Top 5 favourite Buddhist books?

I agree with your top five books. Compassion Conquers All is a great book to learn about the Eight Verses of Mind Transformation. These teachings can really shift a person’s life in the right direction!

I havent read Diane Mukpo’s book and the Awakened one.

Gurus for hire was the first book I read about Guru devotion, it is simple and easy for those new to Vajrayana to understand the concepts and importance of relying on a Spiritual Guide. I’ve read it a few times again since.

Other selections of books that I find very helpful are books by Geshe Sonam Rinchen. His book about the Three Principal Paths is very precious. I have been reading this book for a few months now but havent finished it, not because it is not interesting, infact it is the contrary… but because after reading 3-5 pages… you would need to put the book down to contemplate on what you have just read.

Read Geshe Rabten’s “The Mind and its Functions” which made a complex topic easier to understand. Also Dzongsar Khyentse’s “What Makes You Not A Buddhist” which is highly recommended if you want a fresh understanding on how well your practice is going. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s book “Introduction to Buddhism” is what got me interested in Buddhism to begin with. Anyway useful thread for book recommendations, my prayers that it grows so there’s a handy list of informative reading for people to refer to.

Totally agree with Tomasz, Sarah and Lew. “Introduction to Buddhism” is indeed a great book to start off with. From there, we will be able to get the knowledge that is needed to start off our practices and it will be a better guideline as a background on how we can start practising Buddhism.

Another book that I think is great is “Nothing Changes, Everything Changes” by Tsem Rinpoche. In the book it shows us that very easily when we change our mind and perception, everything else that follows all changes and falls in place. This is very true as when our minds transform, everything else that was in our minds that includes our delusions and all changes with our minds as well. We will be able to see things from a clearer picture and we will be able to do greater things because of that change of heart that we have in our minds that helped us to change. It is considered as a small part of our journey to mind transformation, but it can be considered as a big step to what is going on in our minds. It is shows us that it is a constant battle, but once we conquer that and win the battle, the rest of it will only get easier and not as difficult to when we just started off.