The buzz is building around Sara DiVello‘s debut memoir, Where in the OM Am I? Picked as one of the best books to take to the beach this summer by Shape.com, Where in the OM Am I? also received a rave review from Kirkus Reviews: “a must-read for yogis (or would-be yogis) who enjoy a little snarkiness with their savasana.” It’s an irreverent, honest, and hilarious memoir chronicling one woman’s journey from the fast-paced, cutthroat corporate world, to the slow-paced, surprisingly catty, and sometimes perilous world of yoga. In honor of the new release, Sara chose the six books that inspired her to get out of the corporate grind:

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

“I was sitting in my office, trapped inside on yet another perfect spring day in 2007. My cousin Katelyn called me from her vacation on a lake in the Poconos. ‘You have to read this book,’ she said. ‘Get a pen. Write it down. Right now. Are you getting a pen?’ I got a pen, scrawled the name in my work notebook, and went out to buy it at lunch. I laughed at the opening paragraph. I read on. Gilbert wrote about the guilt of having everything you should want, but feeling empty. She wrote about wanting more. I’d been unhappy for years at my job, but felt stuck, mired in the guilt of having a ‘good job.’ I thought it should be enough that I actually had a job and could pay my bills. This book gave me permission to want more. I quit my corporate job eight months later.”

The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry by Kathleen Flinn

“I found this book wandering through the aisles at my local bookstore. I liked the cover, I was intrigued by the title. I read it voraciously. Flinn had spent years climbing the corporate ladder and felt trapped in a job she didn’t love; I had spent years climbing the corporate ladder and felt trapped in a job I didn’t love. Flinn loves to cook; I love to cook. Flinn got laid off; I’d previously been laid off. Flinn took her severance package, and disregarding the ‘sensible thing’ of banking it and looking for a new job, moved to Paris and enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu. I’d taken my severance package…and actually done the ‘sensible thing,’ of banking it (it was only two weeks of pay) and had immediately started looking for another corporate job. I still haven’t been to Paris. But Flinn’s lilting, lyrical description of the city and what it’s like to attend the world’s most-famous cooking school—not to mention the recipes!—made me want to do something that I loved too.”

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

“This book was the equivalent of attending a Bad Bosses Anonymous Meeting. ‘I’m not alone!’ I thought. I might’ve even cried. I stuck out my then-current job under Phyllis, yet another horrible female boss I worked for, for one more cringe-inducing year. Then I changed jobs…and realized I’d leapt from the frying pan into the veritable corporate fire working for my new horrible boss, who I fondly nicknamed ‘Vomiting Vicky.’ Like Andi, Weisberger’s fictional heroine, I eventually managed to gather my courage and quit. Unlike Andi, my book is one hundred percent real-life, true-blue facts. And that’s even scarier.”

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

“Kingsolver’s memoir of moving her family to a farm and growing their own food for a year was so daring and brave, so crazy and courageous, that the idea of quitting my job seemed downright doable by comparison. Additionally, the value of actually working with your hands—and seeing the results of that work—was something that I yearned for and had felt the absence of in my corporate job. Teaching yoga isn’t exactly the same as gardening, but the presence, mindfulness, and seeing the direct positive effects of your work are.”

The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory

“Intrigue in the castle, sisterly rivalry like you’ve never imagined, and a real-life queen beheaded? OK, thankfully this was nothing like my life. But I figured, I’m lucky not to be imprisoned in a corset, let alone the Tower of London. So why the heck am I still imprisoned in this job?”

The Nanny Diaries by Emma Mclaughlin and Nicola Kraus

“Ah yes, another member of the Bad Bosses Anonymous Club. While reading about the selfish, devious doings of Mrs. X, I felt simultaneously delighted that I wasn’t alone and terrified that my real-life boss’s antics were often as bad and sometimes worse than the miserable mom Nan worked for. Like Nan, I eventually set myself free. Unlike Nan, it took me several more years before I finally got a rescue dog.”

Pinterest PS – Get a little OM time of your own by checking out this Pinterest board inspired by the book!