Pema Chodron

One of our perennial bestsellers in spirituality/personal growth is Pema Chodron, a Buddhist nun who offers short, easily digestible lectures and audiobooks about how to live a more peaceful life. You definitely don't have to know anything about Buddhism to listen to her because her audiobooks are aimed at life experiences that everyone can relate to--fear, anger, and bad habits, for instance.  They are also filled with a warmth and humour that can sometimes be missing from personal growth titles. 

Comfortable With Uncertainty is a good place to start because it contains excerpts from Pema Chodron's other works, and applies to a broad range of situations.  Live lecture recordings like Don't Bite the Hook are also fantastic because they showcase her sense of humour and ability to relate big concepts to small problems like whether or not you should eat that extra cookie. 

Comfortable With Uncertainty

Short, stand-alone readings designed to help us cultivate compassion and awareness amid the challenges of daily living. More than just a collection of “thoughts for the day,” Comfortable with Uncertainty offers a progressive program of spiritual study. [more] 

Don't Bite the Hook

Life has a way of provoking us with traffic jams and computer malfunctions, with emotionally distant partners and crying children—and before we know it, we're upset. We feel terrible, and then we end up saying and doing things that only make matters worse. But it doesn't have to be that way, says Pema Chödrön. It is possible to relate constructively to the inevitable shocks, losses, and frustrations of life so that we can find true happiness.  [more] 

Start Where You Are 

Start Where You Are is an indispensable handbook for cultivating fearlessness and awakening a compassionate heart. With insight and humor, Pema Chödrön, author of The Wisdom of No Escape and When Things Fall Apart, presents down-to-earth guidance on how to make friends with ourselves and develop genuine compassion toward others.  [more]