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Best Emotional Intelligence Books: The 40 BEST Books on EQ

Arthur Worsley
by Arthur Worsley
M.A. Psychology, Oxford. McKinsey Alum. Founder & Editor at TAoL.

Looking for the best emotional intelligence books of all time?

You're in the right place!

Here's what you'll find on this page...

Master Your Emotions Today!

In the ranked list of book recommendations below you’ll find the best emotional intelligence books ever written.

How do I know? Because I spent hours building a huge master list of the best emotional intelligence books from hundreds of sources before carefully curating the results with TAoL‘s data-driven, in-house ranking algorithm.

Result? Whether you’re hoping to understand your emotions, build better relationships, improve your self-management or increase self-awareness you’ll find something among the emotional intelligence books below that’ll help.

Don’t let the list overwhelm you.

Scan from the top, pick a title that excites you and start reading.

And keep an eye out for updates! I’ll be adding new book summaries and books about emotional intelligence as I find/write them in the coming months and years.

Until next time, then, embrace your emotions, lean into life’s sharp bits and go well.

The 40 Best Emotional Intelligence Books Ever Written

Why these best emotional intelligence books and not others? To stay objective, I rank all my book recommendations by what’s most loved (Goodreads rating), what’s most popular (Goodreads review count) and what’s proven timelessly relevant (first publication date).

This isn’t a whimsical list. It’s a data-driven, crowdsourced collection of the best emotional intelligence books ever published as decided by book lovers just like you. (Note: To maximise diversity, I only include the top ranking book from any series in a list.)

And if you think something's missing? I LOVE book recommendations so if there are any other best emotional intelligence books that you think deserve mentioning, email me and I’ll be sure to include them in the next round of updates.

Until then, enjoy this ultimate list of the 40 best emotional intelligence books of all time...

Books 1-10: The Top 10 Best Emotional Intelligence Books of All Time

The top 10 best emotional intelligence books of all time are...

Best Emotional Intelligence Books: Emotional Intelligence
1. Emotional Intelligence - Daniel Goleman
Why It Can Matter More Than IQ
Published 1995 // 384 pages // Rated 4.0 over 99,500 reviews on Goodreads
Best Emotional Intelligence Books: Molecules of Emotion
2. Molecules of Emotion - Candace B. Pert
The Science Behind Mind-Body Medicine
Published 1997 // 368 pages // Rated 4.2 over 3,800 reviews on Goodreads
Best Emotional Intelligence Books: Raising An Emotionally Intelligent Child
3. Raising An Emotionally Intelligent Child - John M. Gottman
Published 1997 // 240 pages // Rated 4.2 over 4,300 reviews on Goodreads
Best Emotional Intelligence Books: Descartes' Error
4. Descartes' Error - António R. Damásio
Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain
Published 1994 // 336 pages // Rated 4.0 over 8,100 reviews on Goodreads
Best Emotional Intelligence Books: The Body Keeps the Score
5. The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel A. van der Kolk (FREE Summary)
Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
The Body Keeps the Score is a fascinating dive into the hidden epidemic of trauma, what we've learned about it in the last 30 years and how to better diagnose, face and heal it - by psychiatrist, author and post-traumatic stress researcher, Bessel van der Kolk.
Published 2014 // 443 pages // Rated 4.4 over 72,200 reviews on Goodreads
Best Emotional Intelligence Books: Emotional Blackmail
6. Emotional Blackmail - Susan Forward
When the People in Your Life Use Fear, Obligation, and Guilt to Manipulate You
Published 1997 // 272 pages // Rated 4.1 over 2,900 reviews on Goodreads
Best Emotional Intelligence Books: Emotions Revealed
7. Emotions Revealed - Paul Ekman
Recognizing Faces and Feelings to Improve Communication and Emotional Life
Published 2003 // 304 pages // Rated 4.0 over 6,700 reviews on Goodreads
Best Emotional Intelligence Books: Destructive Emotions
8. Destructive Emotions - Daniel Goleman
A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama
Published 2000 // 448 pages // Rated 4.1 over 2,500 reviews on Goodreads
Best Emotional Intelligence Books: The Emotion Thesaurus
9. The Emotion Thesaurus - Angela Ackerman
A Writer's Guide to Character Expression
Published 2012 // 170 pages // Rated 4.5 over 5,200 reviews on Goodreads
Best Emotional Intelligence Books: Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents
10. Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents - Lindsay C. Gibson
Published 2015 // 201 pages // Rated 4.4 over 14,700 reviews on Goodreads

Books 11-40: The Best Emotional Intelligence Books to Read Next

Here are the next best emotional intelligence books from my database...

