Hey everyone,
Anyone else been mainlining Phil Spector's Christmas?
I have it in a cracked jewel case on CD and it's been splitting time in our van lately with some Blue Jays talk radio and the very occasional moment of absolute, perfect silence.
For those interested in which of my books I recommend here's a quick gift guide.
My books and journals focus on happiness, gratitude, resilience, habits, and community, and they've sold over two million copies and been on bestseller lists for over 200 weeks. Don't take my word! There are over 35,000 reviews on Amazon and GoodReads.
Here they are from newest to oldest with a Perfect for under each one...
Neil
A Gift Guide to Neil Pasricha's Books
1. CANADA IS AWESOME (2025, KDP)
My home country has been big news this year since Trump said he was gonna annex us, after he said he would annex Greenland, before he said he would annex Panama. It felt like a good time to expand my little 5000-word 2017 'Canada Is Awesome' audiobook into a fresh 10,000 word essay. I posted it online for free (HTML, PDF, Audiobook, YT) and decided to Amazon self-publish it into stocking stuffers, sold at cost. It's a small book! 78 pages. Takes maybe an hour to read. Paperback is on Prime for $7.99 USD/$8.67 CAD but I do recommend the full-colour hardcover if you can swing it for $19.99 USD or $28.04 CAD. Full book details here and you can buy it on Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, or your local Amazon. (Books are at cost so if you'd like your local indie to carry it—just ask them!). Hardcover pics below, just click to zoom in.
Perfect for: Canadians, Canadian friends, Canadian neighbours, Canadian allies, & anybody who loves poutine...
2. TWO-MINUTE EVENINGS (2024, Chronicle)
The best gratitude game ever is Rose, Rose, Thorn, Bud. Simple! Short. Easy. At least a few days a week we play it with the kids around the kitchen table, sometimes Leslie and I play while brushing our teeth or before turning off the light. And when I'm traveling I do the practice solo in this journal. What is it? Simple. What was your Rose of the day? A highlight, gratitude, just one good thing that happened. "It was pizza day.", "I climbed the baseball fence to got the tennis ball.", "I got permission to take the Grade 8's to a play." Then: What's your second Rose? What's one more good thing that happened? "Max can come to my birthday.", "I got to interview someone whose books I've loved for a long time.", “I had time between kid drop off and getting to work to stop and get a warm tea.”, “Neil filled the car with gas for me.” Then a Thorn! What's one thing that didn't go well? A chance to vent, receive empathy. "I had 10 things to do today and I only did 1.", "I didn't make the volleyball team.", "I got into a fight with my dad." Share anything. No judgment. And no telling people what to do. Just listen! Finally, a Bud! What's one thing you're looking forward to? Great place to end because research shows looking forward to anything ... makes you happier. "Anticipation for future confers great benefits to human well-being and mental health." Leslie and I made 'Two Minute Evenings' to put this gratitude game into physical being—which helps us practice it. Like I said, I've got one in my suitcase and we have one at our bedside table, too. Buy it from Chronicle, Indigo, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com or your local Amazon. (Or if you're buying 25+ copies get a bulk discount here.)
Perfect for: anyone who gets into bed still thinking about their to-do list, people who want a calm nighttime ritual but don’t have time for a long routine, and anyone who loves ending the day with a pen and paper instead of a screen...
3. OUR BOOK OF AWESOME (2022, Simon & Schuster)
This book is a celebration of this community. I started putting it together in 2020 exactly ten years after 'The Book of Awesome'—the first one!—came out. This is the fourth and final one. Hundreds of new awesome things, 80% are written by me, 20% written by the community, with 100s of more comments, letters, and one-offs stitched in for a "back of the bus bumping through town" type of cacophony. The book speeds up and then finishes in a triumphant awesome climax. Buy it on Amazon, B&N, Bookshop, Indigo, or, if you're buying 25+ copies for a team or group, get a bulk discount here.
Perfect for: elementary school teachers, managers who want to open or close team meetings by flipping to a gratitude, bathroom readers, and, of course, hardcore fans of 'The Book of Awesome' who want the newest one....
Here are a few sample pages:
4. THE RESILIENCE EQUATION: How to Navigate Change, Wrestle With Failure, and Live an Intentional Life (2019, Simon & Schuster)
I wish this book was called 'The Resilience Equation' so that's what I'm calling it! I realize the cover still says 'You Are Awesome', but what are you going to do? Full disclosure: I did ask the good folks at Simon & Schuster if we could change it and they politely said ... no. I get it! That would be confusing. But it's confusing already because this is not at all a book of awesome things and despite what Amazon says this is not at all "book 4 of 4 in the AWESOME series." Let me set the record straight: This is my book on resilience. How to develop resilience as a skill—as a muscle. The book is 9 longform chapters combining research, memoir, self-talk, and habits like "Add A Dot-Dot-Dot", "Tell Yourself A Different Story", and "Untouchable Days." It's the book I wrote after 'The Happiness Equation' and has a similar 9-step guidebook structure. It's my favourite book I've written and the one I'm proudest of. Buy it on Amazon, B&N, Bookshop, Indigo, or Walmart. (Or if you're buying 25+ copies get a bulk discount here.)
