Recommended Books on Psychic and Spiritual Topics

I often get clients and readers asking me for book recommendations.

These days, I don’t read that many books on psychic development (doing psychic readings for people gives you more than your fill of learnings in that area…)

However, in the last several years I have read lots of them. Below are the spiritual and psychic books that still stand out in my mind as being really good. I don’t include full reviews, but next to each book I include a description telling you why I am recommending it.

There are 19 books in this list. I’ll add new ones as I find them. Some of these are affiliate links, so I get about 30 cents or something like that if you buy the book through my link I promise not to spend it all at once!

Click on the subheadings below to go straight to the book reviews in that category:

• The Chakra System
• Psychic Development
• Overcoming Overactive Empathy
• Weird & Woo Woo Stuff
• Relationships, Dating & Love
• Emotional and Spiritual Healing
• General Spirituality

Books about Chakras

Anatomy of the Spirit: The Seven Stages of Power and Healing by Caroline Myss

This book is good for beginners who want a thorough introduction to the human chakra system and for anyone who wants to learn about the common blockages which affect us at the various chakras (especially practising healers and intuitives.) If you’re interested in self-healing, this book is highly recommended.

True Balance: A Commonsense Guide for Renewing Your Spirit by Sonia Choquette

I love this book – I refer to it all the time when working with clients. It’s the most down-to-earth and practical book about chakras that I’ve read. Unlike other books I’ve read about the energy system, it helps you to diagnose your own energy imbalances easily AND gives practical suggestions and remedies for imbalances. If you want to buy one book about the chakra system and you’re a beginner, I would recommend this one first.

Psychic Development

I have read a lot of books on psychic development. Some of them I didn’t find useful. Hence a fairly short list, but these were the memorable ones.

Psychic Development for Beginners: An Easy Guide to Developing & Releasing Your Psychic Abilities by William Hewitt

I loved this book. It was the first book I read on how to develop your abilities, as a beginner. I’d read tons of books about the paranormal and the spirit realm in my teens, but nothing that demystified it and made it easy, quite like this book did. There are lots of stories and examples in there too which make it entertaining. Plus there are some useful exercises to start you off.

Unlock Your Intuition by Andrea Hess

This book has some valuable information about how to formulate your questions when asking your guides or higher self for information. Asking the right questions is really important (I devoted a chapter to it in my course) because the quality of the answers you get from the spirit realm is determined by the quality of the questions you asked.

This book also teaches you a practical process for dowsing, which is very useful. However, I would like to have seen a troubleshooting guide for when dowsing doesn’t work well for you (as it doesn’t work for everyone). The book can also be a bit dry in places and I would have liked more stories, but I don’t know of any other authors on intuitive development who address such practical topics like asking the right questions in this way. And if you like dowsing as a divination method, you will probably find this book helpful.

Weird and Woo-Woo Stuff

The Hidden Oracle: The Mystery of India’s Naadi Palm Leaf Readers by Angela and Andrew Donovan

On the author’s website, it says:

“If someone said they could read your Past, Present and Future from ancient Sanskrit inscriptions written thousands of years ago on a dusty old palm leaf in a country you’ve never been to before, would you be skeptical?”

In this (non-fictional!) book, that is exactly what happens. Angela Donovan (a well-known psychic-medium based in the UK) and her skeptical husband Andrew were visiting India when they got the chance to have a naadi palm leaf reading. Many of the souls incarnated here on earth have their own naadi palm leaves – upon which are written all the details of their life, past and future. They were most surprised about the specific details of the reading – on the palm leaves there were details about the parents’ names, where they studied, what they studied and some information known only to the couple. As Andrew was a skeptic prior to the experience, it was a bit of a rude awakening for him and they decided to write a book about it.

The palm leaves were written thousands of years ago and they even detail when you will be coming for your reading. It is said that the information was channelled from the Akashic Records and transcribed on the leaves. I’m not sure if I would like to go to India and find out what my palm leaf says about my future (if I even have one!) but this book is a fascinating read nonetheless. As Andrew was an architect, there are a couple of chapters devoted to descriptions of buildings in India, which I found quite boring so I skipped them. I was mostly interested in the metaphysical side to the book.

You are sort of left wondering how the naadi palm leaves contain so much information about some people. You could even suspect that Angela set the whole experience up to bring her skeptical husband around to believing in the spiritual side of life. I did an akashic record reading for Angela a couple of years ago (she gave me a testimonial) and I found her to be a good person with a lot of integrity, so I believe they are genuine.

Discover Atlantis: A Guide to Reclaiming the Wisdom of the Ancients by Diana Cooper and Shaaron Hutton

I went through a phase a few years ago when I was absolutely fascinated by the civilization of Atlantis. Most people have heard of Atlantis but just in case you haven’t, Atlantis was supposed to be an ancient civilization that had advanced spiritual technologies. Some scholars believe Atlantis is just a legend and others believe it was a real civilization. I don’t know if Atlantis was a real civilization here on earth or something we’ve confused with a memory of life in another star system, but I do know that I was absolutely fascinated by the idea of it. I also know that it says in some people’s Akashic Records that they incarnated during such a time, in such a civilization. When I had my reading done, I was told I had incarnated many times during the Atlantean civilization.

