Well, it worked well with movies, so I'm going to do the same thing with books. This will be a list of book recommendations. The first section will be books that I recommend to others. The second will be books recommended to me by others. Feel free to recommend a book. If you want to find a book, you can go to Amazon.com through the links below, or you can try the Advanced Book Exchange, Internet Sources for Used Books, or Book Finders.

Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez -- This program of nine "steps" (some need only to be done once, others monthly, while still others are done constantly) is a cohesive plan for doing just what the subtitle says: transforming your relationship with money and achieving financial independence. It also talks about two other definitions for "FI": financial integrity, and financial intelligence. If I could recommend only one book, this would be it. If you're interested in voluntary simplicity, this may be the only one you'll ever need--the rest of them basically just support steps 4 and 6 of the program.

Life 101: Everything We Wished We Had Learned About Life in School--But Didn't by Peter McWilliams -- This is a great toolbox of ideas for making life (and death--see the "Good Mourning" chapter) easier to deal with. From relaxation to relationships, McWilliams gives tons of practical suggestions for dealing with all kinds of life situations. He suggests that readers pick and choose what seems to work for them and ignore the stuff that doesn't "click." One of my favorites: Clearly imagine the most wise person you can think of (real or fiction). This is your personal Teacher. He or she can change shape and can orchestrate events in your life to teach you things. So when you find someone driving you nuts, or you're in a situation that you feel you can't handle, think of your Teacher and what he or she might be trying to get you to learn. Once you DO learn it, you won't have that same problem ever again.

The Holy Man's Journey by Susan Trott -- A beautifully written story about Joe, the Holy Man. I haven't read the first book, The Holy Man, but this book stands alone just fine. Joe, in his simple and wise ways, teaches his fellow monks and Anna, his chosen replacement, what they need to know to live good lives before he leaves to visit his teacher. Almost every page seemed to have little "Aha!" moments in them. For example, when pilgrims treated him like a servant, not realizing he was the Holy Man, he would trick them (read the book to find out how) and then tell them "If you will treat every one you meet as a holy person, you will be happy."

The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff -- The best introduction to Taoism for Westerners that I've seen. Winnie the Pooh is a Tao master. Hoff uses the Pooh stories to demonstrate basic concepts of Taoism like p'u (the "uncarved block") and wei wu wei ("doing without doing"). I haven't read The Te of Piglet, but I hear it's not nearly as good.

Tao Te Ching by Lao-tzu -- This is one of the main texts of Taoism. I prefer the translation by Stephen Mitchell because it has been translated for a modern English reader. Imagery used in the original has been updated to analogous images for easier comprehension of the concepts.

Tao: The Watercourse Way by Alan Watts and Al Chung-Liang Huang -- This is a good follow-up to The Tao of Pooh and the Tao Te Ching for Westerners. It cuts out some of the more esoteric symbolism in Taoist literature and philosophy and sticks mostly to the images of water. This was Watts' last work before his death, having to be finished by his friend/student Huang.

The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers -- Basically a transcript of a Bill Moyers interview of Joseph Campbell, they cover all kinds of interesting topics from the essentially mystical symbolism the founding fathers worked into the Great Seal of the United States to the importance of creating personal sacred space.

Monkey: A Journey to the West by Wu Ch'eng-en -- I like the version translated by Arthur Waley. This is a Chinese folk novel about how Monkey, an incorrigible character born from a stone egg, teams up with Pigsy (a pig-headed fellow), Sandy (a repentant river beast in human form), and the white horse (a transformed dragon) to help the priest Tripitaka travel from China to India to retrieve sacred Buddhist scriptures. Includes lots of magic and transformation and spirits, dragons, and demons. A great read.

The Mother Tongue: English & How It Got That Way by Bill Bryson -- A hilarious look at the crazy English language...and how it got that way. Bryson looks at how words came to be (did you know that Shakespeare invented the word "premeditated"?) to spelling (you wouldn't think an English words has the letter combination "tchst" in it...but then there's matchstick) to swearing (why does one of the worst swear words in English refer to a pleasurable activity?)

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan -- What can I say? If you've seen the movie, you get the idea. However, the book is more expansive and rich. The book's almost always better than the movie, right? A good view into two generations of Chinese-American women, one generation of immigrants and one of American-born Chinese. This book was recommended to me by my friend, Hsiao-ping, as being an accurate portrayal of Chinese life.

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett -- A combination of the Book of Revelations and British humor similar to Douglas Adams. When the Chattering Order of St. Beryl, an order of satanic nuns, accidentally misplaces the Antichrist, the stage is set for the wackiest version of the Apocalypse I've ever seen. This is definitely one of those books that'll make you laugh out loud in public places, so watch where you read it!

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux -- By now almost everyone knows the basics of this beauty-and-the-beast variant. However, much like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the original story is written as a documentation of an essentially investigative process. Leroux says that he interviewed various people involved in the story, and even found a ring in the depths of the Paris Opera House which he suggests may have belonged to Erik, the "phantom." A nice look at how illusion and perception play into human psychology, too.

Strip Tease by Carl Hiaasen -- This is another laugh-out-loud book. Although the rather poor Demi Moore movie was based on this book, the film lacked the depth that the book had. Set in already rather wacky Florida, the cast of characters goes beyond standard wacky. For example, there's the bouncer of the strip club, known only as Shad, who wants to get out of the bouncing business by suing a yogurt company. As "evidence," he has the yogurt cup in which he has planted a cockroach. Unfortunately, his lawyer's secretary is out and the temp gets hungry and accidentally eats the evidence, blithely unaware of why that first bite was a bit crunchy.

