Book Recommendations & Reading List

“Books are the training weights of the mind.” — Epictetus

Last Updated: June 22, 2020

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Book Recommendations & Reading List Overview

Quick Housekeeping:

There are currently 75+ book, essay, speech, and research summaries on this site with many more on the way.

The list on this page includes the following:

Books I’ve read, summarized, and recommend (shown as “RECOMMENDED” in bold blue color)—Books that make this cut are the ones that have been life-transforming for me and that I keep coming back to and referencing. If you enjoy the detailed summaries, I recommend reading these books in full.

Books I’ve read and summarized (shown in gray color)—These books aren’t bad just because they aren’t recommended. It just means: 1) I’d start with the recommended books before them, and 2) I’d read the detailed summaries instead of the full books in most of these cases.

Books I’m currently reading or plan to read next (shown as “CURRENTLY READING” or “READING NEXT” in bold red color)—Always subject to change based on curiosity and what I’m working on. You’ll see I usually have a few books going at any given time to keep things interesting.

Books to be read later are simply listed in black text (in no particular order).

 

About the List:

I’ve spent quite a bit of time curating the list of books you’ll see below. There are only about 100 books currently listed.

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.

The number I read per year varies greatly depending on what I’m working on, so I may have somewhere between 200-500 left in my life.

But, we may not get the full 79 years:

“Any day is a good day for a midlife crisis. After all, you never know when it will be the middle of your life.” — Anonymous

In that spirit, instead of listing 200-500 books, I consciously narrowed it down to 100 to get started on the right path:

“Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.” — Thoreau

 

“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

 

Book Recommendations & Reading List

 

Lighter Living Books (Slow Living, Simple Living, Decluttering & Minimalism)

• RECOMMENDED (Slow Living): In Praise of Slowness by Carl Honore | Summary | How to Apply It (Premium) | Amazon
• RECOMMENDED (Simple Living): The Quest of the Simple Life by William J. Dawson | Summary | Amazon (Public Domain)
• RECOMMENDED (Voluntary Simplicity): Voluntary Simplicity by Duane Elgin | Summary | Amazon
• RECOMMENDED (Decluttering): The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo | Summary | Amazon
• CURRENTLY READING: Walden by Henry David Thoreau | Amazon
• The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim | Summary | Amazon
• Slow by Brooke McAlary | Summary | Amazon
• Chasing Slow by Erin Loechner | Summary | Amazon
• Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist | Summary | Amazon
• The Slow Fix by Carl Honoré | Summary | Amazon
• Simplify by Joshua Becker | Summary | Amazon
• Goodbye, Things by Fumio Sasaki | Summary | Amazon

 

Art of Living & Human Potential Books

• RECOMMENDED: Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu (Stephen Mitchell Version) | Summary | Amazon
• RECOMMENDED:A Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy | Amazon
• CURRENTLY READING: The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time by Will Durant | Amazon
• Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger by Peter Bevelin | Amazon
• Reflections on the Art of Living by Joseph Campbell | Amazon
• A Guide to the Good Life by William Irvine | Amazon
• A Theory of Everything by Ken Wilber | Amazon
• A Brief History of Everything by Ken Wilber | Amazon
• Consilience by E. O. Wilson | Amazon
• The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley | Amazon
• The Never Ending Quest by Clare Graves | Amazon
• Spiral Dynamics in Action: Humanity’s Master Code by Don Beck | Amazon

 

Meaning & Life Purpose Books

• RECOMMENDED (Great place to start for life purpose): Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer | Summary | Amazon
• RECOMMENDED (Psychological approach): Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl | Summary 1, 2 | How to Apply It (Premium) | Amazon
• RECOMMENDED (Spiritual approach): A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle | Summary 1, 2, 3 | Amazon
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho | Summary | Amazon
• The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren | Summary | Amazon
• Find Your Why by Simon Sinek | Summary | Amazon
• The Path Made Clear by Oprah | Summary | Amazon
• Awakening Your Ikigai by Ken Mogi | Summary | Amazon
• Ikigai by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles | Summary | Amazon
• The Crossroads of Should and Must by Elle Luna | Summary | Amazon
• The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell | Amazon
• The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch | Amazon
• How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton Christensen | Amazon
• The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron | Amazon
• The War of Art by Steven Pressfield | Amazon
• Finding Your Element by Sir Ken Robinson & Lou Aronica | Amazon
• The Great Work of Your Life by Stephen Cope | Amazon
• On the Meaning of Life by Will Durant | Amazon
• Fallen Leaves by Will Durant | Amazon
• The Meaning of Human Existence by E. O. Wilson | Amazon

