Biography & Memoir

The Best Books About Or Featuring Cults (Nonfiction & Fiction)

“What are the best books about Cults?” We looked at 388 of the top fiction & nonfiction books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!

The top 26 titles, all appearing on 3 or more “Best Cult” book lists, are ranked below by how many lists they appear on. The remaining 300+ titles, as well as the lists we used are in alphabetical order at the bottom of the page.

Happy Scrolling!



Top 26 Books About Cults Books



26 .) Banished: Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church by Lauren Drain

Lists It Appears On:

  • Book Riot
  • Bustle
  • Goodreads

“You’ve likely heard of the Westboro Baptist Church. Perhaps you’ve seen their pickets on the news, the members holding signs with messages that are too offensive to copy here, protesting at events such as the funerals of soldiers, the 9-year old victim of the recent Tucson shooting, and Elizabeth Edwards, all in front of their grieving families. The WBC is fervently anti-gay, anti-Semitic, and anti- practically everything and everyone. And they aren’t going anywhere: in March, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the WBC’s right to picket funerals.

Since no organized religion will claim affiliation with the WBC, it’s perhaps more accurate to think of them as a cult. Lauren Drain was thrust into that cult at the age of 15, and then spat back out again seven years later. BANISHED is the first look inside the organization, as well as a fascinating story of adaptation and perseverance. “

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25 .) Betrayal of the Spirit: My Life Behind the Headlines of the Hare Krishna Movement by Nori J. Muster

Lists It Appears On:

  • Cult Research
  • ICSA
  • Book Riot

“Nori J. Muster joined the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)–the Hare Krishnas–in 1978, shortly after the death of the movement’s spiritual master, and worked for ten years as a public relations secretary and editor of the organization’s newspaper, the ISKCON World Review. In this candid and critical account, Muster follows the inner workings of the movement and the Hare Krishnas’ progressive decline.

Combining personal reminiscences, published articles, and internal documents, Betrayal of the Spirit details the scandals that beset the Krishnas–drug dealing, weapons stockpiling, deceptive fundraising, child abuse, and murder within ISKCON–as well as the dynamics of schisms that forced some 95 percent of the group’s original members to leave. In the midst of this institutional disarray, Muster continued her personal search for truth and religious meaning as an ISKCON member until, disillusioned at last with the movement’s internal divisions, she quit her job and left the organization.”

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24 .) Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape by Jenna Miscavige Hill

Lists It Appears On:

  • Bookbub
  • Book Riot
  • Goodreads

“Jenna Miscavige Hill, niece of Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige, was raised as a Scientologist but left the controversial religion in 2005. In Beyond Belief, she shares her true story of life inside the upper ranks of the sect, details her experiences as a member Sea Org—the church’s highest ministry, speaks of her “”disconnection”” from family outside of the organization, and tells the story of her ultimate escape.

In this tell-all memoir, complete with family photographs from her time in the Church, Jenna Miscavige Hill, a prominent critic of Scientology who now helps others leave the organization, offers an insider’s profile of the beliefs, rituals, and secrets of the religion that has captured the fascination of millions, including some of Hollywood’s brightest stars such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta.”

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23 .) Combatting Cult Mind Control by Steven Hassan

Lists It Appears On:

  • ICSA
  • Cult Research
  • About Great Books

A former cult member and a leading expert in counseling people away from cults, Steven Hassan brings his best-selling book to audiocassette. He exposes the troubling facts about destructive cults–including their use of psychological manipulation to gain money and power, and their influence on government, the legal system, and society as a whole–and explains how to distinguish them from constructive organizations. He gives specific guidance to those who are presently drawn or attached to cults and advice to concerned friends and family of cult members.An invaluable guide for parents, teachers, health professionals, clergy, attorneys, and all those whose lives are touched by cult issues.

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22 .) Cults in Our Midst by Janja Lalich and Margaret Singer

Lists It Appears On:

  • Cult Research
  • About Great Books
  • ICSA

A definitive and shocking expose that reveals what cults are and how they work. With vital information on how to help people escape cult entrapments and recover from the experience, this book will be an invaluable resource to former cult members.

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21 .) fathermothergod: My Journey Out of Christian Science by Lucia Greenhouse

Lists It Appears On:

  • Book Riot
  • Bustle
  • Goodreads

fathermothergod is Lucia Greenhouse’s story about growing up in Christian Science, in a house where you could not be sick, because you were perfect; where no medicine, even aspirin, was allowed. As a teenager, her visit to an ophthalmologist created a family crisis. She was a sophomore in college before she had her first annual physical. And in December 1985, when Lucia and her siblings, by then young adults, discovered that their mother was sick, they came face-to-face with the reality that they had few–if any–options to save her. Powerless as they watched their mother’s agonizing suffering, Lucia and her siblings struggled with their own grief, anger, and confusion, facing scrutiny from the doctors to whom their parents finally allowed them to turn, and stinging rebuke from relatives who didn’t share their parents’ religious values.

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20 .) God’s Brothel: The Extortion of Sex for Salvation in Contemporary Mormon and Christian Fundamentalist Polygamy and the Stories of 18 Women Who Escaped by Andrea Moore-Emmett

Lists It Appears On:

  • Book Riot
  • Cult Research
  • ICSA

A chilling indictment of contemporary Mormon and Christian fundamentalist polygamy, God’s Brothel reveals gruesome facts about Bible-based polygamy through the brave voices of 18 women who escaped from 10 of the 11 main religious groups as well as independent families. Their stories include rape, incest, orgies, and violence, making this form of polygamy more akin to sexual slavery than to any quaint religious or lifestyle choice.

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19 .) Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright

Lists It Appears On:

  • About Great Books
  • Book Riot
  • Goodreads

A clear-sighted revelation, a deep penetration into the world of Scientology by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower, the now-classic study of al-Qaeda’s 9/11 attack. Based on more than two hundred personal interviews with current and former Scientologists-both famous and less well known-and years of archival research, Lawrence Wright uses his extraordinary investigative ability to uncover for us the inner workings of the Church of Scientology. At the book’s center, two men whom Wright brings vividly to life, showing how they have made Scientology what it is today: The darkly brilliant science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, whose restless, expansive mind invented a new religion. And his successor, David Miscavige-tough and driven, with the unenviable task of preserving the church after the death of Hubbard. We learn about Scientology’s complicated cosmology and special language. We see the ways in which the church pursues celebrities, such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta, and how such stars are used to advance the church’s goals. And we meet the young idealists who have joined the Sea Org, the church’s clergy, signing up with a billion-year contract.

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18 .) Jesus Freaks: A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge by Don Lattin

Lists It Appears On:

  • Signature
  • Book Riot
  • Goodreads

“In the tradition of Jon Krakauer’s Under the Banner of Heaven, Don Lattin’s Jesus Freaks is the story of a shocking pilgrimage of revenge that left two people dead and shed new light on The Family International, one of the most controversial religious movements to emerge from the spiritual turmoil of the sixties and seventies.

