Here are 100 books that Cults in Our Midst fans have personally recommended if you like
Cults in Our Midst.
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A close college friend lost a child and dear friends to the group's suicide death at the hands of the Rev. Jim Jones at Jonestown, Guyana. As a physician, psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst, I made the decision to use my knowledge, training, and skill in individual, group, and family therapy to explore and try to help others and myself understand and stand up to destructive, controlling gurus of all kinds…from destructive, exploitive religious cults to violent terror group cults like that of Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda. It has been a moving and emotional journey.
We humans, for all our accomplishments in science, art, engineering, architecture, and literature, are haunted psychologically by the stark awareness of the reality that we all die. The various individual, group, and collective unconscious ways of trying to deny the reality of death are legion.
Becker stunned me with the way he organized a penetrating discussion of how many domains the effort to deny the reality of death enters. In the process of exploring these roads of travel to deny death, I found myself searching my own efforts to get meaning in my own life and try to prepare for my death.
Winner of the Pulitzer prize in 1974 and the culmination of a life's work,The Denial of Death is Ernest Becker's brilliant and impassioned answer to the "why" of human existence. In bold contrast to the predominant Freudian school of thought, Becker tackles the problem of the vital lie -- man's refusal to acknowledge his own mortality. In doing so, he sheds new light on the nature of humanity and issues a call to life and its living that still resonates more than twenty years after its writing.
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
A close college friend lost a child and dear friends to the group's suicide death at the hands of the Rev. Jim Jones at Jonestown, Guyana. As a physician, psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst, I made the decision to use my knowledge, training, and skill in individual, group, and family therapy to explore and try to help others and myself understand and stand up to destructive, controlling gurus of all kinds…from destructive, exploitive religious cults to violent terror group cults like that of Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda. It has been a moving and emotional journey.
I am impressed with Stern’s courage and interview skills. She goes to where radical Islamist killers are born and raised—such as Pakistan. Madrassa schools recruit whole families in their promotion of violent jihad as a way of life and commitment. Youths will dedicate their lives, even die, for what they perceive as worthy causes.
Stern exposes the powerful tools by which ordinary people come to kill in God’s name with a sense of quiet conviction.
For four years, Jessica Stern interviewed extremist members of three religions around the world: Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Traveling extensively-to refugee camps in Lebanon, to religious schools in Pakistan, to prisons in Amman, Asqelon, and Pensacola-she discovered that the Islamic jihadi in the mountains of Pakistan and the Christian fundamentalist bomber in Oklahoma have much in common. Based on her vast research, Stern lucidly explains how terrorist organizations are formed by opportunistic leaders who-using religion as both motivation and justification-recruit the disenfranchised. She depicts how moral fervor is transformed into sophisticated organizations that strive for money, power, and attention. Jessica…
A close college friend lost a child and dear friends to the group's suicide death at the hands of the Rev. Jim Jones at Jonestown, Guyana. As a physician, psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst, I made the decision to use my knowledge, training, and skill in individual, group, and family therapy to explore and try to help others and myself understand and stand up to destructive, controlling gurus of all kinds…from destructive, exploitive religious cults to violent terror group cults like that of Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda. It has been a moving and emotional journey.
Hofer, in simple, direct description, leads me to understand the way the soul of a religious or political fanatic is born. Once captured, the “True Believer” grabs the stunning power to seduce, entrap, and dominate other people to the cause.
Hofer’s knowledge of a fanatic’s power can be a power to resist fanaticism and its gurus.
“Its theme is political fanaticism, with which it deals severely and brilliantly.” —New Yorker
The famous bestseller with “concise insight into what drives the mind of the fanatic and the dynamics of a mass movement” (Wall Street Journal) by the legendary San Francisco longshoreman.
A stevedore on the San Francisco docks in the 1940s, Eric Hoffer wrote philosophical treatises in his spare time while living in the railroad yards. The True Believer—the first and most famous of his books—was made into a bestseller when President Eisenhower cited it during one of the earliest television press conferences.
In 1913, a 15-year-old pregnant girl was found dead of apparent suicide. Dr. James Wilson, a new graduate and the first doctor ever to start a practice in this rural town, feels guilty over her death because of his delayed intervention.
A close college friend lost a child and dear friends to the group's suicide death at the hands of the Rev. Jim Jones at Jonestown, Guyana. As a physician, psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst, I made the decision to use my knowledge, training, and skill in individual, group, and family therapy to explore and try to help others and myself understand and stand up to destructive, controlling gurus of all kinds…from destructive, exploitive religious cults to violent terror group cults like that of Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda. It has been a moving and emotional journey.