 

Spirituality Books

• RECOMMENDED (Great place to start for spiritual growth): The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer | Summary | How to Apply it (Premium) | Amazon
• RECOMMENDED (Great place to start for spiritual growth): Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse | Summary | Amazon
• RECOMMENDED (Tough love approach to spirituality): Awareness by Anthony De Mello | Summary | How to Apply It (Premium) | Amazon
• RECOMMENDED (Deep spirituality): Who Am I? by Sri Ramana Maharshi | Summary | Amazon | Free Online
• The Wisdom of the Enneagram by Riso & Hudson | Summary | Amazon
• Spiritual Enlightenment, the Damnedest Thing by Jed McKenna | Amazon
• Letting Go by David Hawkins | Amazon
• The Way to Love by Anthony de Mello | Amazon
• Rediscovering Life: Awaken to Reality by Anthony de Mello | Amazon
• The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer | Amazon
• The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle | Amazon
• The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz | Amazon
• Freedom from the Known by Jiddu Krishnamurti | Amazon
• Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda | Amazon
• I Am That by Nisargadatta Maharaj | Amazon
• Be As You Are by Sri Ramana Maharshi | Amazon
• The Bhagavad Gita (Eknath Easwaran Version) | Amazon
• The Upanishads (Eknath Easwaran Version) | Amazon
• The Essential Rumi by Jalal al-Din Rumi | Amazon

 

Philosophy & Psychology Books

• RECOMMENDED: This is Water by David Foster Wallace | Summary | How to Apply It (Premium) | Amazon
• RECOMMENDED: As a Man Thinketh by James Allen | Summary | Amazon
• RECOMMENDED (Stoicism): On The Shortness Of Life by Seneca | Summary | Amazon
• RECOMMENDED (Transpersonal Psychology or “Spiritual Psychology”): The Farther Reaches of Human Nature by Abraham Maslow | Summary 1, 2, 3, 4 | How to Apply It (Premium) 1, 2 | Amazon
• Meditations by Marcus Aurelius | Summary 1, 2 | Amazon
• Enchiridion by Epictetus | Summary | Amazon
• The Existentialist’s Survival Guide by Gordon Marino | Summary | Amazon
• Stillness is the Key by Ryan Holiday | Summary | Amazon
• Transcend by Scott Barry Kaufman | Summary | Amazon
• The Inner Game of Tennis by Timothy Gallwey | Amazon
• Letters from a Stoic by Seneca | Amazon
• The Book by Alan Watts | Amazon
• The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts | Amazon
• Modern Man in Search of a Soul by Carl Jung | Amazon
• The Undiscovered Self by Carl Jung | Amazon

 

History Books (Past & Present)

• RECOMMENDED: The Lessons of History by Will & Ariel Durant | Summary 1, 2 | Amazon
• Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari | Amazon
• 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari | Amazon
• A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson | Amazon
• Factfulness by Hans Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund, Ola Rosling | Amazon
• The Ascent of Humanity by Charles Eisenstein | Amazon
• Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond | Amazon

 

Life & Work Optimization Books

• RECOMMENDED: Essentialism by Greg McKeown | Summary | How To Apply It (Premium) | Amazon
• RECOMMENDED: Atomic Habits by James Clear | Summary | How To Apply It (Premium) | Amazon
• CURRENTLY READING: How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler | Amazon
• When by Daniel Pink | Summary | Amazon
• The Great Mental Models by Shane Parrish | Amazon
• Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models by Gabriel Weinberg | Amazon
• Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows | Amazon
• The ONE Thing by Gary Keller & Jay Papasan | Amazon
• The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt, Jeff Cox | Amazon
• The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin | Amazon

 

Consciousness, Science, & Other Top Books

• CURRENTLY READING: Sum by David Eagleman | Amazon
• Finite & Infinite Games by James Carse | Amazon
• The Living Universe by Duane Elgin | Amazon
• My Big Toe by Thomas Campbell | Amazon
• The Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton | Amazon
• Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli | Amazon
• Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander | Amazon
• Being Mortal by Atul Gawande | Amazon
• When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi | Amazon
• Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth by R. Buckminster Fuller | Amazon
• Grunch of Giants by R. Buckminster Fuller | Amazon
• The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible by Charles Eisenstein | Amazon

 

Don’t forget to check out the current 75+ book, essay, speech, and research summaries.

 

 

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