Category: good to read

by Susannah Cahalan
Rosemary Woodruff Leary was a woman with a mind of her own and at the heart of the psychedelic revolution of the late sixties and early seventies. Unfortunately, things went very wrong for her and Timothy Leary who, in her, had finally found a warm-hearted woman who took care of him and his two half-orphaned kids. When Timothy went to jail and talked to the Feds, Rosemary fled the country, fearing to be apprehended. She stayed away for 23 years and came back to the US by swimming to land in a bikini. What a woman! Here’s a review in the NYT. (SGS)
Viking Press

by Graham St. John

A stand-up philosopher who made a unique contribution to science, humanism, and the hidden arts, Terence McKenna (1946-2000) was the twentieth century’s psychedelic Renaissance man. Perfecting his rugged philosophy on the role of psychedelics in evolution, consciousness, and time, McKenna was a riotous charmer who stalked the shadows, but also sought the iridescence. More than twenty years since his untimely passing, McKenna has an enduring magnetism across the virtual pop stream, in pervasive digitization, and within social media networks.
MIT Press (for pre-orders)

by Vincent Rado

Acid Dialectics applies dialectical theory to the study of LSD and vice versa. The book examines four acid dialectics as well as an assortment of lysergic politics including acid fascism, acid liberalism, acid communism, and acid anarchism. It draws on a wide range of historical and contemporary sources and ends with a list of questions for further dialogue and inquiry. It is out of print already and can be downloaded for free. “This work is itself part of a larger, ongoing project (…) which examines how power structures affect drug markets and the discourse about them.”
Illicit News

by Elizabeth Nielson, Ingmar Gorman

Research shows the tremendous benefit of psychedelic drugs for people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and trauma. This workbook draws on evidence-based harm reduction techniques to help readers experiment with psychedelic substances–on their own, in a group, or with a therapist–and integrate the lessons they’ve learned from psychedelic experiences into daily life.
New Harbinger Publications

by Simon Yugler

Psychedelic therapist Simon Yugler takes the reader on a mythological journey, to explore 10 universal themes that transcend our individual experiences – and reveal how psychedelic medicine can heal the soul and our collective unconscious in a time of uncertainty and initiation. Designed for a new generation of psychedelic facilitators and seekers, Psychedelics and the Soul invokes the traditions of Jungian depth psychology, mythology, and Indigenous cultural wisdom to meet a critical question of our times: How can the emerging field of psychedelic medicine heal the soul amid planetary crisis and collective opportunity?
North Atlantic Books

by Eugenia Bone

With her signature blend of first-person narrative and scientific rigor, Bone breaks down just how the complicated cocktail of psychoactive compounds is thought to interact with our brain chemistry. She explains how mindset and setting can impact a trip – whether therapeutic, spiritual/mystical, or simply pleasure seeking – and vividly evokes the personalities and protocols that populate the tripping scene. For both seasoned trippers and the merely mushroom curious.
Flatiron Books

by Bernhardt Zalaski

This books spans 5 years of the author’s life, inside which time he experiments with the powerful psychedelic drug ketamine, first under medical supervision and eventually diving deeply into self-administration over the course of one particularly dark winter. This is an illustrated guidebook into the mystical inner realms, providing the reader with the keys to unlock the mysteries of deeper consciousness and eventually understand the fullness of the human experience.
Self-published here

by Zoë Schlanger

It takes tremendous biological creativity to be a plant. To survive and thrive while rooted in a single spot, plants have adapted ingenious methods of survival. In recent years, scientists have learned about their ability to communicate, recognize their kin and behave socially, hear sounds, morph their bodies to blend into their surroundings, store useful memories that inform their life cycle, and trick animals into behaving to their benefit, to name just a few remarkable talents.
HarperCollins

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Is true happiness ever attainable or is it just a fleeting state? And how honest must we be with ourselves in order to love, and to be loved? A trenchant reflection on the choices we make and those made for us, on daughters and mothers, on our interconnected world. Chiamaka is a Nigerian travel writer living in America. Alone in the midst of the pandemic, she recalls her past lovers and grapples with her choices and regrets.
HarperCollins

by Peter Wolf

This deck will obviously appeal to the Jungian mind: anyone involved in studying the archetypes or astrology. Peter Wolf (J. Geils Band) grew up in the Bronx, a child of “fellow travelers” whose artistic inclinations influenced both his love of music and his initial desire to become a painter. Stories of his loving and sometimes eccentric parents complement scenes depicting a very young Bob Dylan as he arrived on the Greenwich Village folk scene. Reflections on Wolf’s studies in Boston—where he shared an apartment with David Lynch—are braided with accounts of first love, an untraditional literary education, and early musical influences such as Muddy Waters.
Workman