Bergen’s exclusive and candid interviews with Osama bin Laden captured the evil terror cult leader\’s quiet charisma. I could picture Osama’s lonely childhood desire to connect with his powerful father.
Osama desperately sought strong father-mentor figures after his father’s death. Imagine young Muslim youths flocking to the powerful radical terror cult leader who struck terror in America, the great satan!
On September 11, 2001, the world in which we live was changed forever. The twin towers of the World Trade Center came crashing down, one side of the Pentagon burst into flame, and more than six thousand men, women, and children lost their lives in the most deadly terrorist attack on American soil. As shocking as it was, it had been long in the making: The assault was the most sophisticated and horrifying in a series of operations masterminded by Osama bin Laden and his Jihad group -- an organization that CNN's terrorism analyst Peter Bergen calls Holy War, Inc.…
My journey on the spiritual path began through my parents. They met their guru and moved to an ashram. As I grew older, I found purpose and meaning in my life. I wanted the liberation my guru promised. It was all good until it wasn’t.
I find reading books about cults or people who devoted themselves to a spiritual or wellness group helps us learn something about who we are and offers a broader sense of what draws people into a belief system or ideology. Here are my picks for new books that explore the seduction, allure, and pitfalls of the spiritual path, and what it means to escape from a cult.
There is much that resonated with me about this book, which is part memoir and part cult guidebook.
Sarah Edmonson and Anthony “Nippy” Ames, both ex-cult members of NXVIM, share their personal experiences and highlight stories of several people who were also involved in cults.
They expose the fascinating similarities in the different types of cults and offer tips to see through the many ways people are manipulated into participating in a cult-like group.
Culty shit is everywhere—and this book shows you how to spot it, escape it, and heal from it.
From former NXIVM insiders turned whistleblowers and hosts of the hit podcast A Little Bit Culty comes a gripping, practical, and surprisingly hopeful guide to understanding how manipulative people and systems get their hooks into us—and how to get your life back when they do.
Drawing from their harrowing experiences inside NXIVM, their roles in HBO’s The Vow, and hundreds of conversations with survivors and experts, Sarah Edmondson and Anthony “Nippy” Ames pull back the curtain on the tactics of coercive control:…
My journey on the spiritual path began through my parents. They met their guru and moved to an ashram. As I grew older, I found purpose and meaning in my life. I wanted the liberation my guru promised. It was all good until it wasn’t.
I find reading books about cults or people who devoted themselves to a spiritual or wellness group helps us learn something about who we are and offers a broader sense of what draws people into a belief system or ideology. Here are my picks for new books that explore the seduction, allure, and pitfalls of the spiritual path, and what it means to escape from a cult.
We were both seeking deeper meaning in life, longing for personal and spiritual growth, and looking for a spiritual awakening. We found ourselves at the feet of a female guru, somewhat unique in the cult world.
Blair’s story explores the seduction and allure of the spiritual journey and exposes the pitfalls and manipulation that can occur in spiritual cult groups.
A cross between Glennon Doyle's Love Warrior and the classic Yogananda Paramahansa's
Autobiography of a Yogi, This Incredible Longing: Finding My Self in a Near-Cult Experience is a memoir about devotion, discernment, and the complicated beauty of spiritual seeking.
Blair Glaser thoughtfully stepped onto a path promising peace and purpose when she found Siddha Yoga, a movement led by a charismatic Indian guru and shaped by a community that would later be called a high-control group. What she found there wasn't exploitation: it was healing. Within the ashram's structure, she discovered confidence, calm, and belonging she'd never known.
Voyager 1 was launched on September 5, 1977, and Voyager 2 was launched on August 20, 1977. Both began a historic journey with unique 'time capsules' on board intended to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials. The Voyager message is carried by a phonograph record 12-inch gold-plated disk…
An avid reader from an early age, what has moved me most were the characters who faced adversity and fought to overcome it. In my 30s, I lost my way, followed a guru, and took almost a decade to realize I was in a cult. Psychotherapy helped me get out and led me to become a psychotherapist. The books I've recommended have encouraged and inspired me to heal and to grow, to build a good, strong, healthy life–even though I fell more than once and didn't know for sure if I could get back up. I hope these books will inspire you as they inspired me.
Stein puts her finger on one of the most important things I learned about the power of charismatic, narcissistic abusers: with love-bombing and seduction, they create dependence in their victim. Then, the belittling and humiliating begins, and the victim is now both dependent on the abuser and constantly intimidated by the abuser.
This is the essence of disorganized attachment, which creates a sense of powerlessness and fright without solution. Victims feel unable to leave, exhaust themselves trying to assuage the narcissist, and dissociation becomes the automatic survival response. Knowing this helps victims and their therapists understand why recovering the ability to think clearly is so difficult and so crucial for victims recovering from traumatic abuse.
