12 Powerful Books on Minimalism and Simple Living

Are you looking for ways to simplify, declutter, and better manage feelings of stress or overwhelm? That’s a huge part of what this blog, Lovely Holistic Living, is all about!

And today, I have a list for you of powerful books on minimalism and simple living that I think you’re going to love if:

  • You’re ready to declutter your material possessions
  • You want to clear your mind and have a fresh start
  • You value experiences and relationships over “things”
  • You’re ready to experience less stress, less overwhelm, and less anxiety
  • You want to feel more freedom, clarity, and most importantly, happiness!

In the past couple of years, I’ve really enjoyed learning about minimalism & simple living, and how it can bring you more peace, clarity, and happiness. I know what it’s like to love shopping and experience that jolt of excitement and happiness from a new outfit or new gadget. But that excitement rarely ever lasts, right?

Over the past few years, I’ve gotten way more intentional about how I spend my money and how I spend my time. I’ve realized I’m so much happier when I spend money on experiences and making memories with people I love. I’d much rather have quality time with others at a music festival or camping trip, versus buying a new pair of shoes.

With that being said, I don’t consider myself a total minimalist. But I do find tons of value in having a minimalist mindset and doing an occasional declutter of my life.

Minimalism to me, isn’t just getting rid of everything. It’s removing the things that don’t truly serve me, to make more room for the things that truly matter.

Below is a list of the top rated books on minimalism and simple living if you’re interested in learning more about this lifestyle. I haven’t read all of these, but they are all on my reading list and have incredible ratings and reviews on Amazon. Let me know if you pick any of these up. I’d love to hear what you think of them!

This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure for more.

  1. The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
via Marie Kondo on Amazon

Shop on Amazon

If you’re into minimalism, you’re probably familiar with Marie Kondo! She’s a famous Japanese organizing consultant, best selling author, and star of a popular Netflix show on decluttering. She created the Konmari method, which she speaks about in her book. She believes in decluttering category by category, rather than room by room. Taking this approach will help you organize your belongings and figure out what’s worth keeping and what’s not.

She also takes a very mindful and intentional approach to decluttering. She encourages people to pick up their items and ask themselves, “does this item spark joy?” If it does, than it may be worth keeping. If not, then it may be time to let it go. If you follow her advice, she says that you’ll only need to declutter your home once to have lasting results that will positively influence not only your home, but your mindset too!

2. Clutter Free: Quick and Easy Steps to Simplifying Your Space by Kathi Lipp

via Kathi Lipp on Amazon

Shop on Amazon

If you want to create a home you feel happy in when you step inside, this is a book that’ll help you do that! So often we blindly buy things at the store, not realizing we already have that exact item at home. When our homes are cluttered and full of a ton of “stuff”, we don’t know what we have, we can’t find something when we need it, and we end up wasting money buying new things that we don’t need!

Kathi’s approach in her book, Clutter Free, gives you practical advice on how to navigate your large piles of stuff and finally take control of your space. She also offers insight on why you might hold onto things and what makes it so difficult to let go of things. Understanding your own reasons for holding onto things can be really helpful. If you struggle saying goodbye to sentimental objects or things that you “might need someday”, then you’ll probably find this book really valuable!

3. Simply Tuesday: Small-Moment living in a Fast Moving World by Emily P. Freeman

via Emily P. Freeman on Amazon

Shop on Amazon

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the fast-paced, success-driven society we live in, Simply Tuesday is a book you might find refreshing. Do you have a busy schedule? Do you feel like you’re always trying to achieve more and do more? This book encourages you to find meaning in the small, ordinary moments in life, like on a simple Tuesday!

This book will help you live more in the present moment, enjoy the small things, and live more mindfully. It’s easy to get caught up in the stress of life and the rapid speed of technology, and forget to appreciate what’s going on right now.

4. The Joy of Less: A Minimalist Guide by Francine Jay

Via Francine Jay on Amazon

Shop on Amazon

Some decluttering books encourage you to declutter your life all in one go, but in The Joy of Less, Francine Jay encourages you to take small steps towards creating your decluttering habits. Taking smaller steps can make decluttering more manageable, realistic, and sustainable. If minimalism is a total and complete shift from your current lifestyle, you’ll probably find this book useful!

Something else I find really interesting about this book is that she talks about events in your life that might cause you to collect more things. If you’re going through a marriage, a move, or having kids, you might be more likely to collect too many material possessions. Especially because people are giving you items at your baby shower, bridal shower, wedding, etc. In these cases, it’s probably a good idea to take a look at what you have, what you need, and what you don’t need!

5. Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg Mckeown

via Greg McKeown on Amazon

Shop on Amazon

First of all, I love the illustration on the cover of this book. If you’re mind has ever felt like an overwhelmed, jumbled up mess, then you can probably relate to this illustration. Taking time to discover what’s essential to you, can help you sort your life and find more peace and clarity.

If you’ve ever struggled with feeling unproductive, unmotivated, or not able to delegate your time, then this book will help you do that. Greg helps you discover the most important ways to spend your time, so you can stop wasting it and start living a productive, happy life.

6. Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has Time by Brigid Schulte

via Brigid Schulte on Amazon

Shop on Amazon

Do you feel like you’re always working or like your responsibilities are never ending? Do you feel like you can’t find a moment of peace and you’re always busy? Feeling overwhelmed is an awful feeling, and one that’s familiar to the author, Bridid. It’s also familiar to a lot of other women who have a constant to-do list and feel like time is always moving, at an incredibly fast pace.

This book will help you find the time to enjoy your life and feel free from stress and overwhelm. Discover the ways to incorporate self care, mindfulness, and self reflection into your life every day. Small moments of living in the present can make a world of difference!

7. Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Micodemus

via Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Micodemus on Amazon

Shop on Amazon

In this book, these two best friends, Joshua and Ryan, both decided to walk away from their high-earning corporate jobs to lead a more simple, meaningful life. Sometimes I think we have this idea that earning a ton of money and having a lot of material possessions is what’s going to make us happiest. But the truth is, having more stuff often leads to more problems and more overwhelm!

That’s why I love their story. They prove that sometimes living a more simple life, is what leads to the most fulfilling life. When they began to embrace minimalism, they started focusing on relationships, their health, experiences, and all of the other things that truly matter. If you want to feel inspired by simple living, this is a good book for you!

8. The Minimalist Home: A Room-by-Room Guide to a Decluttered, Refocused Life by Joshua Becker

via Joshua Becker on Amazon

Shop on Amazon

Joshua Becker offers guidance to declutter each room in your home also while discussing some of the reasons you may be prone to collecting a lot of stuff in the first place. Do you have rooms in your home that aren’t really functional? Rooms that maybe are just used for storage, that you don’t actually spend time in? If you do, then this book will help you find happiness and purpose in each room.

Ask yourself the deeper questions and create a home you truly love spending time in. A home that feels cozy, warm, welcoming, and reflects who you and your family are. What’s most important to you? What stories does each room tell? What are your most important values and how can you convey those in your home? Learn to create a home that feels like you with this book.

9. Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism by Fumio Sasaki

via Fumio Sasaki on Amazon

Shop on Amazon

In this book, the down-to-earth author explains how he went from stressed out to feeling free by letting go of things. Before discovering minimalism, he found himself in the comparison trap, always focused on what others were doing and how his life compared. This book goes beyond just simply decluttering each room. It goes into the effects of minimalism on your mindset, perspective, thought-process, emotions, and more.

If you’re looking for the motivation to live a more minimalist life, Fumio’s personal reflections and thoughts on minimalism will inspire you! He doesn’t come from a place of “knowing everything” or being an “expert”. He is humble, down to earth, open minded, and willing to share what’s worked best for him!

10. The Abundance of Less: Lessons in Simple Living from Rural japan by Andy Couturier

via Andy Couturier on Amazon

Shop on Amazon

This book takes a different approach to simple living by sharing stories from 10 inspiring people who left behind busy, cluttered lives for more simple ones. If you’ve ever thought of embracing minimalism, reading other people’s real life experiences can help inspire and motivate you. You’ll get an inside look on how these artists, farmers, and philosophers lives changes drastically when they began focusing on living with less. They started embracing nature, relationships, and experiences. These are the lessons they’ve learned through their minimalism journey.

11. The Simple Living Guide: A Sourcebook for Less Stressful, More Joyful Living by Janet Luhrs

via Janet Luhrs on Amazon

Shop on Amazon

This book focus a lot on being intentional with all of the choices you make in your life. Whether it’s traveling, gardening, working, crafting, money, or creating relationships, Janet has ideas to take a simpler approach in life. It’s a book you can come back to over and over for inspiration on all of these different parts of your life. It’s also been called timeless because the inspiration you’ll find can last you forever, no matter what part of life you’re in.

Janet encourages you to create your own definition of simple living and choose what feels right to you. Every minimalist doesn’t need to live by the exact same rules. You get to pick what it means to you and how you’ll apply it to your life! To some, minimalist is owning 15 items and living with straight lines and no colors. To another person, it’s owning 100 items that are colorful and crazy. You get to decide how far you’ll take it and the personal meaning it has to you.

12. Meet the Frugalwoods: Achieving Financial Independence Through Simple Living by Elizabeth Willard Thames

via Elizabeth Willard Thames

Shop on Amazon

I am super inspired by the story of this couple who decided to downsize their life, get rid of their material posessions, and move to 60-acres in Vermont to connect with nature. Elizabeth and Nate used to live in the city and have highly successful, high-paying jobs. They worked the typical 9-5, but craved more for their life. For three years, they were able to save 70% of their income with the goal of retiring early. They succeeded and now live with the freedom the always wanted!

I don’t know about you, but I find this story so incredibly motivation and inspiring. If you’ve ever dreamed about becoming financially independent, this is the book for you! Cutting back, living with less, and focusing on what truly matters, can lead to incredible benefits which have been proven in this book.

I hope these books bring you inspiration to start living a more simple, less-cluttered, and more intentional life. How are you going to start applying minimalism and simple living to your life? What are you looking forward to?

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Let me know in the comment section below!

Hover over the image below and hit “save” to pin on Pinterest for later!

12 powerful books on minimalism and simple living.