Each book is a silent conversation, an opportunity to slow down the step. Those who read, look inside to look outside with different eyes. The books that speak of psychology do not offer solutions, but looks. They don’t give answers, but questions. They are maps traced by those who have crossed the doubt, the effort, the fracture – and came out of it with strong enough words to hold the weight of human fragility.
This selection is not a list of quick solutions. It is not a ranking of the best books because psychological well -being shocks performative and competitive optical optical. This list is an invitation to slow down, to observe with other eyes, to cultivate self -care how a garden is cultivated: patiently, carefully, with listening. Each page is a small presence of presence. Every reading, a gesture of trust towards change.
The books that speak of psychology do not give formulas. Offer space. Space to stop, to look from outside, to breathe more slowly. They tell stories, offer tools, turn on reflections. They do not promise miracles, but help to believe that another version of us is possible. And often, it is from there that everything begins.
This selection of qualifications has been curated by the editorial staff of Psychologists Editor of Unebravo The books chosen open questions, offer new lenses. We propose them on the occasion of the World Book Day as a gift to make to themselves: time, words, possibilities. But the invitation goes beyond the anniversary. It is to cultivate every day, in one’s daily life, a reflective practice that nourishes, accompanies, keep company at the right moments – and in difficult ones. Because reading is not evasion, it is return.
14 Psychology books to celebrate World Book Day
1. Women who think too much about Susan Nolen-Hoeksema (2023)
Susan Nolen-Hoeksema explores the theme of rumination in a female key. In his bestseller of over 2 million copies sold offers practical solutions to cut negative thoughts by freeing precious positive energies to invest in mental well -being, individual and relational health. Self -esteem, awareness, freedom for a mind on the way to serenity.
Recommended by Dr. Marcello Delmondo to Chi.vuole stop with infinite loops in the head and learn to enjoy the moment.
2. He teaches the heart to see by Daniele Cassioli with Salvatore Vitellino (2022)
Daniele Cassioli, blind from birth and Paralympic champion, accompanies us on an authentic and touching inner journey. In these pages he faces those invisible movements that live there: the shadows, the hesitation, the desires that listen to. It does not offer techniques, it is said, with an embodied and deep vision of the human. It is a book that those who are in research likes, to those who question, to those who want to rediscover the courage to live with fullness even when the external conditions are not “perfect”. A book that you listen to. It feels. And slowly, it changes us.
Recommended by Dr. Antonio Dessì to those who are ready to see the beauty of life.
3. Atomic Habits. Small habits for great changes by James Clear (2019)
An illuminating book that shows how small daily changes can generate extraordinary results over time. Based on solid neuroscientific and psychological evidence, it offers clear strategies to modify behaviors and build new habits. It is particularly useful for those who want to support change in therapeutic paths, making personal improvement accessible and concrete.
Recommended by Dr. Monica Margiotta to those who think that small changes are boring, but in reality they want to change everything.
4. Destructive emotions by Dalai Lama, Daniel Goleman (2011)
The result of a dialogue between neuroscientists, psychologists and the Dalai Lama, this book explores the role of emotions in our life and in our history. Goleman analyzes anger, fear and envy, wondering what he can make them ineffective and how other cultures have answered this question. Through studies of neuroimmagini and research of the oriental tradition, the book offers food for thought on our approach to emotions, promoting a deeper understanding of them.
Recommended by Dr. Enrico Reatini, he lets himself be overwhelmed by emotions and needs a GPS to orient himself.
5. The flavor of the world. An anthropology of the senses by David Le Breton (2007)
If they explain it to you, you understand. If you feel it, you know. In The flavor of the worldDavid Le Breton, French sociologist and anthropologist, invites us to get out of the head and return to the body, where the senses, even before thought and emotions, give shape to our existence. Seeing, touching, enjoying, smelling, listening: every culture makes it a different map. For those who love slowness and depth, it is a book that you don’t read to “understand everything immediately”, but to let yourself be crossed. It should be enjoyed, as the title suggests .. a cultured, sensual, densely human book. To read with all the senses on.
Recommended by Dr. Antonio Dessì to those who want to stop thinking too much and return to enjoy life with all the senses.
6. You are the mountain. Transform self -control into self -control by Brianna Wiest (2023)
Brianna Wiest writes with depth and delicacy on the way we are often the first obstacles to our realization. This book is an invitation to cross the pain, understand their wounds and transform them into force, and it is ideal for those who work in the help relationship and want to accompany the other in a path of authentic and powerful rediscovery.
Recommended by Dr. Monica Margiotta to those who are tired of making the climber of their insecurities and wants to reach the top of the self.