This book explains how people can be radically manipulated by extreme groups and leaders to engage in incomprehensible and often dangerous acts through psychologically isolating situations of extreme social influence. These methods are used in totalitarian states, terrorist groups and cults, as well as in controlling personal relationships.
Illustrated with compelling stories from a range of cults and totalitarian systems, Stein's book defines and analyses the common identifiable traits that underlie these groups, emphasizing the importance of maintaining open yet supportive personal networks. Using original attachment theory-based research this book highlights the dangers of closed, isolating relationships and the closed…
From the beginning of my writing journey in 2000, all my girls have been full of spunk and sass and fighting every day to figure out life in the present while also dealing with the past, all while solving murders and mysteries and navigating relationships; oh my! The books I chose are all about that sass and spunk, those main characters in The Cozies (or RomCozies as I call mine since they have both murder and a budding romance) that not only make you snicker in the right places but also sigh when they’re over, you close the book, and hold it to your heart hoping the next is coming soon.
First up is Julia Ann Lindsey’s Bonnie and Clyde series. The laughs, the hijinks, the relationships, and the solved murders. It’s all a recipe for me to be pulled right into this series and away from anything I’m actually supposed to be doing.
I love the setting, the charm, and the way that the author gives us such a view right into the living room of Bonnie and her cat Clyde, so I want to go see if she’s available for a quick dinner! After she finds the killer, of course.
Bonnie’s embracing the big 4-0 and all it has to offer, including a celebratory night out with friends. The evening is a perfect blend of fun and fabulous, until the local love guru, Gretchen, is confronted by a client’s spouse, who’s displeased by a prediction of new romance in his wife’s future. Gretchen excuses herself to sort the situation, but in the morning, the man is dead. Stabbed with a cake knife from her True Love collection.
When Bonnie’s friends turn to her for help unwrapping the truth, she quickly moves saving Gretchen’s reputation to the…
Born into an atheist family and a psychiatrist by background, I identified as a Christian in mid-life then became an interfaith minister. I believe everyone has a birthright to discover their own personal nature and purpose and although religion can help, it’s probably only a phase through which a properly evolved consciousness passes. You can read all the non-fiction and sacred texts you like, but I find spiritual fiction to be the best medium to explore and share fundamentals like this.
A cynical and brilliant exposé of an apparent holy man who goes from tour guide to guru in a way that, although a work of fiction, reminds me of so many religious people I’ve come across who pretend to be something they’re not. It also has a big sense of humor and made me laugh out loud several times.
Published in 1959, it was very ahead of its time and is still the best spiritual fiction novel to come out of India.
Raju's first stop after his release from prison is the barber's shop Then he decides to take refuge in an abandoned temple. Raju used to be India's most corrupt tourist guide - but now a peasant mistakes him for a holy man. Gradually, almost grudgingly, he begins to play the part. He succeeds so well that God himself intervenes to put Raju's new holiness to the test.
Deputy Jenna Hart has only been working in her sleepy hometown of Pearl Springs for seven months when city officials begin to be targeted by a killer. Twenty years ago, the construction of a dam caused people to lose their land to eminent domain. That wound has not healed with…
I’m Steve Sheppard and I’m arguably the best person in the UK to create this list as I am myself the archetypal funny author whom nobody has heard of, having written three comedy spy thrillers, two out (A Very Important Teapot and Bored to Death in the Baltics) and one on the way (Poor Table Manners), all published by a genuine indie publisher, Claret Press. I would have loved to include a funny thriller in my list, but sadly, they are not to be found–not without resorting to farce and slapstick anyway.
A delightful book, a complete treat, certainly the funniest I’ve read in recent years as well as one of the most original. How it wasn’t picked up by a major publisher is beyond me, especially given Sue Clark’s background in television comedy scriptwriting.
The way Sue manages so realistically to get inside the head of both the aged and yet ageless ex-fashion icon, Eloise, and Bradley, a south London council estate lad with dreams above his station, is astonishing. Writing in the first person is hard enough, but to do it so successfully for two such disparate characters is extraordinarily clever. It is no easy thing to make the reader believe so thoroughly in their highly unlikely, blossoming (business) partnership.
Eloise is an erratic, faded fashionista. Bradley is a glum but wily teenager.
In need of help to write her racy 1960s memoirs, the former 'shock frock' fashion guru tolerates his common ways. Unable to remember his name, she calls him Boy. Desperate to escape a brutal home life, he puts up with her bossiness and confusing notes.
Both guard secrets. How did she lose her fame and fortune? What is he scheming - beyond getting his hands on her bank card? And just what's hidden in that mysterious locked room?