Some say The Family International—previously known as the Children of God—began with the best intentions. But their sexual and spiritual excesses soon forced them to go underground and follow a dark and dangerous path. Their charismatic leader, David “”Moses”” Berg, preached a radical critique of the piety and hypocrisy of mainstream Christianity. But Berg’s message quickly devolved into its own web of lies. He lusted for power and unlimited access to female members of his flock—including young girls and teenagers—and became a drunken tyrant, setting up re-indoctrination camps around the world for rebellious teenagers under his control.”

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17 .) Kraken by China Miéville

Lists It Appears On:

  • Panmacmillan
  • Barnes & Noble
  • Goodreads

With this outrageous new novel, China Miéville has written one of the strangest, funniest, and flat-out scariest books you will read this—or any other—year. The London that comes to life in Kraken is a weird metropolis awash in secret currents of myth and magic, where criminals, police, cultists, and wizards are locked in a war to bring about—or prevent—the End of All Things.

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16 .) Not Without My Sister by Celeste Jones, Kristina Jones, and Juliana Buhring

Lists It Appears On:

  • ICSA
  • Goodreads
  • Book Riot

“From as early as three years old, Juliana, Celeste and Kristina were treated as sexual beings by their ‘guardians’ in the infamous religious cult known as the Children of God. They were made to watch and mimic orgies, received love letters and sexual advances from men old enough to be their grandfather, and were forced into abusive relationships. They were denied access to formal schooling, had to wander the streets begging for money, and were mercilessly beaten for ‘crimes’ as unpredictable as reading an encyclopaedia.

Finally, unable to live with the guilt of what had happened to her children, their mother escaped with Kristina, cutting herself off from her remaining children in a bid to save at least one child. Desperate to save her sisters, Kristina eventually returned to the place of her torture to free Celeste. Years later, Juliana found the courage to escape, knowing that the child she was carrying would be subjected to the same fate if she did not.”

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15 .) The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple by Jeff Guinn

Lists It Appears On:

  • Book Riot
  • Electric Lit
  • Goodreads

“In the 1950s, a young Indianapolis minister named Jim Jones preached a curious blend of the gospel and Marxism. His congregation was racially integrated, and he was a much-lauded leader in the contemporary civil rights movement. Eventually, Jones moved his church, Peoples Temple, to northern California. He became involved in electoral politics, and soon was a prominent Bay Area leader.

In this riveting narrative, Jeff Guinn examines Jones’s life, from his extramarital affairs, drug use, and fraudulent faith healing to the fraught decision to move almost a thousand of his followers to a settlement in the jungles of Guyana in South America. Guinn provides stunning new details of the events leading to the fatal day in November, 1978 when more than nine hundred people died—including almost three hundred infants and children—after being ordered to swallow a cyanide-laced drink.”

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14 .) The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes

Lists It Appears On:

  • Bookbub
  • Goodreads
  • Read It Forward

“The Kevinian cult has taken everything from seventeen-year-old Minnow: twelve years of her life, her family, her ability to trust. And when she rebelled, they took away her hands, too.

Now their Prophet has been murdered and their camp set aflame, and it’s clear that Minnow knows something—but she’s not talking. As she languishes in juvenile detention, she struggles to un-learn everything she has been taught to believe, adjusting to a life behind bars and recounting the events that led up to her incarceration. But when an FBI detective approaches her about making a deal, Minnow sees she can have the freedom she always dreamed of—if she’s willing to part with the terrible secrets of her past.”

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13 .) Cartwheels in a Sari: A Memoir of Growing Up Cult by Jayanti Tamm

Lists It Appears On:

  • Read It Forward
  • ICSA
  • Book Riot
  • Goodreads

“In this colorful, eye-opening memoir, Jayanti Tamm offers an unforgettable glimpse into the hidden world of growing up “cult” in mainstream America. Through Jayanti’s fascinating story–the first book to chronicle Sri Chinmoy–she unmasks a leader who convinces thousands of disciples to follow him, scores of nations to dedicate monuments to him, and throngs of celebrities (Sting, Pope John Paul II, Nelson Mandela) to extol him.

When the short, bald man in flowing robes prophesizes Jayanti to be the “Chosen One,” her life is forever entwined with the charismatic guru Sri Chinmoy, who declares himself a living god. A god who performs sit-ups and push-ups in front of thousands as holy ritual, protects himself with a platoon of bodyguards, and bans books, TV, and sex. Jayanti’s unusual and increasingly bizarre childhood is spent shuttling between the ashram in Queens, New York, and her family’s outpost as “Connecticut missionaries.” On the path to enlightenment decreed by Guru, Jayanti scrubs animal cages in his illegal basement zoo, cheerleads as he weight lifts an elephant in her front yard, and trails him around the world as he pursues celebrities such as Princess Diana and Mother Teresa.

But, when her need for enlightenment is derailed by her need for boys, Jayanti risks losing everything that she has ever known, including the person that she was ordained to be. With tenderness, insight, and humor, Jayanti explores the triumphs and trauma of an insider who longs to be an outsider, her hard-won decision to finally break free, and the unique challenges she confronts as she builds a new life.”

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12 .) Escape by Carolyn Jessop and Laura Palmer

Lists It Appears On:

  • Signature
  • Book Riot
  • Bookbub
  • Goodreads

The dramatic first-person account of life inside an ultra-fundamentalist American religious sect, and one woman’s courageous flight to freedom with her eight children. When she was eighteen years old, Carolyn Jessop was coerced into an arranged marriage with a total stranger: a man thirty-two years her senior. Merril Jessop already had three wives. But arranged plural marriages were an integral part of Carolyn’s heritage: She was born into and raised in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), the radical offshoot of the Mormon Church that had settled in small communities along the Arizona-Utah border. Over the next fifteen years, Carolyn had eight children and withstood her husband’s psychological abuse and the watchful eyes of his other wives who were locked in a constant battle for supremacy. Carolyn’s every move was dictated by her husband’s whims. He decided where she lived and how her children would be treated. He controlled the money she earned as a school teacher. He chose when they had sex; Carolyn could only refuse at her peril. For in the FLDS, a wife’s compliance with her husband determined how much status both she and her children held in the family. Carolyn was miserable for years and wanted out, but she knew that if she tried to leave and got caught, her children would be taken away from her. No woman in the country had ever escaped from the FLDS and managed to get her children out, too. But in 2003, Carolyn chose freedom over fear and fled her home with her eight children.

