A Small List of Essential Minimalism Books

77% of  Americans say that they are stressed regularly to the point that it impacts their mental health and 33% say that their stress is extreme all the time!

If you want to lead a less stressful life, it can help to shed the complications in your life and that’s where our best minimalism books come in. 

They’ll help you simplify your life so that you concentrate on the things that matter and let everything else go and with it, all that harmful stress.


Mindful Simplicity
by Yolanda Acree

Yolanda is the founder of Black MinimalistsTM and she’s all about helping the black community learn how to live with intention and in a more simple fashion. 

Mindful Simplicity is an extension of this ethic and it’s full of practical techniques to help you declutter your life and organize it to serve you properly. 

There is, as the title suggests, a strong emphasis on mindfulness practice throughout.

Grab a copy online here.

You might also find our favorite zero waste books helpful in cutting down on waste and clutter.

Waking Up by Sam Harris

Speaking of mindfulness, Sam Harris’ Waking Up is the perfect guide to minimalism and spirituality.

There’s nothing here that forces a particular point of view and the reader is invited to find the truths in any or all religious traditions.

This knowledge is then used to help us live in the present free of more material concerns, the ideal foundation for minimal living. 

Grab a copy online here.

The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

It would be impossible to have a list of minimalism texts without including something from the Japanese lady, Marie Kondo, who sparked the public’s imagination and a whole lot of joy concerning cutting down on clutter.

This really is a minimalist book targeted solely on your home but that doesn’t mean that it’s not incredibly useful and when your home is cleaned up, you may feel ready to tackle bigger projects in your minimal life. 

Grab a copy online here.

The Year Of Less by Cait Flanders

Cait Flanders was drowning in debt and the junk that she’d bought with that debt and in order to get out from under, she put herself on a year’s ban from shopping.

This confessional style book is great if you want to know what it feels like to step away from consumerism for a period of time and what the benefits to your life can be. 

Grab a copy online here.

Essential by Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus

Their readers call them “The Minimalists” and for good reason, they’re experts on getting through life with less stuff.

There’s a lot of humor and compassion in this book which helps you free yourself from the trappings of having stuff and focus on things that really matter in life, like health and relationships. 

Grab a copy online here.

Simple Matters by Erin Boyle

Erin Boyle’s book focuses on how we can live more simply in those temples of consumerism, cities. 

She lives in New York and blogs about sustainable living in a slow and simple style and the book is built around her experiences as a blogger.

Her photography is as good as her writing too and this book is simply beautiful. 

Grab a copy online here.

The Joy of Less by Francine Jay

Francine Jay is a minimalist coach and she uses The Joy of Less to help her readers build habits that will serve them for a lifetime. 

She practices what she preaches and has become something of a media celebrity for her refusal to buy anything that she doesn’t need in her life.

Grab a copy online here.

I Am Here Now by The Mindfulness Project

Alexandra Frey and Autumn Totton are “The Mindfulness Project” and they say the key to living a simpler life is simply to focus our attention on the present. 

You can’t accumulate junk in your life, if you’re only ever looking at what you need in the present moment, the book is part of a larger web-based program and their students say that these two individuals have completely changed their lives for the better. 

Grab a copy online here.

It might seem overwhelming, at first, but it’s not as hard to live a minimal lifestyle as you might think and our best minimalism books are the perfect road maps to get you to a place that’s happier and more fulfilling.