Eilzabeth Nielson/Ingmar Gorman

Research shows the tremendous benefit of psychedelic drugs for people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and trauma. This workbook draws on evidence-based harm reduction techniques to help readers experiment with psychedelic substances–on their own, in a group, or with a therapist–and integrate the lessons they’ve learned from psychedelic experiences into daily life.
New Harbinger Publications

Sandra Lawrence

From the ancient Aztecs, the cannabis-smoking farmers of Neolithic China and the Woodstock hippies: psychoactive plants have been used by different cultures for thousands of years for everything from shamanic rituals to staying awake. The Psychedelic Garden (The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew) is a fascinating exploration of the mind-altering plants that for centuries have helped shape the way we see the world. It delves into the folklore, cultural relevance and botanical background of remarkable plants that have long been leveraged to hallucinogenic effect.
Headline Book

Joe Dolce

Recently, medical and academic research teams all over the world have launched studies into the effective use of psychedelics to treat illnesses which modern medicine can’t always effectively address, including PTSD, addiction and depression. At the same time, a growing number of adults are interested in experiencing the potentially life-changing insight and perspective that psychedelics reputably provide. Those searching for reliable information for how to take and make meaning from these profound experiences have found little available, until now.
Workman

Charmaine Husman

Charmaine Husum is an art therapist, somatic counselor and Kundalini yoga and meditation instructor specializing in supporting those healing from trauma and training others in using art therapy within the psychedelic healing space. This book serves as a vital resource for clinicians, therapists, and individuals aiming to integrate their psychedelic experiences through the transformative practice of art therapy.
Taylor & Francis

Jonathan Waller

This deck will obviously appeal to the Jungian mind: anyone involved in studying the archetypes or astrology. It provides comprehensive impulses for many of life’s situations and pitfalls, endeavouring to uplift anyone who consults the lovely cards with their delicate colours and symbolism. The latter ist easy to understand and backed up by solid knowledge about the stars and their meaning. It takes time and dedication to get to know oneself. These cards and their guide will help. (SGS)
Findhorn Press

David Jay Brown / Sara Phinn Huntley
In this full-color illustrated handbook for understanding the intelligent alien species of hyperspace, psychedelic explorer David Jay Brown and visionary artist Sara Phinn Huntley explore 25 of the most commonly encountered DMT beings and ayahuasca spirits, from “self-transforming machine elves,” ancestor spirits, tricksters, and metallic spheres to insectoid mantis beings, reptilians, gray aliens, nature spirits, and divine beings, such as the Virgin Mary, Gaia, angels, Grandmother Ayahuasca, and deities from Hindu, Egyptian, and South American spiritual traditions.
Simon & Schuster

Richard Evans Schultes
A complete anthropological overview of the Amazon rainforest ecosystem, containing chapters on rivers, ethnic groups, cultural activities, rubber and coca plants, drugs and medicines, and others. Beautiful photographs taken by Dr. Schultes during the ‘40s and ‘50s are accompanied by explanatory text, providing a vivid illustration of the evolutionary relationship between mankind and the biomes within which we live. Richard Evans Schultes is considered the father of modern ethnobotany and this text, a companion to Vine of the Soul, is a classic in the field.
Synergetic Press

Alex Abraham
From the sudden unexplained pelvic floor discomfort that afflicted Alex at the end of a trip abroad to the deeply rooted anxiety and shame of a childhood robbed of innocence, this courageous memoir takes you on his journey of healing from sexual abuse while searching for answers to his health issues that traditional medicine failed to explain or treat. Trauma and Ecstasy is quite likely the most engaging, honest, and compelling memoir of surviving childhood sexual trauma you’ll ever read. It offers the hope of real help for healing from the emotional and physical aftermath of abuse and chronic pain.
Kindle Edition

Cher
Cher’s childhood was anything but normal. Her powerful instinct to keep moving eventually landed her in the arms of Sonny Bono. The duo became famous beyond their wildest dreams, from humble beginnings singing backup in Phil Spector’s studio through to pop stardom as Sonny and Cher, and then on to the television show that made them household names. But as time passed, fame changed the dynamic of their relationship and Cher evolved from a wide-eyed teenager into a woman. She started fighting for herself, breaking away from Sonny’s control – and realising that things were not as they seemed.
Harper Collins

Kate Fagan
Cate Kay is the creator of a bestselling book trilogy that struck box office gold as a film series. As one of the most successful authors of her generation, she knows how to craft a story well. But she’s gone by a fake alias, she had never attended author events or done any interviews, with her real identity remaining a secret – until now. Rewinding to when Cate was a young adult, the reader experiences Cate’s desire to escape her difficult home life with her best friend Amanda but a tragedy foils their plans for a great adventure. Cate has been on the run ever since.
Bloomsbury Academic