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11 .) Heaven’s Harlots: My Fifteen Years as a Sacred Prostitute in the Children of God Cult by Miriam Williams

Lists It Appears On:

  • Electric Lit
  • Cult Research
  • ICSA
  • Book Riot

“An explosive first-person account by a young woman who spent fifteen years in a sex cult called the Children of God, which encouraged “”sacred prostitution”” and taught that “”The Lord is our pimp.””
Miriam Williams was an idealistic child of the sixties who, at seventeen, accepted an invitation from a “”Jesus person”” to visit a commune in upstate New York. She would soon be prostituting herself for a perverse cult that used sex to lure sinners to the Lord — and this is her shocking, searingly honest account of a fifteen-year spiritual odyssey gone haywire.

The Children of God turned its female devotees into Heaven’s Harlots, leading strangers to the love of God by enticing them with the pleasures of the flesh. At its height, the cult boasted 19,000 members around the world: In such places as France and Monte Carlo, young women, Miriam among them, mingled with the rich and famous to save their souls, and in this unsparing, unnerving autobiography, she’ll identify some of her high-profile “”clients.”” She left this bizarre world in an attempt to protect her son, born through an arranged marriage and kidnapped by his father.”

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10 .) Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry

Lists It Appears On:

  • Read It Forward
  • Cult Research
  • Book Riot
  • Goodreads

In the summer of 1969, in Los Angeles, a series of brutal, seemingly random murders captured headlines across America. A famous actress (and her unborn child), an heiress to a coffee fortune, a supermarket owner and his wife were among the seven victims. A thin trail of circumstances eventually tied the Tate-LeBianca murders to Charles Manson, a would-be pop singer of small talent living in the desert with his “family” of devoted young women and men. What was his hold over them? And what was the motivation behind such savagery? In the public imagination, over time, the case assumed the proportions of myth. The murders marked the end of the sixties and became an immediate symbol of the dark underside of that era.

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9 .) Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People by Tim Reiterman and John Jacobs

Lists It Appears On:

  • Signature
  • Cult Research
  • Book Riot
  • Goodreads

“Tim Reiterman’s Raven provides the seminal history of the Rev. Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple, and the murderous ordeal at Jonestown in 1978.

This PEN Award–winning work explores the ideals-gone-wrong, the intrigue, and the grim realities behind the Peoples Temple and its implosion in the jungle of South America. Reiterman’s reportage clarifies enduring misperceptions of the character and motives of Jim Jones, the reasons why people followed him, and the important truth that many of those who perished at Jonestown were victims of mass murder rather than suicide.”

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8 .) Seductive Poison: A Jonestown Survivor’s Story of Life and Death in the People’s Temple by Deborah Layton

Lists It Appears On:

  • Goodreads
  • About Great Books
  • Book Riot
  • Cult Research

A high-level member of Jim Jones’s Peoples Temple for seven years, Deborah Layton escaped his infamous commune in the Guyanese jungle, leaving behind her mother, her older brother, and many friends. She returned to the United States with warnings of impending disaster, but her pleas for help fell on skeptical ears, and shortly thereafter, in November 1978, the Jonestown massacre shocked the world. Seductive Poison is both an unflinching historical document and a suspenseful story of intrigue, power, and murder.

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7 .) Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing up In a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs by Elissa Wall and Lisa Pulitzer

Lists It Appears On:

  • Bookbub
  • Book Riot
  • Goodreads
  • About Great Books

In September 2007, a packed courtroom in St. George, Utah, sat hushed as Elissa Wall, the star witness against polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs, gave captivating testimony of how Jeffs forced her to marry her first cousin at age fourteen. This harrowing and vivid account proved to be the most compelling evidence against Jeffs, showing the harsh realities of this closed community and the lengths that Jeffs went to in order to control the women in it. Now, in this courageous memoir, Elissa Wall tells her incredible and inspirational story of her time in the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), detailing how she emerged from its confines to help bring one of America’s most notorious criminals to justice.

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6 .) The Girls by Emma Cline

Lists It Appears On:

  • Panmacmillan
  • Electric Lit
  • Read It Forward
  • Goodreads

Northern California, during the violent end of the 1960s. At the start of summer, a lonely and thoughtful teenager, Evie Boyd, sees a group of girls in the park, and is immediately caught by their freedom, their careless dress, their dangerous aura of abandon. Soon, Evie is in thrall to Suzanne, a mesmerizing older girl, and is drawn into the circle of a soon to be infamous cult and the man who is its charismatic leader. Hidden in the hills, their sprawling ranch is eerie and run down, but to Evie, it is exotic, thrilling, charged, a place where she feels desperate to be accepted.

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5 .) The Witness Wore Red: The 19th Wife Who Brought Polygamous Cult Leaders to Justice by Rebecca Musser

Lists It Appears On:

  • Bustle
  • Read It Forward
  • Book Riot
  • Goodreads

Rebecca Musser grew up in fear concealing her family s polygamous lifestyle from the dangerous outside world Covered head to toe in strict modest clothing she received a rigorous education at Alta Academy the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints school headed by Warren Jeffs Always seeking to be an obedient Priesthood girl in her teens she became the nineteenth wife of her people s prophet 85 year old Rulon Jeffs Warren s father Finally sickened by the abuse she suffered and saw around her she pulled off a daring escape and sought to build a new life and family The church however had a way of pulling her back in and by 2007 Rebecca had no choice but to take the witness stand against the new prophet of the FLDS in order to protect her little sisters and other young girls from being forced to marry at shockingly young ages The following year Rebecca and the rest of the world watched as a team of Texas Rangers raided the Yearning for Zion Ranch a stronghold of the FLDS Rebecca s subsequent testimony would reveal the horrific secrets taking place behind closed doors of the temple sending their leaders to prison for years and Warren Jeffs for life THE WITNESS WORE RED is a gripping account of one woman s struggle to escape the perverse embrace of religious fanaticism and sexual slavery and a courageous story of hope and transformation

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4 .) Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche by Haruki Murakami

Lists It Appears On:

  • Panmacmillan
  • Book Riot
  • Electric Lit
  • Goodreads

“In this haunting work of journalistic investigation, Haruki Murakami tells the story of the horrific terrorist attack on Japanese soil that shook the entire world.

On a clear spring day in 1995, five members of a religious cult unleashed poison gas on the Tokyo subway system. In attempt to discover why, Haruki Murakmi talks to the people who lived through the catastrophe, and in so doing lays bare the Japanese psyche. As he discerns the fundamental issues that led to the attack, Murakami paints a clear vision of an event that could occur anytime, anywhere.”

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3 .) My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru by Tim Guest

Lists It Appears On:

  • Cult Research
  • The Guardian
  • Goodreads
  • ICSA
  • Book Riot

“At the age of six, Tim Guest was taken by his mother to a commune modeled on the teachings of the notorious Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. The Bhagwan preached an eclectic doctrine of Eastern mysticism, chaotic therapy, and sexual freedom, and enjoyed inhaling laughing gas, preaching from a dentist’s chair, and collecting Rolls Royces.

