Here are 100 books that I'll Try Anything Twice fans have personally recommended if you like
I'll Try Anything Twice.
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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.
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…
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.
I was fascinated by Ruwan Meepagala’s story of the One Taste group. It was the complete antithesis of my spiritual journey.
While Ruwan was exploring his sexuality and learning about the female orgasm through public masturbation and meditation, I was in a celibate group that was sexually repressed.
We both worked for the groups we were involved in; he was fired, and I chose to exit. Both were challenging, life-changing events. Like Ruwan, we were engaged in highly controlled groups, aka a cult, and found a way out.
An insider's true story of the "Orgasm cult” - written in the shadow of the 2025 federal conviction.At twenty-four, he was broke, anxious, and sexually dysfunctional. A postcard advertising a "Meetup on Female Orgasm" seemed absurd. He went anyway. What he found changed everything.Within months, he transformed from socially awkward to confident "stroker" living in an orgasm commune in Manhattan. The women were radiant and sexually empowered. The men possessed an almost supernatural ability to "feel" what others wanted. Every conversation was vulnerable. Every moment alive with sensation. It felt like he'd found the cheat codes to human connection.But there…
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:…
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.
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.
This is a fascinating, culturally urgent, eye-opening read.
Drawing on her firsthand experience in the Children of God cult, Young examines how cult dynamics have embedded themselves into mainstream American life. From Tony Robbins to Taylor Swift fandom, she reveals how belonging, identity, and promises of transformation are repackaged for the mainstream.
The research is thorough, the insights sharp, and the question she poses, "Are you in a cult?" will stay with you.
You’re probably in a cult. You just don’t know it yet.
In The Culting of America, cult survivor, military veteran, and bestselling author of Uncultured Daniella Mestyanek Young delivers a gripping investigation into the invisible systems of control shaping our lives. Raised in the notorious sex cult the Children of God, she escaped to America as a teenager—only to find herself inside another rigid institution: the U.S. Army. Years later, as a Harvard-trained expert in organizational psychology, she began asking a dangerous question:
What if we’re all in cults—and America is built to keep us there?
I've been a meditator for fifty years, learning from many teachers. I've been a psychotherapist for twenty years. The connections between meditation and psychotherapy are subtle and powerful. When I started my psychology studies, I went to my Zen teacher and asked for his guidance. I knew I couldn't survive the academic path without more depth in my meditation practice. There were two professors who captured my attention: one, the most psychoanalytic teacher at my school, and one, a student of the same Zen master who taught Leonard Cohen. They guided my research. If you're a psychotherapist, are in psychotherapy yourself, or are a meditator, you will love these books.
Brazier begins with his own experience of Zen training, and then continues on to a survey of Buddhist ideas and how each of them relates to the practice of psychotherapy. For example he takes the profound and mysterious concept of karma and then shows us how this is related to the process of helping a patient understand their repetitive psychological patterns. He addresses the topic that was central to my own path of merging psychotherapy and meditation: how loss and death are teachers. He explains the main lesson they teach: what is lost is our illusion of how the world is put together.
Buddhism, from Abhidharma to Zen, offers a practical path to harmony of head and heart. For over 2,000 years Buddhists have been developing sophisticated psychologies to guide the work of achieving freedom from mental suffering. Now East and West are beginning to learn from each other.
In a readable and practical manner, this book challenges basic assumptions of Western psychology, demystifies Buddhist psychology and presents Zen as a therapy. Giving examples of its effectiveness in psychotherapeutic practice, the author shows how Zen derives from the Buddhist theory of the mind and throws new light upon the Buddhist theory of relations…
From about the age of 14, I have been exploring how unusual ideas and experiences might change a person’s life. This led me to become an author and experimental psychologist studying the effects of religious beliefs, rituals, and meditation exercises on our minds and bodies. I have spent a good part of the last 4 years putting together a book which tries to answer many of my questions on the varieties of meditation practices around the world.
Here we have fragments of the lives of female and male hermits living in the Egyptian desert, trying to live the Christian life away from the temptations of cities. Colourful depictions of their relationships, experiences with angels and demons, and the techniques used to move closer to God and conquer human frailty. These accounts are a superb antidote to today’s mindfulness which feels rather mind-numbing compared to these accounts of meditation.
The Desert Fathers were the first Christian monks, living in solitude in the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria. In contrast to the formalised and official theology of the "founding fathers" of the church, the Desert Fathers were ordinary Christians who chose to renounce the world and live lives of celibacy, fasting, vigil, prayer and poverty in direct and simple response to the gospel. Their sayings were first recorded in the 4th century and consist of spiritual advice, anecdotes and parables. The Desert Fathers' teachings and lives have inspired poetry, opera and art, as well as providing spiritual nourishment and…
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…
From the time I could hold a crayon, I was drawing. I often don’t know how I truly feel about something until I make art about it. Led by imagination and curiosity, I'm a seasoned traveler in liminal spaces and love guiding people between the mystical and the mundane. With 20-plus years of experience as an Artist and Creative Director, I've discovered that solutions to any problem can be found through triumphs in imagination and a willingness to view the situation from a different perspective. By peeking into my own shadow, darkness, and hidden places, I've gained a profound reverence for the human soul and deeper compassion for what it is to be alive.
