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While the Enneagram has been around for decades, it has become increasingly popular in recent years. His popularity in therapy extends to Instagram meme accounts devoted to having fun on every guy. You may have seen some of these posts on your Explore page and wondered what it was about. In short, the Enneagram is a system of personality typing based on a person’s basic belief about how the world works. This belief drives a person’s motivations and fears.
Many of the popular enneagram books, such as The Wisdom of the Enneagram or Personality Types: Using the Enneagram to Find Yourself, were written in the 1980s and 1990s. However, with the increasing interest of younger generations, a resurgence of books has been published that shed new light on this old system. People are now using the Enneagram to direct their own self-growth, build relationships, explore spirituality, and much more.
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If you’ve recently learned about this personality system or are curious to learn more, here are five modern books on the enneagram.
Note: Enneagram books written by colored people are missing. As this system of personality typing becomes more popular, I hope that the books published on the subject will better reflect a variety of experiences. You can find information about the enneagram created by colored people in the Instagram accounts @enneagrameverything or @theblackenneagram.
Modern Enneagram Books
Take Care of Your Type by Christina S. Wilcox
This small but mighty book was written by Christina S. Wilcox (@christinaswilcox on Instagram) and shows how each guy can show himself off for himself. Each section is littered with illustrations, describing why each guy needs self-love, and detailing the big and small things we can do for ourselves and the people in our lives. This Type 5 was particularly impressed that each section appeared to be tailored to each type’s communication style – for example, the section for Type 5, a type that is intellectual and fact-based, provided data on why their advice made sense.
Ashton Whitmoyer-Ober’s Relationship Enneagram
In this beautifully illustrated guide to the Enneagram, Whitmoyer-Ober shares tools for cultivating deeper relationships with the forces of each type. She argues that understanding the different ways we interact with others is key to maintaining healthy relationships. This book describes what each guy brings to the table and gives you all the tools you need to maintain close personal and professional relationships.
The honest enneagram from Sarajane Case
Written by the creator of the Instagram account @enneagramandcoffee, The Honest Enneagram is a wonderful introduction to the world of the Enneagram. Case gives a full overview of each type: strengths, struggles, what that type brings to their relationships, and how to be their best selves. There are also cute illustrations and bingo cards for every type.
Millenneagram by Hannah Paasch
The Millenneagram gives the Enneagram a modern twist and brings it to life with disrespectful humor. Paasch reformulates each type with a new perspective, including new titles for each (for example, Type 4, The Individualist, becomes “The Tortured Artist”). Through her tongue while writing on the cheek, Paasch shows the reader how the Enneagram can help us to find and love our whole selves.
The Enneagram and you by Gina Gomez
The Enneagram and You are intended for people new to the Enneagram and give the reader tools to identify their type. Gomez creates a course that demonstrates how to use each guy’s strengths to communicate and interact with friends, family, co-workers, and love interests. She addresses every type of pairing and shows the harmonies and challenges that each couple can face. By the end of this book, you will have an understanding of each type and how they work so that you can better understand the actions and reactions of those who are closest to you.
For book recommendations based on your enneagram type, see these book recommendations for each enneagram type.