Tim and his mother were given Sanskrit names, dressed entirely in orange, and encouraged to surrender themselves into their new family. While his mother worked tirelessly for the cause, Tim-or Yogesh, as he was now called-lived a life of well-meaning but woefully misguided neglect in various communes in England, Oregon, India, and Germany.

In 1985 the movement collapsed amid allegations of mass poisonings, attempted murder, and tax evasion, and Yogesh was once again Tim. In this extraordinary memoir, Tim Guest chronicles the heartbreaking experience of being left alone on earth while his mother hunted heaven.”

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2 .) Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk

Lists It Appears On:

  • Panmacmillan
  • Bookbub
  • Bustle
  • Read It Forward
  • Goodreads

Tender Branson—last surviving member of the Creedish Death Cult—is dictating his life story into Flight 2039’s recorder. He is all alone in the airplane, which will crash shortly into the vast Australian outback. But before it does, he will unfold the tale of his journey from an obedient Creedish child to an ultra-buffed, steroid- and collagen-packed media messiah. Unpredictable and unforgettable, Survivor is Chuck Palahniuk at his deadpan peak: a mesmerizing, unnerving, and hilarious satire on the wages of fame and the bedrock lunacy of the modern world.

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1 .) Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer

Lists It Appears On:

  • Bookbub
  • Read It Forward
  • Cult Research
  • About Great Books
  • Signature
  • Book Riot
  • Bustle
  • Goodreads

“This extraordinary work of investigative journalism takes readers inside America’s isolated Mormon Fundamentalist communities, where some 40,000 people still practice polygamy. Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to God.

At the core of Krakauer’s book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America’s fastest growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.”

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The 300+ Additional Best Books About People Living In Cults



 

