Jordan Peterson is a clinical psychologist and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, best known for his 2018 bestseller '12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos.' His work integrates Jungian psychology, neuroscience, and mythology to explore meaning and responsibility. Peterson's book recommendations reflect his interest in understanding human nature, pathology, and existential questions.
114 Books Recommended by Jordan Peterson
Ranked by popularity across all reading lists on this site
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Dustin Moskovitz, Ev Williams, Sam Altman, Aniela Gregorek, Bryan Johnson, Chelsea Handler, Chip Conley, Alastair Humphreys, Daniel Pink, Dave Elitch, David Blaine, Patrick Bet David, Emma Watson, Esther Perel, Fedor Holz, Jim Kwik, Jimmy Fallon, Jocko Willink, Lex Fridman, Maria Popova, Mark Manson, Michael Gervais, Michael Hyatt, Pewdiepie, Phil Jackson, Robin Black, Ryan Holiday, Shane Parrish, Simon Sinek, Steve Kerr, Terry Crews, Tom Bilyeu, Tony Robbins, Turia Pitt, Derek Sivers
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Richard Branson, Winston Churchill, Anna Akana, Brad Delong, Christopher Hitchens, Diane Rehm, Emma Watson, J Cole, Jenn Im, Matt Mullenweg, Noam Chomsky, Sahil Lavingia, Tristan Harris
Anna Karenina
12 people recommendedRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Osho, Peter Thiel, Oprah Winfrey, Sam Altman, Chelsea Handler, Austen Allred, Bret Easton Ellis, Ernest Hemingway, Jen Wilkin, Jennifer Lawrence, Laura R Walker
Endurance
12 people recommendedRead [this] book.
Also recommended by: Sam Altman, Ray Dalio, Bryan Johnson, Andrew Klavan, Barry Ritholtz, Dominic Dagostino, Fred Wilson, Jason Fried, Max Levchin, Ryan Holiday, Scott Belsky
The Rational Optimist
11 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Naval Ravikant, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, John Arnold, Marc Andreessen, Rupert Murdoch, Bill Gurley, Anthony Pompliano, Mr Money Mustache, Nick Szabo
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Sam Altman, Winston Churchill, Christopher Hitchens, Yuval Noah Harari, Matt Mullenweg, Pewdiepie, Sahil Lavingia, Stewart Brand, Tristan Harris
Crime and Punishment
10 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Brian Dean, Christopher Hitchens, Ernest Hemingway, Esther Perel, Jack Edwards, Jim Carrey, Jim Cramer, Larry King, Pewdiepie
Enlightenment Now
9 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Bill Gates, Aj Jacobs, David Deutsch, David Friedberg, Yuval Noah Harari, Michael Mauboussin, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
9 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Drew Houston, Ev Williams, Bryan Johnson, Austen Allred, Fred Wilson, Josh Waitzkin, Paul Graham, Phil Jackson
The Denial of Death
8 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Darren Aronofsky, Eric Weinstein, Jason Silva, Marc Maron, Mark Manson, Shay Carl, Tai Lopez
The Old Man and the Sea
8 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Jack Dorsey, Jack Edwards, Josh Waitzkin, Lex Fridman, Mark Manson, Pewdiepie, Phil Keoghan
Animal Farm
8 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Vlad Tenev, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Pink, J Cole, Lex Fridman, Sahil Lavingia, Whitney Cummings
Factfulness
7 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Raj Shamani, Bill Gates, Barack Obama, Howard Marks, Melinda Gates, Michael Batnick
War and Peace
7 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Osho, Christopher Hitchens, Ernest Hemingway, Larry King, Mark Manson, Nelson Mandela
The Master and Margarita
6 people recommendedrecommended 2xI read [this book] four times, and it's still unbelievably deep.
I read [this book] four times, and it's still unbelievably deep.
