Reading daily makes you a better person. Just ask science. According to research, picking up a book once a day has a multitude of health benefits and might just be the key to living your best life. Along with alleviating symptoms of depression and helping you sleep better, one study showed that reading can even help you live longer, and we are here for all of that.
If you're ready to level up your literary game and have already burnt through your personal library, Jada Pinkett Smith recently slid through with a few must-read books that you can add to your Amazon wish list ASAP.
In addition to The Mists of Avalon, The Red Tent, and The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother, Jada also recommended Wild Seed by black female sci-fi writer Octavia E. Butler, and what she calls her favorite book of all-time, The Coldest Winter Ever.
With Jada inspiring us all to put Sistah Souljah back on our regularly scheduled reading list, we took some time to explore and compile a list of a few other celebrity-recommended books that you didn't know you needed in your life. There's nothing like winding down and rolling up with a good read.
Here's a compilation of titles that will get your spring reading list all the way together. Scroll below for details:
Issa Rae - 'The Alchemist'
Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com
"I read 'The Alchemist' during a transitional period in my life, and it just made me think differently."
Regina Hall - 'Freedom in Exile: The Autobiography of The Dalai Lama'
Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock.com
Michelle Obama - 'Song of Solomon'
Debby Wong / Shutterstock.com
"One of the books that I loved — one of the first books that I loved and read cover to cover in one day — not because anybody made me read it but because the book was good ... it was a book called 'Song of Solomon' by Toni Morrison. And that book helped me love reading, because before then reading was kind of like something you did when you had to do it. But that book, it like grabbed me and pulled me, and I just kept reading and kept reading."
Michelle Williams - 'The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself'
s_bukley / Shutterstock.com
Taraji P. Henson - 'The 5 Love Languages'
DFree / Shutterstock.com
"I'd been single for so long and the book opened my eyes on what it would be like to commit to someone forever."
Phylicia Rashad - 'Play of Consciousness: A Spiritual Autobiography'
lev radin / Shutterstock.com
Kelly Rowland - 'Waiting to Exhale'
Tinseltown / Shutterstock.com
"I learned about friendship through this book. Some stuff I didn't quite understand because it was talking about marriage and I read it in my teens, but it taught me how important my friends are."
Misty Copeland - 'The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment'
lev radin / Shutterstock.com
Featured Image via Instagram/@JadaPinkettSmith.