Professor Lisa Jeffery’s All Time Favorite Book List

If you've taken my classes or my workshops, you can tell that I'm an avid reader, and have gotten a great wealth from books, some have changed my life! I believe that there is only one thing that can truly change a person -- education.

A number of my students recently asked me if would write it all down for them and give them my all-time favorite reading list. Now, I'm constantly updating this list, but here it is....

My Favorite Books About Self Improvement, Communication and Life:

How to Win Friends and Influence People By Dale Carnegie
(One of the greatest books I’ve ever read.)

The Power of Positive Thinking By Norman Vincent Peale

The Gentle Art of Verbal Self Defense By Suzette Haden Elgin

All I Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten By Robert Fulgum

Strategy of the Dolphin: Scoring a Win in a Chaotic World by Dudley Lynch, Paul Kordis

Mind, Fantasy and Healing By Alice H. Epstein
(This is the most amazing book on healing I’ve ever read.)

Creative Visualization:
Use the Power of Your Imagination to Create What you Want in Your Life
by Shakti Gawain

Silva Mind Control Methodby Jose Silva

Be Careful What You Pray For… You Just Might Get it By Larry Dossey, M.D.
(Also wrote Healing Words, a best seller)

Aging with Grace: What the Nun Study Teaches Us About Leading Longer, Healthier, and More Meaningful Lives by David Snowdon
(This book is full of extrardinary research about the brain, discovered from the nuns who donated their brains to science. They were living to be 105. Why?)

You Can Heal Your Lifeby Louise L. Hay

The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawkings

Books on Science, Physics and Math

The Feynman Lectures on Physics (3 vols.) (CD) Richard P. Feynman
(I’m fascinated by the poetry of physics. This is on CD, I listened to it in my car. Feynman was a genius and an extraordinary teacher. His recorded lectures have become a classic.)

Five Equations That Changed the World: The Power and Poetry of Mathematics
by Michael Guillen
(A unique, fascinating book that taught me a lot about a subject I absolutely hated in school. Now that I've read it, I can see why it was picked Best Book of the Year by Publisher's Weekly. If You buy one book about mathematics and mathematicians in your lifetime, this should be it! It could change your world too.)

The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi, the World's Most Astonishing Number
by Mario Livio
(You will be surprised how the Golden Ratio shows up in everything in your life!)

Fun Books, Absolutely Essential:
St. Francis Preaches to the Birds by Peter Schumann
(I love St. Francis and his story. This is a simple book with beautiful woodblock illustrations. Kids might love it, but if you know the story of St. Francis, it’s very moving. I love reading it.)

Balcony People by Joyce Landorf Heatherley
(A short, simple book that will change your life. Balcony people are people who cheer you on from the balcony, always supporting you. Basement people are the people who drag you down. This book will change your life and show you how important it is to be a balcony person, and have balcony people in your life.)

10 Fun Things to Do Before You Die
by 'Nun' other Than Karol A. Jackowski
(This book changed my life. I love it.)

The Tao of Pooh
(Whenever I’m stressed, I read this book, and it dissolves the stress. I keep it beside my bed and sometimes carry it with me to stressful events. Pooh is the perfect example of the Tao… go with the flow.)

Novels -Books that Made an Impact on My Life

Zorba The Greek By Nikos Kazantzakis
(Zorba is larger than life, one of the greatest characters in literature. Everyone should know Zorba. He and can teach us all about life.)

A Fine and Private Place By Peter S. Beagle
(Such an unusual book, unforgettable.)

The Alchemist By Paulo Coelho
(A great story, legend, about finding what you are looking for)SidharthaBy Herman Hesse(A great book for young people about finding your way)

Jonathon Livingston Seagull and
Illusions – The Adventures of a Reluctant MessiahThe Bridge Across Forever
By Richard Bach

East of Eden, The Grapes of Wrath, The Pearl, By John Steinbeck
Cannery Row and its sequel Sweet Thursday by John SteinbecK (Nobody can write like Steinbeck!)

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Tales of Eva Luna By Isabel Allende
(I love this book and this author. She is such a wonderful storyteller, and I love how she can weave tales.)

The Consolation of Philosophy by Alan De Botom

Sophie's World: A Novel about the History of Philosophy by Jostein Gaarder

The Great Santini by Pat Conroy

Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen)
(Oh! Karen Blixen wrote this book disguised as a man, because she knew at the time they wouldn’t publish a book from a woman. An extraordinary story about life, and extraordinary writer. I’ve read it twice -- or three times? I would read it again!)

