Love Stillness is the Key? Readers share 100 books like Stillness is the Key...

By Ryan Holiday,

Here are 100 books that Stillness is the Key fans have personally recommended if you like Stillness is the Key. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World

Marcey Rader Author Of Reclaim Your Workday: Sustainable Productivity Strategies for the New World of Work

From my list on boost productivity declutter and reclaim your day.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™m passionate about productivity that enhances life, not erodes it. After years of chasing moreā€”more certifications, more races, more promotionsā€”I faced a health crisis that forced me to redefine success. Now, Iā€™m on a mission to help people and companies find real productivity without sacrificing relationships or health. My background as a speaker, trainer, and coach drives me to show others how sustainable habits can declutter not just our workspaces but also our minds and bodies. True productivity isnā€™t about doing more; itā€™s about creating space for what truly matters. 

Marcey's book list on boost productivity declutter and reclaim your day

Marcey Rader Why did Marcey love this book?

As a Cal Newport fan, I find his work indispensable. Deep Work influenced my approach as a productivity coach, and I quickly incorporated his research into my business. With this one, Newport masterfully presents why we need to declutter our digital lives without demanding we go off-grid, which isn't achievable (nor would we want it to be).

The relatable stories of people experimenting with digital restraint brought the strategies to life, showing that anyone can find more solitude and less noise. His realistic, actionable insights make this a go-to for me to recommend to my clients.

By Cal Newport,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Digital Minimalism as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Learn how to switch off and find calm - from the New York Times bestselling author of A World Without Email

'Digital Minimalism is the Marie Kondo of technology' Evening Standard

'An eloquent, powerful and enjoyably practical guide to cutting back on screen time' The Times

'An urgent call to action for anyone serious about being in command of their own life' Ryan Holiday

'What a timely and useful book' Naomi Alderman, author of The Power

Do you find yourself endlessly scrolling through social media or the news while your anxiety rises? Are you feeling frazzled after a long dayā€¦


Book cover of Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

Havard Mela Author Of Digital Discipline: Choosing Life in the Digital Age of Excess

From my list on how we get distracted and how to reclaim your attention.

Why am I passionate about this?

As someone who has felt the consequences of spending too much time online on distractions, I am compelled to share how much better life can be when we are conscious of the time we spend online. In my early twenties, I experienced digital addiction. I managed to turn things around by cultivating discipline and finding purpose in life. In the process, I developed a deep interest in neuroscience and psychology. My book explains how you can take conscious control of your life in a practical way based on my experience backed up by research.

Havard's book list on how we get distracted and how to reclaim your attention

Havard Mela Why did Havard love this book?

Deep Work is an excellent book for realizing how detrimental the typical employeeā€™s work habits of checking email every 5 minutes, constant meetings, and other distractions are to their ability to perform high-quality work. Newport also shares good suggestions for reclaiming your focus and doing what he calls ā€œdeep work.ā€ 

The book strongly advocates for the importance of having as much time as possible without distractions to achieve flow and perform optimally. This book helped me become much more conscious about how I work.

By Cal Newport,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked Deep Work as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Many modern knowledge workers now spend most of their brain power battling distraction and interruption, whether because of the incessant pinging of devices, noisy open-plan offices or the difficulty of deciding what deserves your attention the most. When Cal Newport coined the term 'deep work' on his popular blog, Study Hacks, in 2012, he found the concept quickly hit a nerve. Most of us, after all, are excruciatingly familiar with shallow work instead - distractedly skimming the surface of our workload and never getting to the important part. Newport began exploring the methods and mindset that foster a practice ofā€¦


Book cover of Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence

Havard Mela Author Of How to Thrive in the 21st Century: By Avoiding Porn and Other Distractions

From my list on porn addiction.

Why am I passionate about this?

As someone who has felt the consequences of spending too much time online on distractions, I am compelled to share how much better life can be when we are conscious of the time we spend online. In my early twenties, I experienced digital addiction. I managed to turn things around by cultivating discipline and finding purpose in life. In the process, I developed a deep interest in neuroscience and psychology. My book explains how you can take conscious control of your life in a practical way based on my experience backed up by research.

Havard's book list on porn addiction

Havard Mela Why did Havard love this book?

Lembke explains very well how the modern, technological environment we find ourselves in gives us too easy access to high-stimuli activities like gambling, social media, porn, and junk food.

With all the distractions and easy rewards we have around us, we need to be conscious in order to find balance and thrive. Otherwise, we will be very vulnerable to overconsumption, which has real consequences for our happiness and drive.

