By now you may be really curious about the Enneagram I talk about so fondly and frequently. After my podcast interview last week talking about the Enneagram on The Silent Why, I've been asked where to learn more about this tool of awareness. Aside from the resources I shared in the episode notes, I thought a list of books - with a bit of a book review for each - might be a great resource for those searching for a place to discover more about the Enneagram personality system.
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I figure most people are starting with a very minimal understanding of the personality typing approach of the Enneagram, or even no understanding, so my list will start with books best for beginners and move to those looking for more in-depth insights about their Type Number and how that awareness can lead to transformation.
1. The Road Back To You - by Ian Morgan Cron & Suzanne Stabile
I am sorry it took me so long to read this book, it should have been my first book on the subject except it didn't exist for several more years! This book goes into just the right amount of detail to help you get a significant amount of helpful information, without using too much technical terminology or diving too deep into psychology. The authors give a simple framework to understand the system, and then spot-on real life examples that bring these types to life. The authors share the perspective of how the Enneagram has been a tool of spiritual direction but also for essential human growth. This is one of the shortest books in my library but it is not short on what you need to get hooked on understanding your Type.
Favorite Quote || "The point of it is self-understanding and growing beyond the self-defeating dimensions of our personality, as well as improving relationships and growing in compassion for others."
2. The Enneagram: Guide to Waking up - by Beatrice Chestnut & Uranio Paes
This book has been my favorite book for breaking down each type and really diving in to the various components of the Enneagram system for each Number Type. The way the authors explore each Type in a way that personifies how they developed from childhood is so helpful to see why we and our personality need not be the same thing...and should not be. This book covers areas helpful to awaken to our true selves, such as; key patterns, passions (fixations), blind spots, shadow self, core pain, subtypes, and how to use our connections to other Types in order to grow.
Favorite Quote || "The Enneagram helps us understand how the survival strategies we develop in early life can turn us into zombies later in life. When we fall asleep to our true selves and our enormous potential, we lose sight of our innate capacity for growth."
* If you've become quite familiar with the various elements of the Enneagram types, you can get an even deeper dive within each number in Beatrice's book The Complete Enneagram: 27 Paths to Greater Self-Knowledge.
3. The Path Between Us - by Suzanne Stabile
This is not a beginner book in that you will need to have a basic understanding of the Enneagram, and be fairly certain of your Type, as the purpose of the book isn't to help you understand yourself as much as it is written to help understand the interactions in relationships caused by our personality defaults. I have listed this book third though because I believe the concept of the Enneagram as a relational tool should be introduced as early as possible into your journey. I am a big believer that the Enneagram's value lies equally between guiding self-awareness and guiding inter-personal dynamics in every type of relationship, and this book does a great job de-mystifying our behaviours in relation to other people.
Favorite Quote || "It is my hope that you will use the Enneagram to offer love and acceptance and assurance to those people who inhabit your days and your life....to take seriously what others say about how they experience you in relationships, and then use what the Enneagram teaches to do something about it."
4. The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective - by Richard Rohr & Andreas Ebert
I can't recall how I came across this book when I searched for my first book to read on the Enneagram, but I really loved how it started with an in-depth look into the origins of the Enneagram and how they correspond to the Christian belief system. I am a fan of history and the authors do a great job of presenting as much information as possible, without being too overwhelming, on this system that has been used in various ways for various purposes across hundreds of years. The other thing I love about this book is that for each Type a narrative is written of what it looks like in their daily life, with several real life examples, and this was how I clearly saw myself as a Type Two on these pages. It is a pretty jam-packed book full of a lot of information, but if you really want a comprehensive understanding of the Enneagram from a Christian perspective, it is worth the read. I feel this book was written with spiritual direction in mind, which I am a fan of, and so I appreciated a lot of the last section of the book designed to guide spiritual growth, especially where they show Jesus reflecting each Enneagram Type.
Favorite Quote || "Self-knowledge is tied to inner work, which is both demanding and painful. It takes courage to walk such a path. Because God loves us unconditionally - along with our dark sides - we don't need to dodge ourselves. In the light of this love the pain of self-knowledge can be at the same time the beginning of our healing."
5. The Wisdom of the Enneagram - by Don Richard Riso & Russ Hudson
It is widely thought that this book represents a definitive guide on the Enneagram, and is about as close to the text book on it as you can get. The authors are the creators of the Enneagram Institute (another tremendous resource with a lot of free material) and so they offer more psychological background on the Enneagram and self-awareness than the other books, but also similarly connects the tool with spiritual practices for a holistic approach, which anchors the ideas with action to awaken transformation. On these pages are introduced the sub-categorization of various triad groupings within the 9 types, which can further explain behaviour as well as help narrow down our type if we're having trouble identifying ourselves. This book also introduces more information about what each Number Type looks like at various levels of health, and what the movement between the levels can look like. This book is particularly helpful if you are having trouble identifying your Type.
Favorite Quote || "If we observe ourselves truthfully and non-judgmentally, seeing the mechanisms of our personality in action, we can wake up, and our lives can be a miraculous unfolding of beauty and joy."
So that's my go-to list of books that represent the best of what's out there to understand the Enneagram. There are several more niche books that take the Enneagram into more specific areas of understanding, and I've read quite a few of them, so if you are looking into a book not on this list, feel free to reach out and ask about it, I'd be happy to give insight into it's contents if I can.
I hope one of these books begins a fascinating journey of self-discovery for you!
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