Creating Your Future: 5 Steps to the Life of Your Dreams by Dave Ellis -- Well, Paul Hawken's quote on the back cover pretty much sums it up: "When the words 'create,' 'future,' and 'dreams' are combined in one book title, we are likely to consign it to the dust heap of wishful self-help. Think again. Creating Your Future is an intensely useful means of changing one's life. Dave Ellis uses and teaches a proven method that will make you laugh, cry, exult, and get to work." If you ever get to take a workshop with him or hear him speak, be sure to go. It will be well worth it.

Scott Jones recommended the Time Trilogy by Madeline L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time; A Wind in the Door; and Swiftly Tilting Planet, which I have already read, and I agree. Good fiction, even if it was written for kids!

Invest in Yourself: Six Secrets to a Rich Life by Marc Eisenson, Gerri Detweiler, and Nancy Castleman -- Nancy Castleman was kind enough to send me a copy of this book when she saw it on my online wish list. Thanks, Nancy! Turns out that it was a good wish. I'm not yet done with it, but there's all kinds of ways to save money, resources for getting good deals or a fair shake, and point your life in a direction you want to go without making any big boat-rocking changes. In fact, that seems to be a theme throughout--make little adjustments and they'll pay off big returns in the long run.

The Terminal Man by Michael Crichton, recommended by Ryan Beddingfield

Naked Lunch by William Burroughs, recommended by Ian Rowand

Dakota: A Spiritual Geography by Kathleen Norris, recommended by Loren Vine

The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon by Tom Spanbauer, recommended by Scott Jones

A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present by Howard Zinn, recommended by Michael Fogler of the positive-futures listserv

The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum, recommended by Scott Jones

Geek Love by Katherine Dunn, recommended by Jeremy Hurd

The Hippopotamas by Steven Fry, recommended by Scott Jones

Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac, recommended by lots of people over the years...

Barrel Fever: Stories and Essays by David Sedaris, recommended by Scott Jones

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, recommended by Nan Hildreth of the positive-futures listserv

Brightness Falls from the Air by James Triptree, Jr., recommended by Scott Jones

The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken, recommended by Jill Bussiere of the positive-futures listserv

Scott Jones also recommends books by Andrew Sullivan, Ray Bradbury, and the short stories of Edgar Allan Poe

The Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg, recommended by John Gear of the positive-futures listserv

The Napoleon of Crime by Ben MacIntyre, recommended by Phillip Valdez

The Dividend Investor by H. Knowles and D.H. Petty, recommended by Diane Olson of the positive-futures listserv

Shocked, Appalled, and Dismayed! How to Write Letters of Complaint That Get Results by Ellen Phillips, as heard on NPR's "Talk of the Nation."

Islandia by Austin Tappan Wright and Pacific Edge by Kim Stanley Robinson, recommended by Tom Gray of the positive-futures listserv

Brain Sex: The Real Difference Between Men and Women by Anne Moir and David Jessel, recommended by Julann Spromberg

Shibumi by Trevanian, recommended by a Go player I spoke with at my local Games & Gizmos store

Mary Reilly by Valerie Martin, recommended by Lisa Purdy

Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics by Gary Zukav and David Finkelstein, recommended by lots of folks over the years

Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono, recommended by someone whose name I don't remember.

Investing With Your Values by Brill, Brill, and Feigenbaum, recommended by several people

The Mindful Money Guide by Marshall Glickman, which wasn't so much recommended as referred to as a resource to look into...

The Post Corporate World by David Korten, recommended by a member of the FI Associates at the New Road Map Foundation.

Financial Self-Defense by Charles Givens, also recommended by someone who I don't remember.

Charles Schwab's Guide to Financial Independence by Charles Schwab, probably recommended by the same person that mentioned the last two.

Another recommendation I don't know the source of is Sally Tisdale's Talk Dirty to Me: An Intimate Philosophy of Sex. You might notice that I'm going through all of the slips of paper that have book recommendations on them and adding them to the site. :)

The End of Affluence by Jeffrey Madrick. I think I heard about this one on NPR.

Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts by Alice Medrich is definately an NPR book.

Shifting Fortunes: The Perils of the Growing American Wealth Gap by Chuck Collins, Betsy Leondar-Wright, and Holly Sklar is another NPR find.

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, recommended by Patrick McIntyre with the note "...if you liked Geek Love and have a year to spare."

Totem Salmon: Life Lessons from Another Species by Freeman House, recommended by Julann Spromberg.

Mike, a visitor to my site, recommended the following: The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien; Papillon by Henri Cherriere (backordered at Amazon, only available in French and Spanish); The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter; Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman; Walden by Henry David Thoreau; and The Inferno by Dante Alighieri.

The Man Who Listens to Horses by Monty Roberts, recommended by Kendra.

Next of Kin: My Conversations with Chimpanzees by Roger Fouts, recommended by Kendra

Dr. Judith Orloff's Guide to Intuitive Healing by Dr. Judith Orloff, recommended by someone a while ago. I found the recommendation scrawled on the back of one of my business cards in my wallet.

Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert Putnam, recommended by Helen