Even though this book covers other addictions as well, it is a great book to understand more about compulsive behavior and our dopamine system.

By Anna Lembke,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Dopamine Nation as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES and LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER
ā€œBrilliant . . . riveting, scary, cogent, and cleverly argued.ā€ā€”Beth Macy, author of Dopesick,
as heard on Fresh Air

This book is about pleasure. Itā€™s also about pain. Most important, itā€™s about how to find the delicate balance between the two, and why now more than ever finding balance is essential. Weā€™re living in a time of unprecedented access to high-reward, high-dopamine stimuli: drugs, food, news, gambling, shopping, gaming, texting, sexting, Facebooking, Instagramming, YouTubing, tweeting . . . The increased numbers, variety, and potency is staggering. The smartphone is the modern-dayā€¦


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Book cover of Reclaim Your Workday: Sustainable Productivity Strategies for the New World of Work

Reclaim Your Workday by Marcey Rader,

Reclaim your time and energy! Uncover actionable, sustainable strategies to boost productivity, prevent burnout, and achieve your goalsā€”whether you're an individual contributor, team member, or leader. Todayā€™s ā€œalways onā€ environment creates disengaged employees, stressed managers, and turnover-prone executives. But these challenges can become growth opportunities.

Inside, youā€™ll find techniques toā€¦

Book cover of Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attentionā€”and How to Think Deeply Again

Havard Mela Author Of Digital Discipline: Choosing Life in the Digital Age of Excess

From my list on how we get distracted and how to reclaim your attention.

Why am I passionate about this?

As someone who has felt the consequences of spending too much time online on distractions, I am compelled to share how much better life can be when we are conscious of the time we spend online. In my early twenties, I experienced digital addiction. I managed to turn things around by cultivating discipline and finding purpose in life. In the process, I developed a deep interest in neuroscience and psychology. My book explains how you can take conscious control of your life in a practical way based on my experience backed up by research.

Havard's book list on how we get distracted and how to reclaim your attention

Havard Mela Why did Havard love this book?

This book is a page-turner and very well-written.

It brilliantly weaves together the author's experience with protecting his attention and research about the topic. He covers how our phones have lulled us into thinking about what to do online, such as taking selfies and posting on Instagram, rather than going out there in the world.

The book enlightens the reader about the damaging effects multitasking and interruptions have on our lives. Although this is not a self-help book, the personal experiences Hari shares are very helpful in managing your attention.

By Johann Hari,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked Stolen Focus as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A SPECTATOR AND FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2022 'If you read just one book about how the modern world is driving us crazy, read this one' TELEGRAPH 'This book is exactly what the world needs right now' OPRAH WINFREY 'A beautifully researched and argued exploration of the breakdown of humankind's ability to pay attention' STEPHEN FRY 'A really important book . . . Everyone should read it' PHILIPPA PERRY Why have we lost our ability to focus? What are the causes? And, most importantly, how do we get it back? Forā€¦


Book cover of Break the Good Girl Myth: How to Dismantle Outdated Rules, Unleash Your Power, and Design a More Purposeful Life

Angie Marie Author Of The Cycle Syncing Handbook: Identify Hormonal Patterns, Build Holistic Habits, and Embrace the Power of Your Menstrual Cycle

From my list on books for women who want to live more creatively/with more creativity.

Why am I passionate about this?

In my 20s, after always doing what I was ā€œsupposedā€ to, I found myself trapped in a relationship I wanted out of, in a job that barely paid the bills, and in a mindset of scarcity. After my birth control almost killed me, I dove into the mind-body connection thatā€™s often stifled by sexism and societal expectations, becoming fascinated with pushing against the status quo and living more adventurously. I realized I needed to sincerely take my life decisions into my own hands. Since then, Iā€™ve run ultramarathons, become an entrepreneur, and taught countless menstruators how to listen to their own bodies so they can build a life they love.

Angie's book list on books for women who want to live more creatively/with more creativity

Angie Marie Why did Angie love this book?

It shook me to discover I was living by 2 of the 5 ā€œgood girl mythsā€ (ā€œLogicā€ and ā€œPerfectionā€) when I could be using evidence-backed design principles to create my life on my own terms.

One takeaway? In the beginning stages of starting my first business, Iā€™d throw every ounce of energy into creating a ā€œperfectā€ finished product before even telling anyone a project was coming. When launch day came, nobody would buy. I was so frustrated investing time, money, and energy into projects that wouldnā€™t take off.

