Before becoming the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle was an actor who made extra cash moonlighting as a freelance calligrapher and teaching classes on book binding. She also ran a now-shuttered lifestyle blog, The Tig, where she wrote about food, travel, fashion, humanitarian work, and favorite books.
In one of many reading recommendation posts, Markle shared a list of 5 books for any lady looking to connect with her inner-badass. Of it, she wrote:
“To me, a badass is one who is strong of spirit, brave and fearless, self-aware yet selfless, and always striving to be the best version of themselves. If that sounds like you, or the ‘you’ that you would like to be, then add one of these gems to your spring reading list. The self-work is always worth it.”
Find Meghan Markle’s badass book list below, and a full list of every book she recommended over at Book Riot.
The Motivation Manifesto by Brendon Burchard
“Annoyed by your self-doubt and distractions? The noise that keeps you from reaching your potential? Okay, so yeah. Me too. Even on my most Sasha Fierce days there’s a mean little voice in there going, ‘Hmmm…I’m not sure if you can, or should, or if you’re good enough to.'” -MM
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz (also rec’d by Ellen DeGeneres & Yoko Ono)
“My mom gave me a copy of this book when I was 13 years old. And to this day, I constantly circle back to the Don Miguel Ruiz classic for the simplest ways to simplify your life.” -MM
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (also rec’d by Hayao Miyazaki, Mr. Rogers, Stevie Nicks & Trevor Noah)
“I have long been obsessed with this book, and specifically with The Little Fox. Even if I don’t revisit the entire existential text (masked as a children’s book), the chapter of The Little Fox unearths a truth in me that is always worth the check-in.” -MM
Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson
“A professor at Northwestern University had this book on our list of required reading for an Industrial Engineering class I took my junior year of college. It was a seemingly odd choice, but at the end of the day, the takeaway was a self-empowerment and motivational bent that I apply to decision making in my life to this very day. It’s an invaluable quick read.” -MM
The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
“Aspects of Taoism told through the characters of Winnie the Pooh – I mean, does it get better? This is a speed read that you can easily whip through in a day, but trust me when I say that you will revisit it time and time again for its refreshing perspective on how to move in the world.” -MM
(via Book Riot)