Perhaps you’re interested in decluttering your home, or you want to leap into full-scale minimalism. There are books for that! I will discuss different formats of books on minimalism and some popular titles to get you started.
Books on minimalism guide readers on how to become a minimalist. There are print, E-books, audiobooks, and workbooks with various benefits for pursuing a minimalist life. Popular minimalism books relate to organizing, home living, and the minimalist lifestyle.
Are you looking for some reading material on minimalism but unsure which format or author to choose? Are you in search of the best books on minimalism and don’t have a great deal of time? Books on minimalism provide the process for living a simpler life.
What is a Minimalism Book?
A minimalism book is a guide on how to become a minimalist. It can help you identify what adds value to your life, brings you joy, makes every day more meaningful, and what is just clutter. There are minimalism books on organizing and decluttering, home, and even the lifestyle.
Types of Books on Minimalism
Not sure which minimalism book format would work best for you? Let’s look at some and why they work.
If you’re the interactive type and like to work through a book with checklists and fill-in-the-blanks, consider minimalism workbooks.
Minimalism Print Books
Minimalism print books work well for readers of different ages. If you’re hands-on, like to touch the pages and mark your spot, or even underline and highlight important passages, minimalism print books might be your best choice. You can flag pages with the information you found most helpful, highlight steps to decluttering, and bookmark resources for organizing your home.
Minimalism E-Books
Younger generations seem to prefer minimalism E-books for many reasons. These books are simply files stored on a tablet or smartphone, so they don’t take up any space on a bookshelf. Researchers Lee Rainie and Maeve Duggan found in 2012 that the percentage of Americans reading E-books steadily increased each year.
Most E-readers have options for flagging, highlighting, and bookmarking, which comes in handy with helpful minimalism resources. So if you have a device and don’t have bookshelf space, minimalism E-books are your perfect choice.
Minimalism Audiobooks
Minimalism audiobooks are perfect for multi-taskers. On the drive or bus ride to work, while you are gardening or jogging, audiobooks are read to you. Minimalism audiobooks are also great for those who require reading glasses or large print or have difficulty focusing on reading a book. As a hands-free activity, the audiobook format can increase your productivity and promote relaxation, according to author Maria Snelling.
Minimalism Workbooks
If you’re the interactive type and like to work through a book with checklists and fill-in-the-blanks, consider minimalism workbooks. These will contain handy tips and guides while providing you with boxes, flowcharts, and lists you can fill out with your priorities, categories, and rooms. What a helpful way to get involved in reading and learning about how to pursue minimalism!
Minimalism Books about Organizing
If you’re looking for some tips for decluttering and organizing, consider these titles.
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
Marie Kondo is considered an expert in all things about tidying and organizing. In this book, she discusses decluttering and reorganizing your home or office. She has a process that starts with clothing and ends with mementos. Readers have called it a tidy manifesto, a reasonable cult, and life-changing. It is available in hardcover, audiobook, and E-book.
Decluttering at the Speed of Life by Dana White
Dana White helps the reader identify emotional challenges that make it challenging to let go of some of the clutter while providing solutions that work. Readers have found specific passages very helpful and inspiring, including accepting limitations of your space, defining clutter as what can’t be kept under control, and your home is a place to live rather than store stuff. It is available in paperback, audiobook, and E-book.
The Joy of Less, a Minimalist Living Guide: How to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify Your Life by Francine Jay
Francine Jay gives a four-part method to getting inspired, streamlining the decluttering, breaking down specific strategies for each room, and getting others on board. She gives the reader the power to overcome the clutter, downsize, and let go of the stuff and stress. It is available in hardcover, paperback, E-reader, and audiobook.
Minimalism Books about the Home
If you’re looking for titles about minimalism and the home, look no further!
Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin are best friends and organizing experts who incorporate color into their home editing style.
The Minimalist Home by Joshua Becker
Considered one of the most influential, Joshua Becker is a minimalist who shows us how to declutter our homes with practical guidelines and identify underlying issues that lead us to accumulate clutter. He helps the reader create their vision and goals for decluttering and creating a comfortable space. It is available in hardcover, e-book, and audiobook.