Majoā€™s book taught me the value of ā€œprototyping.ā€ Just like professional designers, engineers, and inventors need to create a minimally viable product to validate the idea, I can do so in all areas of my life. Whatā€™s the smallest step forward I can take toward a goal right now that I can afford to lose from? Thatā€™s entrepreneurial thinking.

By Majo Molfino,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Break the Good Girl Myth as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"A must-read for any woman who is ready to design a life on her own terms." - Sophia Amoruso, Founder and CEO, Girlboss

Women: it's time to break the good girl myths that are holding you back and share your true gifts with this groundbreaking book from Stanford University-trained designer and women's leadership expert Majo Molfino.

For thousands of years, women have been taught to be "good" instead of powerful. But when we embody the good girl, we hold back their voices and gifts in a world that desperately needs female perspectives.

Drawing on countless coaching sessions and conversations withā€¦


Book cover of Dominion

Alec Marsh Author Of Rule Britannia

From my list on historical thrillers for history lovers.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™m a journalist and writer by profession, one who has a passion for history and historical fiction. Eventually these things came together when I came up with the idea for Drabble and Harris and wrote my first historical thriller ā€“ Rule Britannia. Before going into journalism I studied history at university, a bedrock that continues to support and feed my writing. Iā€™ve also written broadly on various historical topics throughout my career, including for National Geographic. In my protagonists, Drabble and Harris, I have the perfect vehicle to travel back in time to the recent past and revisit it through modern eyes ā€“ and more than that, to challenge our perceptions of it.

Alec's book list on historical thrillers for history lovers

Alec Marsh Why did Alec love this book?

Famous for his crookbacked sleuth Shardlake series, CJ Sansom sets this standalone counter-factual historical thriller in 1950s Britain ā€“ one where the United Kingdom had capitulated to Nazi Germany in 1940 (with Lord Halifax and not Winston Churchill becoming prime minister) and has become a German client state. It conjures up the 1950s ā€“ the smog, the coal smoke, the tea shops ā€“ while sketching out an alternate reality, one which is highly plausible, thereby doing one of the things I love best about historical fiction ā€“ showing us how different things could easily have been and shaking us from any complacency. More than this, Dominion is a highly effective thriller, as civil servant David Fitzgerald becomes the man in the middle of a politico-spy page-turner that keeps you guessing till the end.

By C.J. Sansom,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Dominion as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

At once a vivid, haunting reimagining of 1950s Britain, a gripping, humane spy thriller and a poignant love story, with Dominion C. J. Sansom once again asserts himself as the master of the historical novel.

1952. Twelve years have passed since Churchill lost to the appeasers and Britain surrendered to Nazi Germany after Dunkirk. As the long German war against Russia rages on in the east, the British people find themselves under dark authoritarian rule: the press, radio and television are controlled; the streets patrolled by violent auxiliary police and British Jews face ever greater constraints. There are terrible rumoursā€¦


Book cover of Three Cheers for Me

Iain Stewart Author Of Knights of the Air, Book 1: Rage

From my list on WW1 flying that takes you into the skies.

Why am I passionate about this?

My father was a pilot in WW2 and I learned to fly in Africa when I was 17. Subsequently I flew biplanes, some of them like the ones in these books, made of wood, glue, and fabric. Since childhood, I've been fascinated by flying in WW1. It was a time of incredible change. The dawn of aviation, when designers and pilots barely understood what they were doing. Biographies written at the time are typically laconic, ā€œemotionally repressedā€ might be modern. So these novels help us understand today some of those stresses and joys of these remarkable adventurers who dared to undertake what mankind had never done before; fight in the heavens.

Iain's book list on WW1 flying that takes you into the skies

Iain Stewart Why did Iain love this book?

The first in the Bandy Papers series, and the best. Jack was a Canadian who served in the air force and managed the difficult task of providing a comedy about flying in WW1 with, once again, realistic, and well-researched flying scenes. This book is a comedic tour de force, wringing belly laughs from war without belittling the surrounding terror and angst. It won several Canadian comedy awards, and you can understand why. It made me laugh so hard in places, that it hurt. But I repeat, the flying scenes are first-rate, and the characters are a hoot as they blunder through the war.

By Donald Jack,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Three Cheers for Me as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"I enjoyed every word . . . terrifically funny." P.G. Wodehouse

With his disturbingly horse-like face and a pious distaste for strong drink and bad language, young Bartholomew Bandy doesn't seem cut out for life in the armed services, as we meet him at the start of the First World War.

Yet he not only survives the dangers and squalor of the infantry trenches, he positively thrives in the Royal Flying Corps, revealing a surprising aptitude for splitarsing Sopwith Camels and shooting down the Hun. He even manages to get the girl.