If I only had one book I could bring on a deserted island, The Great Work of Your Life, would be that book. It focuses on what is known in the Hindu tradition as one’s “dharma” or our soul’s unique duty or mission we are called to endeavor. Using The Bhagavad Gita—an epic Hindu folktale as an analogy, TGWOYL follows the lives of culturally known (Beethoven, Gandhi, Harriet Tubman, Susan B Anthony) and everyday characters from the author’s life, as an exploration of what it means (and requires) to live one’s dharma in the world. We all know the heroic and courageous sacrifices these well-known icons made, but often we don’t know that they too were faced with paralyzing doubt, setbacks, inner criticism, and a sense of purposelessness amidst their remarkable lives. The book brings these larger-than-life characters down to earth and in essence says, if they could…
Discover the deep purpose hidden at the very core of your being
To know your true calling-your dharma, as the yogis say-is perhaps the greatest desire within each of us. And yet, few can say we know our purpose with absolute certainty. Fortunately, there is a time-tested guide-an ancient map-for discovering and fulfilling your unique calling. In The Great Work of Your Life, Stephen Cope walks you through each step of the journey.
Cope teaches that the secrets to unlocking the mystery of your dharma can be found in the spiritual classic, the Bhagavad Gita-a timeless tale about the path…
One piece of advice I give my kids is to listen to people who are wrong. One of two things happen: you’ll have to define, refine, and explore your personal positions in order to articulate why they’re wrong; or you discover you’re wrong and you grow. I spent 25 years in a church that made no sense to me. That caused me to read and think about why I didn’t believe what they said was “absolute truth.” My writing is the result of a long soul-searching experience that has led me to a place I’m comfortable with and others are finding comfort in the wisdom of The Infinite Jeff.
I stumbled onto the audiobook for this when I was commuting an hour and forty-five minutes one way. It was so powerful and deep that I ended up listening to it a second time. Tagore’s spiritual wisdom spans all the major religions. He talks about Christianity as passionately and profoundly as he talks about Buddhism or Hinduism and his wisdom resonates deeply at the core of who you are.
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
I’ve always believed a story should be world changing and epic on some level. Perhaps on a personal level, perhaps in the actual sense of world changing. Whether it’s for my readers of a short story, the players in a tabletop role playing game I’m running, or the arc of a novel. Some of these books help form that idea, and others supported it later in my life. I love it when a tale shakes my world—in addition to the world of the characters—and makes me question what I believe. With a doctorate in metaphysics and a love of fantasy and sci-fi, I’m always looking for ways to shake up my worldview!
This is a short, easy read. Some might even say it’s not sci-fi, but I think it fits. This was something I picked up in my teens and it helped create the framework for how I approach writing, creating, and my life. What if perception dictated reality, instead of the other way around? What would your life be like if you could change how you interacted with the world by just changing your mindset?
In the cloud-washed airspace between the cornfields of Illinois and blue infinity, a man puts his faith in the propeller of his biplane. For disillusioned writer and itinerant barnstormer Richard Bach, belief is as real as a full tank of gas and sparks firing in the cylinders ... until he meets Donald Shimoda - former mechanic and self-described messiah who can make wrenches fly and Richard's imagination soar...
In Illusions, the unforgettable follow-up to his phenomenal New York Times bestseller Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach takes to the air to discover the ageless truths that give our souls wings: that…
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…
As an academic humanist, I spent many years teaching medical students, helping resolve ethical problems in clinical care, and writing about individuals living with mental illness and those growing older. Recently, my own chronic illness, physical pain, and surgeries have somehow opened me to multiple mystical moments of beauty and feelings of oneness with all that exists. I have become a Spiritual Director and am constantly looking for perspectives, practices, and advice about cultivating spiritual growth in myself and others. I am inspired by an ancient Talmudic story: “When each of us is born, an angel swoops down and whispers, ‘Grow.’
I love this book because it helps break down the false dichotomy between science and spirituality. I also love it because Ivy League scientist and professional psychologist Lisa Miller is not afraid to talk about her own spiritual experiences, which many of her colleagues might dismiss as fantasy. I teach humanities in medicine.
I am thrilled to learn from and share her findings that spirituality helps protect against mental suffering and can help bring healing. Miller’s view that our brains are hard-wired for spiritual awareness strengthens my own view that we are fundamentally spiritual beings but live in an era desperately in need of cultural and spiritual renewal.
A groundbreaking exploration of the neuroscience of spirituality and a bold new paradigm for health, healing, and resilience
'Lisa Miller is the leading psychologist of her generation' Martin Seligman
'We can live chasing goals and rewards, lost in worries and regrets. Or we can awaken to the true fabric of the world, an evolving tapestry that we both behold and help to create, in which every thread matters and no strand stands alone'
Whether it's meditation or a walk in nature, reading a sacred text or saying a prayer, there are many ways to tap into a heightened awareness of…