# Books Authors Lists
(Titles Appear On 2 Lists Each)
27 A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron. Hubbard Exposed Jon Atack Book Riot
Cult Research
28 A Place Called Waco: A Survivor’s Story David Thibodeau and Leon Whiteson Goodreads
Book Riot
29 A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown Julia Scheeres Goodreads
Book Riot
30 American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst Jeffrey Toobin
Read It Forward
Book Riot
31 Bounded Choice: True Believers and Charismatic Cults Janja Lalich
Cult Research
ICSA
32 Children of Paradise Fred D’Aguiar Electric Lit
Barnes & Noble
33 Church of Lies Flora Jessop and Paul T. Brown Book Riot
Goodreads
34 Churches That Abuse Ronald Enroth
Cult Research
ICSA
35 Coping with Cult Involvement: A Handbook for Families and Friends Livia Bardin
Cult Research
ICSA
36 Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lives to Take it All (or Almost All) of it Back Frank Schaeffer
Cult Research
Book Riot
37 Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets, and Blood Atonement Irene Spencer Book Riot
Goodreads
38 Cults on Campus: Continuing Challenge Marcia Rudin ICSA
Cult Research
39 Cults, Conspiracies and Secret Societies Arthur Goldwag
Read It Forward
Signature
40 Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism Robert Jay Lifton
Cult Research
Book Riot
41 From Slogans to Mantras: Social Protest and Religious Conversion in the Late Vietnam War Era Stephen A. Kent ICSA
Cult Research
42 Gated Amy Christine Parker Bookbub
Goodreads
43 Geek Love Katherine Dunn Flavorwire
Barnes & Noble
44 Heartbreak and Rage: Ten Years Under Sun Myung Moon K. Gordon Neufield ICSA
Cult Research
45 Heaven’s Gate: America’s UFO Religion Benjamin E. Zeller Book Riot
Electric Lit
46 His Favorite Wife: Trapped in Polygamy Susan Ray Schmidt Book Riot
Goodreads
47 I Fired God: My Life Inside Jocelyn R. Zichterman Book Riot
Goodreads
48 In the Shadow of the Moons: My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s Family Nansook Hong
Cult Research
Book Riot
49 Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion Robert B. Cialdini
Cult Research
ICSA
50 Inside Out: A Memoir of Entering and Breaking Out of a Minneapolis Political Cult Alexandra Stein
Cult Research
ICSA
51 Inside Scientology: The Story of America’s Most Secretive Religion Janet Reitman Goodreads
Book Riot
52 Keep Sweet: Children of Polygamy Dr. Dave Perrin and Debbie Palmer Bookbub
Book Riot
53 Lost Boy: the True Story of One Man’s Exile from a Polygamist Cult and His Brave Journey to Reclaim His Life Brent W. Jeffs and Maia Szalavitz Goodreads
Book Riot
54 Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson Jeff Guinn Book Riot
Goodreads
55 Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field Benjamin Zablocki and Thomas Robbins
Cult Research
ICSA
56 Recovery from Abusive Groups Wendy Ford
Cult Research
ICSA
57 Recovery From Cults: Help for Victims of Psychological and Spiritual Abuse Michael D. Langone ICSA
Cult Research
58 Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves Steven Hassan ICSA
Cult Research
59 Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist’s Wife Irene Spencer Goodreads
Book Riot
60 Stranger in a Strange Land Robert A. Heinlein Flavorwire
Goodreads
61 The 19th Wife David Ebershoff Bookbub
Goodreads
62 The Boston Movement: Critical Perspectives on the International Churches of Christ Carol Giambalvo & Herbert Rosedale
Cult Research
ICSA
63 The Chosen One Carol Lynch Williams Bookbub
Goodreads
64 The Kingdom of Cults Walter Martin and Ravi Zacharias
About Great Books
Goodreads
65 The Leftovers Tom Perrotta Bustle
Read It Forward
66 The Patron Saint of Butterflies Cecilia Galante Bustle
Goodreads
67 The Secret History Donna Tartt Flavorwire
Panmacmillan
68 The Sound of Gravel: A Memoir Ruth Wariner Book Riot
Goodreads
69 The World in Flames: A Black Boyhood in a White Supremacist Doomsday Cult Jerald Walker Book Riot
Electric Lit
70 Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism Robert Jay Lifton
Cult Research
ICSA
71 Trance Christopher Sorrentino Bustle
Read It Forward
72 Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence – From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror Judith Lewis Herman ICSA
Cult Research
73 Triumph: Life After the Cult Carolyn Jessop Goodreads
Book Riot
74 Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology Leah Remini Book Riot
Goodreads
75 Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of the Way International Charlene L. Edge ICSA
Book Riot
76 When Men Become Gods: Mormon Polygamist Warren Jeffs, His Cult of Fear, and the Woman Who Fought Back Stephen Singular Book Riot
Goodreads
77 Women Under the Influence: A Study of Women’s Lives in Totalist Groups Janja Lalich ICSA
Cult Research
(Titles Appear On 1 List Each)
78 1984 George Orwell
Cult Research
79 A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole Flavorwire
80 A Journey to Waco Clive Doyle, Catherine Wessinger and Matthew D. Wittmer Book Riot
81 A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The True Story of a New Jewish Boy Who Joins the Church of Scientology and Leaves Twelve Years Later to Become the Lovely Lady She is Today Kate Bornstein Book Riot
82 A Taste of Power: A Black Woman’s Story Elaine Brown
Cult Research
83 Abode of Love: Growing Up in a Messianic Cult Kate Barlow Book Riot
84 Adult Children of Parental Alienation Syndrome: Breaking the Ties that Bind Amy J ICSA
85 Alienation and Charisma: A Study of Contemporary American Communes Benjamin D. Zablocki
Cult Research
86 Amity & Sorrow Peggy Riley Goodreads
87 Amway: The Cult of Enterprise Stephen Butterfield
Cult Research
88 Anthropology of an American Girl Hilary Thayer Hamann Flavorwire
89 Apocalypse: On the Psychology of Fundamentalism in America Charles B. Strozier
Cult Research
90 Asylums Erving Goffman
Cult Research
91 Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand Flavorwire
92 Awake in a Nightmare—Jonestown: The Only Eyewitness Account Ethan Feinsod
Cult Research
93 Bacchae Euripides
Panmacmillan
94 Bare-faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard Russell Miller
Cult Research
95 Beyond Belief: True Story of Faith, Denial and Betrayal Margot Tesch Book Riot
96 Bhagwan: The God that Failed Hugh Milne
Cult Research
97 Bitter Harvest: Gordon Kahl and the Posse Comitatus James Corcoran
Cult Research
98 Blood and Guts in High School Kathy Acker Flavorwire
99 Blown Lauren Halsted Burroughs Book Riot
100 Blown for Good: Behind the Iron Curtain of Scientology Marc Headley Book Riot
101 Blue Windows: A Christian Science Childhood Barbara Wilson Book Riot
102 Born and Raised in a Sect: You are Not Alone Lois Kendall ICSA
103 Born into the Children of God: My Life in a Religious Sex Cult and My Struggle for Survival on the Outside Natacha Tormey Book Riot
104 Brainwashing: The Science of Thought Control Kathleen Taylor
Cult Research
105 Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment Janet Heimlich ICSA
106 Call Me Evil, Let Me Go: A Mother’s Struggle to Save her Children from a Brutal Religious Cult Sarah Jones Book Riot
107 Catch-22 Joseph Heller Flavorwire
108 Channeling into the New Age: The “Teachings” of Shirley MacLaine and Other Such Gurus Henry Gordon
Cult Research
109 Charisma Charles Lindholm
Cult Research
110 Charisma and Control in Rajneeshpuram Lewis F. Carter
Cult Research
