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Inspired Essentialism is about helping us discover what is most important to us in order to live more intentional lives. Personality typology is a theme I touch on often because it’s such a useful tool for each of us as individuals to narrow down our purpose. These systems give us a framework for analyzing our motivations and gaining the self-knowledge required to sort out what’s important to us versus what others have told us is important. The Enneagram is one of those tools. I’ve written about the Enneagram types through the lens of minimalism and essentialism before. But you may be wondering what books about the enneagram you should read to learn more.
To summarize, the Enneagram describes nine personality types, each based on a core fear and a motivation countering that fear. Although people are obviously much more varied than just nine types in terms of many other characteristics, the nine core fears determine where certain people tend to put their attention and energy. Knowing which of these you most align with will help you see your overcompensations as well as your blind spots. This self-knowledge allows you to craft a more authentic life. It helps you carve out your priorities among a lot of noise from the rest of the world. And knowing the types of those around you can help you forge better relationships through awareness of common dynamics and conflict areas.
I’ve been interested in the Enneagram for almost a decade, and I’ve read quite a few books on the topic. I’d like to share some of the best books about the enneagram. Below, I’ll recommend a few for beginners as well as those who are already mentally typing everyone they know.
The Wisdom of the Enneagram by Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson
Good for:
- Those who want a thorough introduction to the topic.
- Those who have a spiritual focus when it comes to self-development.
- People who already know about the enneagram but want to learn about elements of the theory such as triads, harmonic patterns, Hornavean groups, wings, instinctual variants, and patterns of integration/disintegration.
Skip it if:
- You’re turned off by spiritual language.
- You just want the basics of the nine types without over-analyzing the whole system.
Many consider this the “bible” of the Enneagram. It’s extremely comprehensive. It starts with an introduction explaining how this ancient wisdom applies to modern life and some basics of Enneagram theory. It’s a good background to have before you launch into the type descriptions. I loved the first chapter about why personality typing is a basis for all other self-help topics, especially this:
…what is good advice for one person can be disastrous for another. Telling some types that they need to focus more on their feelings is like throwing water on a drowning man. Telling other types that they need to assert themselves more is as foolish as putting an anorexic person on a diet.
The book also includes a very brief “sorting test.” This helps you narrow down your most likely types, so you can focus on those descriptions. This was not the first source I read about the Enneagram, but I wish it had been. I would have discovered my type much sooner!
What follows is chapters dedicated to each type. Each starts with some statements you can agree or disagree with to see how much you align with that type. And the final chapters provide tools for transformation – how to use the information you now have about your type for spiritual growth and personal development.
There’s definitely a spiritual focus, so I’d recommend it if that’s your thing. If you’re not into it, you may want to choose another book from this list. Or you could skip the first and last chapters and focus on the type descriptions.
The book is appropriate for beginners, but only if you are interested enough in the theory to stick with it.
The Essential Enneagram by David Daniels and Virginia Price
Good for:
- If you don’t know your type yet and you want to get to the bottom of it once and for all.
Skip it if:
- You’ve already immersed yourself in a lot of enneagram info. The test centers on paragraphs describing each type. It’s better to approach it without much knowledge. Otherwise, you’ll easily identify which type each paragraph is referring to.
I’ve seen many people recommend this book as a starting point. It’s very structured: there are instructions for how to move through the book in order to discover your most likely types, confirm your type, and then learn practices that can help you develop yourself. It starts with a test, then explains some basics about the enneagram. After that, the authors provide self-development practices tailored to each type.
This book is unique, because Daniels and Price use a scientific approach based on interviewing a thousand test subjects. For example, if the test tells you Type 1 is your top choice and you flip to that section, you’ll see statistical data bout which other types you may align with, and the likelihood of each being your type. I appreciate this, because no test can be definitive. Regardless of test result, I always recommend reading about all the types before deciding on your own. And this system offers a very structured way to do that.
The descriptions of each type are brief and to the point, which makes them very helpful. You can quickly identify if the description resonates with you or not. For example, each type description will start with a breakdown like this:
A core belief is _________
The adaptive strategy I developed as a result of this belief: _________
Because of this strategy, my attention is on: _________
I put my energy into: _________
I do everything I can to avoid: _________
My strengths: _________
My communication style: _________
And much more. I also love that they include myths about each type. It helps you move beyond a stereotype you might reject to really consider if you may be a certain type.
My advice when it comes to this book: It’s better to dedicate time to sit down and follow the structured approach it outlines. It’s not a great book for skimming for quick tidbits of information, if that’s your reading style.
The Complete Enneagram: 27 Paths to Greater Self-Knowledge by Beatrice Chestnut
Good for:
- Those who already know about the Enneagram but want to go deeper and get more specific.
- Those interested in instinctual variants.
Skip it if:
- You don’t know much about the enneagram and haven’t yet determined your type.