11. Affective Neuroscience - Jaak Panksepp
The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions
Published 1998 // 480 pages // Rated 4.4 over 300 reviews on Goodreads
12. Social Intelligence - Daniel Goleman
The New Science of Human Relationships
Published 2006 // 403 pages // Rated 4.0 over 12,500 reviews on Goodreads
13. Primal Leadership - Daniel Goleman
Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence
Published 2002 // 336 pages // Rated 3.9 over 10,100 reviews on Goodreads
14. Unmasking the Face - Paul Ekman
A Guide to Recognizing Emotions from Facial Clues
Published 1975 // 215 pages // Rated 4.0 over 1,300 reviews on Goodreads
15. Emotional Intelligence 2.0 - Travis Bradberry
Published 2003 // 255 pages // Rated 3.8 over 76,700 reviews on Goodreads
16. Don't Bite the Hook - Pema Chödrön
Finding Freedom from Anger, Resentment, and Other Destructive Emotions
Published 2007 // 0 pages // Rated 4.3 over 1,500 reviews on Goodreads
17. Unglued - Lysa TerKeurst
Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions
Published 2012 // 208 pages // Rated 4.1 over 13,700 reviews on Goodreads
18. The Cultural Politics of Emotion - Sara Ahmed
Published 2004 // 224 pages // Rated 4.3 over 800 reviews on Goodreads
19. Running on Empty - Jonice Webb
Overcome Your Childhood Emotional Neglect
Published 2012 // 250 pages // Rated 4.2 over 4,700 reviews on Goodreads
20. The Mood Cure - Julia Ross
The 4-Step Program to Take Charge of Your Emotions--Today
Published 2002 // 400 pages // Rated 4.0 over 1,800 reviews on Goodreads
21. Working with Emotional Intelligence - Daniel Goleman
Published 1998 // 400 pages // Rated 3.8 over 4,700 reviews on Goodreads
22. Living Beyond Your Feelings - Joyce Meyer
Controlling Emotions So They Don't Control You
Published 2011 // 288 pages // Rated 4.3 over 2,400 reviews on Goodreads
23. Healing Through the Dark Emotions - Miriam Greenspan
The Wisdom of Grief, Fear, and Despair
Published 2003 // 336 pages // Rated 4.2 over 600 reviews on Goodreads
24. Enemies of the Heart - Andy Stanley
Breaking Free from the Four Emotions That Control You
Published 2011 // 224 pages // Rated 4.3 over 2,300 reviews on Goodreads
25. Taming the Tiger Within - Thich Nhat Hanh
Meditations on Transforming Difficult Emotions
Published 2004 // 293 pages // Rated 3.9 over 4,600 reviews on Goodreads
26. The Emotion Code - Bradley Nelson
How to Release Your Trapped Emotions for Abundant Health, Love and Happiness
Published 2007 // 379 pages // Rated 4.0 over 2,600 reviews on Goodreads
27. Anxious for Nothing - Max Lucado
Finding Calm in a Chaotic World
Published 2017 // 240 pages // Rated 4.1 over 18,800 reviews on Goodreads
28. The Language of Emotions - Karla McLaren
What Your Feelings Are Trying to Tell You
Published 2010 // 432 pages // Rated 4.2 over 900 reviews on Goodreads
29. Emotion Amplifiers - Angela Ackerman
Published 2014 // 72 pages // Rated 4.4 over 1,200 reviews on Goodreads
30. Permission to Feel - Marc Brackett
Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help Our Kids, Ourselves, and Our Society Thrive
Published 2019 // 304 pages // Rated 4.2 over 4,900 reviews on Goodreads
31. What Doctors Feel - Danielle Ofri
How Emotions Affect the Practice of Medicine
Published 2013 // 232 pages // Rated 4.2 over 1,800 reviews on Goodreads
32. How Emotions Are Made - Lisa Feldman Barrett
The Secret Life of the Brain
Published 2016 // 448 pages // Rated 4.1 over 6,000 reviews on Goodreads
33. Leadership - Daniel Goleman
The Power of Emotional Intelligence
Published 2011 // 117 pages // Rated 3.9 over 10,100 reviews on Goodreads
34. Master Your Emotions - Thibaut Meurisse
A Practical Guide to Overcome Negativity and Better Manage Your Feelings
Published 2018 // 202 pages // Rated 4.1 over 6,300 reviews on Goodreads
35. Resonant Leadership - Richard Boyatzis
Renewing Yourself and Connecting with Others Through Mindfulness, Hope and Compassion
Published 2005 // 283 pages // Rated 4.0 over 1,000 reviews on Goodreads
36. The Age of Empathy - Frans de Waal
Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society
Published 2009 // 304 pages // Rated 4.0 over 2,100 reviews on Goodreads
37. The EQ Edge - Steven J. Stein
Emotional Intelligence and Your Success
Published 2000 // 351 pages // Rated 3.9 over 500 reviews on Goodreads
38. Mama's Last Hug - Frans de Waal
Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us about Ourselves
Published 2018 // 352 pages // Rated 4.2 over 3,700 reviews on Goodreads
39. Emotional Agility - Susan David
Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life
Published 2016 // 288 pages // Rated 3.9 over 8,900 reviews on Goodreads
40. Designing for Emotion - Aarron Walter
Published 2011 // 104 pages // Rated 4.0 over 2,600 reviews on Goodreads

More Book Recommendations

Enjoyed this list of the best emotional intelligence books of all time?

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Or, you can read all my book recommendations.

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