Four Weeks of 40: 40 Books on Money, Creating Meaningful Work, Nature, and More

This is it, the last installment of Four Weeks of 40, celebrating my 40th birthday through random and not-so-random lists of 40 things.

I decided to bookend the journey with another list of 40 books I like. Bookend... with books, get it?

I crack myself up.​

I have read sooooo many books, many more than what's on my list, but these are a subset that, for some reason or another, stuck with me. I grouped them into seven categories:

  • Creating Meaningful Work (1-11)
  • Money Stuff (12-18)
  • Nature, Food and Simple Living (19-25)
  • Stillness, Intuition, Self-Reflection (26-30)
  • Art & Inspiration (31-32)
  • Fiction (33-39)
  • Other (40)

​Voici, grouped but not ranked:

  1. The Boss of You: Everything a Woman Needs to Know to Start, Run, and Maintain Her Own Business, by Lauren Bacon & Emira Mears

  2. The Creative Entrepreneur: A DIY Visual Guidebook for Making Business Ideas Real, by Lisa Sonora Beam

  3. The Practical Dreamer's Handbook: Finding the Time, Money, and Energy to Live the Life Your Want to Live, by Paul & Sarah Edwards

  4. Make Your Creative Dreams Real: A Plan for Procrastinators, Perfectionists, Busy People, and People Who Would Really Rather Sleep All Day, by SARK

  5. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich, by Timothy Ferriss

  6. The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future, by Chris Guillebeau

  7. Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision & Reality, by Scott Belsky

  8. Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur, by Pamela Slim

  9. The Seed Handbook: the Feminine Way to Create Business, by Lynne Franks

  10. Career Renegade: How to Make a Great Living Doing What You Love, by Jonathan Fields

  11. Learn Like a Leader: Today's Top Leaders Share Their Learning Journeys, edited by Marshall Goldsmith, Beverly Kaye, and Ken Shelton

  12. Prosperity Pie: How to Relax About money and Everything Else, by SARK

  13. How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Our of Debt & Live Prosperously (Based on the Proven Principles and Techniques o Debtors Anonymous), by Jerrold Mundis

  14. Financial Serenity: Successful Financial Planning and Investment for Women, by Lori M. Bamber

  15. Money Drunk, Money Sober: 90 Days to Financial Freedom, by Marc Bryan and Julia Cameron

  16. The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom: Practical and Spiritual Steps so You Can Stop Worrying, by Suze Orman

  17. Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny, by Suze Orman

  18. The Prosperous Heart: Creating a Life of “Enough”, by Julia Cameron with Emma Lively

  19. Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, by Richard Louv

  20. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, by Barbara Kingsolver with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver

  21. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, by Michael Pollan

  22. This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader, by Joan Dye Gussow

  23. The Good Life: Helen and Scott Nearing's Sixty Years of Self-Sufficient Living, by Scott and Helen Nearing

  24. Hundred Dollar Holiday: The Case for a More Joyful Christmas, by Bill McKibben

  25. The Circle of Simplicity: Return to the Good Life, by Cecile Andrews

  26. Sitting Still: An Encounter with Christian Zen, by Patricia Hart Clifford

  27. Intuitive Self-Healing: Achieve Balance and Wellness Through the Body's Energy Centers, by Marie Manuchehri, RN

  28. The Three Marriages: Reimagining Work, Self and Relationship, by David Whyte

  29. Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives, but Wayne Muller

  30. Prayers to the Great Creator: Prayers & Declarations for a Meaningful Life, by Julia Cameron

  31. Personal Geographies: Explorations in Mixed-Media Mapmaking, by Jill K. Berry

  32. Art From Intuition: Overcoming Your Fears and Obstacles to Making Art, by Dean Nimmer

  33. The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B., Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe, and The Last Great Dance on Earth, by Sandra Gulland (I know I included three books here, but let's count it as one trilogy m'kay?)

  34. The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

  35. People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks

  36. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel, by David Wroblewski

  37. New York: The Novel (historical fiction), by Edward Rutherford

  38. The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown

  39. Les filles de Caleb, Tomes 1, 2 et 3 (French), by Arlette Cousture

  40. Hidden Gardens of Paris: A Guide to the Parks, Squares, and Woodlands of the City of Light, by Susan Cahill

​And with that I conclude my Four Weeks of 40 celebration! Let's recap:

WEEK 1: 40 Books on Productivity, Writing, Creativity...

​WEEK 2: 40 Artists That Intrigue, Inspire or Delight

WEEK 3: 40 TV Shows, Movies or Documentaries I Like

​WEEK 4 (today): 40 Books on Money, Creating Meaningful Work, Nature, and More

Thank you for joining me and following along. It's been fun to compile these lists; I may just have to find excuses to compile more!

In the meantime, till the next milestone...