111 Charisma and Leadership in Organizations Alan Bryman
Cult Research
112 Charismatic Capitalism: Direct Selling Organizations in America Nicole Woolsey Biggart
Cult Research
113 Child of Satan, Child of God: Her Own Story Susan Atkins Electric Lit
114 Christianity, Cults & Religions Rose Publishing, Paul Cardin
About Great Books
115 Cities on a Hill: A Journey through Contemporary American Cultures Frances FitzGerald
Cult Research
116 Closing the Gate Deb Simpson Book Riot
117 Coercive Persuasion: A Sociopsychological Analysis of the “Brainwashing” of American Civilian Prisoners the Chinese Communists
Cult Research
118 Commitment and Community: Communes and Utopias in Sociological Perspective Rosabeth Moss Kanter
Cult Research
119 Confabulations: Creating False Memories, Destroying Families Eleanor Goldstein, with Kevin Framer
Cult Research
120 Corporate Cults: The Insidious Lure of the All-Consuming Organization David Arnott
Cult Research
121 Counterfeit Dreams: One Man’s Journey Into and Out of the World of Scientology Jefferson Hawkins Book Riot
122 Crazy Therapies Margaret Singer & Janja Lalich ICSA
123 Crossing Over: One Woman’s Escape from Amish Life Ruth Irene Garrett Book Riot
124 Cult Child Vennie Kocsis Book Riot
125 Cult Proofing Your Kids Paul R ICSA
126
Cult Recovery: A Clinician’s Guide to Working With Former Members and Families
ICSA
127 Cult Survivor’s Handbook Nori Muster ICSA
128 Cults in America: Programmed for Paradise Willa Appel
Cult Research
129 Cults Inside Out Rick Alan Ross ICSA
130 Cults: Faith, Healing, and Coercion Marc Galanter
Cult Research
131 Damaged Disciples ICSA
132 Darkness at Noon Arthur Koestler
Cult Research
133 Daughter of the Saints: Growing Up in Polygamy Dorothy Allred Solomon Book Riot
134 Daughters of Zion: My Family’s Conversion to Polygamy Kim Wariner-Taylor Book Riot
135 Destructive and Terrorist Cults: A New Kind of Slavery Masoud Banisadr ICSA
136 Dhalgren Samuel R. Delany Flavorwire
137 Diary Of A Drug Fiend Aleister Crowley
The Guardian
138 Divine Disenchantment: Deconverting from New Religions Janet Liebman Jacobs
Cult Research
139 Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith John Lofland
Cult Research
140 Dune Frank Herbert Flavorwire
141 Easily Fooled: New Insights and Techniques for Resisting Manipulation Bob Fellows ICSA
142 Encyclopedic Dictionary of Cults, Sects, & World Religions George Mather Acts 29
143 Ender’s Game Orson Scott Card Flavorwire
144 Enlightenment Blues: My Years with an American Guru Andre van der Braak
Cult Research
145 Escape from Freedom Erich Fromm
Cult Research
146 Escape from Utopia: My Ten Years in Synanon William Olin
Cult Research
147 Escape Through the Window: A Cult Survivor’s Story Sarah Rose Book Riot
148 Escape: My Life Long War Against Cults Paul Morantz Book Riot
149 Exit Counseling: A Family Intervention Carol Giambalvo
Cult Research
150 Fair Game: The Incredible Untold Story of Scientology in Australia Steve Cannane Book Riot
151 Family Interventions for Cult-Affected Loved Ones Carol Giambalvo ICSA
152 Fear of Flying Erica Jong Flavorwire
153 Feet of Clay—Saints, Sinners, and Madmen: A Study of Gurus Anthony Storr
Cult Research
154 Fifty Years in Polygamy: Big Secrets and Little White Lies Kristyn Decker Book Riot
155 From Dean’s List to Dumpsters Jim Guerra ICSA
156 From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, ed. and trans. H. H. Gerth and C. W. Mills
Cult Research
157 Gated and Astray Amy Christine Parker Bustle
158 Gather the Daughters Jennie Melamed Electric Lit
159 Generation X Douglas Coupland Flavorwire
160 Getting Saved from the Sixties: Moral Meaning in Conversion and Cultural Change Steven M. Tipton
Cult Research
161 Girl at the End of the World: My Escape from Fundamentalism in Search of Faith with a Future Elizabeth Esther Book Riot
162 Girl on a Wire: Walking the Line Between Faith and Freedom in the Westboro Baptist Church Libby Phelps and Sara Stewart Book Riot
163 God Bless America: Strange and Unusual Religious Beliefs and Practices in the United States Karen Stollznow
About Great Books
164 God, Harlem U.S.A. Jill Watts Electric Lit
165 God’s Perfect Child: Living and Dying in the Christian Science Church Caroline Fraser Book Riot
166 Greedy Institutions: Patterns of Undivided Commitment Lewis A. Coser
Cult Research
167 Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego Sigmund Freud, trans. J. Strachey
Cult Research
168 Ham on Rye Charles Bukowski Flavorwire
169 Heaven’s Harlots: My Fifteen Years as a Sacred Prostitute in the Children of God Cult Miriam Williams Goodreads
170 Help at Any Cost: How the Troubled-Teen Industry Cons Parents and Hurts Kids Maia Szalavitz ICSA
171 Heresy of Mind Control Stephen Martin ICSA
172 Holy Candy: Why I Joined a Cult and Married a Stranger Yolande Brener Book Riot
173 Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden Peter L Bergen
Cult Research
174 Hopscotch Julio Cortázar Flavorwire
175 House of Leaves Mark Z. Danielewski Flavorwire
176 Human Trafficking: Emerging Legal Issues and Applications Nora M ICSA
177 I Am Forbidden Anouk Markovits Bookbub
178 I Can’t Hear God Anymore: Life in a Dallas Cult Wendy J ICSA
179 I Capture the Castle Dodie Smith Flavorwire
180 I, Tina: My Life Story Tina Turner, with Kurt Loder
Cult Research
181 I’m Perfect, You’re Doomed: Tales from a Jehovah’s Witness Upbringing Kyria Abrahams Goodreads
182 I’m Dysfunctional, You’re Dysfunctional: The Recovery Movement and Other Self Help Fashions Wendy Kaminer
Cult Research
183 Ice Anna Kavan Flavorwire
184 Identity and the Life Cycle Erik H. Erikson
Cult Research
185 Identity: Youth and Crisis Erik H. Erikson
Cult Research
186 In My Father’s House Min. S. Yee Book Riot
187 In the Days of Rain Rebecca Stott Electric Lit
188 Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace Flavorwire
189 Insane Therapy: Portrait of a Psychotherapy Cult Marybeth F. Ayella
Cult Research
190 Inside al Qaeda Rohan Gunaratna
Cult Research
191 Into The Light
Read It Forward
192 Invisible Cities Italo Calvino Flavorwire
193 It’s Not About Sex My Ass: Confessions of a Mormon Ex-Polygamist Joanne Hanks Book Riot
194 Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth Chris Ware Flavorwire
195 Jonestown and Other Madness Pat Parker Electric Lit
196 Jonestown Survivor: An Insider’s Look Laura Johnston Kohl Book Riot
197 Karma Cola: Marketing the Mystic East Gita Mehta
Cult Research
198 Kindred Octavia Butler Flavorwire
199 Kingdom of the Cults Walter Martin Acts 29
200 L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman Bent Corydon and L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
Cult Research
201 La-Bas (The Damned) JK Huysmans
The Guardian
202 Lanark Alasdair Gray Flavorwire
203 Leaders and Their Followers in a Dangerous World: The Psychology of Political Behavior Jerrold M. Post
Cult Research
204 Leaving Fishers Margaret Peterson Haddix Goodreads
205 Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith Martha N. Beck Goodreads
206 Life and Death in Shanghai Nien Cheng
Cult Research
207 Little Brown Girl: A Memoir Cassidy Elizabeth Arkin and Sandra J. Rogers-Hare Book Riot
208 Little X: Growing Up in the Nation of Islam Sonsyrea Tate
Cult Research
209 Locked In: My Imprisoned Years in a Destructive Cult John Huddle Book Riot
210 Losing the Way: A Memoir of Spiritual Longing, Manipulation, Abuse, and Escape Kristen Skedgell ICSA