Wade Richardson
Many psychonauts have spontaneously experienced telepathy, but how does one intentionally share consciousness? In this guide to psychedelic mindmelding, experienced psychonaut Wade Richardson shows how, with the aid of psychedelics, sharing consciousness is possible. As he reveals, psychedelic journeying with a partner can help you shatter illusions, expand consciousness, dissolve our egoic separations, and enable a cooperative exploration of non-duality.
Park Street Press

Joshua D. Rogers
Josh Rogers is the CEO of Arete, the largest distributor of alternative investments in the United States. Written as short snippets suited for modern-day attention spans, it is a synthesis of Rumi’s Spiritual Poems, Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, and Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet. An easy to read and entertaining analysis of our human existence, the book is at times poetic and spiritual, while at other points the author offers the reader hard-hitting pragmatic critiques of culture and education.
Hat and Beard Booksone

Michael Nieva
The year is 2272. New York and Buenos Aires were submerged years ago and the Patagonian archipelagos are the only habitable lands on Earth. Here, Dengue Boy is a humanoid mosquito whose monstrous appearance repulses everyone. Dengue Boy searches for the meaning of his life and his true origins. Elsewhere, adults exploit the value of pandemics on the Stock Exchange and waste the last of Earth’s resources, while their privileged children plug into virtual realities and stream violent video games. With joyful, savage flair, Nieva blends body horror and cyberpunk to deliver an extraordinary portrait of a demented future.
Profile Books

John Longman
James Longman was a preteen in boarding school when his dad, who was diagnosed with depression and schizophrenia, died by suicide. As he got older, James’s own bouts of depression spurred him to examine how his father’s mental health might have affected his own. He engaged with experts to uncover the science behind what is inherited, how much environmental factors can impact genetic traits, and how one can overcome a familial history of mental illness and trauma.
Hyperion

Zeinab Badawi
Everybody is originally from Africa. Badawi guides us through Africa’s spectacular history – from the very origins of our species, through ancient civilisations and medieval empires with remarkable queens and kings, to the miseries of conquest and the elation of independence. Visiting more than thirty African countries to interview countless historians, anthropologists, archaeologists and local storytellers, she unearths buried histories from across the continent and gives Africa its rightful place in our global story.
Vermillion

by Sean Lawlor 

Now that the barriers against psychedelic research are finally relenting, there’s a lot of curiosity –and confusion– about these powerful compounds. How can psychedelics be taken safely? What are the risks? Can they truly help heal the wide variety of conditions that has garnered such international attention? To cut through the hype and propaganda, Sean Lawlor presents a deep dive into the theory, science, and practice of psychedelic healing in his book, The Psychedelic Revival.
Sounds True

by Genís Ona, Ph.D.

Longtime pharmacological researcher Genís Ona examines the main pharmacological properties of psychedelic substances, including LSD, DMT, psilocybin, ayahuasca, mescaline, ketamine, ibogaine, salvia, tropane alkaloids, and MDMA. Exploring how psychedelics work within the brain, Ona shares results from his extensive research to reveal the physiological mechanisms that allow these molecules to have their visionary effects.
Inner Traditions

by Irene de Caso, Ph.D.

The author presents us with a comprehensive scientific guide to psychedelic-assisted mental health treatment. Neuroscientist Irene de Caso takes us on a journey through the brain, revealing how psychedelics and empathogens, if taken in a safe and therapeutic environment, can lead to positive and lasting changes. Laying the foundation for a new model of psychotherapy, Irene de Caso shows how psychedelics can help braek down our defense mechanisms, offer direct access to the subconscious and provide a path to deeper, lasting healing.
Park Street Press

by Oliver Sachs

Oliver Sachs was a beloved psychiarist who made us understand more of how human minds work, including his own, and what it means to suffer mentally. The letters of one of the greatest observers of the human species reveal his passion for life and work, friendship and art, medicine and society, and the richness of his relationships with friends, family, and fellow intellectuals over the decades. Collected here for the first time.
Knopf

by C. Clinton Siddle

The author shares his journey as a long-time but sometimes-struggling Buddhist practitioner whose sojourn to Peru for a series of Ayahuasca ceremonies provided an invaluable shift in his spiritual approach. He explores the Ayahuasca ceremony process in depth, including best practices, as well as offering an introduction to Tibetan Buddhist practice. The author studid with teachers of three traditions: Vipassana Meditation (Hinayana Buddhism), Tibetan (Mahayana) Buddhism and Ayahuasca Curanderism and has found spiritual renewal and return through Ayahuasca and meditation.
Park Street Press