My Favorite Biographies
I love reading biographies, they give me insights about history, places and life.

Report to Greco By Nikos Kazantzakis

Long Walk to Freedom, The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela
(I believe that Nelson Mandela is the wisest man alive in our lifetime, and everyone can benefit from hearing his words, his courage, his determination and cool, calm journey to the truth.)

Chanel: A Woman of Her Own by Axel Madsen
(I have gotten so much inspiration from Coco Chanel, her determination, her grace, her sense of fun, and immeasurable class.)

Classics
Books that Should be Required Reading for Everyone

Metamorphisis by Franz Kafka
(This is a weird one, but reading it changed me – it created the strongest image of any book I ever read, and never ever forgot it. It has to do with the way people treat you based on how you feel about yourself. It is symbolic of the treatment of the Jews in WWII.)

Gaia By JE Lovelock
(This is a famous book by the man who created the “Gaia” theory -- that the earth is alive. Many books have been written on the subject since then.)

The Velveteen Rabbit By Margery Williams

Don Quixoteby Miguel de Cervantes
A world panel of writers chose Don Quixote, the tale of hopeless quest, as the best book in history.

The Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer (translated by Robert Fitzgerald)
(All of our books, movies, plays all come from the Odyssey!)

Greek Myths by Robert Graves

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry in Valuesby Robert Pirsig

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, 1902
(Real adventure, a psychological as well as a physical experience. No story ever told relates the spiritual perils that man encounters in the wilderness half as well as Heart of Darkness.)

Alice's Adventures in WonderlandBy Lewis Carroll, 1865

On the Importance of Play…
I believe that play is absolutely essential to our lives. We have to play everyday, it balances out or lives, sparks our creativity and is vital to happiness.

The Pleasure Connection – How Endorphins Affect Our Health and Happiness by Deva and James Beck (both R.N.s)

Deep Play By Diane Ackerman

Living A Beautiful Life By Alexandra Stoddard
(This book teaches you how NOT to live a mundane life. It changed the way I lived in my home.)

For a Different Outlook

Love By Leo Buscaglia

Only Love is Real – The True Story of Soul Mates Reunited By Brian Weiss, M.D.A

Still, Small Voice – A Psychic’s Guide to Awakening Intuition by Echo Bodine

Unseen Influences By Dick Sutphen

The Secret Science Behind Miracles by Max Freedom Long.
This book explains “Huna” and the understanding of ancient Hawaiian Shamans. It teaches you a lot about the power of thought.

Animal-Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Creatures Great & Small by Ted Andrews

Inspirational Books
Books that have an impact on your life:

The Man Who Planted Trees By Jean Giono
This book is a legend in France and has been translated into English. It’s based on a true story of a simple man in France that changed the world. It’s one of those stories that gives you hope and summarizes the best in our species.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
(Few stories are as widely read and as universally cherished by children and adults alike as The Little Prince. The Little Prince asks questions we wouldn’t dare ask, and it teaches us about life. I read it again and again, and always get something new.)


Dancing Naked in the Mind Field by (Nobel Laureate) Kary Mullis

Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King

Books on Anthropology and Mankind

Lucy: The Beginnings of HumankindDonald Johanson & Maitland Edey
(Everyone should know who Lucy is… an unbelievable discovery in Antropology… we are all descendents of Lucy.)

Coming of Age in Samoa By Margaret Mead
(This book has taught us more about human behavior than any book. Margaret Mead was brilliant.)

Poetry
Carl Sandburg
Langston Hughes
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Fredrico Garcia Lorca (Spanish)
Pablo Neruda
Tennyson
T.S. Elliott
Marina Tsvetaeva (Russian)
Wallace Stevens
Shel Silverstein (great for adults and kids)
Chinese Poet Huang O, 16th Century Ming Dynasty
Sapho

Special Poems...
The Autopsy, by Odysseus Elytis
Ithaca, and Waiting for the Barbarians by Cavafy
Letters to a Young Poet Rainer Maria Rilke

Children’s’ Book (but not really)
The Giving Tree By Shel Silverstein
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Green Eggs and HamThe Cat in the Hat (I love Thing 1 and Thing 2!)
Horton Hears a Who by Dr Seuss
Winnie the PoohReturn to Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne
The Little Soul and the Sun: A Children's Parable Adapted from Conversations With God by Neale Donald Walsch