 | The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Augmented Third Edition, New Revised Standard Version, Indexed
Buy new: $31.20 / Used from: $34.89 Where else to begin this list besides Sacred Scripture? I am fequently asked which version/translation of the Bible I think is best, as well as for a good study Bible. This is my default and favorite.
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 | Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment by Tal Ben-Shahar
Buy new: $14.93 / Used from: $10.02 Outstanding work on happiness by noted Harvard psychologist Tal Ben Shahar.
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 | The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss
Buy new: $11.97 / Used from: $10.23 Ferriss gives legs to a lot of the theoretical concepts raised by Ben Shahar. (Although his book is also very practical.) This book is *very* well-written, practical, and will capture your imagination in a special way. I read the first 138 pages in one sitting.
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 | The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
Buy new: $14.37 / Used from: $8.73 This book will change your mind. Thoughts become things. I saw the movie before I read the book, and the movie gives a sufficient - and well-done - introduction.
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 | The Secret (Extended Edition)
Buy new: $16.99 / Used from: $6.44 |
 | When Religion Becomes Evil: Five Warning Signs (Plus) by Charles Kimball
Buy new: $10.17 / Used from: $8.73 Reading this book was a watershed moment for me in the process of casting off the shackles of fundamentalism. Every person of faith should read this book.
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 | Oh, the Places You'll Go! (Classic Seuss) by Dr. Seuss
Buy new: $12.23 / Used from: $0.79 Inspiration from Dr. Seuss.
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 | The Art of the Steal: How to Protect Yourself and Your Business from Fraud, America's #1 Crime by Frank W. Abagnale
Buy new: $11.20 / Used from: $2.01 Account by conman Frank Abagnale (see the movie Catch Me If You Can) about how cons and frauds work. This book is fascinating and also taught me that all constructed systems have flaws that can be employed advantageously.
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 | The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $1.88 The poetry of a mystic, beautiful and sublime.
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 | How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $6.10 The first "self-help" book I ever read. The title is straightforward. Carnegie explains common sense and conventional wisdom in a way that is very insightful.
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 | The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle
Buy new: $8.40 / Used from: $5.72 After taking a seminar on meditation from a Buddhist monk, this book resonated with a lot of things that he said. I am still in the middle of reading it, but it is an *awesome* book so far.
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 | The Confessions by St. Augustine
Buy new: $10.36 / Used from: $0.60 The first "western autobiography", St. Augustine recounts his life in the form of a prayer of confession, praise, and thanksgiving to God. The language is poetic and beautiful. Both a Western and a Christian classic. This particular translation is awesome, by the way.
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 | Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith by Marcus J. Borg
Buy new: $10.17 / Used from: $1.75 Borg is on the liberal fringe of contemporary Historical Jesus scholarship, nonetheless, this book had a considerable amount of devotional value for me, and the kernel of his message is outstanding, even if *some* of his scholarship is dubious on the level of particulars.
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 | The Politics of Jesus by John Howard Yoder
Buy new: $14.28 / Used from: $11.00 Yoder's classic delineates the social ethics of the New Testament in a powerful way. Though this book is know for Yoder's analysis of the Gospel of Luke, his chapter on the Book of Revelation is my favorite.
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 | Open Secrets: A Memoir of Faith and Discovery by Richard Lischer
Buy new: $11.16 / Used from: $5.00 Lischer's memoir of life as a minister in a rural parish, it is a charming account about the ups and downs and the beauty of both in the church.
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 | Preaching Life by Barbara Brown Taylor
Buy new: $10.95 / Used from: $5.75 Taylor is a phenomenal writer and preacher, and this book presents her theological/biographical memoirs, as well as a sampling of her sermons.
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 | The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists by Neil Strauss
Buy new: $27.44 / Used from: $17.26 This book will show you that *anything* is possible, and that anyone is capable of having the romantic life they desire. Furthermore, this book tells a great story and is *very* well-written
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 | To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Buy used from: $1.45 My favorite work of fiction. When I think of what it means to be a "good" person, Atticus Finch, though fictional, is one of the first people that comes to mind.
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Listmania!
