Have you ever wondered why people act in a certain way, while you find it strange to do so? The actions we take have a lot to do with our basic personalities, and the Enneagram is a tool we can use to see how our personality types affect our actions. It’s a great tool for both understanding others and improving ourselves.
The 9 Enneagram types
There are nine basic Enneagram personality types, including:
- The Perfectionist
- The Giver
- The Achiever
- The Romantic
- The Investigator
- The Skeptic
- The Adventurer
- The Challenger
- The Peacemaker
Occasionally, different practitioners refer to the types by slightly different names, as you can see in the image above.
You might think that some of these two-word descriptions characterize you well, but real knowledge of your Enneagram type requires a more in-depth analysis. Luckily, we’ve compiled a list of books on the Enneagram you can read. Regardless of whether you’re looking for best-selling Enneagram books, the best Enneagram books for beginners or the best Enneagram books for the non-religious, we have you covered!
8 Enneagram book recommendations
The Essential Enneagram: The Definitive Personality Test and Self-Discovery Guide by David Daniels and Virginia Price
As the title proposes, this book is a guide, one that’s been designed specifically for those who are starting their Enneagram journey on their own. If you’re still figuring out what type you are, this will be a good book for you to start with.
The relationships we have with ourselves and others are affected by the way we react and behave. Those who take the same actions might do so for different reasons, and those reasons are part of how we define the personality type of each person.
Along those lines, this book starts off with nine descriptions of each type for you to read through, and you can use this as your first Enneagram test. It then goes into more depth about how each type compares to and differs from others, and how the different types interact with each other.
While this is definitely a beginner’s guide, it’s a great resource to refer back to once you’ve nailed down your type!
The Complete Enneagram: 27 Paths to Greater Self-Knowledge by Beatrice Chestnut, Ph.D.
If you have a rough idea of your type, but you’re still a little unsure if you’re correct, The Complete Enneagram may be helpful. As the president of the International Enneagram Association and the founding co-editor of the IEA’s Enneagram Journal, Beatrice Chestnut will raise your knowledge to the next level.
Like many others, this is a “What type are you?” Enneagram book, but it goes into more precise detail. Chestnut explains that in addition to the nine basic types, the Enneagram can be further divided into subtypes (sometimes referred to as “wings”). She then introduces a personality modifier that’ll help you define yourself as a self-preserving type, a one-to-one type or a social type. That’s 27 types, split from the original nine types!
For those who find it hard to determine their exact Enneagram type, this information will help you refine and focus your knowledge. By discovering these subtypes and countertypes, you’ll be able to clean up the confusion that arises when you sometimes don’t behave like your type. This book will also help you uncover things that each type refuses to acknowledge, even though it often impacts their behaviour.
After reading The Essential Enneagram, Chestnut’s book will be an excellent one for you to pick up when you’d like to further your knowledge.
The Wisdom of the Enneagram: The Complete Guide to Psychological and Spiritual Growth for the Nine Personality Types by Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson
If you want to start with the classics, the book by the creators of the Enneagram test is a good one to read first. As the founders of Enneagram Institute, Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson have many best-selling Enneagram books under their belt, but The Wisdom of the Enneagram is accessible to people at all levels, from beginners to advanced readers.
The many suggestions, techniques and concepts found within the book are game-changers within the field. This diverse read covers the Enneagram from both spiritual and psychological perspectives, which makes it an ideal choice for readers who like to take a more scientific approach to life.
As you read into the Enneagram knowledge within this title, you’ll find that when life gives you lemons, not all nine types will make lemonade with it. This book offers readers theories behind why each type behaves differently at different levels of life. It also offers a clear road map for personal growth, no matter what stage of life you’re at.
The Enneagram in Love and Work: Understanding Your Intimate and Business Relationships by Helen Palmer
Once you’ve got your type figured out and the basics of the Enneagram pinpointed, Helen Palmer’s The Enneagram in Love and Work will provide you with some guidance about working and building relationships with others. Let’s be realistic—even if we try not to, we spend most of our lives doing these things!