Also recommended by: Peter Thiel, Jack Dorsey, Jack Edwards, Max Levchin, Pewdiepie
East of Eden
5 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Oprah Winfrey, Emma Watson, Jenn Im, Sam Hinkie
To Kill a Mockingbird
5 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift, James Clear, Kathie Lee Gifford
The Brothers Karamazov
5 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Osho, Ernest Hemingway, Hillary Clinton, Russell Moore
Stalin
4 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Elon Musk, Brandon Stanton, Ross Kaminsky
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Marc Andreessen, Lex Fridman, Pewdiepie
The Grapes of Wrath
4 people recommendedRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Christopher Hitchens, Michelle Obama, Nelson Mandela
For Whom the Bell Tolls
4 people recommendedrecommended 3xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Brian Dean, Christopher Hitchens, Josh Waitzkin
Lord of the Flies
4 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Ev Williams, Douglas Murray, Scott Belsky
Demons
3 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Ben Shapiro, Ernest Hemingway
The Anti-Christ
3 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Balaji Srinivasan, Balaji S. Srinivasan
The Road to Wigan Pier
3 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Brad Delong, David Heinemeier Hansson
Island
3 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Aubrey Marcus, Derek Sivers
Zorba the Greek
3 people recommendedrecommended 3xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Osho, Tim Ferriss
Flowers for Algernon
3 people recommendedrecommended 3xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Naval Ravikant, Pewdiepie
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
3 people recommendedrecommended 3xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Naval Ravikant, Anthony Bourdain
On the Genealogy of Morals and Ecce Homo
3 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Mark Manson, Ryan Shea
The Painted Bird
3 people recommendedrecommended 3xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Duncan Trussell, Neil Strauss
Panzram
2 people recommendedrecommended 2xHe made friends with this physician in the prison [...] and the physician encouraged him to write his autobiography.
He made friends with this physician in the prison [...] and the physician encouraged him to write his autobiography.
Also recommended by: Jocko Willink
The Idiot
2 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Lex Fridman
The Will to Power
2 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Osho
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
2 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Lex Fridman
The Gay Science
2 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Naval Ravikant
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
2 people recommendedrecommended 2xA great book.
A great book.
Also recommended by: Tim Oreilly
Of Mice and Men
2 people recommendedrecommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Kathie Lee Gifford
The Archetypes and The Collective Unconscious
2 people recommendedRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Ricardo Semler
Wuthering Heights
2 people recommendedrecommended 3xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Chloe Grace Moretz
The Long Goodbye
2 people recommendedrecommended 3xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Andy Greenwald
Ordinary Men
2 people recommendedrecommended 3xThe best book of its type.
The best book of its type.
The best book of its type.
Also recommended by: Jocko Willink
The Rape of Nanking
2 people recommendedRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Also recommended by: Jocko Willink
The Sacred Mushroom and The Cross
2 people recommendedrecommended 2xA book to bend your mind.
A book to bend your mind.
Also recommended by: Joe Rogan
DMT
2 people recommendedrecommended 2xA very interesting book.
A very interesting book.
Also recommended by: Joe Rogan
The Myth of Mental Illness
recommended 2xIt's a classic. You should read it if you're interested in psychology.
It's a classic. You should read it if you're interested in psychology.
The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Words with Power
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
The Origins and History of Consciousness
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Our Culture, What’s Left of It
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Affective Neuroscience
recommended 2xOne of the best books on the neuroscience of emotion.
One of the best books on the neuroscience of emotion.
The Neuropsychology of Anxiety
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Mephistopheles
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
The Crisis of Islam
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
The Great Code
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Two Essays on Analytical Psychology
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Modern Man In Search of a Soul
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
The Symbolic Life
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
The Stone Angel
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Answer to Job
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
How to Spend $75 Billion to Make the World a Better Place
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
The Interpretation of Dreams
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Shamanism
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
The Mystery of Capital
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Notes from Underground
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
The Red and the Black
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
The House of God
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
The World’s Religions
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
The Horse’s Mouth
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
The Forge and the Crucible
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
The New Executive Brain
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
The Rise of Statistical Thinking, 1820-1900
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
The Sacred and The Profane
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
The Discovery of the Unconscious
recommended 3xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Systemantics
recommended 3xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
The Maltese Falcon
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Progress
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Awakenings
recommended 3xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Point Counter Point
recommended 3xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
An Outline of Psycho-Analysis
recommended 3xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Psychology and Religion
recommended 3xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception
One of the most influential books I ever read.
The First Circle
recommended 3xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Aion
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Existence
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
I, Claudius
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Little Science, Big Science…and Beyond
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
The Charterhouse of Parma
recommended 3xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
An Anthropologist On Mars
recommended 3xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Fratricides
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Earth in Human Hands
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Sometimes a Great Notion
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Symbols of Transformation
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Mysterium Coniunctionis
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
recommended 2xRecommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Recommended on Jordan Peterson's website.
Mercy Among the Children
recommended 2xThe greatest novel I have read in many years.
The greatest novel I have read in many years.