We could all use a little inspiration on the journey to find ourselves, and what better inspiration than books about finding yourself! From non-fiction books that explore what we can learn about ourselves from myths, to novels and memoirs spanning the decades, this list of books about finding yourself will help you find the book that hits the right note for your own journey to find yourself.

The People We Keep
by Allison Larkin
IN A NUTSHELL. Teen dropout seeking self & chosen family
SHORT & SIMPLE. A teenage dropout in the 90s sets out on a road trip to find herself.
GO FOR THIS BOOK IF…You’re looking for a coming-of-age book about finding yourself.
In The People We Keep, April Sawicki, a high school drop out in 1990s New York sets out to find the life that truly fits her. April’s journey to find herself involves a quite literal journey, as she heads out on a road trip in a stolen car with no destination. This 2021 novel is Larkin’s fourth, and it’s a charming coming-of-age book about finding yourself.
fiction
Pathways To Bliss
by Joseph Campbell
IN A NUTSHELL. Myths, psychology, & deep personal transformation
SHORT & SIMPLE. Mythologist Joseph Campbell’s reflections on how myths and Jungian psychology can help us find ourselves and follow our bliss.
GO FOR THIS BOOK IF…You’re looking for a deep non-fiction book about finding yourself.
Pathways to Bliss is a collection of Joseph Campbell’s work addressing how individuals can use myths to affect deep personal transformation. Campbell was a professor of comparative mythology and is best known for his book The Hero With A Thousand Faces and a 1980s documentary entitled Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth. In his early years, Campbell pulled a bit of Thoreau (you know, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately...”) and holed up somewhere and read books all day. He began to notice similar story arcs (the “hero’s journey”) and themes in myths across time and culture. These similarities, Campbell reasoned, spoke to deep, essential things about what it means to be a human on the journey of life. Pathways to Bliss uses Campbell’s works, which also call upon the thoughts of psychologist Carl Jung, to provide a guide for using myths to tap into the deepest parts of ourselves and come out transformed. Pathways to Bliss is a book about finding yourself in the very deepest sense.
nonfiction + self-help + psychology
How We Fight For Our Lives
by Saeed Jones
IN A NUTSHELL. Young, Black, & queer in the southern United States
SHORT & SIMPLE. A masterful memoir about fighting to be you in the face of marginalization.
GO FOR THIS BOOK IF…You’re looking for a memoir about finding yourself.
This critically acclaimed, award-winning memoir by Saeed Jones explores the process of finding and re-finding yourself despite the fears of how those you love and the world around you will respond. Saeed’s 2019 memoir unpacks what it means to be true to yourself, especially when who you are is marginalized by society.
nonfiction + biographies & memoirs
On the Road
by Jack Kerouac
IN A NUTSHELL. Search for freedom and meaning on the road
SHORT & SIMPLE. Classic work about jazz, poetry, and drugs on road trips in the late 1950s
GO FOR THIS BOOK IF…you want to read a classic book about finding yourself.
Inspired by Kerouac’s own life, On the Road, is a classic novel about the search for self on a series of road trips throughout the United States and Mexico that take place in the late 1950s.
fiction + classics
The Joy Luck Club
by Amy Tan
IN A NUTSHELL. Mother-daughter relationships & cultural divides
SHORT & SIMPLE. Chinese immigrant mothers and their American-raised daughters seek to find themselves amidst familial and cultural conflicts.
GO FOR THIS BOOK IF…You’re looking for a fiction book about finding yourself amidst challenging family relationships.
This 1989 bestseller about mothers and daughters was Amy Tan’s first book. This beautiful novel contains four separate but interlaced stories about the difficulties of following your own path in life, and conflicts and misunderstandings that arise between mothers and daughters who feel unable to share their stories across cultural and generational divides. Read The Joy Luck Club to hear the stories of four mothers and four daughters all trying to find themselves while navigating their pasts, culture, and relationships. The Joy Luck Club movingly explores how our personal and familial relationships form the context in which we must seek to find ourselves. This is a recommended read for those looking for a book about finding yourself amidst your familial story.
fiction
The Moviegoer
by Walker Percy
IN A NUTSHELL. Existential crisis, almost 30
SHORT & SIMPLE. A 29-year-old stockbroker who has spent his life escaping into movies and relationships embarks on a search to find himself and reflects on the meaning of life.
GO FOR THIS BOOK IF…You’re looking for a classic fictional story about finding yourself while confronting the monotony of daily life and the deep questions of existence.
In The Moviegoer, New Orleans stockbroker Binx Bolling confronts the mundanity of daily life and questions the meaning of it all. Binx lives an orderly life and escapes into movies and relationships, but at the brink of turning 30, he embarks on a journey to find himself as he navigates the sometimes crushing grip of the necessities of everyday life and deep questions about what it means to be a human existing in the world. This 1961 novel by Walker Percy and winner of the U.S. National Book Award is worth a read if you’re looking for a book that explores existential themes on the journey of finding yourself.
fiction + classics
Confessions of a Middle-Aged Runaway: An RV Travel Adventure
by Heidi Eliason
IN A NUTSHELL. Woman’s transformative road trip at mid-life
SHORT & SIMPLE. 45-year-old Heidi quits her job, sells her house, and sets out on a 5-year RV trip
GO FOR THIS BOOK IF…you want to read a book about finding yourself at mid-life.
At 45, the author found her daily routines suffocating and was longing for adventure, so she quit her job, sold her home, and set out on a 5-year road trip in an RV with her dog. This is the story of how she found adventure, community, freedom, and herself on the road.
nonfiction + biographies & memoirs