Books
Meghan Markle's "Badass Reading List" From Her Old Blog Tells Us A LOT About Her
An archived article from Meghan Markle's old lifestyle site The Tig is sure to excite every book-lover who is currently obsessed with the Royal Wedding. Back in March 2016, the soon-to-be America princess posted a "badass reading list" with five recommendations for books that make her feel like a "badass" — or, in her words, someone who is "strong of spirit, brave and fearless, self-aware yet selfless, and always striving to be the best version of themselves."
Back in April, Prince Harry's fiancé Meghan Markle shut down her lifestyle website, The Tig, which had been her little corner of the internet since 2014. At the time, Markle told People that the decision to close up shop had nothing to do with her upcoming marriage to Prince Harry, but her more recent departure from all social media — a move she made to fall in line with royal tradition — casts a bit of doubt on the reason for the site's closure. But of course, everyone has the right to be or not be on the internet to whatever extent they wish, and if someone decides to leave the web as the result of their healthy, mutual affection for another person, that's totally cool. Though, personally, I will miss Meghan Markle's recommendations on everything from dating to fitness.
These are the five "badass" books Meghan Markle recommended back, in case you want to get a jumpstart on your Royal Wedding reading:
'The Motivation Manifesto' by Brendon Burchard
"Annoyed by your self-doubt and distractions?" Markle writes. "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.'"
To tackle those feelings of self-doubt, Markle recommends reading The Motivation Manifesto by Brendon Burchard, a 2014 book that purports to help readers unlock freedom in their lives: "time freedom, emotional freedom, social freedom, financial freedom, spiritual freedom."
'The Four Agreements' by Don Miguel Ruiz
Don Miguel Ruiz's The Four Agreements re-purposes "ancient Toltec wisdom" to help readers live happy and fulfilling lives. Markle writes of the book: "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."
'The Little Prince' by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Calling it "an existential text (masked as a children's book)," Markle highly recommends The Little Prince, the most-translated non-religous book in the world. It's a book that has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years, with a Netflix movie adaptation under its belt, so you have all the more reason to put it on your nightstand.
'Who Moved My Cheese?' by Spencer Johnson
One Minute Manager author Spencer Johnson disrupted the self-help landscape when Who Moved My Cheese? became all anyone could talk about in 1998 — seriously, I remember this book, and I was eight years old when it came out. Talk about a hit. Markle first read it for an industrial engineering course she took while enrolled at Northwestern University and calls Who Moved My Cheese? "an invaluable quick read."
'The Tao of Pooh' by Benjamin Hoff
"Aspects of Taoism told through the characters of 'Winnie the Pooh' – I mean, does it get better?" Markle writes.
Nope, it doesn't. The Tao of Pooh argues that Pooh Bear is a Taoist, and the book serves as an introduction to the often-misunderstood Chinese philosophy.