This book was the best one I found on the topic. It gives information on the spiritual technologies available in the era of Atlantis, it details how people lived, including the society, spiritual life and relationships. It also details how the civilization fell. Whether you believe in Atlantis or not, it is a stimulating read that will get you thinking about humanity and civilization in general, and how we live our lives.

Soul Mastery: Accessing the Gifts of Your Soul by Susann Taylor Schier

This is the book I recommend to people when they ask how they can find out more about the different soul groups and star systems that souls can incarnate in. You may or may not be aware that some souls who incarnate here on earth are ‘star traveller’ souls, which means they have experienced life in other star systems too. Your soul group is governed by where you experienced your very first incarnation. Unfortunately, there are very few sources of information on the different soul groups and this is one of them.

It’s definitely an interesting read, but I was frustrated a little by the vague and wordy descriptions of a few soul groups. I felt it could be a bit clearer. (Edit: there are some websites online that offer descriptions of the soul groups, but much of what I’ve come across doesn’t resonate with me one bit. So when researching soul groups online, make sure you use your good judgment and listen to your gut feelings too. I feel this book is a reliable source of information on the soul groups, compared to much of what is online.)

Relationships, Dating and Love

Dating from the Inside Out: How to Use the Law of Attraction in Matters of the Heart by Paulette Kouffman Sherman

The premise of this book is that you attract who you are, so it’s about becoming the best person (and partner) that you can be. It also teaches you that in order to attract love, you have to love yourself and accept yourself, and only then will you attract a partner who resonates on that level. I liked this book because it was full of practical exercises – including an examination of past dating history so you can become aware of what you are attracting that you don’t want. There are also exercises to help you to re-write your unconscious dating ad that you broadcast to other people, and to become more conscious of what you want. I highly recommend this book if you have had a series of unhappy or abusive relationships, or if you are frustrated in dating but ready to meet the right one.

The Secret Laws of Attraction: The Effortless Way to Get the Relationship You Want by Talane Miedaner

This is another book on relationships that I read more recently. I was really impressed with this one. The premise of this book is similar to Dating From the Inside Out – it’s best to know what your own needs are and find ways to meet them, that don’t necessarily involve a relationship. Then you are much more likely to attract the relationship you want. When you have major needs that are being unmet (like the need for validation, recognition, independence, peace, love, etc.) you broadcast neediness to other people and you automatically have less to give as a partner.

The book also includes a quiz which helps you to identify your top needs and offers ideas to get them met in your life. This was really eye-opening for me. My top needs at the time that I read it, turned out to be the needs for order, independence, recognition and the need to be listened to. This made me understand and accept my personality more. I have a linear way of thinking and I like to be thorough in the way I do things. I love making lists and ticking things off the list and I hate being in an untidy, cluttered house. That was the need for order which was my #1 need in life. Talk about anal! I thought my top need would turn out to be the need to be cherished or loved, but no. It’s all about the order

I am also very independent and need space in a relationship and the results of this quiz made me accept that more as well. Overall, I would say that this book gives you invaluable self-knowledge for all kinds of relationships – but especially beneficial for the relationship you have with yourself, so that you can give yourself what you need. This is probably the most useful book I’ve ever read on improving my relationships.

He’s Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo

This is a really eye-opening book on dating for women. I know a lot of people don’t like it, and think it’s too black-and-white in the advice it gives. But I found it to be a hilarious and interesting read.

From the back cover: “Based on a popular episode of Sex and the City, this book educates smart women on how to tell when a guy just doesn’t like them enough, so they can stop making excuses for a dead-end relationship”

I read this book at a time when I was in a relationship with someone who just didn’t appreciate me and I was the driving force behind it. Once I took my energy out of the relationship, I realized I was the only one doing the running.

If you are a woman who somehow finds yourself doing all the chasing in your love relationships, you need to read this book. I doubt it applies to every single man you will ever date, but it can help to wake you up when you’re trying too hard in a relationship that is going nowhere…

Books on Healing

A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are by Byron Katie

Byron Katie teaches something called The Work, which is a method for questioning your most negative and stressful thoughts about the world, yourself and other people. It is good for those who have a lot of fear or pain in them and who want to open their mind and get beyond the fear, resentment or pain that is running them and affecting their life. I went to see Byron Katie at an event in London a couple of years ago and she exudes a level of patience, fun and serenity that is very rare, despite suffering from a degenerative eye disease where she can’t see much anymore.

General Spirituality

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

Many people have heard of this book because it’s quite famous. For those who haven’t, it calls itself a ‘guide to spiritual enlightenment’. I’m not sure whether anyone can be enlightened permanently, but I do believe this book can help people to enjoy their lives more, because it teaches you to exist in the present moment. It also teaches you to take your focus away from fearful thoughts of the future and thoughts that weigh you down from the past. What I took away from this book was that you can only be happy when you are focusing on the present moment. That helped me to change what I focus on, and I believe I am less stressed these days because of it. I highly recommend this book.

Would you like to recommend other books? Please leave a comment if you know of other must-read books in the areas of psychic or spiritual development.