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Practical Wisdom for a Better Life

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Eric’s Bookshelf

Looking for a good read? Here’s a list of categorized books that are personal favorites of Eric, host of the show. You can’t go wrong with any of these books.*

Fiction

  • A Prayer for Owen Meany: A Novel by John Irving
  • High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
  • The Brothers K 
  • The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
  • The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
  • Midnight’s Children: A Novel by Salman Rushdie
  • The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley
  • A Fan’s Notes by Frederick Exley
  • About a Boy by Nick Hornby
  • Tenth of December : Stories by George Saunders
  • Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
  • The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
  • The Humans by Matt Haig
  • The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick
  • The Little Prince by Antione de Saint-Exupery
  • A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
  • Where I’m Calling From: Selected Stories by Raymond Carver
  • Wolf Hall: A Novel by Hilary Mantel
  • The Secret History by Donna Tartt
  • Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates by Tom Robbins
  • East of Eden by John Steinbeck
  • The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
  • Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis
  • Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
  • Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
  • The Matthew Scudder Series by Lawrence Block

Business/Productivity

  • Rework by Jason Fried
  • The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu M. Goldratt
  • Never Confuse a Memo with Reality: And Other Business Lessons Too Simple Not to Know by Richard A. Moran
  • Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work by Chip Heath & Dan Heath
  • Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip Heath & Dan Heath
  • The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni
  • Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen
  • The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

General Spirituality

  • Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankel
  • The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
  • The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton
  • Tao Te Ching by Stephen Mitchell
  • Letters to a Young Poet by Ranier Maria Rilke
  • A Seeker’s Guide: Making Your Life a Spiritual Adventure by Elizabeth Lesser
  • Spirituality of Imperfection: Storytelling and the Search for Meaning by Ernest Kurtz
  • The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom by Jonathan Haidt
  • Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives by Dan Millman

Buddhism

  • Buddhism Without Beliefs by Stephen Batchelor
  • At Hell’s Gate: A Soldier’s Journey from War to Peace by Claude Anshin Thomas
  • When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times by Pema Chodron
  • Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart: A Buddhist’s Perspective on Wholeness by Mark Epstein
  • Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life’s Most Important Skill by Matthieu Ricard
  • Against the Stream by Noah Levine
  • 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Loosing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works – A True Story by Dan Harris
  • Bearing Witness: A Zen Master’s Lessons in Making Peace by Bernie Glassman
  • The Feeling Buddha: A Buddhist Psychology of Character, Adversity and Passion by David Brazier
  • Thoughts Without a Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective by Mark Epstein
  • A Path With Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life by Jack Kornfield
  • Awakening the Buddha Within: Eight Steps to Enlightenment by Lama Surya Das
  • Buddhism Plain and Simple by Steven Hagen
  • The Light Inside the Dark: Zen, Soul and the Spiritual Life by John Tarrant
  • Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chogyam Trungpa

Memoirs

  • A Drinking Life: A Memoir by Pete Hamill
  • Travels with Charlie in Search of America by John Steinbeck
  • Lit: A Memoir by Mary Karr
  • Night by Elie Wiesel
  • Running With Scissors: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs
  • A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
  • The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
  • This Boy’s Life: A Memoir by Tobias Wolff
  • Wild: From Lost to Found of the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed
  • Zen Confidential: Confessions of a Wayward Monk by Shozan Jack Haubner
  • Marley and Me by John Grogan
  • Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, Parts I & II by Art Spiegelman
  • Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia by Marya Hornbacher
  • The Tender Bar: A Memoir by J.R. Moehringer
  • A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis
  • Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction by David Sheff
  • Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern
  • A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah

Miscellaneous

  • The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous by Dr. Bob Smith & Bill Wilson
  • Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981 – 1991 by Michael Azerrad
  • The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
  • Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
  • The Complete Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Waterson 
  • A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
  • The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: And Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks
  • The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Soloman
  • The Sweet Science by A.J. Liebling
  • Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
  • Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

*In the Spirit of Full Disclosure: The links for the above-listed books are Amazon affiliate links & we’ll be compensated if you buy stuff from Amazon using those links. You pay no more and the show gets a few pennies.

That said, your trust means everything to us and we would never recommend anything lightly – these are all books that have had a profound impact on Eric during the course of his life.

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