Maria Bamford's Reading List

"This book is awesome. It’s step by step. I’ve thought about calling the writer myself, she just sounds so great. (She works with individuals to help get them unblocked.) One thing I do with books that people would probably hate, I cut things out of them that inspire me, so my copy of this book is all cut up. I put the pieces in my calendar or my journal. For example, ‘A Supportive and Practical Guide to Working Through Writer’s Block,’ which is just the subtitle of the book, I cut that out be..."

"When I was finally able to save a little extra money and wanted to know what to do — how to prepare for retirement, how to learn about investments — I thought I’d pick this up. [Before that] I’d watched a lot of Suze Orman, which had terrified me: ‘You have $2.5 million. You cannot retire until the age of 75.’ I’d see that and think ‘Oh my God!’ This book is airtight and has a lovely way of writing. The first chapter especially is just really hopeful! It’s like, ‘calm down.’ It’s great."

"[While] Personal Finance for Dummies is definitely an education in financial terms, Get a Life: You Don’t Need a Million to Retire Well is about quality of life. This writer interviewed hundreds of people and found that the ones who had the most personal connections — who are reaching out and creating meaning in their lives, who have a plan and a vision for it — are happiest. There’s a whole chapter on friendship. Make younger friends, make friends outside of work, and get involved in your co..."

"The Gottman books are about the science of bid response. This is hilarious; my husband and I are driving to the airport right now, and I hope I’m giving him accurate directions and ‘responding to his bids.’ I hadn’t been putting [that practice] towards work, friendship, or my community. I’d think, ‘Oh, yeah, of course I’d love to be involved in the neighborhood,’ but how many times have I said no to community-oriented things? Oh, almost every time. My husband and I were reading [ The Relation..."

"This is my sister’s latest book. It’s her story — a memoir about reinvention. She was a pathologist for about 15 years, lived in Duluth, Minn., bought a giant house and had four children… She was kind of a super-doer. She slowly started going part time and eventually transformed herself into a life coach and a practitioner of shamanic healing. It’s very brave. In L.A. it’s OK to do something like that, but where she lives it’s a risky choice. She has two other books, Born to Freak and What th..."

"This is on my reading list. I’ve read [Julia Cameron’s] The Artist’s Way so many times that the words have lost all meaning to me. I’m like, ‘I know, I know. I understand! I’m doing my pages. I’m doing my artist dates.’ So I just want to read it again, but with different stories. This book is co-written by her business manager Emma Lively. It’s about memoir writing too, which interests me. [In addition to the Artist’s Way exercises] this book adds ‘solo walks’ to ‘quell anxiety and clear the..."