This book’s unique angle is going beyond the nine enneagram types to take into account three instinctual variants for each type. The instinctual variants are social, self-preservation, and sexual. Each Enneatype will manifest differently depending on which instinctual variant they align with most. Therefore, there are really 27 types, not just nine. If you’re a typology nerd, you’ve probably noticed that someone you believe has the same type as you can behave quite differently from you. This book helps to explain why. Basically, it’s more specific than other books about the Enneagram.
Chestnut’s concept of “countertypes” was really helpful to me. For each Enneagram type, there is one instinctual variant subtype that seems to counter the passion of the type. For example, the Type 6 is defined by fear. But the Sexual 6 moves toward fear (think, risky adventure sports) in an attempt to conquer it. You may not catch on the surface that this person is a 6, since they don’t align with the stereotype of the anxious, cautious Enneagram 6. This idea is really enlightening, especially if you yourself are a countertype, and you don’t feel that you fit with the stereotyped version of your own type.
Chestnut’s descriptions of each type, their early childhood experiences, and their coping strategies are insightful. This book will be useful to you if you already know the basics of the Enneagram and you want to dig into a more nuanced approach to the system.
The Road Back to You by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile
Good for:
- Beginners who don’t know much about the enneagram.
- Anyone who wants something readable and not too dense.
- Those who prefer a story-based format rather than a lot of lists and diagrams.
- Anyone interested in the Enneagram through the lens of Christianity.
Skip it if:
- You’re turned off by references to Christianity or don’t want to read a book by an Episcopal priest.
- You know the basics of the Enneagram types very well and are looking to go deeper.
When I started this book, I was close to writing it off as not offering anything new about the Enneagram. But then I found myself laughing at some of the turns of phrase and even tearing up a bit reading about the childhood wounds of my own type. There’s something about the writing that draws you in.
The book starts with a brief background about the Enneagram and the triads. Then it launches into detailed descriptions of each type: their demeanor, typical behaviors, common childhood experiences, and how they show up in relationships.
Rather than a lot of diagrams and tables like some other books, this one tells stories to illustrate the types. Many of these stories are based on people the authors know and their real-life interactions with them. Basically, it mostly shows rather than tells you what each type is like. And sometimes painting a picture in that way can help you understand better than a bulleted list of descriptors.
Millenneagram by Hannah Paasch
Good for:
- Those who like a dose of humor and don’t take things too seriously.
- Anyone who likes a casual writing style that’s like chatting with a friend.
- If you’ve read books about the enneagram from decades ago and you’re looking for something a little updated.
Skip it if:
- A casual writing style, slang, and/or swear words put you off.
- You already know the basics and are looking to get a lot deeper into this topic.
In this book, published in 2019, Paasch intends update the descriptions of each Enneagram type for younger generations. She claims she wants to create a new image for the Enneagram outside of its popularity among church groups:
The Enneagram got popular in Christian circles at some point, and now lots of people have a zealous cousin who posts about she is “such a Two,” with photos of Enneagram guidebooks alongside devotional Instagram pics of her Bible and latte.
It starts with brief explanations of the system and key terminology (instinctual variants, integration and disintegration, etc.). There’s also a brief quiz that may help you narrow down your type, though it’s more like a quiz in Cosmopolitan than the rigorously scientific version presented in The Essential Enneagram.
This is followed by chapters dedicated to each type, describing them in detail. (And roasting them a bit, to be honest.) And finally, Paasch concludes with a “Millenneagram Group Huddle” to cover what the point of learning all this is. (Including benefits like “healing a dumpster fire world.”)
This style of this book is polarizing. If you like a humorous style that reads like your friend chatting with you, you’ll love it. If a colloquial style, Millennial slang, and swear words turn you off, you’re not going to make it past page one. However, I only picked it up because I saw it come up so often in online forums recommending beginner books about the enneagram. So, chances are good you’ll enjoy it.
The Enneagram in Love and Work by Helen Palmer
Good for:
- Those who know their type and the types of those close to them – partners, family members, coworkers.
Skip it if:
- You’re an Enneagram newbie.
- You’re more interested at the moment in understanding your own core fears and motivations than in examining your relationships with others.
Helen Palmer also wrote the 1991 The Enneagram: Understanding Yourself and Others In Your Life, which honestly could also be on this list of best books about the enneagram, but I didn’t want to double dip on the same author. She has a lot of profound insights when it comes to this system.
The Enneagram in Love and Work is specifically about how types relate to each other. There are quite a few books that will describe the types for you, but not many that lay out how the types interact in both love relationships and work dynamics.
It’s incredibly detailed when it comes to interactions: each type’s leadership style, typical conflicts, and how to get along with each type.
Even further, there’s a comprehensive “directory” of descriptions of how all the types function in pairs. So, you can jump to a section that specifically describes typical relationships between your own type and your partner’s type (or your boss’s, or your annoying coworker’s…).
I absolutely recommend this book if you’ve already read about the Enneagram, you know your type, and you know or have a guess about the types of those you interact with often. It offers a unique angle and helps you go beyond self-development work and into healing your relationships with others.
What Do You Think?
Have you read any of the above books about the Enneagram? Do you know of any good ones that I left out? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
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