joy regardless of our circumstances by refocusing us on what is personally meaningful.

Barbara Sher & Barbara Smith

I Could do Anything if I Only Knew What it

Written for people who don’t know what they want in life, are struggling with the next step or feel there is something missing, this book provides  practical guidance to making a life plan. It tackles some of the most common obstacles  preventing people from moving forward and helps to develop a personalised approach using four key ideas: (1) The importance of overcoming expectations, non-action and resistance. (2) The importance of small actions. (3) The importance of doing something different when things aren’t working out. (4) Engaging all our experiences in finding purpose.

Matt Higgins

Burn the Boats

Just in case anyone has any doubt, this has nothing to do with the boats the Conservative party keep going about! Higgins, a guest investor on the US version of Dragon's Den and co-founder of the multi-billion dollar investment company RSE Ventures begins his story in abject poverty. In this book he tells his journey and what he has learned about backing himself, chasing the fear in tough times and consolidating gains by burning the boats.

Gary Bishop

Unfu*k Yourself

If you find your own internal dialogue prevents you from doing the things you want then try reading Bishop’s Unfu*k Yourself. Exploring the idea that it is often ourselves that get in the way of us making progress, Bishop suggests strategies to correct this exploring how we live through our (un)conscious choices, through setting our own game, taking perspective, embracing uncertainty and being self-defined through our actions instead of our thoughts.

Gina Senarighi

Love More Fight Less

Whilst primarily a book written for couples to improve their communication skills, the principles it covers can be traced back further to some core values for all relationships. These include; being aware of ourselves, being willing to have uncomfortable conversations, and recognising the influences on ourselves and others. All critical points of being a health assertive communicator.

Judy Ho

Stop Self-Sabotage

Ho’s book offers a clear six-point plan for addressing self-sabotaging thoughts which includes both theory and practical exercises. She starts by encouraging us to recognise our troublesome thinking patterns before looking at the sequence of these thoughts so we can learn to shut triggering thoughts down. Step three involves looking at the ABC (antecedents - behaviour - consequences) chain which leads to step four, setting the goal using mental contrasting and implementation intentions. The final two steps lead the reader through how to maintain their focus and develop a visual plan.

Pooja Lakshmin

Real Self-Care

If you’re looking for a book to compliment The Life Garage, this one is perfect. Much like the Life Garage, it recognises that self-help has become an industry that doesn’t recognise we all have different access to human and social capital (internal and external resources).  Yet also like The Life Garage, Lakshmin recognises there is still something we can do. We can recognise that we're not broken, it’s the system, and that as such we have to set our boundaries, act with self-compassion and identify our own values to assert our power.

Gloria Mark

Attention Span

If you find yourself frequently distracted, Attention Span will help you explore why our ability to be distracted is useful rather than a problem, and how we can best work with this feature of our brain function. Mark helpfully dispels a number of myths about concentration and sets all her work in the real life context of living in a digital age. A great read for anyone worried about their attention span.

Jenny Odell - Saving Time

Odell’s book looks at re-introducing the concept of time as a crisis of opportunity. Referring to ancient Greek, there are two words and concepts of time, chronos, the more common idea of linear time, and kairos which is closer to seeing time as a crisis in which we seize the moment. Refuting claims like ‘time is money’ and an unhealthy emphasis on ‘time-management’, this book proposes that our focus should be on making meaningful choices through being more present in our experience of time.

Trey Gowdy

Start, Stay or Leave

How do we make decisions about our life choices in a way which has integrity, authenticity and helps guide us forward in life? In this book Trey Gowdy considers how to set your direction and ultimate goal in life. He considers the role of crashing through our comfort zone, the three pillars of decision making and when to call it a day on our efforts.

John Mark Comer

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

As the Pastor of an American mega-church Comer was finding himself gradually drawn step-by-step into an increasingly hurried life. Whilst everything looked successful from the outside, inside he could feel himself dying. This book describes the problem of living in a fast paced, social-media focused world and the impact this has on us as individuals and a community. He then turns to the life of Jesus to create a manifesto for an unrushed, life affirming approach to living. A great inspirational read for anyone wanting to renew a faith approach to contemplating life in the slow lane.

The Power to Change by Craig Groeschel (2022)

Written from a Christian perspective, this book is a practical guide to creating lasting change in life. It starts by encouraging readers to know their true self before moving into the idea that change is based on training and not just trying. It then provides tips and ideas for beating unwanted habits and developing helpful ones before considering how to draw upon power from above. A really practical read for anyone who wants to engage the Christian faith in their own struggles to change.