Suggested Reading

From time to time, I've been asked to offer book recommendations for atheists. On the surface, that seems like an easy question, but "book recommendations for atheists" is actually a rather broad question. You could say any book that isn't written about religion is a book for an atheist. And some atheists (like me!) are interested in world religions, too, even if they don't believe in them.

Here are some books I've enjoyed reading, divided into a few loose categories. (Some books are linked to reviews on this site.) Please feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments below.

Atheism/religion/philosophy:

• Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World -- His Holiness the Dalai Lama
• 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God -- Guy P. Harrison
• The World's Wisdom: Sacred Texts of the World's Religions -- Philip Novak
• Rapture Ready!: Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture -- Daniel Radosh
• Being and Nothingness -- Jean-Paul Satre
• The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays: Albert Camus
• The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture -- Darrel Ray and Ed D.
• The Portable Atheist -- Christopher Hitchens
• God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything -- Christopher Hitchens
• Religious Literacy - Stephen Prothero

Secular parenting:

• Parenting Beyond Belief: On Raising Ethical, Caring Kids without Religion -- Dale McGowan
• Raising Freethinkers: A Practical Guide for Parenting Beyond Belief -- Dale McGowan, Molleen Matsumura, Amanda Metskas and Jan Devor
• Maybe Right, Maybe Wrong: A Guide for Young Thinkers -- Dan Barker
• Maybe Yes, Maybe No: A Guide for Young Skeptics -- Dan Barker
• How Do You Know It's True? -- Hy Ruchlis

Psychology/neuroscience/skepticism:

• How We Decide -- Jonah Lehrer
• 50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True -- Guy P. Harrison and Dr. Phil Plait
• On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right, Even When You're Not -- Robert Burton
• Connectome: How the Brain's Wiring Makes Us Who We Are -- Sebastian Seung
• Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior -- Brafman Ori

General science:

• Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries -- Neil deGrasse Tyson
• The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True - Richard Dawkins
• Does Anything Eat Wasps?: And 101 Other Unsettling, Witty Answers to Questions You Never Thought You Wanted to Ask -- New Scientist
• Why Don't Penguins Feet Freeze?: And 114 Other Questions -- New Scientist and Mick O'Hare
• One Two Three... Infinity: Facts and Speculations of Science -- George Gamow
• Why Does E=mc2?:And Why Should We Care? -- Brian Cox
• Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher -- Richard P. Feynman

Fiction: 

(a few stand-outs that atheists/freethinkers might especially appreciate)

• The Handmaid's Tale -- Margaret Atwood
• Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy -- Jostein Gaardner
• 1984 -- George Orwell
• The Razor's Edge -- W. Somerset Maugham
• Of Human Bondage -- W. Somerset Maugham
• The Giver -- Lois Lowry
• Waiting for Godot -- Samuel Beckett
• No Exit and Three Other Plays -- Jean-Paul Sartre and Stuart Gilbert
• The Stranger -- Albert Camus
• Nausea -- Jean-Paul Sartre

Miscellaneous:

• I'm Hosting as Fast as I Can!: Zen and the Art of Staying Sane in Hollywood -- Tom Bergeron
• Classic Myths to Read Aloud: The Great Stories of Greek and Roman Mythology -- William F. Russell