Books about Self-Discovery

Books about Self-Discovery

Editors: Leah Howland and Chloe Tiernan 

All the books we are recommending highlight issues that affect how humans relate to   ourselves, to one another, and to the natural world. Each one helps us to understand the    role that we play in the larger picture. 

Each category of book recommendation has something unique that can draw readers from    various backgrounds and keep them engaged. These books help us to think critically about our  lives through another lens, while bringing that lens to our shared experiences.  

• Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail recommended by Orianna Cotten 
• Where The Crawdads Sing recommended by Mallory Allen
• Bud Finds Her Gift recommended by Jayden Levitsky
• Prodigal Summer recommended by Cameron Jefferson
• Amor Mundi recommended by Cassandra Bolesh

Discoveries in the Wild

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed describes the solitary journey of an inexperienced hiker over 1,100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail. Strayed wrote this book with honesty and vulnerability, combining her experiences on the trail and the situations in her life that drove her to this decision. 

Strayed discovers many different versions of herself as she travels, thus providing her audience with a character they can relate to in many different ways. Her descriptions of both the scenery that became her home for those few months and the mishaps that occurred along her journey captivate her audience and instill within them an ambition to undertake a similar trip of their own. The stories she shares of the people she met along the way restore a faith in humanity that you only truly discover when you are dependent on others’ kindness. 

Wild dives headlong into the ability we have to hurt others when it is we ourselves who are truly hurting. In writing this book, Strayed reveals a side of herself that proved difficult to come to terms with. In introducing such a vulnerable time of her life, she sets the tone of the novel and expresses how her time in the wild changes her for the better. This transparency connects to her audience in a way that only true honesty can. 

Wild is a book about self-discovery and the hope we can have in a better tomorrow. Strayed proves through her journey that you can push through anything if you are willing to give up everything.

The Marsh’s Embrace: Where a Young Girl’s Heart Resides

Mallory Allen

The indelible novel Where the Crawdads Sing written by Delia Owens follows the life of a young girl by the name Kya Clark. Abandoned by her entire family in her youth, she is left to survive by herself in the deep marshes of North Carolina. This wild landscape she calls home becomes a comfort to her like no other, but it also proves to be a great challenge as well. 

The marsh shapes every aspect of her life and identity as she learns how to survive and endure on her own. Growing up in the marsh, Kya gains an undeniable understanding of the world around her. She forms a strong bond with the land, as she observes how the insects, birds, plants, and fish survive in such adverse conditions, reflecting a life much like her own. 

However, this isolation also causes her to face prejudice from the locals, experiencing constant ridicule and rumors. When Chase Andrews, a local football star, goes missing, all eyes fall upon Kya, the so-called “marsh girl.” This suspicion ultimately leads to Kya Clark’s arrest, forcing her to fight for freedom and a chance to return to the marsh, the only place she’s ever known. Kya spends months locked in a cell where she battles against a town who has always misjudged her. 

This novel by Owens appeals to those who love to dive into other worlds through vivid imagery and rich storytelling. Where the Crawdads Sing blends together genres like mystery, coming-of-age, and even romance, which is sure to appeal to various audiences. Through her storytelling abilities, Owens has fabricated a novel that is haunting, emotional, and unforgettable. After reading this book, one is left with a message so impactful it’s almost impossible to forget.

Chloe M (Unfinished)

Prodigal Summer: The Rejection of Isolation

Cameron Jefferson

Prodigal Summer is a beautifully crafted story that weaves together the journeys of three individuals who live in the Appalachian Mountains. Deanna Wolfe, and her romance with the hunter Eddie Bando. Lusa Maluf, the grieving widow in conflict with her late-husband's in-laws. And last but not least, the rivalry between Garrett Walker and Nannie Rawley., two farmers and elderly neighbors with vastly different approaches to the practice. 

Prodigal Summer above all else is a story that fights against the idea of isolation, showing that there is no such thing. Each of our main cast is isolated in one way or another. I want to keep this short and simple so I’m going to talk about one of the stories, as to give an idea what to expect from the rest of the book and why you should read it. 

Deanna is a biologist who lives by herself in the mountainside, studying coyotes. She used to be married and teach in the city but decided that it wasn’t for her. She decides to live alone up in the mountains in a cabin by herself aiming for her life's goal of gaining a deeper connection with nature. However, after meeting Eddie, she begins to open her mind to new perspectives. By summer's end she finds out that she’s pregnant. 

Both Eddie and Deanna throughout the summer as Eddie comes and goes, clash ideologically. With Deanna not aligning with his hunting practice, and Eddie viewing his practice as a necessary one, as he comes from a family of sheep farmers who are naturally skeptical of animals like coyotes. Deanna acknowledges this, so she doesn’t tell Eddie about the pregnancy as he departs from the mountain in August. 

Deanna was attracted to Eddie physically, but, mentally, their values differed too much for her to commit, and his values clashed with her independent nature too much for the relationship to really last. However, she is a changed person. No longer is she the isolated mountain girl she’s been for years. While she hasn’t lost her independence, she has embraced responsibility and community with the new baby on the way. She even asks Nannie if she can live with her, come September, something she would have never even considered before what transpired during the summer. 

When Essays Replace a Book: Amor Mundi

Cassandra Bolesh

The book I am recommending is actually a series of essays. Specifically, I am recommending Kira Walker’s creative writing essays published on her Substack, titled Amor Mundi. Although she has an extensive successful history in nonfiction journalism, in recent years Kira has shifted gears to freelance writing. 

Throughout the past eight months, author Kira Walker has been exploring themes of environmental justice and her own personal reflections to write enticing creative writing articles. Enticing in which her words are like a vine, extending to a reader and wrapping them in-even though the topics she covers are often grave. She seems to follow a pattern of posting one article a month, right around the 24th.

Kira has an impressive history of journalism as a foundation for her writing. This journey that she’s embarked on, to flow into freelance writing, gives her the power to write about whatever she’d like to, however she’d like to. In an era where we as Gen-Z college students are flooded by fake news and hours of internet brain rot, but also rigorous academic textbooks, it’s important for us to have access to information that is both informative and engaging. That’s where Kira’s articles come in. 

Kira’s creative essays are also appealing to a wide range of college students, from STEM majors to art students to liberal arts students and everyone in between. Her works encapsulate and reflect the way the minds of both artists and environmentalists think; noticing everything in the world that surrounds them. This way of thinking is instrumental to a creative and sustainable life and future. Anyone who reads her essays is inspired and all the better for it. 

Kira's essays center on grief, loss, and solastalgia, the particular longing for a lost place. We met with Kira on Zoom in November, and she explained her goal as a writer. She strives to share vulnerability in order to evoke empathy in her readers, so they might care more about the subjects of her essays, which are ecosystems in terrible jeopardy because of human impacts.

One of my favorite parts of Kira’s writings is that she covers topics many are too cowardly to, such as the genocide in Palestine (here and here), which she connects to her broader themes. And maybe cowardly isn’t the word, but afraid is. According to the UN, “more than 260 media professionals were killed in the recent hostilities in Gaza-the deadliest conflict for journalists in decades” (United Nations, 2025). One could hypothesize that Kira’s history of freelance journalism in the Middle East around 2015 and the rise of ISIS has contributed to her bravery in writing now.

Though one article a month may not seem like a lot, it’s important to remember that in this age of misinformation, sometimes less is more. Kira’s articles are packed with personal stories and facts that could take until the next article is published, a month later, to fully chew on and start to digest. Her articles have tenacity, and fullness to them. They’re also full of invitations to follow various research trails, down into the rabbit hole and back again until they all connect.