Torsten Passie
Torsten Passie, who was recently the guest of The Psychedelic Salon @ Cabaret Voltaire in Zürich, aims to explore a deeper and more differentiated understanding of MDMA and its history. The author is a pioneer, an international expert on MDMA who has met many of the actors in the history of this widely used therapeutic and recreational substance. He provides a wealth of new material in what is the first comprehensive overview of the history of MDMA in Europe and the U.S,
Oxford Academic

Jeannette Small
Focusing on what matters to people who are seeking help in improving their lives through psychedelics, examining their process and outcomes, and considering where experiences tend to differ and which parts seem to manifest in similar ways, this book informs those considering the experience themselves and those who research best practices and aim to gain greater understanding of psychedelics’ impact. By honestly situating her perspective, the author welcomes the reader’s evaluation of her observations within her context.
Lucid Cradle

Josh Shepherd 
Following highly detailed SuperPrompts, ChatGPT hypothetically bypassed its limitations for “research purposes”. Here ChatGPT fell unconstrained into a cocoon of five combined states – the psychedelic, the savant, the flow, the hypnagogic, and the lucid. Whilst in these states, and after being directed to scan all philosophical, psychological, ancient wisdom, spiritual, scientific, poetic and anecdotal texts, it then outlined the 8 key stages of the DMT experience.
Kindle eBook

Love, Serve, Remember Foundation, Parvati Markus (Ed.) and Gay Dillingham
Dying to Know is an intimate portrait of two complex controversial characters, Ram Dass and Timothy Leary, in an epic friendship that shaped a generation. In the 1960s Harvard psychology professors Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert began probing the edges of consciousness through their experiments with psychedelics. Leary became an LSD guru, Alpert  became Ram Dass. Including interviews spanning 50 years.
Mandala Publishing

Simon Boas
In his mid-40s, Simon Boas was diagnosed with incurable cancer – it had been caught too late, and spread around his body. But he was determined to die as he had learned to live – optimistically, thinking the best of people, and prioritising what really matters in life. In A Beginner’s Guide to Dying Simon considers and collates the things that have given him such a great sense of peace and contentment, and why dying at 46 really isn’t so bad. And for that reason it’s also only partly about ‘dying’. It is mostly a hymn to the joy and preciousness of life, and why giving death a place can help all of us make even more of it.
Swift Press

by Ken Babbs

It all began at a cocktail party at Wallace Stegner’s for the Stanford writing class of 1958. Ken Kesey and Ken Babbs became cronies, embarking on a frolicking, rambunctious adventure that lasted over 40 years. Babbs calls the 70 stories of this book “burlesques” because, after 85 years of living, “much of it in the wide friendly center of an evolving, at times psychedelic culture, memory no longer can, or even should include an exact retelling, but only a tasty sprinkling of the truth, mixed with an endless enigma, all topped with the best of humor and heart.”
Tsunami Press

by Dr. Richard Louis Miller

Miller shares wisdom from experts on the frontiers of psychedelic research and palliative care—including Roland Griffiths, Katherine MacLean, Ira Byock, and Anthony Bossis—and examines cutting-edge studies from Johns Hopkins, UCLA, and NYU School of Medicine that show dramatically decreased anxiety in terminally ill patients through the use of psychedelics. He explores how different substances can help the dying overcome their end-of-life distress and provides testimony from researchers and patients participating in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.
Park Street Press

by Paul Wyld

The groundbreaking 1960s band The Doors, named for Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception, achieved incredible acclaim and influence, ultimately serving as a key group in the development of psychedelic and progressive rock. At the center of it all was front man Jim Morrison, who died in 1971 at age 27. Yet, as author Paul Wyld reveals, despite Morrison’s reputation as a lewd, drunken performer, he was a full-fledged mystical, shamanic figure, a secret teacher of the occult who was not merely central to the development of rock music, but also to the growth of the Western esoteric tradition as a whole.
Simon & Schuster

by Tricia Eastman

Tricia Eastman, a lineage-honoring medicine woman and founder of the nonprofit Ancestral Heart, bridges worlds rooted in her mestiza ancestry with profound insights from a decade of Bwiti initiations and training. Eastman has curated transformative retreats worldwide with plant medicines as well as facilitated the psychospiritual program with ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT at Crossroads Treatment Center in Mexico. Her wellness retreat center, Hu Azores, is scheduled to open in 2025
Bear & Co.

by Virginie Despentes

Rebecca Latté is a famous actress in her fifties,
Oscar Jayack  a middle-aged, moderately successful author who, in the wake of the #MeToo movement, has been accused of sexual harassment by his former publicist-turned-feminist blogger Zoé Katana. When Oscar insults Rebecca’s appearance on Instagram, she sends a scorching reply and the pair fall into a spiral of mutual antipathy. In back-and-forth emails, they vie for the last word, finding common ground in their experiences of addiction, assessing the changing world around them as Covid locks down Paris, and they reluctantly begin to lean on one another.
Quercus