7. Liquid love. On the fragility of human ties Of Zygmunt Bauman (2003)
In a time when relationships are consumed faster than they build, Liquid love It is a map to orient yourself between desire for intimacy and fear of staying. Bauman describes with lucidity the emotional context in which contemporary life moves: fragile bonds, exposed bodies, fluid identities. Anyone who has loved, left or felt “suspended” can find themselves in its pages. It does not give solutions, but Activate deep reflections On how we live intimacy, relationships, freedom. An invitation to think the mind in motion between and through us, and not only within us.
Recommended by Dr. Antonio Dessì to those who sail between unstable relationships and finally want to find the rescue ring.
8. How emotions are made. The secret life of the brain by Lisa Feldman Barrett (2023)
Lisa Feldman Barrett, world -renowned neuroscientist, accompanies us on an intriguing journey into the genesis of emotions. New hypotheses on how emotions are formed, scenarios open up to now secrets on the life of our brain. What if the emotions were built when we experience them from the interaction of central systems of our brain? What if learning had an impact until now unexplored? To start the journey in the revolution of the basic basis of psychology, you just have to read.
Recommended by Dr. Marcello Delmondo to those who want to stop giving hormones and understand how the “emotional brain” works.
9. Because sex is funny by Jared Diamond (2006)
With irony and scientific rigor, Jared Diamond explores the evolution of human sexuality, asking punctual and surprising questions: why are we among the few species to have sex for pleasure? Why don’t men breastfeed? Through an analysis of the biological roots of sexual behavior, the book offers a fascinating perspective on our evolutionary history and the role of sexuality in modern society, illuminating the mechanisms that have shaped our way of loving and reproducing us
Recommended by Dr. Enrico Reatini to those who have always had a lot of questions about sexuality and want scientific answers with a smile.
10. The gifts of the imperfection by Brené Brown (2017)
With an approach that combines research, storytelling and vulnerability, Brené Brown accompanies us on the journey to authenticity. The book explores how to accept its imperfections and abandon performance anxiety can open to a full and more significant life. It is a precious reading for those who want to integrate compassion and humanity in clinical work and personal growth.
Recommended by Dr. Monica Margiotta to those who are tired of looking for perfection and finally want to embrace the beauty of the imperfection.
11. Your erroneous areas. Independence guide of the spirit by Wayne W. Dyer (2012)
The author focuses on the possibility of breaking the habitual schemes of the self -abotimo. Wayne Dyre, psychologist and motivator, accompanies the reader on a journey into the mind with the intent to eradicate false beliefs and mental models learned which, however, have a self-destructive function. Hydy identifies the “erroneous areas” such as self-seabating thoughts and behaviors such as the sense of guilt, the fear of judgment and dependence on approval of others. Through practical strategies, the book encourages to take control of one’s life, develop emotional autonomy and cultivate a more positive attitude. The key message is that happiness does not depend on external factors, but on our ability to choose functional and enhanced thoughts.
Recommended by Dr. Ilaria Tonelli to those who continue to stumble upon their saboting thoughts and want to find a way to stop.
12. Emotional intelligence. What it is and how it can make us happy by Daniel Goleman (2011)
Daniel Goleman, former professor in Harvard, guides us in the knowledge of a concept now fundamental for personal well -being and working life. Being aware of one’s own and altruous to feel becomes a fundamental competence for manager, leader and for anyone who wants to be better.
Recommended by Dr. Marcello Delmondo to those who want to improve their relationships without having to write a manual on emotions.
13. Women running with wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés (2016)
Clarissa Pinkola Estés makes its way into the mind through Jungian symbols. The woman is dissected, understood and returned to her more primitive archetype, equipped with wild strength, creativity and generativity that are often suffocated by social norms. The author tells the female symbolism through the fairy tales that have characterized the culture of humans for centuries. From a psychodynamic point of view, the book suggests that many emotional difficulties derive from the repression of one’s potential. The process of identification, key concept in jung, is proposed here as a path of personal rediscovery, in which acceptance of one’s authentic nature leads to greater inner security.
Recommended by the doctor Ilaria Tonelli To those who want to discover the wild side that is in each of us (without fear of getting a little dirty).
14. The trap of happiness. How to stop tormenting and starting to live by Russ Harris (2024)
In a world obsessed with the search for happiness, Russ Harris dismantles the myth of perpetual well -being and proposes an approach based on the acceptance and commitment therapy (Act). The book helps to develop psychological flexibility, accepting difficult emotions instead of fighting them. With practical exercises and accessible language, it offers tools to build a life full of meaning, beyond the illusory race towards happiness.
Recommended by Dr. Enrico Reatini to those who are tired of chasing happiness as an obsession and finally want to understand that perhaps it is closer than you think.