Through it all he never loses his greatestā€¦


Book cover of Churchill: A Life

Adam Leitman Bailey Author Of Finding the Uncommon Deal: A Top New York Lawyer Explains How to Buy a Home For the Lowest Possible Price

From my list on making you a better and more successful leader.

Why am I passionate about this?

My name is Adam Leitman Bailey. I am a lawyer, a writer, an advocate, and a leader. Most importantly, I can not stand injustice.  

Adam's book list on making you a better and more successful leader

Adam Leitman Bailey Why did Adam love this book?

Churchill was a great leader and lawyer and showed how to overcome difficult times.

No leader in world history has exemplified overcoming great odds to lead a country to beat the Nazis and instill a morale within its people when none existed. Almost every chapter in the book is a lesson on how to be a better leader.

By Martin Gilbert,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Churchill as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This edition of the highly acclaimed one-volume Churchill: A Life, is the story of adventure. It follows Winston Churchill from his earliest days to his moments of triumph. Here, the drama and excitement of his story are ever-present, as are his tremendous qualities in peace and war, not least as an orator and as a man of vision. Martin Gilbert gives us a vivid portrait, using Churchill's most personal letters and the recollections of his contemporaries, both friends and enemies, to go behind the scenes of some of the stormiest and most fascinating political events of our time, dominated byā€¦


Book cover of Churchill and America

Robert Schmuhl Author Of Mr. Churchill in the White House: The Untold Story of a Prime Minister and Two Presidents

From my list on Winston Churchillā€™s life and affection for the US.

Why am I passionate about this?

Since my high school days, Iā€™ve considered Winston Churchill the most intriguing figure in world history. He told someone who admired his paintings, ā€œGenius has many outlets.ā€ In his case, he was not only a talented artist but also a politician, statesman, author, and orator. While doing research for my last book, I came across references to Churchillā€™s visits to the White House to meet with Franklin Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower. No one had ever closely investigated these sojourns at critical times of WW II and the Cold War. A book was born.

Robert's book list on Winston Churchillā€™s life and affection for the US

Robert Schmuhl Why did Robert love this book?

Named Churchillā€™s official biographer in 1968, Gilbert draws on his vast library of research to focus on Churchillā€™s abiding interest in the native land of his mother, the former Jennie Jerome of New York. The chronological account reflects Churchill's growing attachment to what he called ā€œthe great Republic.ā€

Over time and on a personal basis, the U.S. became significant financially to the statesman and author. He saw the rising power of America and wanted to have the United Kingdom and British Commonwealth closely allied with the emerging superpower. 

By Martin Gilbert,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Churchill and America as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An account of the former British prime minister's seventy-year relationship with the United States describes how his work during the First and Second World Wars laid a foundation of a century-long alliance between the countries and established a key policy of cooperation that continues to this day. 75,000 first printing.


Book cover of Churchill: The Power of Words

Luke Fowler Author Of Democratic Policy Implementation in an Ambiguous World

From my list on how ideas are turned into actions.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™m fascinated by the obsession that we as a society have with making policy, but not whether policy works, and how policy is treated as a magic bullet to the social problems that we all care about. But my experience is that itā€™s not ideas that solve problems; itā€™s action that solves problems. This fascination has led me to become a professor of public policy and administration, where I have read extensively about this issue for over a decade and written two books and over four dozen articles. My work focuses on how ideas are translated into actions and how those actions impact our communities.

Luke's book list on how ideas are turned into actions

Luke Fowler Why did Luke love this book?

I like that this book makes Winston Churchillā€™s powerful oratory style and poetic words easily accessible. Churchill was a master at speaking in a way that ignited the passion of others and focused them on common goals.

To be able to see and study those words really provides insights into how to shape the way others think about the world. It also opens the door to many historical issues that often get buried in some of the grander narratives about Churchillā€™s time.

By Winston Churchill, Martin Gilbert (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Churchill as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Winston Churchill knew the power of words. In speeches, books, and articles, he expressed his feelings and laid out his vision for the future. His wartime writings and speeches have fascinated generation after generation with their powerful narrative style and thoughtful reflection.Martin Gilbert, Churchill's official biographer, has chosen passages that express the essence of Churchill's thoughts and describe,in his own inimitable words,the main adventures of his life and the main crises of his career. From first to last, they give insight into his life, how it evolved, and how he made his mark on the British and world stage.


Book cover of Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World
Book cover of Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
Book cover of Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence

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