5 Life Changing Fiction Books For Self Development

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Last Updated on April 6, 2024 by Isabelle Dias

Are you ready to dive into your personal development journey but want to add a fun twist to it? Well, you are in the right place, my dear! Today I will be sharing with you five of the best fiction books for self development that have the power to change your life for the better. 

Make sure to pin this little guide for later, at your favorite book lover Pinterest board, so you can always have it handy when you are ready to start your new reading.

Enough talk; let’s find out what fiction books are about to take your personal growth to another level!

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Fiction books for self improvement

The Midnight Library 

The Midnight Library is a story about Nora, who is unhappy with her life and full of regrets. She lives more inside her head than outside. Her days are filled with “what ifs,” she reminisces about her past and the choices made.

Then, in the middle of this sad, tedious chaos, she finds herself between life and death (figuratively and literally), and in this magical gap between time and space, she finds a library.

This fantastic place is filled with books that are actually versions of her own life. Each one of them a completely different dimension, formed for a choice that she made slightly differently somewhere along with life.

So now she has some questions: Does she dive into different versions of her own life? Is there a perfect version of her life? What choice would have made her the happiest? 

As someone obsessed with spirituality and metaphysics, this book was filled with references from both. And I found myself delighted and wanting to read it slowly, so it would last longer. Just like a delicious dessert, your grandma made for you on Sunday dinner.  

One of the main reasons this novel is also such a deep personal growth journey is Nora’s own questioning about life choices. How small decisions can create a life-changing impact…

You start making connections and cross-examine your own life, decisions, past, future, patterns of behaviors… 

This book has won the Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Fiction, and it’s being adapted into a movie… It’s worth all the hype. 

Fiction books about personal growth

The Vanishing Half

The Vanishing Half tells the family story of the twins Stella and Desiree Vignes, raised in a small community in the South during the Jim Crow years. They were inseparable as children but ran away to start a new life and create better opportunities for their future. That’s when things start to get complicated…

Many years later, the sisters who used to be so close live two completely different lives. One is working as a waitress in the town she escaped during her teenage years. The other one secretly passes for white, living a wealthy lifestyle on the West Coast, with her white husband, who suspects nothing.

Even after they lost all contact, miles away, and living completely different lives, the fate of the twins seems to still be entangled.

What will happen when the next generation tries to disrupt all the years of lies, fear, and complacency that have been built? 

This book got me wrapped up around its finger! I couldn’t wait until I had free minutes to grab it and devour it! It covers more than three decades in this family’s life without making me feel lost, not even for a single paragraph. It was written with a mastery that I’ve never seen before. 

I added to our list of fiction books that are a must-read for personal growth because the author Britt Bennet can bring everyone’s perspective into the mix. As you read and learn, you comprehend that there is no such thing as a “good” or “bad” person.

Everyone is trying their best with the emotional resources that they have available. It makes you understand how fear and the need to feel loved can make you do things that seem unimaginable to others but are your own tool for survival in that minute. 

Reading The Vanishing Half helped me become a more empathetic person to the people in my life, especially my family. That saying of “everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about” may be cliche but also is every single bit of truth. 

Best fiction self-help books

The Alchemist

This classic book tells the story of a simple shepherd boy who dreams of a hidden treasure in the pyramids of Egypt. To go after his dream, he needs to leave life as he knows behind it and trusts that he is being guided by good omens and that the Universe is working in his favor.

He will encounter unbelievable favor, burning passion, true love, and life-threatening challenges during this epic journey.

How far would you go to follow your dreams and become who you were meant to be? This is the central question of this story. 

The author Paulo Coelho is a fellow Brazilian. I grew up hearing stories about how he is secretly a wizard. And after reading The Alchemist, I get why.

The writing is as deep and intriguing as a sacred book is written. In the same way, you will find your heart feeling warm and your fears being put to rest as you go through the pages.

As I advanced in the shepherd boy story, I found answers to my longings, fears, and secret questions. It was like a guide on how to pursue your dreams. 

That’s the main reason why this book is so life-changing and connected to personal growth. It will teach you essential principles of living this brutiful (brutal + beautiful, as Glennon Doyle says) journey of bringing dreams to life while staying true to who you are.

It’s one of those books that you keep on the nightstand and go revisit often. 

Fiction self help books

The Authenticity Project

Our story starts with Julian, an eccentric artist who feels that people are not honest. So, he decided to do something about it and writes the truth about his own life in this beautiful green journal and invites the next person to read it to do the same.

He leaves this journal at a local coffee shop, with no idea what whirlwind turn of events this will unlock. The owner of the cafe, Monica, is the one who finds the book and, in the act of courage, decides to write her own truth in it and leaves the little notebook in a bar across the street.

Soon enough, more people come across the little book and have their lives touched and changed by it. Finding each other in real life with the unfair (and sometimes unrevealed) advantage of already knowing each other’s deepest secrets.  

This book will bring you characters with wildly different perspectives, ages, walks of life, ethnicities, and challenges. Like a cocaine addict, an Instagrammer mommy, a dreamy and chill Australian gardener, an uptight business owner, and Julian… the star of the book, in my opinion. 

Every chapter is narrated by one of the characters. So you get to see the same situation from entirely different perspectives. Learning their real motivations, fears, and points of view.

If this book was a movie, it would be a dramatic comedy, for sure. 

As far as personal growth goes, this book will make you think about how what someone else lets you see about who they are, rarely is the whole story (or the actual story).

People have reasons behind their decisions that sometimes can feel irrational but are deeply rooted in the need to be loved, seen, and understood. Some of the books I’ve already talked about here will help you develop more empathy towards the ones around you, so this one is joining the choir. 

Best fiction books for self development

Wonder

In Wonder, we learn the story of August, a kid that is lovable, smart, fun, and full of energy. So what makes him different from the other kids his age? He was born with a facial difference and, up until now, has been homeschooled.

Now he is about to start 5th grade in a new school and wants to be treated like the other kids, but his classmates have a hard time having August around. Is it possible to blend in when you were born to stand out? 

I absolutely love how much wisdom can be learned from children’s books when you go for it with an open heart. This heartfelt story is packed with enlightenment on empathy, compassion, and acceptance.

This book will make you feel all the emotions at once: joy, love, anger, sadness, and so much hope. 

When talking about personal development, be ready to question your own perspective and actions towards different people. Also, ask yourself: What does normal really mean, and why can we be so obsessed with it? 

To complement this marvelous reading, I recommend watching the movie, where you have incredible actors like Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, and David Diggs (forever Lafayette in my heart). Although, I do have to confess that I was heartbroken that one of my favorite parts of the book did not make the cut in the film…

So, when you read the book, just try to imagine how beautiful/cute/adorable it is when Auggie is singing Space Oddity (yep, by David Bowie) with his dad. 

That’s all for today! Those are my current favorite life–changing fiction books for self improvement. I am so excited to see where the lessons in them will take you! 

Drop a comment below if you need any help or just want to share some feedback about one of the books. I will LOVE to know what you thought of them after reading!

Also, let me know here in the comments: what is your current favorite fiction book? I am always looking to add more to my collection and would love your recommendations. 

Always remember: you deserve to live a life you are absolutely in love with! 

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