summer stack: 7 books on my nightstand right now
“how we deal with smaller changes now is a sign of how we’ll deal with bigger changes later.”
—pema chödrön
Though I’m always in the middle of a book, there’s something I love about summer reading. The longer days and slower rhythms create space for inspiration.
I’m usually out and about, so I listen to audiobooks while I walk my pup in the sunshine, or when I’m on the road en route to a retreat. Then, before bed, I pick up a book from the stack on my nightstand.
I’m mostly a non-fiction reader. I love learning, and I’m always soaking in teachings from luminaries or diving into the latest research around mind-body healing. But I do sneak in soul-stirring stories.
In case you’re seeking book recommendations for your travels or for the beach, I want to share the top 7 books that have served me inspiration this summer. (Plus, you keep scrolling, you’ll find 6 additional books from 2025 that spoke to me!)
Speaking of books, I have to share that my new book—The Power of the Pause: 90-Seconds to Calm, Reset, and Reconnect—arrived this year, and this last week of summer is the perfect time to dive in!
SUMMER STACK 2026
7 Books on My Nightstand Right Now
THE POWER OF THE PAUSE
BY JILLIAN PRANSKY
I wrote this book as the medicine for our times.
We are longing to feel more at home in our bodies, spacious and clear in our minds, present and connected in our relationships and in our lives.
Rooted in neuroscience and somatic healing, this science-backed 90-second method can help you break free from limiting habit, shift your instant reactions into intentional responses, find more ease in your body, feel more connected in your relationships, and return to a steadier, more compassionate self.
The Wonderment (release date: September 8)
ROSEMERRY WAHTOLA TROMMER
A luminous collection of poems about finding wonder, beauty, and belonging in the ordinary — I love how Rosemerry brings us back to awe, even in the midst of grief and uncertainty.
Watch my conversation with Rosemerry about making space for tenderness.
ASK ME
HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS
Heidi’s deeply tender new poetry collection moves through loss, reinvention, and emergence — I love the way her words make room for both our vulnerability and our becoming.
FAITH
SHARON SALZBERG
A beautiful exploration of faith not as blind belief, but as learning to trust our own deepest experience — a wise and grounding read for these times.
HOLD NOTHING
ELENA BROWER
A gorgeous, contemplative invitation to loosen our grip, return to presence, and come home to ourselves — I love Elena’s beautiful weaving of wisdom, inquiry, art, and lived experience.
WISE EFFORT
DIANA HILL
A practical and compassionate guide to putting our precious energy toward what matters most — I love Diana’s invitation to live from alignment rather than simply trying harder.
Listen to my podcast conversation with Diana about pausing as a practice.
Theo of Golden
BY ALLEN LEVI
I rarely read fiction, but this compelling story really stuck with me—and I highly recommend listening to the audiobook!
Following the story of a stranger who arrives in a southern town and visits the local coffeehouse, where pencil portraits of residents hang on the walls. He begins purchasing them, one at a time, and giving each portrait to the person depicted. In exchange, he asks only for the person’s story.
This is a story of giving and receiving, of seeing and being seen, Theo of Golden is an unforgettable novel about the power of generosity, the importance of connection, and the miracles that happen when we choose kindness and wonder.
SUMMER STACK 2025
6 Books on My Nightstand Right Now
How We Live is How We Die
BY PEMA CHODRON
As much as we might try to resist, endings happen in every moment—the end of a breath, the end of a day, the end of a relationship, and ultimately the end of life. And accompanying each ending is a beginning, though it may be unclear what the beginning holds. In How We Live Is How We Die, Pema Chödrön shares her wisdom for working with this flow of life—learning to live with ease, joy, and compassion through uncertainty, embracing new beginnings, and ultimately preparing for death with curiosity and openness rather than fear.
Born to Run
BY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
The revealing, wildly entertaining, and bestselling memoir from the legendary Bruce Springsteen, one of the greatest songwriters and performers of any era. Born to Run is the greatest rock ‘n’ roll story ever told.
Deliver Me From Nowhere
BY WARREN ZANES
The fascinating story behind the making of Bruce Springsteen’s most surprising album, Nebraska, revealing its pivotal role in Springsteen’s career—in development as a major motion picture starring Jeremy Allen White (The Bear).
The Four Agreements
BY DON MIGUEL RUIZ
In The Four Agreements, a perennial bestseller published in dozens of languages worldwide, don Miguel Ruiz reveals the source of self-limiting beliefs that rob us of joy and create needless suffering. Based on ancient Toltec wisdom, The Four Agreements offer a powerful code of conduct that can rapidly transform our lives to a new experience of freedom, true happiness, and love.
Signal Fires
BY DANI SHAPIRO
Signal Fires opens on a summer night in 1985. Three teenagers have been drinking. One of them gets behind the wheel of a car, and, in an instant, everything on Division Street changes. Each of their lives, and that of Ben Wilf, a young doctor who arrives on the scene, is shattered. For the Wilf family, the circumstances of that fatal accident will become the deepest kind of secret, one so dangerous it can never be spoken.
What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing From Complex Trauma
BY STEPHANIE FOO
Of course the Dalai Lama is an inspiration to us all! And this book is an easy to read highly impactful example of his teachings. His Holiness the Dalai Lama writes simply and powerfully about the everyday Buddhist practice of compassion, offering a clear, practical, inspiring introduction to the Buddhist path to enlightenment.
