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Here are some of my favorite books, and my comments on them (books to be added, comments to be added/ edited). The book names link to Amazon, where I am an associate and will get a ‘kickback’ for any purchase you make using the link. Of course, the books I suggest are as delicious to read, regardless of where you buy them/ borrow them from/ steal them. The idea is, I think these books are great. Happy reading!
Here are the links to various categories of books:
Books related to musings and thoughts and philosophy (or lack thereof):
I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta
This is one of the simplest, more straightforward book about what thought is, and how to go beyond it by just keeping on asking oneself a simple question.A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose (Oprah’s Book Club, Selection 61)
and The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
These books by Eckhart Tolle give clear and practical guidance for living a peaceful, stress-free life in the contemporary world today. Every one of us carries within us a body of pain, and lets thought and ego overwhelm us and drive us to negativity. In these books, Tolle tells us how to let emotion and pain flow away by just not reacting to it. A New Earth was also selected as a Book Club book by Oprah Winfrey, and an extremely interesting and valuable set of video sessions is available at her site, where Tolle and Winfrey discuss each chapter of the book, and also answer questions from the audience. A must-read for anyone interested in breaking free of the tyranny of ego and pain.
The God Delusion
In this very well presented book, Richard Dawkins argues about how religion is used as a means to hide behind when explanations fail. He demolishes many of the premises we all take for granted, and does so without leaving the opposition with any argument except the usual it-cannot-be-argued. This may seem a funny choice as a favorite of mine, given the rest of my choices, but I see no contradiction between not believing in God and between willingness and eagerness to go deep inside me, beyond thought, to find peace. I would think it through some day, but then, that would be a surrender to the superiority of thought 
The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are
A rather old book by Alan Watts, perhaps not too well-known, but an excellent starter for the process of self-discovery, especially for those not too inclined to read books that seem spiritual. It is penetrating, thought-provoking, and fascinating in its insights and choice of examples.
Thought provoking books we need to survive in concrete jungles:
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
A superb book by brothers Chip and Dan Heath, providing a clear approach you can use to make your ideas ’stick’. The book is full of lots of great examples and ‘clinics’, and well, it sticks
Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships
Daniel Goleman is probably best known for his book: Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ
, and I find this book on Social Intelligence a worthy follow-up. Here, Goleman explains how we are wired to respond/ react in certain ways because of the needs of survival, he provides plenty of very interesting examples from nature, and from various conducted studies.
Personal Development for Smart People: The Conscious Pursuit of Personal Growth
I’m very impressed by Steve Pavlina and consider his website one of the best in the field of personal development. This book, apparently, is not just a collection of what he has on his blog (an excellent collection of articles there, have a look)–it goes beyond. I’m quite lookiung forward to this one.
Fiction
The Alchemist
Paulo Coelho’s fable-style story is a very easy read, and its impact lasts for days because it is all about reaching to do what the heart wants us to do–a lesson most of us forget in the busyness of life.
The End of Eternity: Isaac Asimov A solid SF story designed to make the reader think: if we can tweak the past and future to ensure conformity with what we believe is good, are we improving the chances of humankind, or making them worse?
The Handmaid’s Tale: Margaret Atwood A dystopia book about a future world where women are suppressed. The book gives me shivers.
We Need to Talk About Kevin: Lionel Shriver. Not for the faint-hearted. Written as a first-person narrative in the form of a letter to a husband, this story is the account of the mother of a teenaged boy who shot dead several boys and girls, for no apparent reason. Layer by layer, we get to see the personalities of two very difficult-to-understand persons, in a language so full of images and details that the persons come alive.
The Left Hand of Darkness: Ursula LeGuinThis was one of the path-breaking books in science fiction, and is unique in the way it integrates a fable feel with solid SF.
