Hello Reader,

We know you’re always looking for your next good read, so we have some great recommendations.

Every month, you’ll receive team CGF’s top picks of books to help you improve your finances, advance your career, practice self-care, or get lost in a fantasy world.

Here is our list of September book recommendations!

• Note: This book list contains affiliate links from Amazon. Clever Girl Finance is an Amazon Associate which means we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases. These commissions help us keep our resources free!
  ​
• We also encourage you to support your local independent booksellers! You can search by your location here.​
  ​
• Love this email? You'll love our books too! Check out the Clever Girl Finance book series, including Clever Girl Millionaire — written to help you build real, lasting wealth.

Finance pick: Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth

You’ve learned to budget, you’ve curbed your spending, and you even secured a raise last quarter. Yet, you still haven't reached the wealth and financial freedom you desire.

The hard truth is that all your efforts will only take you so far until you work on your money blueprint. Your blueprint is the set of subconscious beliefs that determine how you build and manage wealth.

You might be wondering: how can you undo thoughts and beliefs you aren't even fully aware of? Secrets of the Millionaire Mind will help you reset your mindset so you can unlock your true wealth potential. The book will teach you the following:

• Understand your blueprint: Learn how childhood experiences may be keeping you from achieving financial success, and discover how to break old patterns to create lasting freedom.
  ​
• Think like the rich: Master practical strategies to align your thoughts and actions with those of the wealthy.
  ​
• Build lasting wealth: Beyond just increasing your income, you'll learn the exact steps needed to manage and continually grow your money.
  ​
• Create an unstoppable money mindset: Stop letting negative beliefs hold you back. Replace them with the powerful mindset required to win the money game.

The reason you aren't where you want to be financially may have little to do with how you budget or which savings account you use. Instead, your subconscious programming might be what is holding you back. Learn the inner work required to help unlock the wealthier version of yourself.

Business/Career pick: From Individual to Empire: A Guide to Building an Authentic and Powerful Brand

If you're someone with a platform and an audience, you've probably built somewhat of a personal brand and if are thinking of building a platform, having a personal brand is necessary. However, to truly influence and stand out, you need to know how to leverage your brand into a powerful force for your business.

For anyone looking to grow their career within the media space, From Individual to Empire gives you step-by-step strategies and easy-to-follow exercises to take your brand beyond likes and shares and turn it into real influence.

Author and brand strategist Laura Bull, draws from years of experience working with well-known artists and musicians to show you how to authentically grow your brand and scale your business—all while staying true to yourself.

By the end of this book, you'll have a clearly defined brand that aligns with your core values, differentiates you from competitors, and gives you a roadmap for long-term brand development.

Explore the Clever Girl Finance Learning Platform + Community!🎉

Whether you’ve taken our courses before, haven’t started yet, or want a fresh reset, this is the perfect moment to dive in. The new platform is easier to navigate, community-driven, and built to support you from start to finish.

​Make the last few month of 2026 count!​

👉 We’d love for you to join us: Click here to set up your account.

Self care pick: You Can Heal Your Life: 40th Anniversary Edition

For over 40 years, You Can Heal Your Life has helped readers learn to lead happier and healthier lives. The 40th-anniversary edition comes with beautiful illustrations by Kelly Rae Roberts while carrying the same timeless wisdom from Louise Hay on how the way we think affects our health and life.

This book brings to light how negative thoughts can not only affect our emotions but also lead to physical ailments. You Can Heal Your Life helps you harness the power of positive affirmations.

Over the decades, readers have consistently said that this book changed their lives. Louise Hay's words have a way of guiding you to understand your personal issues and providing a clear framework to work through them.

If you're tired of constantly being weighed down by negativity and old emotional wounds, this book will help you look inside yourself to become your own beacon of light. Become the person you were meant to be and live the life you've dreamed of by healing yourself from the inside out.

Fiction Pick: The Secret Life of Bees

Fourteen-year-old Lily spends most of her days daydreaming about a mother she barely knew. In the absence of her mother, Lily forms a deep attachment to her nanny, Rosaleen. Growing up in the South during the 1960s, racial tensions are high.

When Rosaleen angers local racists, she must flee for her safety, and Lily escapes with her to Tiburon, South Carolina.In this Southern town, Lily discovers more about her mother while taking refuge with a group of female beekeepers.

The story unfolds around Lily's journey, speaking to a process of healing and self-discovery that every reader can relate to. The pages don't just tell you what Lily is experiencing; the delicately crafted metaphors and vivid details pull your imagination straight into the deep South.

​The Secret Life of Bees is one of those profound books that deserves a spot on your bookshelf as a instant classic or a book you read again and again.

Personal development pick: Everything You’ll Ever Need You Can Find Within Yourself

Many self-help books are instructional, telling you how to solve a problem or build a habit. Rarely do these books speak to you like an old friend, reminding you of the greatness that already lies within you.

A collection of reflections and prose, Everything You'll Ever Need (You Can Find Within Yourself) addresses the universal experiences we all go through but rarely talk about.

Whether it's heartbreak, learning to trust yourself, people-pleasing, or struggling with self-worth, we all look for the one thing that can "fix" us.

However, this book reminds us that we don't need fixing—that who you are is already enough, and that everything you've been looking for is inside of you.

Join me on Tuesday Sept 22nd at 12:00 Noon ET for a members-only sessions where we'll discuss creating your debt payoff plan. Work on your money, ask me your questions, and stay accountable. Can't make it live? Members can catch the replay anytime. SIGNUP FOR THIS NEXT SESSION

​

Which book will you start the fall season with?

Which book are you considering? Let us know in the comments!

Don’t forget you can stay motivated and learn other financial tips and tricks from our completely free financial courses.​

Happy reading! ❤️
Team CGF