Before the age of handheld electronic devices (i.e. cell phones), reading books was required to gain knowledge. Nowadays, if we need to learn something, we can pull our phones out of our pocket, do a quick search, or ask one of the various AI platforms to find the answer for us. People are so occupied with social media and the internet that reading an actual book tends to take a backseat. I know that there are still a lot of people who enjoy reading, but I feel like all of these recent technological advances over the last 15 years has made it really easy for people not to pick up a book. Reading offers many benefits, such as mental stimulation for your brain, improved memory, stronger analytical skills, improved focus & concentration, and an opportunity to for knowledge expansion, to name a few. That being said, I wanted to do something a little different this month and share a few of my favorite health-related books that I’ve read over the past few years. If you like to read or find yourself wanting to learn something new, I encourage you to check out one of the below books.

Sleep Smarter – “21 Essential Strategies to Sleep Your Way to a Better Body, Better Health, and Bigger Success: A Longevity Book” This is a phenomenal book on sleep written by Shawn Stevenson, host of the popular health podcast The Model Health Show. It’s great for anyone who wants to learn how to improve their sleep, feel more refreshed, & achieve longevity for a happier/healthier life. It does a great job providing simple, one-step strategies to improve sleep habits. It’s been a game-changer for my nightly sleep routine.

Atomic Habits – “An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad ones” This was a book I read last year by James Clear. In this best seller, he gives practical strategies that will teach you how to form good habits and break bad ones. It offers a proven framework for improving yourself every single day. If you want to learn how to eliminate some bad habits from your everyday life, this book can help you accomplish that.

Young Forever – “The Secrets to Living Your Lonest, Healthiest Life” This book is written by Dr. Mark Hyman, a Functional Medicine Physician & host of the popular podcast The Dr. Hyman Show. This book offers an interesting take on aging and treats each of the common lifestyle diseases people tend to see later in life as side effects (symptoms) of aging poorly and gives solutions to each one. This book helped me gain a greater understanding of the hallmarks of aging and understanding some of the keys to longevity. This book is probably the most technical on the list, but the information is great.

Eat Smarter – “Use the Power of Food to Reboot Your Metabolism, Upgrade Your Brain, & Transform Your Life” If cleaning up your diet or losing some weight are one of your 2026 health goals, this book may be for you. This book was also written by Shawn Stevenson to serve as a guide to help you lose weight, boost your metabolism, and live a happier/better life. It does a great job breaking down why certain foods are bad, why others are good, and provides some of the science behind the rationale. By having a better understanding of what makes certain foods better for you than others, you can feel more empowered about the dietary choices you are making.

The 5 AM Club – “Own Your Morning, Elevate Your Life” This is a great book written by the world renowned leadership expert Robin Sharma. In this book he lays out a plan for helping you reduce stress, improve focus, unleash creativity, achieve greater productivity, and restore balance to your day. The 5 AM Club will help you be more productive by adding an hour to the beginning of your day. The author tells a captivating story about two seemingly fictional people while still do in a great job teaching the reader how to establish a bulletproof morning routine.

I encourage you to give one of these books a chance, implement some of the principles within, and see the positive effects they have on you. I don’t know what your specific health goals are for 2026, but the aforementioned books cover a wide array of topics. If you want to prioritize sleep this year, Sleep Smarter would be a great read. If you want to be more productive and take full advantage of your day, The 5 AM Club is a good place to start. This is not the definitive list of books to read, but these are a few of the titles I’ve read recently that benefited me greatly. Let’s all try to take a bit of a break from screens this year and spend more time staring at a book. Happy reading!

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