Recent Releases
November 2025
Writing Creativity and Soul by Sue Monk Kidd
Writing Creativity and Soul
by Sue Monk Kidd

From the bestselling author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Book of Longings: an intimate work on the mysteries, frustrations, and triumphs of being a writer, and an instructive guide to awakening the soul. When Sue Monk Kidd was in high school, a home economics teacher wrote a list of potential occupations for women on the blackboard: teacher, nurse, librarian, secretary. Writer was nowhere to be found. On that day, Kidd shut the door on her writerly aspirations and would not revisit the topic until many years later when she announced to her husband and two children that she was going to become a writer. And so began her journey into the mysteries and methods of the writerly life... In Writing Creativity and Soul, Sue Monk Kidd will pull from her own life and the lives of other writers--Virginia Woolf, Maya Angelou, Harper Lee, and many others--to provide a map for anyone who has ever felt lost as a writer. At the heart of this book is the unwavering belief that writing is a spiritual act, one that draws inspiration from the soul, that wellspring of creativity between imagination and feeling. Once you tap into that part of yourself, said Maya Angelou, there are only three more things you need as a writer: something to say, the ability to say it, and, perhaps most difficult of all, the courage to say it. Equal parts memoir, guidebook, and spiritual quest, Writing Creativity and Soul is a pilgrimage and a touchstone, a journey into the transformational force of the imagination and the creative genius that lies in the unconscious.
Little Alleluias: Collected Poetry and Prose by Mary Oliver
Little Alleluias: Collected Poetry and Prose
by Mary Oliver

For the many admirers of Mary Oliver's ... poetry of touch and transcendence, as well as for those coming to her words for the first time, Little Alleluias is a revelation. These works observe, search, pause, astonish, and give thanks to both love and the natural world. In constant conversation with the sublime, ... Oliver has the rare skill of rendering life: her poems bring movement to stillness, and people to the Earth, themselves, and each other. Her essays declare her heart and her home, too, alongside thoughts on Wordsworth, Emerson, and Hawthorne--the odes and elegies of Provincetown's resident poet. On each page, Mary Oliver invites us to walk through her minutes, her moments, and revere the light and dark and rainbowed clothes of world alongside her.
Awake: A Memoir by Jen Hatmaker
Awake: A Memoir
by Jen Hatmaker

From Jen Hatmaker beloved New York Times bestselling author and host of the For the Love podcast a brutally honest, funny, and revealing memoir about the traumatic end of her twenty-six-year-long marriage, and the beginning of a different kind of love story.--
Poems & Prayers by Matthew McConaughey
Poems & Prayers
by Matthew McConaughey

An inspiring, faith-filled, and often hilarious collection of personal poetry and prayers about navigating the rodeo of life and chasing down the original dream: belief.
Jump and Find Joy: Embracing Change in Every Season of Life by Hoda Kotb
Jump and Find Joy: Embracing Change in Every Season of Life
by Hoda Kotb

From #1 New York Times bestselling author and beloved former Today co-host Hoda Kotb comes her most personal, ambitious book yet--a guide to dealing with change and upheaval, even (and perhaps especially) when it's unexpected. Hoda Kotb didn't expect to join the Today show at age forty-four. Or to become a mother at fifty-two. Or to leave Today and embark on a new adventure at sixty Change doesn't always arrive when we expect it, and its effects are anything but predictable. But Hoda believes that the benefits of change can be extraordinary...if we're willing to listen to and learn from them. In the tradition of books like Savannah Guthrie's Mostly What God Does and Maria Shriver's I've Been Thinking comes Hoda Kotb's Jump and Find Joy--an intimate book that reveals for the first time what Hoda discovered as she started embracing change in every aspect of her life. In her quest to better understand change and how to work with (not against) it, Hoda relies on her reporting instincts to investigate HOW change works, WHO is approaching it with grace, and WHAT she can apply to her own life and share with others. Jump and Find Joy combines the wisdom of change experts, insights from the latest work on resilience, and deeply personal stories from celebrities and inspirational people in our own communities. From small shifts in daily routines to major leaps of faith, Hoda shows why change isn't to be feared but celebrated...and how each of us can thrive in the midst of changes we'll inevitably face ourselves.
Strong Ground: The Lessons of Daring Leadership, the Tenacity of Paradox, and the Wisdom of the Human Spirit by Brené Brown
Strong Ground: The Lessons of Daring Leadership, the Tenacity of Paradox, and the Wisdom of the Human Spirit
by Brené Brown

Brene Brown returns with an urgent call to reimagine the essentials of courageous leadership. In a time when uncertainty runs deep and bluster, hubris, and even cruelty are increasingly framed as acceptable leadership, Brown delivers practical, actionable insights that illuminate the mindsets and skill sets essential to reclaiming focus and driving growth through connection, discipline, and accountability. Over the past six years, Bren Brown, along with a global community of coaches and facilitators, has taken more than 150,000 leaders in 45 countries through her Dare to Lead courage-building work. In Strong Ground, Brown shares the lessons from these experiences along with wisdom from other thinkers. This is a vital playbook for everyone from senior leaders developing and executing complex strategies to Gen Z-ers entering and navigating turbulent work environments. It is also an unflinching assessment of what happens when we continue to perpetuate the falsehood that performance and wholeheartedness are mutually exclusive. With equal amounts of optimism and caution about AI, Brown writes, I hear a lot of experts trying to soothe people's anxiety about the pace of technological change by offering platitudes like, What makes us human will ensure our relevance. This is dangerous simply because, right now, we're not especially good at what makes us human. We're not hardwired for this level of uncertainty, and many of us feel as if the constant need to self-protect is driving the humanity right out of us. This is why organizational transformation today must foster deep connection, deep thinking, and deep collaboration. We need the courage to lead people in a way that honors and protects the wisdom of the human spirit. Brown offers a broad assessment of the skill sets and mindsets we need moving forward, including the capacity for respectful and difficult conversations, increased productive urgency and smart prioritization rather than reactivity, and strategic risk-taking, paradoxical thinking, and situational and anticipatory awareness skills. She identifies the toughest skill set as the discipline, humility, and confidence to unlearn and relearn. Brown writes, Individuals and organizations are building new muscles. Finding our strong ground--that athletic stance--is the only thing that can provide both unwavering stability in a maelstrom of uncertainty and a platform for the fast, explosive change that the world is demanding.
Contact your librarian for more great books!

Tel: 603.485.6092
Txt: 844-854-4475
hplbooks@hooksettlibrary.org
hooksettlibrary.org