The Transformational Book Circle, a recently launched subsidiary of the Spiritual Cinema Circle DVD club, will send a “life-changing” book to your door each month. That’s one way to set and maintain a high tone for the new year. And these aren’t just any transformational tomes; each book has been chosen for its life-altering power by a “spiritual luminary,” such as Deepak Chopra, Barbara de Angelis, Jack Canfield, and Louise Hay.

Every month, in addition to the book, you’ll get an audio CD that “gives practical, experiential exercises to bring the book to life,” according to the TBC website. Club members will also be able to access “online multimedia support materials” to help further illuminate the book’s meaning and why the luminary chose it.

The club’s founders, self-help authors Gay and Kathlyn Hendricks, are tight-lipped about the selections but they do reveal that Neale Donald Walsch (a LIME radio host) was inspired to write his Conversations with God books after reading James Allen’s As a Man Thinketh. The first book you get is also revealed––because it’s not available anywhere else; the Book of Life is recommended by the Hendrickses. And the surprise monthly packages come in inspiring waves, as follows: The First Wave: Liberating The Power Of Your Mind (books 1, 2 and 3; The Second Wave: Living From Your Heart and Soul (books 4, 5 and 6); The Third Wave: Integrating Heart, Mind and Soul To Free Your Creative Potential (books 7-12). It’s $19 a month and you can cancel whenever you want. Sounds like a good way to explore the world of conscious living. But not knowing the titles ahead of time seems problematic for anyone who’s not a beginner at this lifestyle and way of thinking. Under the TBC’s FAQs, they assure readers who receive a book they already own, “we guarantee that our audio CD and your access to our multimedia support materials online will provide you with new experiential exercises and information….”

Hm. Maybe. Or perhaps it’s a better deal to make your own circle––research books that have inspired people you admire and read 12 of those this year.

What books have changed your life?