211 Love and Loathing: Protecting Your Mental Health and Legal Rights When Your Partner HasBorderline Personality Disorder Randi Kreger and Kim Williams
Cult Research
212 Love Sex Fear Death: The Inside Story of the Process Church of the Final Judgment Timothy Wyllie Book Riot
213 Lyndon LaRouche and the New American Fascism Dennis King
Cult Research
214 Madame Blavatsky’s Baboon: A History of the Mystics, Mediums, and Misfits Who Brought Spiritualism to America Peter Washington
Cult Research
215 Marked for Death: My War with Jim Jones the Devil of Jonestown Timothy Oliver Stoen Book Riot
216 Massacre at Waco: The Shocking True Story of Cult Leader David Koresh and the Branch Davidians Clifford L. Linedecker Book Riot
217 Masters of Atlantis Charles Portis Flavorwire
218 Matches in the Gas Tank: Trial Fire in the Armstrong Cult Book Riot
219 Memoirs of a Scientology Warrior Mark Rathbun and Evie Cook Book Riot
220 Memory, Trauma Treatment, and the Law Daniel Brown, Alan W ICSA
221 Mesmerized: Powers of Mind in Victorian Britain Alison Winter
Cult Research
222 Monkey on a Stick: Murder, Madness, and the Hare Krishnas John Hubner and Lindsey Gruson
Cult Research
223 Moonstruck: A Memoir of My Life in a Cult Allen Tate Wood
Cult Research
224 Mother of God Luna Tarlo
Cult Research
225 Mr. Splitfoot
Read It Forward
226 My Billion Year Contract: Memoir of a Former Scientologist Nancy Many Book Riot
227 My Life in the Klan Jerry Thompson
Cult Research
228 Naked Lunch William S. Burroughs Flavorwire
229 Neuromancer William Gibson Flavorwire
230 Night Film Marisha Pessl
Panmacmillan
231 Nightwood Djuna Barnes Flavorwire
232 Not My Idea of Heaven Lindsey Rosa Book Riot
233 Nowhere Girl: Growing Up Different Nita Clark Book Riot
234 Obedience to Authority Stanley Milgram
Cult Research
235 Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke
Cult Research
236 On Charisma and Institution Building Max Weber, ed.
Cult Research
237 On Social Psychology George Herbert Mead, ed.
Cult Research
238 On the Edge: Political Cults Right and Left Dennis Tourish and Tim Wohlforth
Cult Research
239 On the Road Jack Kerouac Flavorwire
240 One Door Away from Heaven Dean Koontz Goodreads
241 Opening Minds: The Secret World of Manipulation, Undue Influence, and Brainwashing Jon Atack ICSA
242 Our Father Who Art in Bed ICSA
243 Out of the Cocoon: A Young Woman’s Courageous Flight from the Grip of a Religious Cult Brenda Lee Book Riot
244 Outrageous Betrayal: The Dark Journey of Werner Erhard from est to Exile Steven Pressman
Cult Research
245 Passionate Enlightenment: Women in Tantric Buddhism Miranda Shaw
Cult Research
246 Passionate Journeys: Why Successful Women Joined a Cult Marion S. Goldman
Cult Research
247 Patty Hearst: Her Own Story Patricia Campbell Hearst
Cult Research
248 People Farm Steve Susoyev
Cult Research
249 Pilgrim’s Wilderness: A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier Tom Kizzia Goodreads
250 Principles of Group Solidarity Michael Hechter
Cult Research
251 Prisons We Choose to Live Inside Doris Lessing
Cult Research
252 Property: The True Story of a Polygamous Church Wife Carol Christie and John Christie Book Riot
253 Prophet of Death: The Mormon Blood-Atonement Killings Pete Early
Cult Research
254 Prophet’s Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints Sam Brower Goodreads
255 Prophet’s Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints Sam Brower Book Riot
256 Prophetic Charisma: The Psychology of Revolutionary Religious Personalities Len Oakes
Cult Research
257 Radical: My Journey out of Islamic Extremism Maajid Nawaz Book Riot
258 Recovering Agency: Lifting the Veil of Mormon Mind Control Luna Lindsey ICSA
259 Recovering from Churches that Abuse Ronald Enroth ICSA
260 Red Azalea Anchee Min
Cult Research
261 Revisionism and Diversification in New Religious Movements Edited by Eileen Barker ICSA
262 Revolutionary Immortality: Mao Tse-tung and the Chinese Cultural Revolution Robert Jay Lifton
Cult Research
263 Roughing It Mark Twain
The Guardian
264 Ruby Ridge: The Truth and Tragedy of the Randy Waver Family Jess Walter Book Riot
265 Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me Ron Miscavige Book Riot
266 Satanism & Occult-Related Violence Michael D ICSA
267 Scientology: A to Xenu: An Insider’s Guide to What Scientology is Really All About Chris Shelton and Jon Atack Book Riot
268 Scientology: Abuse at the Top Amy Scobee Book Riot
269 Secrets and Wives: The Hidden World of Mormon Polygamy Sanjiv Bhattacharya Book Riot
270 Seed Lisa Heathfield Goodreads
271 Servant of the Lotus Feet: A Hare Krishna Odyssey Gabriel Brandis ICSA
272 Seventeen Sisters: Tell Their Story Barbara Barlow and Virginia Webb Book Riot
273 Siddhartha Hermann Hesse Flavorwire
274 Sins of the Father: The Long Shadow of a Religious Cult Fleur Beale Book Riot
275 Sister Wife Shelley Hrdlitschka Bookbub
276 Six Years with God: Life Inside Rev. Jim Jones’s Peoples Temple Jeannie Mills
Cult Research
277 Slavery of Faith: The Untold Story of the People’s Temple from the Eyes of a Thirteen Year Old, Her Escape from Jonestown at 20 and Life 30 Years Later Leslie Wagner-Wilson Book Riot
278 So Late, So Soon: A Memoir D’Arcy Fallon
Cult Research
279 Speedboat Renata Adler Flavorwire
280 Spiritual Abuse Resources ICSA
281 Spiritual Warfare: The Politics of the Christian Right Sara Diamond
Cult Research
282 Splitting: Protecting yourself while Divorcing a Borderline or Narcissist William A. Eddy
Cult Research
283 Spying In Guruland William Shaw
The Guardian
284 Station Eleven Emily St John Mandel
Panmacmillan
285 Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity Erving Goffman
Cult Research
286 Stoner John Williams Flavorwire
287 Stop Walking on Eggshells: Coping When Someone You Care about Has Borderline Personality Disorder Paul T. Mason and Randi Kreger
Cult Research
288 Stories from Jonestown Leigh Fondakowski Book Riot
289 Sway Zachary Lazar
Barnes & Noble
290 Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships Janja Lalich & Madeleine Tobias ICSA
291 Tears of the Silenced: A True Crime and an American Tragedy; Severe Child Abuse and Leaving the Amish Misty Griffin Book Riot
292 Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence Mark Juergensmeyer
Cult Research
293 Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill Jessica Stern
Cult Research
294 The Alexandria Quartet Lawrence Durrell Flavorwire
295 The Ashes of Waco: An Investigation Dick Reavis
About Great Books
296 The Authoritarian Personality T. W. Adorno, Else Frenkel-Brunswick, Daniel J. Levinson, and R. Nevitt Sanford
Cult Research
297 The Ayn Rand Cult Jeff Walker
Cult Research
298 The Bible
The Guardian
299 The Black Book Orhan Pamuk Flavorwire
300 The Book Of Mormon Joseph Smith
The Guardian
301 The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog Bruce Perry & Maia Szalavitz ICSA
302 The Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger Flavorwire
303 The Challenge of the Cults and the New Religions Ron Rhodes Acts 29
304 The Challenge to Heal: A Recovery Guide to Help Reclaim Your LIfe After Leaving any High-Control Group Bonnie Zieman ICSA
305 The Channeling Zone: American Spirituality in an Anxious Age Michael F. Brown
Cult Research
306 The Church of Fear: Inside the Weird World of Scientology John Sweeney Book Riot
307 The Clan of the Cave Bear Jean M. Auel Flavorwire
308 The Cult at the End of the World: The Terrifying Story of the Aum Doomsday Cult, from the Subways of Tokyo to Nuclear Arsenals of Russia David E. Kaplan and Andrew Marshall Book Riot
