Why am I passionate about this?

As a co-founder of Mindvalley, one of the world’s biggest platforms for personal growth and transformation education, I have dedicated over 20 years of my life to this industry. I have worked with some of the world’s best authors and speakers, and I have witnessed transformation in millions of our students. One of the very common questions that I get is “What is your book recommendation?” And my answer never fails to surprise the inquirer.


I wrote

Becoming Flawesome: The Key to Living an Imperfectly Authentic Life

By Kristina Mänd-Lakhiani,

Book cover of Becoming Flawesome: The Key to Living an Imperfectly Authentic Life

What is my book about?

It’s odd to think that we can simultaneously be living as ourselves without ourselves. As life happens, we fall in…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Fellowship of the Ring

Kristina Mänd-Lakhiani Why did I love this book?

I would never have imagined adding this voluminous book to the list just a few years ago, but it is a great starting point... and here’s why.

Most people like easy instructions and clear textbooks - do like this and your life will change, don’t do like this if you don’t want to mess it up.

Yet, the best source of wisdom and transformation comes a little veiled - veiled behind a story, a plot, character development, and interaction with other characters. Because transformation doesn’t come from knowledge.

Transformation is only possible when knowledge is married with experience. Following the journey with the main character gives you the experience. Couple it with the wisdom of a great writer, and you will find transformation (in most unlikely places).

By J.R.R. Tolkien,

Why should I read it?

25 authors picked The Fellowship of the Ring as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

This brand-new unabridged audio book of The Fellowship of the Ring, the first part of J. R. R. Tolkien's epic adventure, The Lord of the Rings, is read by the BAFTA award-winning actor, director and author, Andy Serkis.

In a sleepy village in the Shire, a young hobbit is entrusted with an immense task. He must make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ruling Ring of Power - the only thing that prevents the Dark Lord Sauron's evil dominion.

Thus begins J. R. R. Tolkien's classic tale of adventure, which continues in…


Book cover of The Idiot

Kristina Mänd-Lakhiani Why did I love this book?

Well, pretty much anything by this true philosopher is a source of wisdom and personal transformation.

Not only are his books deeply philosophical, they are also a kind of catalyst for your current state of emotional well-being. If all you see is doom and gloom, I will strongly recommend talking to your therapist.

The unexpected twist about Dostoyevski is that he was profoundly optimistic and kind in his way of handling his storylines.

By Fyodor Dostoevsky, Constance Garnett (translator),

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked The Idiot as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Translated by Constance Garnett, with an Introduction and Notes by Agnes Cardinal, Honorary Senior Lecturer in Comparative Literature at the University of Kent.

Prince Myshkin returns to Russia from an asylum in Switzerland. As he becomes embroiled in the frantic amatory and financial intrigues which centre around a cast of brilliantly realised characters and which ultimately lead to tragedy, he emerges as a unique combination of the Christian ideal of perfection and Dostoevsky's own views, afflictions and manners. His serene selflessness is contrasted with the worldly qualities of every other character in the novel. Dostoevsky supplies a harsh indictment of…


Book cover of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Kristina Mänd-Lakhiani Why did I love this book?

Behind it’s light and easy simplicity, this book is truly genius.

No wonder - Carroll was a mathematician and I absolutely love the way his very logical brain built up the most outlandish and nonsensical adventures into a beautiful experience of life itself, with its absurdities and quirky sense of humour.

By Lewis Carroll,

Why should I read it?

11 authors picked Alice's Adventures in Wonderland as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 novel by English author Lewis Carroll (the pseudonym of Charles Dodgson). It tells of a young girl named Alice, who falls through a rabbit hole into a subterranean fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children.

One of the best-known and most popular works of English-language fiction, its narrative, structure, characters and imagery have been enormously…


Book cover of The Little Prince

Kristina Mänd-Lakhiani Why did I love this book?

The Little Prince is an existentialist philosophical story about life is not a question.

That it is full of wisdom and warmth does not need arguing. Yet with all its merits, what I love the most about this work of fiction is that it is romantically poetic - it is truly “only with the heart that one can see rightly,” and this work is to be read with one’s heart wide open.

By Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Richard Howard (translator),

Why should I read it?

