There are always those times where you simply just feel like you’re in a funk. Nothing is good, nothing seems to be bad but you’re just kind of coasting along day by day.

That’s never very fun nor satisfying to do day after day. Eventually, you just feel lousy and straight up bummed.

With that, I’ve compiled a list of a (few) books that I consider to be some of the #1 books that help me get out of that funk!

There are some fiction and some nonfiction, there may be one or two poetry book in there; sometimes you just need a good fiction book that transforms you to a different place and just gets your mind flowing with the imagination of what could be or may happen. Other times you just need a raw, short (or long), poetic mantra that snaps you into reality.

With that, here’s my list of seven books that help me get out of a funk.

1. “Do Less: A Minimalist Guide to a Simplified, Organized, and Happy Life” by Rachel Jonat.

Rachel Jonat portrays the perfect depiction of what anybody needs to do in order to pick up themselves and turn things around. I discovered this book quite a few years ago out of curiosity for what it was and what it was about. The idea of creating more of a minimalistic lifestyle of having less and doing less is something I’ve strived towards achieving. It gives simple alternatives towards going from declutter to destress, working smart, not hard, and how to save money and time. It’s not easy but this book lays things out so simply and just nicely and definitely worth the read.

2. “You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life” by Jen Sincero.

It’s in the title. Really, the title of this book says it all. And truthfully, I think anyone at any point can use this book. I’ve read through this book I think twice now, and each time it feels like I missed something from before. "You Are A Badass" helps you understand why you are the way you are and why you do certain things. It’s one of those books that draws you towards wanting to be a better person and wanting to do things that you don’t necessarily like. It’s straight up spectacular.

3. “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin.

This book is written and created all in the perception of someone you hope to be doing things you’ve always wanted to do. Rubin tells the story of adventures she dives into over the past twelve-months figuring out ways to simply be happier. She found all the things that do and don’t make happiness and what around happiness that makes it so imaginable. In the end, she points out those things that you thought you knew, and explains exactly why they make sense.

4. “This Modern Love” by Will Darbyshire.

This book is one of the most creative and interesting ideas for a book I’ve ever seen. Darbyshire took the unique angle in the form of a desire to know a stranger’s thoughts and compile those into one book. Darbyshire who found his “fame” via social media outlets and YouTube asked his followers to share their innermost thoughts on any type of relationship they’re encountered whether it’s a stranger, a hook-up, a life-long relationship or the heart of best friend. The book itself is divided up into three sections simply put as the beginning, middle, and end and quite perfectly depicts all those parts of any relationship.

5. “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz.

This is another one of those books on that list of "I think everyone should read and I think everyone would greatly benefit from." Ruiz describes The Four Agreements as a practical guide to personal freedom and I don’t think anything else could describe it more perfectly. I was first presented this book by a friend in a moment where she thought I could benefit from it and learn from it and there’s never been a feeling more real than reading this book. It perfectly depicts four simple “rules” that everyone should learn to follow and learn to guide and I think this book opens you up wonderfully to a whole new world of who you are personally and how you present yourself to the world.

6. “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho.

This is one of those books that I think is on everyone’s “must read” list and it’s always been there but for some reason takes so long to just start. That was it for me exactly. I knew of this book, I finally bought the book a little over a year ago, and I finally just finished it a few months ago and I’m kicking myself for taking so long. "The Alchemist" explains the journey of a young boy and teaches any reader the power of listening to our own hearts and taking the opportunity when it arrives and really just how to follow your dreams. It wraps you in and honestly, one of the most satisfying books to read from beginning to end.

7. “Flux” by Orion Carloto.

I feel like I really just had to include this book, but since being released in October 2017, I always go back to it and really belongs on this list. Carloto is described as a “YouTube Mastermind” and that she is, but she’s grown to be much more than that. "Flux" displays this delicate and heart aching illustration of what love and hurt are, and what undeniable and unrequited romance may be and I’ve never felt more understood and so touched to one set of poems. I could be biased being someone who’s always drawn to poetry, but I will say this book shows the raw emotions that anyone is always too scared to show and too scared to feel and Carloto tears your heart open in the best way to accepting what used to be and what can be now.

There we have it!

These books have come and gone and grown so near and dear to my heart. As anything I release, I feel so passionately towards reading, especially towards reading the raw words of people I look up to.

Days can get hard, and it’s hard to carry on when you feel like you’re in a funk or in a rut of bad moods and bad days that never seem to turn around.

But these books can carry you around and out of that rut into magical worlds of make-believe, or a world of yourself where you’re so open and so raw. These books all carry many different emotions and many different satisfactions, but I think those are the types of books that help the most.

You’re placed with a book that simply tells you how to change your lifestyle; a book that shows you what to do to make it better; a book that shows a journey of what happiness could be; a book that shows the raw hurt of different kinds of love; a book that tells you how to better yourself and better connect with who you are; a book that shows the journey of what anybody hoping to dream would want; and a book that shows everything we’re too afraid to admit we feel, and that’s what makes it more accepting.

I think the books that show the pain and the hurt of everything you’ve been through or everything you’re going through, in a way, help the most. Because usually (for me at least) when you’re in a rut you just feel alone and helpless and stuck. And these books do anything but that.

So with all that, honestly take your pick. I feel so passionately towards each one of these reads in their own special way and I’d be crazy to tell you to read anything before the other. Best read on a sunny day curled up in bed with a warm drink (personal opinion).

Nonetheless, an absolute dream, each of their own, and I hope you believe that too.