3 Books With Neil Pasricha

Nestled into a beautiful century-old brownstone in Park Slope, Brooklyn, I spoke with the amazing Dr. Laura Markham—a preacher of love, letting love in, sending love out, and using that as a way to deepen our connection with ourselves and our children.

Who is Dr. Laura Markham?

She's a Columbia-trained clinical psychologist, founder and editor at PeacefulParentHappyKids.com, author of six parenting books including my favorite, Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids, a parenting expert, and a life-changer for many, many families—including mine. (You'll hear what my wife Leslie thinks at the beginning of this chapter!) Dr. Laura Markham translates proven science into practical and simple solutions for living an intentional life.
 
So in Chapter 46, let's pause and choose how we respond to help drive a movement toward love and compassion. I deeply resonate with Dr. Laura Markham's work because I feel like the higher place she leads us toward is the same place I want 3 Books to lead us toward.

In this chapter, we chat about the complexities of parenting and how we can be more present as parents. Dr. Laura Markham shares many valuable insights, from communicating through play, navigating our own traumas, mastering the skill of sending love to strangers, and how we need to develop a closer relationship with death.  

And, of course, we talk about Dr. Laura Markham's 3 most formative books.

Let's flip back to Chapter 46 now....

Happy ​Flower Moon​, everyone!
Up in Toronto we're experiencing a wonderful blooming, a beautiful ​bird migration​, and lots of slowly-getting-warmer days as we inch towards summer.
With this warm spring breeze I'm thrilled to welcome our latest 3 Books guest: a luminous force in publishing, a powerhouse editor-turned-author, and a wonderful storyteller ... the one and only ​Nita​​ Prose​!
Today Nita is best known for her ​Molly the Maid​ mystery series which features three main titles and a holiday edition—'​The Maid​,' '​The​​ ​​Mystery Guest​,' '​The Mistletoe Mystery​,' and '​The Maid's Secret​'—which have collectively sold over 2 million copies.
Raised in Ontario's Simcoe County, Nita began her career by contributing to literary magazines, became a production editor with HarperCollins, and then became a Senior Editor at Doubleday.
She then held the lofty publishing position of Vice President and Editorial Director at Simon & Schuster Canada and oversaw titles by authors like Rupi Kaur (​@rupikaur_​), Kate Morton (​@katemortonauthor​), Iain Reid (​@tidydissolve​), and... me!
Nita was the editor of my book on resilience '​You Are Awesome: How To Navigate Change, Wrestle with Failure, and Live an Intentional Life​' which came out in 2019 and my book on gratitude and community '​Our Book Of Awesome​,' which came out in 2022.
Nita has since left publishing to write full-time and today her phenomenal career and perspectives offer a true publishing and writing masterclass.
Tune in as we discuss: What does an editor actually do? How do you get a job in publishing? What writing routines structure Nita's stories? Why might you keep the novel you're writing a secret from your long-term partner? How do you write an allegory? And (of course!) which 3 books most shaped her life?
We talk about creating characters grounded in emotional truths, measuring success within the labyrinth-like writing industry, the importance of reading across genres, and much, much more.
Let's flip the page to Chapter 160 now...

Happy new moon, everybody!
Today we fly down to the hills of Calabasas, California, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, where I sat behind a microphone at a walnut desk across from the one and only Rich Roll.
Rich went to Stanford and Cornell and was a national athlete in swimming before his career was cut short by a decade-long struggle with alcohol—eventually landing him in jail and rehab. On the eve of his 40th birthday, as he walked up the stairs he was left totally winded… and decided it was time to make a change.
The next day, Rich overhauled his life. He switched to a 100% vegan, plant-based diet, grabbed his running shoes, jumped back into the pool, and two years later, fueled only by plants and after losing 50 pounds, he became the first vegan to ever compete in the 320-mile ultra-marathon and finished as the 3rd fastest American in the race.
Are you kidding me??
He then went on to complete five Ironman Triathlons on five islands of Hawaii in one week!
In 2012, he wrote his inspirational memoir ​'Finding Ultra: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World's Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself'​, which became a bestseller upon its release. It's a fantastic book and memoir. I've read it. I loved it and can't recommend it enough.
In 2013, he launched ​The Rich Roll Podcast​ which is honestly my favorite podcast on the planet. Rich hangs out at the edge of personal growth and development and offers deep exploration—what he calls "a weekly aural dance"— with guests like ​Yuval Noah​​ Harari​, ​Malala Yousafzai​, and, yes, ​even me​!
If you know Rich this classic chat is a way to see him from a new side by learning about which books make him tick ... and if you don't know him yet, well, you're in for a treat. He's a gem and I think after the chat you'll want to keep hanging out with him on ​YouTube​ or ​Instagram​.
Pull up an extra chair and grab a seat at our table!

We welcome global gallivant and raging bibliophile Eve Harlow on 3 Books!
Born in Russia, raised in Israel, living in Canada and the U.S., Eve Harlow is a talented actress best known for roles in The 100, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Night Agent, and her current star turn as Dr. Ingrid Derian in Watson, the medical-mystery thriller inspired by stories of Sherlock Holmes.
Somehow between her busy acting schedule, Eve finds time to read a book a week. She's a library junkie, a reading phenom, and posts stacks of her latest reads @eveharlow between red carpet shots and behind-the-scenes clips from her shows. 
This is a conversation for all of us who aspire to grow our love of reading books amidst the digital deluge. We live in worlds designed to tease our brains into shallow skimming. So how does Eve do it? What systems does she use? How does she think about her reading life? And (of course!) which 3 books shaped her more than any others? 
We talk about reading habits, magic realism, identity in a politically robust and privacy-eroded world, deliberate daydreaming, building resilience, and much, much more. 
Pull up a chair and join us in this bookish conversation.
Let's flip the page to Chapter 159 now...

Join me on the couch in Molly Bloom's hotel room at the Four Seasons in downtown Toronto. 

Molly began her career as a world-class skier, but while training as a pre-teen was diagnosed with severe scoliosis. Her doctor told her she could never ski again, but even as a pre-teen Molly had incredible strength of mind and she ended up back on the slopes only a year after her surgery. 
 
By age 21, she was ranked #3 in North America. She then took off to LA and began running one of the most exclusive, high-stakes, underground poker games in the world, featuring players like Alex Rodriguez, Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, and was raking in millions of dollars per year.

Then what happened? The feds went after her! The mafia went after her! And there was a dramatic takedown. While awaiting sentencing, she wrote her life's story in her memoir, Molly's Game. That book became a bestseller and was turned into a movie written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, writer of The West Wing and The Social Network, starring Jessica Chastain (as Molly), Idris Elba, and Kevin Costner.
 
Molly has been featured on Ellen, NPR, LA Times, VICE, and many more. But beneath the surface is a story that, as she says in this chapter, has never been shared before. 
 
There was a journey happening inside Molly that forced her to look at the downsides of her ambition and addictive personality. 
 
So get into something comfy, grab a seat between us, and let's talk about life altering public defeat, how a memoir transforms into an action-packed Hollywood feature, the liberty in losing everything, finding the 'monetizable asset' in your life, and Molly's 3 most formative books. 
 
Let's flip the page back to Chapter 42 now....