309 The Cult Next Door: A True Story of a Suburban Manhattan New Age Cult Elizabeth R. Burchard and Judith L. Carlone Book Riot
310 The Cult Phenomenon: How Groups Function Mike Kropveld & Marie-Andrée Pelland ICSA
311 The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown
The Guardian
312 The Defector: After 20 Years in Scientology Robert Dam Book Riot
313 The Demon-haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark Carl Sagan
Cult Research
314 The Dice Man Luke Rhinehart Flavorwire
315 The Discipling Dilemma Flavil Yeakley
Cult Research
316 The Followers Rebecca Wait
Panmacmillan
317 The Future of Immortality and Other Essays Robert Jay Lifton
Cult Research
318 The Girl Before
Read It Forward
319 The God that Failed, ed. Richard Crossman
Cult Research
320 The Gormenghast Trilogy Mervyn Peake Flavorwire
321 The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power Joel Kramer and Diane Alstad
Cult Research
322 The Harmonious Circle: The Lives and Work of G. I. Gurdjieff, P. D. Ouspensky and Their Followers James Webb
Cult Research
323 The Illuminatus! Trilogy Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson Flavorwire
324 The Joyful Community: An Account of the Bruderhof Benjamin D. Zablocki
Cult Research
325 The Light on Synanon Dave Mitchell, Cathy Mitchell, and Richard Ofhse
Cult Research
326 The Long Prison Journey of Leslie Van Houten: Life Beyond the Cult Karlene Faith
Cult Research
327 The Magus John Fowles Flavorwire
328 The Manson Girls Michael James Duncan Book Riot
329 The Master and Margarita Mikhail Bulgakov Flavorwire
330 The Nazi Doctors Robert Jay Lifton
Cult Research
331 The Nazis and the Occult Dusty Sklar
Cult Research
332 The New Religious Consciousness Charles Y. Glock and Robert N. Bellah
Cult Research
333 The Onliest One Alive: Surviving Jonestown, Guyana Catherine H. Thrash and Marian Kleinsasser Towne Book Riot
334 The Origins of Totalitarianism Hannah Arendt
Cult Research
335 The Other Side of Joy: Religious Melancholy among the Bruderhof Julius H. Rubin
Cult Research
336 The Perks of Being a Wallflower Stephen Chbosky Flavorwire
337 The Possessed Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Cult Research
338 The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life Erving Goffman
Cult Research
339 The Private Memoirs and Confessions Of A Justified Sinner James Hogg
The Guardian
340 The Promise of Paradise: A Woman’s Intimate Story the Perils of Life With Rajneesh Satya Bharti Franklin
Cult Research
341 The Psychology of Attitude Change and Social Influence Philip G. Zimbardo and Michael R. Leippe
Cult Research
342 The Road to Total Freedom: A Sociological Analysis of Scientology Roy Wallis
Cult Research
343 The Satanic Bible Anton S LaVey
The Guardian
344 The Secret Lives of Saints: Child Brides and Lost Boys in a Polygamous Mormon Sect Daphne Bramham Book Riot
345 The Shelter Cycle
Barnes & Noble
346 The Social Animal Elliot Aronson
Cult Research
347 The Sorcerer’s Apprentice: My Life with Carlos Castaneda Amy Wallace
Cult Research
348 The Spiritualists: The Passion for the Occult in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Ruth Brandon
Cult Research
349 The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse: Recognizing and Escaping From Spiritual Manipulation and False Spiritual Authority David Johnson & Jeff vanVonderen ICSA
350 The Suicide Cult Marshall Kilduff and Ron Javers
Cult Research
351 The Sullivanian Institute/Fourth Wall Community: The Relationship of Radical Individualism and Authoritarianism Amy Siskind
Cult Research
352 The Testament Colm Toibin
Panmacmillan
353 The True Believer Eric Hoffer
Cult Research
354 The Unbearable Lightness of Being Milan Kundera Flavorwire
355 The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology Tried to Destroy Paulette Cooper Tony Ortega Book Riot
356 The Utopia Experiment Dylan Evans
Panmacmillan
357 The Varieties of Religious Experience William James
Cult Research
358 The Verbally Abusive Relationship: How to Recognize It and How to Respond Patricia Evans
Cult Research
359 The Year 2000: Essays on the End Charles B. Strozier and Michael Flynn
Cult Research
360 Them and Us: Cult Thinking and the Terrorist Threat Arthur J. Deikman
Cult Research
361 Therapist Ellen Plasil
Cult Research
362 Therapy Gone Mad: The True Story of Hundreds of Patients and a Generation of Betrayal Carol Lynn Mithers
Cult Research
363 Thinner Than Thou
Barnes & Noble
364 This Dark World: A Memoir of Salvation Found and Lost Carolyn S. Briggs Book Riot
365 This Is Not a Novel David Markson Flavorwire
366 Thus Spoke Zarathustra Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche Flavorwire
367 TM and Cult Mania Michael Persinger, N. J. Carrey, and L. A. Suess
Cult Research
368 Traumatic Narcissism: Relational Systems of Subjugation Dan Shaw ICSA
369 Traveller in Space: In Search of Female Identity in Tibetan Buddhism June Campbell
Cult Research
370 Understanding the New Age Russell Chandler
Cult Research
371 V. Thomas Pynchon Flavorwire
372 Valley of the Dolls Jacqueline Susann Flavorwire
373 Vivian Apple at the End of the World Katie Coyle Bookbub
374 Waiting for the Apocalypse: A Memoir of Faith and Family Veronica Chater Book Riot
375 Watchmen Alan Moore Flavorwire
376 When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group That Predicted the Destruction of the World Leon Festinger, Henry W. Riecken, and Stanley Schachter
Cult Research
377 When They Were Mine: Memories of a Branch Davidian Wife and Mother Shelia Martin and Catherine Wessinger Book Riot
378 Why Did I Ever Mary Robison Flavorwire
379 Why I Left the Amish: A Memoir Saloma Miller Furlong Book Riot
380 Wife No. 19: The Story of a Life in Bondage, Being a Complete Expose of Mormonism and Revealing Sorrows, Sacrifices and Sufferings of Women in Polygamy Ann Eliza Young Book Riot
381 Wife Number Seven Melissa Brown Bookbub
382 Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China Judy Chang
Cult Research
383 Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us Robert D. Hare
Cult Research
384 Without Sin: The Life and Death of the Oneida Community Spencer Klaw
Cult Research
385 Women, Sex, and Addiction: A Search for Love and Power Charlotte Davis Kasl
Cult Research
386 You Must Be Dreaming Barbara Noel
Cult Research
387 Youth in Revolt C.D. Payne Flavorwire
388 Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Robert M. Pirsig Flavorwire


15 Best Stories About Living In A Cult Book Sources/Lists



Source Article
About Great Books Top 10 Books About Cults
Acts 29 Recommended Books — Cults
Barnes & Noble 6 Novels About Freaky Cults
Book Riot 100 Must-Read Books About Life in Cults and Oppressive Religious Sects
Bookbub 14 Books About Cults & Controversial Societies
Bustle 9 Fascinating Books About Cults And Strict Fundamentalist Movements That’ll Get You Totally Swept Up In The Details
Cult Research Recommended Reading
Electric Lit 12 Chilling Books About Real and Fictional Cults
Flavorwire 50 Essential Cult Novels
Goodreads Popular Cults Books
ICSA Book List
Panmacmillan Eleven books about cults
Read It Forward Gripping Books About Cults
Signature Martha Marcy May Marlene’ Footnotes: Our Top 5 Books on Religious Cults
The Guardian Sam Jordison’s top 10 books on cults and religious extremists

 

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