The Home Edit by Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin
Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin are best friends and organizing experts who incorporate color into their home editing style. In this book, the authors guide the reader through paring down belongings room by room and organizing them in a way that is easy to use and aesthetically pleasing. It is available in paperback, e-book, and audiobook.
Zero Waste Home: The Ultimate Guide to Simplifying Your Life by Reducing Your Waste by Bea Johnson
Bea Johnson shares her personal story of simplifying life through waste reduction. Known as the book that initiated the movement we know as waste-free, the author shares how-to’s, secrets, and insights from her experience in converting to zero waste. It is available in paperback, E-reader, and audiobook.
The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own by Joshua Becker
This is another great title by Joshua Becker that helps readers redirect their passions and focus on the life they desire by realizing stuff is weighing us down and creating a personalized approach to decluttering, the author helps empower and encourage the reader to pursue their own minimalist life. Available in paperback, e-book, and audiobook.
Books about a Minimalism Lifestyle
If you want to learn more about the minimalism lifestyle, here are a few excellent titles.
Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus
Childhood best friends Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus share their personal stories of walking away from the corporate world and focusing on what was truly important to them. They give us some history of life-changing events, the discovery of minimalism, and what led them to switch their focus. Available in paperback, e-book, and audiobook.
Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism by Fumio Sasaki
This book is a Japanese best-seller about a regular guy, Fumio Sasaki, who changed his life by saying goodbye to everything unnecessary. It takes us through his newfound freedom, focus, gratitude, and sharing tips on minimizing. It is availablee in hardcover, e-book, and audiobook.
7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess (Updated and Revised) by Jen Hatmaker
In this title, Jen Hatmaker takes us through her family journey of identifying the excesses and choosing to steer away from overindulgence in material things. It takes the reader through the seven months it took her and her family to achieve what they feel is a better life through simplicity. It is available in paperback, e-book, and audiobook.
The Minimalist Mindset: The Practical Path to Making Your Passions a Priority and to Retaking Your Freedom by Danny Dover
Danny Dover takes us through a realistic process to be deliberate about making decisions and prioritizing what you want in life. It’s about making trade-offs that can be sustained over the long run to reclaim your freedom. It is available in hardcover, e-book, and audiobook.
This helpful video shares eight books on minimalism to read for lifestyle, fashion, productivity, and even starting a business.
Related Insights
What do you read for minimalism?
There are so many resources to read for minimalism! From personal blogs to published books, reading for minimalism is available everywhere! If you don’t like reading, check out a minimalism documentary because there are plenty of those too!
Where do I start with minimalism?
If you want to know where to start with minimalism, every book on minimalism will tell you to start small. Start with one category that is easy to minimize and won’t significantly impact your daily living, like the décor in your home.
What are the rules of minimalism?
The one rule of minimalism is that there are no rules of minimalism. You can adapt one category, like your wardrobe, or multiple categories; it’s entirely up to you. Minimalism is about finding true meaning in life, and it usually means getting rid of physical (and metaphysical) clutter.
The Qualities That Help Real People Choose To Read a Book on Minimalism
I asked friends and family to list three qualities that would help them choose to read a book about minimalism. Here is a table representing the percentages of their responses and what I learned from the poll.
| Book Qualities |
| 13% of people polled said the cover would help them choose a book about minimalism |
| 9% of people polled said the author(s) would help them choose a book about minimalism |
| 17% of people polled said the title would help them choose a book about minimalism |
| 9% of people polled said a recommendation would help them choose a book about minimalism |
| 13% of people polled said a documentary would help them choose a book about minimalism |
| 8% of people polled said the online book excerpts would help them choose a book about minimalism |
| 22% of people polled said social media would help them choose a book about minimalism |
| 9% of people polled said the format would help them choose a book about minimalism |
Other Resources:
- Minimalist Life – Benefits and Choices for Simple Happiness
- Intentional Living – Mindful Habits for Everyday Happiness
- How To Be A Minimalist – Guide to More Meaningful Living
Final Thoughts
From paper books to audiobooks, there are almost unlimited resources available to you for learning about and pursuing the minimalist lifestyle. Each one has personal stories, inspirational quotes, and step-by-step processes on decluttering and reorganizing your home or office. Which book on minimalism will you read first?