Perfect for: anyone going through personal change or a recent flop or just having a rough go, corporate folks looking for a new shape or direction in their careers, people who read 'The Happiness Equation' and want "the follow up"...
5. TWO-MINUTE MORNINGS (2017, Chronicle Books)
This is the most popular journal I've ever written and every single page is just 3 simple science-backed prompts:
I will let go of...
I am grateful for...
I will focus on...
I wrote this Harvard Business Review article about the journal's origin and then HBR made it into this YouTube video with a hilarious graphic of me where my beard is gigantic and I got into a car accident? LOL.
Anyway, the journal has sold a lot because it works. It's a quick and easy therapeutic morning intervention to prime the brain to look for the positive throughout the day. What's the benefit? A positive mindset results in 31% higher productivity, 37% higher sales, 3x more creativity, 48% closer relationships, stronger marriages, and even a longer lifespan. I say: Move the phone off your bedside table or (better yet) out of the bedroom completely and when you first open your eyes—when you're in that precious liminal state migrating from your subconscious to your conscious—start your day by centering and grounding yourself before jumping into the onslaught. Click here to buy on Chronicle, Amazon.ca, Amazon.com or your local Amazon. (Or if you're buying 25+ copies get a bulk discount here.)
Perfect for: anyone looking to mentally reset in 2025, people who want to begin a journaling practice but feel too busy, anyone who's always wanted to have a book with one of those ribbony-bookmark things hanging out of it...
Here are a few sample pages:
6. THE HAPPINESS EQUATION (2016, Penguin)
Leslie told me she was pregnant on the flight home from our honeymoon and I spent the majority of the next nine months writing a 300-page letter to my unborn son on how to live a happy life. Inside are big, practical ideas like be happy first (not after you hit the goal), do it for you (not for them), and never retire from what you love, plus tools to help with everything from making decisions to managing time and expectations. It’s part love letter, part playbook for building a life that actually feels good on the inside, not just impressive on the outside. Click here to buy on Indigo, B&N or Amazon. (Or if you're buying 25+ copies get a bulk discount here.)
Perfect for: leaders and aspiring leaders of teams, college students dealing with anxiety or overwhelm, anyone working a corporate job as I was working a very corporate job when I wrote it...
7. AWESOME IS EVERYWHERE (2015, Penguin)
This is my picture book which is stated for ages 2-5 but really offers anyone a simple three-minute introduction to guided meditation. You start by looking at the earth from outer space and then 'tap' to keep zooming in ... until you're eventually staring at grains of sand, flipping the book over your head to dip under water, and zooming back out of again. I was inspired by my own children's love of books like 'Press Here'. Comes in a big (expensive) vivid picture-book format with a mirror in the back and a (cheaper) board-book format. You can watch the trailer here. Click here to buy on Indigo, B&N or Amazon. (Or if you're buying 25+ copies get a bulk discount here.)
Perfect for: new babies or grandbabies, elementary school teachers (Leslie wrote a teacher's guide!), anybody looking for a simple introduction to gratitude and guided meditation...
8. THE BOOK OF (HOLIDAY) AWESOME (2011, Penguin)
Funny story: I'd say one in ten people tell me this is their favorite of my books. It was in print for five years and was on bestseller lists every week in December for each of those five years. But the other 11 months? Moth balls. The publisher said they couldn't keep a book in print that only sells one month a year so they remaindered it. Now this book floats through the universe like some kind of ivory-billed woodpecker. Click here to buy on Indigo or Amazon.
Perfect for: holiday superfans, hosts and hostesses, families who love reading a page or two aloud together, teachers or coworkers you want to thank with something small but meaningful, and anyone who secretly loves the season…
9. THE BOOK OF (EVEN MORE) AWESOME (2011, Penguin)
This is the “you finished the first one and wanted another” book. The is the second 400-page pile of everyday delights. Pulling a weed and getting all the roots with it. When your windshield wipers match the beat of the song you're listening to. When the person you're meeting is even later than you are. Get it from your local indie, Amazon, B&N, Bookshop, or Indigo. (Or if you're buying 25+ copies get a bulk discount here.)
Perfect for: people who want a pile of awesome things around, hosts and coworkers impossible to shop for, teens who are “not really readers"...
10. THE BOOK OF AWESOME (2010, Penguin)