16 authors picked The Little Prince as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Few stories are as widely read and as universally cherished by children and adults alike as 'The Little Prince'. Richard Howard's new translation of the beloved classic-published to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's birth-beautifully reflects Saint-Exupery's unique and gifted style. Howard, an acclaimed poet and one of the preeminent translators of our time, has excelled in bringing the English text as close as possible to the French, in language, style, and most important, spirit. The artwork in this new edition has been restored to match in detail and in colour Saint-Exupery's original artwork. By combining the new…


Book cover of The Master and Margarita

Kristina Mänd-Lakhiani Why did I love this book?

An undeniably genius work of fiction.

I have read it over and over again and every time, I rediscover the book and uncover new meanings, as if I have never read this book before.

I cannot say that I agree with every value and principle expressed in the book, but I absolutely love the way Bulgakov mashed up light and darkness, goodness and evil, wisdom and insanity in a whirlwind of colours, making you question the “badness” of one and the “goodness” of the other.

It is a liberating take on the “dark side” and hence it closes the list.

By Mikhail Bulgakov, Richard Pevear (translator), Larissa Volokhonsky (translator)

Why should I read it?

20 authors picked The Master and Margarita as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Bulgakov is one of the greatest Russian writers, perhaps the greatest' Independent

Written in secret during the darkest days of Stalin's reign, The Master and Margarita became an overnight literary phenomenon when it was finally published it, signalling artistic freedom for Russians everywhere. Bulgakov's carnivalesque satire of Soviet life describes how the Devil, trailing fire and chaos in his wake, weaves himself out of the shadows and into Moscow one Spring afternoon. Brimming with magic and incident, it is full of imaginary, historical, terrifying and wonderful characters, from witches, poets and Biblical tyrants to the beautiful, courageous Margarita, who will…


Explore my book 😀

Becoming Flawesome: The Key to Living an Imperfectly Authentic Life

By Kristina Mänd-Lakhiani,

Book cover of Becoming Flawesome: The Key to Living an Imperfectly Authentic Life

What is my book about?

It’s odd to think that we can simultaneously be living as ourselves without ourselves. As life happens, we fall in love with the idea of who we could be instead of with who we actually are—leaving parts of ourselves behind and losing sight of what and who is truly important within ourselves.

By sharing revelatory personal anecdotes and reflection prompts, Kristina Mänd-Lakhiani, co-founder of Mindvalley, helps to guide you toward: finding your own truth despite the external and internal critics; transforming from the Perfect You into the Real You; and embodying a life where no one needs fixing. Reclaim your happiness as your gift to the world and take the first steps to living truthfully within your flawesomely beautiful reflection.

Book cover of The Fellowship of the Ring
Book cover of The Idiot
Book cover of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

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Sor Juana, My Beloved

By MaryAnn Shank,

Book cover of Sor Juana, My Beloved

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Why am I passionate about this?

I once saw a play at the renowned Oregon Shakespeare Theatre. A play about Sor Juana. It was a good play, but it felt like something was missing like jalapenos left out of enchiladas. The play kept nudging me to look further to find Sor Juana, and so for the next five years, I did so. I read and read more. I listened for her voice, and that is where I heard her life come alive. This isn’t the only possibility for Sor Juana’s life; it is just the one I heard.

MaryAnn's book list on the mystical Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz

What is my book about?

Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, this brilliant 17th century nun flew through Mexico City on the breeze of poetry and philosophy. She met with princes of the Church, and with the royalty of Spain and Mexico. Then she met a stunning, powerful woman with lavender eyes, la Vicereine Maria Louisa, and her life changed forever. As her fame grew, she dared to challenge the diabolical Archbishop once too often, and he threw her in front of the Inquisition, where she stood, alone.

Sor Juana's work is studied still today, and justifiably so. Scholars study her months on end; mystics…

Sor Juana, My Beloved

By MaryAnn Shank,

What is this book about?

This astonishingly brilliant 17th century poet and dramatist, this nun, flew through Mexico City on wings of inspiration. Having no dowry, she chose the life of a nun so that she might learn, so that she might write, so that she might meet the most fascinating people of the western world. She accomplished all of that, and more.

One day a woman with violet eyes, eyes the color of passion flowers, entered her life. It was the new Vicereine, Maria Luisa. As the two most powerful women in Mexico City, the bond between them crossed politics and wound them in…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in good and evil, satire, and chess?

Good And Evil 142 books
Satire 168 books
Chess 55 books