Recommended Reading

Dear Reader,

Like so many of you, I love to read. Since I am often asked which books to recommend, I thought I’d suggest some of my favorites. Feel free to browse and, in the meantime, happy reading!

Regards,
Deborah

P.S. Please note that the Deborah King Center is an Amazon affiliate, which means that, if you decide to buy a book through these links, we receive a modest referral fee. (The links are all for the paperback editions of the books.)

Abuse

The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse, 20th Anniversary Edition by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis
If you know or suspect you have been sexually abused, this is a great place to start.

The Courage to Heal Workbook: A Guide for Women and Men Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis
This is the companion workbook and is equally valuable.

Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence—from Domestic Abuse to Political Terror by Judith Lewis Herman
Shows the parallels between private terrors, such as rape, and public traumas, such as terrorism.

Father-Daughter Incest by Judith Lewis Herman
The best book out there on incest. Really an eye opener, especially for victims.

Addiction

Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book 4th Edition by AA Services
Essential reading once you’ve become involved with a 12-step program.

Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp
A good book for women who are concerned they may be having a problem with alcohol.

Lies My Mother Never Told Me: A Memoir by Kaylie Jones (William Morrow, 2009)
A well written addiction memoir for those already in the recovery process.

Staying Clean and Sober: Complementary and Natural Strategies for Healing the Addicted Brain  by addiction recovery experts Merlene Miller, MA, and David Miller, Ph.D. (Woodland Publishing, second edition)
One of the effects of drug or alcohol addiction is the way in which your brain chemistry gets scrambled; this book helps you to really understand this aspect of addiction, and what to do about it.

Thinking Simply About Addiction: A Handbook for Recovery By Richard Sandor
This small elegant book has the best explanation of the importance of a spiritual connection, not just for addicts, but for everyone, that I’ve ever read.

Healing

You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay
If you are sick or miserable and don’t know why, here’s a book that will help you find the cause.

I also recommend the DVD by the same name. You Can Heal Your Life, the movie, expanded version (2007)

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy
First published in 1875, this woman was way ahead of her time. While difficult to read, it does a great job of laying out the foundation of western healing thought.

Hands of Light: A Guide to Healing through the Human Energy Field by Barbara Brennan and Jos. A. Smith
The classic “how to” book on energy healing from an eastern prospective.

Light Emerging: the Journey of Personal Healing by Barbara Brennan
The scientific background behind laying-on-of-hands healing.

Healing and Christianity by Morton Kelsey
A complete study of Jesus Christ, who, in my opinion, was the greatest healer who has lived to date.

Spirituality

Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila and E. Allison Peers
If you want to develop your spiritual connection, here’s how.

The Way of Perfection by St. Teresa of Avila
How to get a handle on your ego, from a woman who succeeded in doing just that.

The Pathwork of Self-Transformation by Eva Pierrakos
A guidebook for understanding the ego. Neither for beginners nor for the faint of heart. The first in a series.

Anatomy of the Spirit: The Seven Stages of Power and Healing by Caroline Myss
An important first step toward accessing one’s issues. You can also use it like a workbook.

Women

The Chalice & the Blade: Our History, Our Future by Raine Eisler
This book changed the way I thought about the history and role of women.

Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her by Susan Griffin
It cemented every thing I knew intuitively about women’s recent history. Not easy to read, with the stream of consciousness style, but worth the effort.

The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict between Word and Image by Leonard Shlain
This groundbreaking book proposes that the rise of reading and writing fundamentally reconfigured the human brain and changed history, religion, and gender relations.

Fiction

Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner and Thousand Splendid Suns
My favorite novels in the past ten years; they really reveal fundamental truths about our contemporary culture.