Unironically, read the Qur’an and the Bible (the novel), if you’re feeling adventurous educate yourself on Buddhism.

The only book I ever needed to read to become an atheist was The Holy Bible.

**Ishmael by Daniel Quinn ** Not exactly about religion but a turning point for me.

Ishmael is a half ton silverback gorilla. He is a student of ecology, life, freedom, and the human condition. He is also a teacher. He teaches that which all humans need to learn — must learn — if our species, and the rest of life on Earth as we know it, is to survive.

The book opens with a deceptively ordinary personals ad: “Teacher seeks pupil. Must have an earnest desire to save the world.” Seeking a direction for his life, a young man answers the ad and is startled to find that the teacher is a lowland gorilla named Ishmael, a creature uniquely placed to vision anew the human story.

Lord of the rings is a great book series.

I’m very fond of scifi, the old man war series is a very fun and smooth series to read. I like to recommend it to ppl that want to read a longer, but easy to digest series.

If you like scifi in general, you can’t go wrong by picking any random nebula award winner. It’s what I’ve done these past few years. Can’t say I’ve regretted it this far.

You’ll have plenty time to read amazing books now that you don’t have to waste your time in church, reading the Bible and thinking about skydaddy. Welcome to freedom!

You seem to think atheism is some alternative belief you need to study. it’s not, It’s just no longer believing in the idea of God and instead just focusing on living your life the best you can. Just ask questions, be curious and don’t take anything at face value.

Just read r/atheism if you want to become the final atheist form!

While others are right that there are no must-read books, deprogramming yourself from religion would be worth while, and reading atheist recommended books will help you do that.

• the demon haunted world
• the god delusion
• waking up: a guide to spirituality without religion
• letter to a Christian nation

atheism is anything goes - no manual required - The epitome of simplicity -

If you’re shopping for explanations/justification, you don’t truly believe atheism

Good luck figuring out how to survive this wack world…

The best thing about being free of religion, is being free of religion.

Go pick up a book on microprocessor architecture, that is neat stuff.

One that comes to mind is “Religion for Atheists”. It is a great book that highlights the non-spiritual functions of religion in society. The idea is by identifying what function you got out of religion in the past, you may find ways to replace it without getting involved in the collective delusion of pretending to know the unknowable.

If you’re stepping away from the god of Abraham, you could always read Nietzsche’s “The Antichrist” but i dont really recommend most people read Nietzsche without some solid footing in philosophy and some helpful context, since he can lead people to some straight up Nazi shit which he elsewhere explicitly warned against. Context important with him. But it’s a scathing criticism of the role of dogma in society.

If you feel a need for a spiritual drink without relapsing on god, I recommend exploring the Dao De Jing. It’s another one that benefits from context, rereading, and meditation, but it can explain the world quite nicely without need of an invested anthropomorphic god.

Finally, you might want to pick up some existentialist literature if you feel like life has no meaning and you’re lost. Sartre or Frankl come to mind.

Kant and other Philosophiphers of the enlightenment

Atheism isn’t a religion, so there isn’t “must read books” nor mandatory workshops. Do what you please.

Small Gods is indeed a great choice. I never thought of it as a “book for atheists” and it’s quite unlikely to turn someone religious into a non-believer - but it’s clever, funny and one of my personal favorite Terry Patches books. So, worst case scenario: you’ve read a highly entertaining book.

“The Bible” is the book that ultimately turned me into a convinced atheist. If you actually read it, without having it filtered and read to you by religious people with agendas, it’s hard to continue believing in any of its insane ramblings. But it’s a really tough, slow and often immoral and revolting read. Mostly, it’s just really stupid.

“The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster” is the opposite. It’s a funny, light and often silly read. It’s not exactly deep, but neither are the books it’s parodizing. As a satire of other religious text it works reasonably well in putting the finger in the wound.

“The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever” is just that: a collection of texts and letters on the subject by some brilliant minds: Bertrand Russell, Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, Lucrecius, Charles Darwin, Richard Dawkins and many more … collected and edited by Christopher Hitchens. As an anthology it allows you to dip your toes in and read the texts you are interested in. Maybe my first choice as serious “atheism for beginners” literature.

Oooh, another one that’s well worth a read is Richard Dawkin’s The Selfish Gene.

I think Dawkins is a bit of a dick, and his brand of combative atheism is unpleasant at best, and probably counterproductive. But he is (or was) an amazing writer on evolutionary biology, and that book’s the best explanation of how evolution works that I’ve read. (Also, it’s NOT about selfishness at the human scale, the world is used metaphorically, and there is even a chapter or two explaining how altruism could have developed).

His book The Blind Watchmaker is also good for it’s exploration of abiogenesis, though it’s a bit later and it has a bit of the anti-religious arrogance of some of his newer approach.

These aren’t really about atheism, but more providing an alternative world view that undermines the obviousness of creationism.

I was an atheist once, but I found that it didn’t solve fundamental questions about life and existence. Religion tries to do that but just ends up being man-made fairy tales used to control the masses to follow rules that follow some kind of morals but just end up not making any sense. Eastern philosophy and philosophy as a whole is the next most logical step to take.

I highly recommend reading/listening to Alan Watts (you can find lectures and transcripts online for free). There are other schools of thought, but his teachings and understandings are pretty straight forward and easy to digest (keep in mind some of it is a bit dated, he passed in 1973).

Also, the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. Written for an emperor on how to rule and govern, the wisdom in it is very profound and can set you on the path to living a much more fulfilling life. For the most part, I now follow the Tao not as a religion but the natural flow of the universe, to a point I feel constantly in a state of “wu wei” (effortless action) which makes life so simple it feels like cheating.

Books I keep nearby:

• Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
• The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are by Alan Watts
• The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts
• The Book of Five Rings by Musashi Miyamoto
• The Undiscovered Self by Carl Jung