The most recommended new age books

This collection, published by Bloodaxe Books, categorizes poems loosely by theme and contains a treasure trove of the best poems to help you keep on living when life is too hard. There is a wide range of themes, as well as some uplifting poems that explore everything beautiful about being alive.

I recommend this book because this spiritual text helped me—more than any other—to see and choose from love instead of fear in my own life. When I left my prestigious law job, I had a storm of fears weaken my creative dreams. This book helped me to find and trust my own inner authority. It also helped me to feel more secure in life, no matter what was going on. At first, I found the language off-putting because it “sounded” religious at times. But this path is not about any religion, other than the love and infinite power in all of us. There are gazillions of spiritual books on the market, but this one is a powerhouse, a classic, and a gamechanger.    

When I first started publishing my writing, my editor told me my writing reminded her of Frank Peretti.

Then readers started saying the same thing. I had no idea who Frank Peretti was, so imagine my surprise when I read This Present Darkness and saw that Peretti had brought the concept of spiritual warfare to life in a book with several plots that weave together seamlessly.

Often referred to as “the Stephen King of Christian fiction,” Peretti is a genius with the written word. His novels have a way of immersing you into the story from the first line, and by the time they let you escape back to reality, you’re a different person. At least I am.

With so many Christian stories getting a rightfully earned reputation for being cheesy, it’s refreshing for a true storyteller to give us truth.  

At 800 pages, this was the longest book I read this year by quite a bit. Despite its length, I believe the narrative does a great job at keeping you entertained and interested in what’s going on from start to finish.

There are a few key things that made this a top book for me.

First, the main character is someone who crafts (as in, they make their own equipment) gear that is near-perfect in a way that makes them truly unique. More than that, however, is how the author does an excellent job at making their knowledge of crafting and crafted items believable based on the main character’s background. Every is well-integrated, and minor details begin to matter as a result. Often enough, stories forget to make those things ‘matter.’

Secondary to that is the setting – an academy story, something we’ve all read before; Brian still does a… show more.

This is the book I wished I had when reading the classic Dion Fortune novels The Sea Priestess and Moon Magic, though Margie certainly is not writing commentary of those novels. She provides a context for the bigger themes in such stories I was ignorant of when first reading Fortune. Lady of the Sea weaves a grand vision of the Goddess from ancient roots, including Egypt, the Celts, indigenous lore, Avalonian traditions, and the modern New Age, but does so with such skill, grace, and practical purpose. It is the best book for deeply describing the inner temple of the Moon, Sea, and Stars and how to work in them as a modern mystic. For that alone it is worth it, but everything leading to and from those sections supports your understanding of why the Lady of the Sea is important to us all.  

Be Here Now transcends the typical book format with its unique blend of illustrations and diagrams, creating an immersive experience.

It inspired me to practice a life-changing exercise: sitting, conjuring the feeling of being enough, without striving for more. This practice, sparked by the book's wisdom, led to a profound shift in how I perceive the world. While watering a garden, I experienced a moment of heightened awareness, where everything felt more electric and alive.

This transformative journey even inspired my TEDx talk 'Using the Present to Create the Future.' I highly recommend this book to anyone on a path of mindfulness and self-discovery.

Alanis moves to a tiny tourist trap town in Arizona after her con-artist mother is murdered, leaving Alanis a New Age gift shop. Alanis doesn't believe in the tarot, but she starts offering readings to learn about her mother's customers, hoping to find out who killed her. The book is darker than the standard cozy, despite a female main character inheriting a shop. It’s not at all gruesome, but it is full of scams and stories of growing up with a terrible parent. The narrator feels unique and authentic, and I loved her snarky voice. The premise is clever, providing a mystery with plenty of complications and twists.

Don’t worry if you don’t like paranormal aspects to your mysteries – Alanis is far too suspicious to believe in anything like that, even if she sometimes gets surprised by the cards’ on-point messages. Steve Hockensmith may be better known for his… show more.

"Don't take yourself so personally" says Ram Dass. His humor, his insights, his ability to capture great lessons and truths in one line. This book made me think and laugh at the same time = quite a feat! I so appreciate his fun look at life with his deep sense of spiritual understanding. Fantastic read.

Growing up in small-town America, I learned that psychedelics were evil poisons that would rot your brain and seduce you into addiction. As I grew older I learned about the opposition to the establishment’s War on Drugs—the punks, hippies, stoners, and other countercultural miscreants who downed ecstasy tablets like candy and flew their freak flags high.

What I did not know, and what shocked me when reading The Harvard Psychedelic Club, was that these opposing factions had once been united. In the 1960s, people were hopeful about the potential of LSD and other substances, and researchers were conducting promising research into their merits. Perhaps the most intriguing was the Harvard Psilocybin Project, led by two promising professors: Timothy Leary, before he exhorted a generation to “turn on, tune in, drop out”, and Richard Alpert, who had not yet rechristened himself as self-help guru Ram Dass.

It's hard to believe now,… show more.

I love frameworks. Especially ones that make simple and clarifying distinctions about our complex inner life. That’s exactly what Chamine has done with this book. When I read this book in 2012 and completed the accompanying free online assessment to identify my saboteurs, I was greatly humbled by the sobering accuracy of how I self-sabotage.

While reading the book, I was engrossed in the combination of logic, science, and stories helping to illuminate how and why we all have a unique mix of these universal saboteurs: Controller, Stickler, Hyper-Achiever, Restless, Hyper-Rational, Victim, Avoider, Pleaser, Hyper-Vigilant. I learned how to identify when I was coming from a place of self-sabotage and what to do to overcome unhelpful habits, (i.e., strengthen my PQ muscles).

It was fun, engaging, and motivating to read, and the practical tips made this book incredibly useful. I use his framework in conjunction with my own to make… show more.