This page highlights my ongoing reading list (future books) and my book recommendations (past books).
Quick Links to Other Pages:
- Ikigai 2.0 life purpose ebook & The Hierarchy of Happiness eBook (free bonus)
- 100+ book, essay, speech, & research summaries
- Top books of 2020, 2019, and 2018
Page Contents: Click a link to jump to a section below
Sloww Reading List (250+ Books) & Book Recommendations (25+ Books)
“Books are the training weights of the mind.” — Epictetus
250+ Books on My Reading List
To see my full reading list, check out this Google Spreadsheet or click the image below.
None of us will read every book out there in our lifetimes. The current average lifespan in the US is 79 years old. Subtract your age from 79. Then multiply that number by the average number of books you read in a year. That’s roughly how many books you have left to read in your life. But, we may not get the full 79 years. So, follow Thoreau’s advice: “Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.”
25+ Book Recommendations
“Sit in a room and read—and read and read. And read the right books by the right people. Your mind is brought onto that level, and you have a nice, mild, slow-burning rapture all the time.” — Joseph Campbell
Intentional Living Books:
- ⭐ Slow Living: In Praise of Slowness by Carl Honore | Book Summary | 🔒 How to Apply It | Amazon
- ⭐ Simple Living: The Quest of the Simple Life by William J. Dawson | Book Summary 1, 2 | Amazon (Public Domain)
- ⭐ Voluntary Simplicity: Voluntary Simplicity by Duane Elgin | Book Summary | Amazon
- ⭐ Decluttering: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo | Book Summary | Amazon
Art of Living & Human Potential Books:
- ⭐ Wisdom: A Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy | Book Summary | 🔒 How to Apply It | Amazon
- ⭐ Perspective: How to Live by Derek Sivers | Book Summary | 🔒 How to Apply It
- ⭐ Taoism: Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu (Stephen Mitchell Version) | Book Summary | Amazon
- ⭐ Strategy: The Art of War by Sun Tzu (Michael Nylan Version) | Book Summary | Amazon
- ⭐ Lottery of Birth: Creating Freedom by Raoul Martinez | Book Summary | 🔒 How to Apply It | Amazon
- ⭐ Free Will: Free Will by Sam Harris | Book Summary | 🔒 How to Apply It | Amazon
Meaning & Life Purpose Books:
- ⭐ Great place to start for life purpose: Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer | Book Summary | 🔒 How to Apply It | Amazon
- ⭐ Psychological Approach: Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl | Book Summary 1, 2 | 🔒 How to Apply It | Amazon
- ⭐ Psychological Approach: Yes to Life by Viktor Frankl | Book Summary | 🔒 How to Apply It | Amazon
- ⭐ Spiritual Approach: A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle | Book Summary 1, 2, 3 | 🔒 How to Apply It | Amazon
Spirituality Books:
- ⭐ Great place to start for spirituality: Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse | Book Summary | Amazon
- ⭐ Beginner Spiritual Growth: The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer | Book Summary | 🔒 How to Apply it | Amazon
- ⭐ Intermediate Spiritual Growth: The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle | Book Summary | 🔒 How to Apply It | Amazon
- ⭐ Scientific Approach to Spirituality: Thought as a System by David Bohm | Book Summary | Amazon
- ⭐ Tough Love Spirituality: Awareness by Anthony De Mello | Book Summary | 🔒 How to Apply It | Amazon
- ⭐ Tough Love Spirituality: The Way to Love by Anthony de Mello | Book Summary | Amazon
- ⭐ Tough Love Spirituality: Spiritual Enlightenment by Jed McKenna | Book Summary | 🔒 How to Apply it | Amazon
- ⭐ Non-dual Spirituality: Being Myself by Rupert Spira | Book Summary | 🔒 How to Apply it | Amazon
- ⭐ Non-dual Spirituality: Be As You Are by Ramana Maharshi | Book Summary | 🔒 How to Apply it | Amazon
Psychology & Philosophy Books:
- ⭐ Questioning Reality: This is Water by David Foster Wallace | Book Summary | 🔒 How to Apply It | Amazon
- ⭐ Mind as a Garden: As a Man Thinketh by James Allen | Book Summary | Amazon
- ⭐ Historical Learnings: The Lessons of History by Will & Ariel Durant | Book Summary 1, 2 | 🔒 How to Apply It | Amazon
- ⭐ Holistic Thinking: Whole Brain Living by Jill Bolte Taylor | Book Summary | Amazon
- ⭐ Systems Thinking: Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows | Book Summary | Amazon
- ⭐ Mental Models: Super Thinking by Gabriel Weinberg & Lauren McCann | Book Summary | 🔒 Premium Summary | Amazon
- ⭐ Mental Models: The Great Mental Models Volume 1 by Farnam Street | Book Summary | Amazon
- ⭐ Spiritual Intelligence: SQ21 by Cindy Wigglesworth | Book Summary | Amazon
- ⭐ Stoicism: On The Shortness Of Life by Seneca | Book Summary | Amazon
- ⭐ Transpersonal Psychology: Ego Development Theory by Susanne Cook-Greuter | Paper Summary 1, 2 | 🔒 How to Apply It
- ⭐ Transpersonal Psychology: The Farther Reaches of Human Nature by Abraham Maslow | Book Summary 1, 2, 3, 4 | 🔒 How to Apply It 1, 2 | Amazon
Life & Work Optimization Books:
- ⭐ Reading: How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler | Book Summary | 🔒 How to Apply It | Amazon
- ⭐ Note-Taking: How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens | Book Summary 1, 2 | 🔒 How to Apply It | Amazon
- ⭐ Focus: Essentialism by Greg McKeown | Book Summary | 🔒 How To Apply It | Amazon
- ⭐ Habits: Atomic Habits by James Clear | Book Summary | 🔒 How To Apply It | Amazon
- ⭐ Money: The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel | Book Summary | Amazon
- ⭐ Wisdom & Wealth: Poor Charlie’s Almanack by Charlie Munger & Peter Kaufman | Book Summary | Amazon
- ⭐ Wisdom & Wealth: The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson | Book Summary | 🔒 How to Apply It | Amazon
- ⭐ Financial Independence: Early Retirement Extreme by Jacob Lund Fisker | Book Summary | 🔒 How to Apply It | Amazon
Don’t forget to check out:
- 100+ book, essay, speech, & research summaries
- Full reading list (Google Spreadsheet)
Sloww participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn commissions by linking to Amazon. When you purchase a book through an Amazon link, Sloww earns a small percentage. This helps fund the costs to support the site and the ad-free experience.