• The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha - E.A. Burtt  
• Buddhist Inspirations: Essential Philosophy, Truth and Enlightenment - Tom Lowenstein
• Buddha - Karen Armstrong
• Buddhism: A Concise Introduction - Huston Smith, Philip Novak
• Buddhist Scriptures (Penguin Classics) - Edward Conze
• A Buddhist Bible - Dwight Goddard
• Buddhism Plain and Simple: The Practice of Being Aware Right Now, Every Day - Steve Hagan
• The Story of Buddhism - Donald Lopez
• What the Buddha Taught - Walpola Rahula
• The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation - Thich Nhat Hanh
• A Path With Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life - Jack Kornfield
• Mindfulness in Plain English - Ven. Bhante H. Gunaratana
• Beyond Mindfulness in Plain English - Ven. Bhante H. Gunaratana
• The Heart of Buddhist Meditation - Nyanaponika Thera
• The Heart of Buddhism: Practical Wisdom for an Agitated World - Guy Claxton
• Awakening the Buddha Within - Lama Surya Das
• The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying - Sogyal Rinpoche
• The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living - H.H. The Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler
• Inner Revolution: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Real Happiness - Robert Thurman
• Buddhism For Dummies - Jonathan Landaw, Stephan Bodian, Gudrun Buhnemann
  

I initially resisted making this page as, based on personal experience, I feel it’s better to avoid telling people what books to read on subjects like this, since it is apt to be based more on my own needs and tastes than theirs. That said, perhaps this website is incomplete without a list of some books that have helped me in this area, or others that I think would be appropriate for a beginner.

I have left out many other good books by authors such as Alan Watts, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Jack Kornfield, Sharon Salzberg, Mark Epstein, D.T. (and Shunryu) Suzuki and Pema Chodron, but I had to set a limit somewhere. Once a practitioner has an understanding of the basics, they can continue on with more texts (and there are very many).