6 New Books for Healthier, Happier Relationships
Whether you need to say no, listen better, or embrace your differences, these reads will show you how to connect with clarity.
Navigating relationships can sometimes feel like a never-ending trust fall—except you’re not always sure who’s behind you. The books on this list help you spot manipulation, set boundaries, and strengthen authentic connections so that when you do lean back, you’ll know exactly who’s worth falling for. Together, these six books offer a roadmap for trust, clarity, and healthier relationships of every kind.
Are You Mad at Me?: How to Stop Focusing on What Others Think and Start Living for You
By
People-pleasing is not a personality trait. It is part of the trauma response known as fawning. Although it can be a useful mechanism at times, existing in a state of fawning leads to exhaustion and losing touch with oneself: who you are, what you want, and what you need. To heal, it is necessary to learn how to focus less on what other people think for the sake of rediscovering who you are. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Meg Josephson, in the Next Big Idea App or view on Amazon.
Deep Listening: Transform Your Relationships with Family, Friends, and Foes
By Emily Kasriel
In our hyperconnected world, we’ve forgotten how to truly listen. When we listen in a standard way, we’re preloading our verbal gun with ammunition, ready to fire with our own ideas. We treat the speaker as a resource to extract value from, and we are blind to what’s not being expressed in words. Our speaker is left feeling ignored, used, or dismissed. Deep Listening encourages a profound way to engage by enabling people to feel safer to express themselves, more connected, and more open to re-examining their own attitudes. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Emily Kasriel, in the Next Big Idea App or view on Amazon.
Manipulation: What It Is, Why It’s Bad, and What to Do About It
By Cass Sunstein
Hidden forces shape our decisions all the time—whether that comes in the form of peer pressure, marketing strategy, or cultural norms. Manipulation is silent, pervasive, and dangerous. We need to find ways to protect ourselves from influences that guide our actions without giving us a fair shot at making deliberate choices. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Cass Sunstein, in the Next Big Idea App or view on Amazon.
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Anatomy of a Con Artist: The 14 Red Flags to Spot Scammers, Grifters, and Thieves
By Johnathan Walton
Little do most people know, scammers are everywhere. Even worse, you probably know some and are only unaware because you haven’t become their target. By learning the red flags that expose a con artist, you can protect yourself from becoming another victim. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Johnathan Walton, in the Next Big Idea App or view on Amazon.
Consent Laid Bare: Sex, Entitlement, and the Distortion of Desire
By Chanel Contos
Modern cultural trends enable sexual abuse. Through education about the ecosystems that set the stage for rape and understanding how victims survive and process a perpetration, we can start to change societal conditions in a way that prevents and protects against these violations. To begin, it is critical that men and women learn about consent, across all contexts. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Chanel Contos, in the Next Big Idea App or view on Amazon.
The Gift of Not Belonging: How Outsiders Thrive in a World of Joiners
By Rami Kaminski
For those who have always felt like the outsider—the satellite, the watcher, the lone thread in a tightly woven fabric—this is your permission. Not to fix yourself. Not to blend in. But to recognize that your difference is not a detour from connection. It’s a different road to it: the path of the otrovert. The Gift of Not Belonging challenges the assumption that belonging is an innate instinct. Not everyone feels safer inside the circle. Not belonging can hurt, but that hurt doesn’t always mean something is wrong. Sometimes it means something in you is awake. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Rami Kaminski, in the Next Big Idea App or view on Amazon.
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