dick’s Picks Recommended Reads
Mindfulness and Meditation
Sam Harris
Waking Up: Explores spirituality and mindfulness through a secular, neuroscience-informed lens, offering a path to transcend the illusion of the self.
Rick Hanson
Buddha’s Brain: Combines neuroscience and contemplative wisdom to reveal how practices like mindfulness and meditation can reshape the brain for happiness and resilience. Neuro Dharma: New Science, Ancient Wisdom, and Seven Practices of the Highest Happiness: A blend of neuroscience and ancient wisdom, offering practical steps for achieving deep happiness and inner freedom.
Jon Kabat-Zinn
Full Catastrophe Living: Introduces the practice of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) for managing pain, stress, and life's challenges. Wherever You Go There You Are: A guide to mindfulness that encourages embracing the present moment as the foundation for a fulfilling life.
Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson
Altered Traits: Examines scientific research on meditation, revealing its profound and lasting effects on the brain and behavior.
Dan Siegel
The Mindful Brain: Explores how mindfulness practices can change the brain and promote well-being through interpersonal neurobiology.
Tara Brach
Radical Compassion: Introduces a four-step RAIN meditation process to cultivate compassion for oneself and others, fostering healing and transformation. Radical Acceptance: Explores the power of embracing life as it is, using mindfulness and self-compassion to overcome shame and emotional pain.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Breathe, You Are Alive!: A poetic, accessible guide to mindfulness based on the teachings of the Buddha's Anapanasati Sutta, focused on conscious breathing.
Gunaratana
Lovingkindness in Plain English: Offers a clear and practical introduction to cultivating loving-kindness (metta) meditation for greater compassion and peace.
Stoicism and Resilience
Ryan Holiday
The Obstacle is the Way: Draws on Stoic philosophy to teach how challenges can become opportunities for growth and success through mindset and discipline. Ego is the Enemy: A meditation on overcoming ego to achieve success and fulfillment by focusing on humility, discipline, and purpose.
Massimo Pigliucci
How to be a Stoic: A practical guide to living according to Stoic principles, offering wisdom on how to navigate modern life's challenges with resilience and reason.
William B. Irvine
The Stoic Challenge: A Philosopher’s Guide to Becoming Tougher, Calmer, and More Resilient: Offers Stoic-inspired strategies for transforming life's challenges into opportunities for personal growth and resilience.
Ward Farnsworth
The Practicing Stoic: A Philosophical User’s Manual: An accessible, deep exploration of Stoic philosophy, emphasizing practical applications for clarity, control, and inner peace.
Exploration, Leadership, and Human Resilience
Caroline Alexander
The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition: Chronicles Shackleton's awe-inspiring Antarctic journey, highlighting human resilience and leadership under extreme conditions.
Alfred Lansing
Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage: A gripping narrative of Shackleton's Antarctic expedition, focusing on the crew's survival against extraordinary odds.
Frank Ostaseski
The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully: Reflects on how embracing mortality can inspire a life of meaning, connection, and compassion.
Chogyam Trungpa
Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior: Presents the Shambhala teachings, emphasizing courage, wisdom, and mindfulness as pathways to enlightened living.
Science and Perception
Ed Yong
An Immense World: Delves into the sensory experiences of animals, unveiling the vast and fascinating diversity of perception across species.
Judson Brewer
The Craving Mind: Examines the neuroscience of habit formation and craving, offering mindfulness-based strategies to break addictive cycles.
Rick Hanson
Buddha’s Brain: Combines neuroscience and contemplative wisdom to reveal how practices like mindfulness and meditation can reshape the brain for happiness and resilience. Neuro Dharma: New Science, Ancient Wisdom, and Seven Practices of the Highest Happiness: A blend of neuroscience and ancient wisdom, offering practical steps for achieving deep happiness and inner freedom.
Dan Siegel
The Mindful Brain: Explores how mindfulness practices can change the brain and promote well-being through interpersonal neurobiology.