When you’re indulging yourself in the field of Enneagram, Helen Palmer’s name will come up again and again. She’s the pioneer of narrative Enneagram, a teaching method that helps people understand the nine types through open exploration. Her knowledge of the topic is reflected in her many bestseller titles that are still selling fiercely in this category.
So how does this book compare with her other books? This one specifically outlines the possible dynamics of any two types, through the use of a connection matrix. The expectations you should have when interacting with the nine types are presented and analyzed in great depth, which will allow you to gain a better understanding of human behaviour.
The 9 Ways of Working by Michael J. Goldberg
Studies show that we spend one-third of our life working. Wouldn’t it be great to smooth out our relationships with our boss, our colleagues and others whom we work with?
The 9 Ways of Working is your bible when it comes to work relationships and the Enneagram, as it provides an excellent overview of the different types of people we might come in contact with at work. If you’re still discovering your own type or that of your colleagues, this book may help you a lot. By discovering how each type works, you can analyze and identify each of your coworkers’ types, and then see how you can collaborate with them.
Like The Enneagram in Love and Work by Helen Palmer, this book will provide you with you a deeper understanding of human behaviour, but it’ll also provide practical tips that can assist you in building stronger relationships with your colleagues or clients. Written in 1999, some of the examples might seem a bit dated; nevertheless, it is still a well-written book that contains useful advice for all working bees.
The Path Between Us: An Enneagram Journey to Healthy Relationships by Suzanne Stabile
This is an Enneagram book for those who have already built some understanding of the types—particularly, those who have confirmed their own and others’ types.
In many instances, we question the choices others make because, in the same situations, we’d make different choices. With a bit of Enneagram knowledge, we start to understand that different personality types react differently, but if just telling ourselves we should walk in others’ shoes doesn’t quiet our judgmental minds, it’s time to look for a little more help. This book is one that will help build a strong path of understanding between you and individuals of other types.
The Path Between Us is a continuation of Suzanne Stabile’s The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery, which was co-authored by Ian Morgan Cron. The Path Between Us gives us deeper insight into how to build healthier relationships with others, and Stabilie’s nurturing and warm writing style makes this a satisfying, welcoming read.
The Honest Enneagram by Sarajane Case
If you’re looking to take your personality type to the next level and use it as a way to improve your life, this is a great book for you.
From the certified Enneagram practitioner behind the immensely popular Instagram account, Enneagram and Coffee, Sarajane Case brings you the information from her podcasts and daily posts in a book format. However, The Honest Enneagram is not only an extension of her social media account. It also details the nine personality types in a way that’ll help you relate the information to the people around you.
Aside from describing the book’s direct and empathic writing style, the title also reflects the H.O.N.E.S.T method (each acronym has its own meaning) that Case introduces in the book. It serves as a practical action plan for each type that’ll enable you to make improvements in your own life and learn to interact with other types more effectively.
The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective by Richard Rohr and Andreas Ebert
As the title suggests, this book is for Christians who’d like to work with the Enneagram. Richard Rohr explains the history and essentials of the Enneagram with the Christian faith in mind. This isn’t a simple or fun read, but it exemplifies more of a dedicated dive into the genre.
If, as a person of religious belief, you question your closeness to God, this book emphasizes the potentials and pitfalls of each personality type when it comes to being driven closer to or away from God. It furthers this knowledge by connecting the Enneagram to the Bible, which makes it much easier for Bible readers to relate to the information provided. For example, the Enneagram types of biblical characters are revealed in the book.
In this title, there’s an emphasis on how to face the ego, become modest and build community spirit, which makes it a true starting point for any Christians who are interested in the Enneagram.
Enjoy the 8 best Enneagram books
We hope these Enneagram books will give you a good start on your journey towards seeing the personality types in the world around you. As you read about the Enneagram, it becomes fun to compare the descriptions of the types with the people you know.
Like many of the authors above have suggested, the Enneagram isn’t just about memorizing the full-on description of the personalities. In addition to that, as you define the types in your own mind, you’ll be assisting in the growth of yourself and others. Once you finish a few titles, you may be able to identify the best books for each Enneagram type and make recommendations to other people who are interested in learning more.
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