For those in need of a diet makeover, ThisNext is beginning to form a mini-library of healthy-eating books suited to many a food-focused goal. Whether you’re looking to drop a jeans size or incorporate more organic food into your meals, revamping your routine with the help of a new read can be one of the simplest ways to do good for your body, mind, and even the planet.

Take Jeff Cox’s Organic Cook’s Bible: How to Select and Cook the Best Ingredients on the Market, recommended by our recently interviewed shopcaster Fanny The Fairy. With 250 recipes using more than 150 organic ingredients, the book encourages readers to support Earth-friendly forms of food production and become more connected to what they’re consuming (“I love this book because i think it’s important to know the food you eat,” says Fanny in her shopcast).

With a similar emphasis on exploring organic foods – especially of the locally, sustainably grown variety – Anna Lappe and Bryant Terry’s Grub presents healthy eating as a form of activism. In her review at Fit Fare, Sara Maamouri dubs the book “a fired-up call to action” that teaches readers “exactly what they can do to change their food future,” while at the same time serving as “a reminder that ultimately, food should be a fun, creative part of our lives, and not simply a bland and boring fuel.”

The food featured in Nina Simonds’s A Spoonful of Ginger: Irresistible Health-Giving Recipes from Asian Kitchens is anything but bland and boring. Recommended by ThisNext member Ruth Daniels, the cookbook shows how to prepare spiced-up dishes that may help you to reach a specific health goal (Braised Duck with Tangerine Peel and Sweet Potato to keep blood pressure in check, Steamed Asian Pears with Honey and Almonds for sore throats, Baked Black Bean Shrimp to ease depression, and so on).

Ruth has also picked Connie Guttersen’s Sonoma Diet, a weight-loss plan inspired by the whole, high-flavor foods favored throughout wine country. Although Ruth’s shopcast deems the diet “too restrictive,” she recommends checking out the recipes, which fit perfectly into the plan outlined in The South Beach Diet (another item on Ruth’s “Cookbooks” list).

If you’re looking for total-body transformation, consider a weight-loss book that focuses on both diet and exercise. Marjorie Geiser hails Dr. Susan Kleiner’s Power Eating as one of the “best books on nutrition for weight training that there is,” while Midnight Raider swears that David Kirsch’s Ultimate New York Body Plan “will help you drop some extra pounds in just a few weeks.” The shopcast adds:

“Be forewarned, though: the results won’t last without some serious maintenance effort. But for a special must-lose-weight event - like a class reunion - this program will work for very dedicated folks.”

And for all around disease-fighting, health-restoring, energy-boosting power, look to Dana Jacobi’s 12 Best Foods Cookbook. Recently reviewed by Kate In The Kitchen, the book builds its recipes around what “top nutritionists think are the best foods to eat.” Those 12 superstars, FYI:

-blueberries
-black beans
-oatmeal
-broccoli
-walnuts
-soy
-tomatoes
-salmon
-sweet potatoes
-spinach
-chocolate (yay!)
-onions