Lynette Sheppard

The Everyday Enneagram

a Map for Enhancing Your Work, Love and Life ... Click here for more information

Baron, Renee and Wagele, Elizabeth
The Enneagram Made Easy, Discover the 9 Types of People
(New York: Harper Collins. 1994)

This is a good introductory book for those who want a quick overview or those who learn best from an entertaining approach. Great cartoons illustrating the types. If you like a more comprehensive viewpoint that examines underlying motivations and inner work, see Helen Palmer's books below.

Condon, Thomas
The Enneagram Movie and Video Guide
(Bend, OR: The Changeworks. 1994)

Great guide to the Enneagram types and how they play out in movies. I was using movie clips in my classes long before I found out about Tom Condon. I'm happy to say that we agree on nearly every movie characterization. So I highly recommend this book, especially if you want to get a feel for the energy of the nine types.

Hurley, Kathleen and Dobson, Theodore
What's My Type
(San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1991)

Introductory book approaches the Enneagram from a positive standpoint and looking toward transformation. Great questions in the front of each chapter to elicit your type. Unfortunately, it did not seem to accurately describe my type - Seven. Too positive - and that's already a problem for we Sevens. Some people love it.

Keyes, Margaret Frings
Emotions and the Enneagram, Working through Your Shadow Life Script
(Muir Beach, CA: Molysdatur Publications, 1992)

Excellent book on working through type. I recommend it as a second book, after some familiarity with the Enneagram.

Naranjo, Claudio
Enneatype Structures, Self Analysis for the Seeker
(Nevada City, CA: Gateways/IDHHB, Inc. 1990)

Excellent book on the Enneagram - very meaty and academic. I loved it but would not recommend it as a first book. Also, is too dense for many people who are more interested in application of Enneagram to daily life.

Naranjo, Claudio
Character and Neurosis, An Integrative View
(Nevada City, CA: Gateways/IDHHB, Inc. 1994)

Interesting book, especially for therapists and mental health workers. Again, meaty and complex.

Palmer, Helen
The Enneagram, The Definitive Guide to the Ancient System for Understanding Yourself and the Others in Your Life
(San Francisco: Harper and Row. 1988)

This is my all time favorite book on the Enneagram. It's a great introductory book and can be read again and again. Seems you get more out of it each time. Also addresses spiritual aspects as well as psychological. Much of the information in the book comes from the Sources - the people who inhabit the 9 types or points of view. Helen Palmer began the Oral Tradition of the Enneagram.

Palmer, Helen
The Enneagram in Love and Work
(San Francisco: Harper San Francisco. 1995)

A great book about interrelationships in business and intimacy - again drawing from experiences of real people. Helen synthesizes well, uses actual case studies and narratives.

Riso, Don Richard
Personality Types, Using the Enneagram for Self Discovery
(Boston: Houghton-Mifflin. 1987) (Revised and re-released with Russ Hudson, 1996)

Introductory book - the first release. Some feel that it is too negative and harsh. It was the first book I read, so I found it helpful; but it isn't my first choice. I haven't made it through the latest version, yet.

Rohr, Richard with Ebert, Andreas
Discovering the Enneagram: An Ancient Tool for a New Spiritual Journey
(New York: Crossroad, 1990)

This is an excellent introductory book, with a strong focus on spiritual aspects. Difficult to read if you don't ascribe to formalized religious terms such as sin and conversion. Those don't bother me - I loved it. Written by a Franciscan priest

The Enneagram, Exploring the Nine Psychological Types and their Inter-relationships in Love and Life.
By Helen Palmer.

Available from Sounds True Audio, 735 Walnut Street, Boulder, CO; 80302. 800 333-9185. Excellent.

Easy In Your Harness The Enneagram and NLP. By Tom Condon. Available from Credence Cassettes at 800 333-7373. Credence Cassettes has a catalog of Enneagram materials, including tapes by Richard Rohr and Jerome Wagner.