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Rick Rubin books: every book Rick Rubin wrote and recommended
Across 8 podcasts. Every show Rick Rubin appears on, in one place — not just one.
Books by Rick Rubin
Rick Rubin’s most recommended books
- Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
- Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn
- Season of the Witch by David Talbot
- Tao te Ching by 老子
- Beatles - Please Please Me by The Beatles
- Diet for a New America by John Robbins
- On Writing by Stephen King
- Plutarch's Lives, Volume 2 by Plutarch
- Tao Te Ching by Lao Tze
- The Odyssey by Homer
Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer. He is a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Appearing on podcasts such as The Tim Ferriss Show, Huberman Lab, and On Purpose with Jay Shetty, Rubin frequently shared the books he finds most impactful and often gives away as gifts. He repeatedly recommended the Stephen Mitchell translation of the Tao Te Ching, noting its concise, poem-like sections. Another primary recommendation across multiple appearances was Jon Kabat-Zinn's Wherever You Go, There You Are, which Rubin described as his favorite book on meditation and a wonderful introduction to mindfulness and health. Additionally, when discussing the cultural landscape of the 1960s with Andrew Huberman, Rubin recommended David Talbot's Season of the Witch, praising its portrayal of San Francisco during that era. Rubin's recommendations centered largely on mindfulness, ancient philosophy, creative energy, and historical nonfiction, reflecting the themes that inform his own approach to art, health, and production.
Books recommended by Rick Rubin
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Tao Te Ching
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu is a foundational text of Eastern philosophy and Taoism that explores the nature of reality, effortless action, and spiritual enlightenment.
Discussed“I first read The Dao when I was I had just moved to California.”
Where to get it
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Wherever You Go, There You Are
Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life by Jon Kabat-Zinn serves as an accessible guide to integrating mindfulness practices into daily routines without requiring formal meditation expertise.
Recommended“another one that's really nice is book about meditation called wherever you go there you are which is by John kabit sin it's a great book if you've never meditated”
Where to get it
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The Creative Act
The Creative Act by Rick Rubin is a renowned exploration of the artistic process and a spiritual approach to cultivating a creative lifestyle.
Discussed“it's also why most of the principles in the creative act came out of experimentation in the music studio”
Where to get it
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Season of the Witch
Season of the Witch by David Talbot is a rich historical account detailing the cultural and political evolution of San Francisco from 1960 to 1985.
Recommended“Did you read Season of the Witch. No. It's about San Francisco in the '60s. It's great. You'll love it. Great book.”
Where to get it
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Tao te Ching
Tao te Ching by 老子 is a foundational Taoist philosophical text consisting of short, poetic passages on nature, balance, and effortless action.
Recommended“the first one that comes to mind is the dowy Jane it's the step Mitchell translation of The Da Jing what's great about it is it's 81 short piece that could be could look at them as poems”
Where to get it
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Beatles - Please Please Me
Discussed“It's we know it very specifically in the hip-hop world, but that's really when the Beatles listened to Roy Orbison and then wrote Please Me based on his Please, Roy Orbison's Please song.”
Where to get it
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Diet for a New America
Diet for a New America by John Robbins is a prominent health and lifestyle book that critiques modern food production systems and advocates for a plant-based diet for ethical, environmental, and personal health reasons.
Discussed“and then a friend of mine gave me a book called diet for a new America and he said if you read this book you're not going to want to eat chicken anymore”
Where to get it
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On Writing
Stephen King's On Writing is a celebrated hybrid of memoir and practical manual that chronicles the author's formative struggles and recovery while offering direct, invaluable advice for aspiring writers on craft, discipline, and the mechanics of prose.
Discussed“You're not the same person who wrote your first book, so if you're using exactly the same methods that that guy was using, they might not be optimal. No, it's changed a ton.”
Where to get it
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Plutarch's Lives, Volume 2
Plutarch's Lives, Volume 2 by Plutarch is a collection of parallel biographies of famous Greek and Roman leaders, exploring the moral character and political actions of antiquity's most influential figures.
Discussed“Shakespeare is stealing from the writings of Plutarch, who existed roughly around the time of Marcus Aurelius. He quotes other fables and stuff, but you can tell that Shakespeare is stealing from ancient stories—just as like the Renaissance was powered by them falling back in love with the Greeks and the Romans.”
Where to get it
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Tao Te Ching
Tao Te Ching by Laozi is an ancient foundational text of philosophical Taoism that explores the concept of the Tao, the natural order of the universe, and the virtue of effortless action.
Discussed“And it's a book about vibe coding by way of a 3,000-year-old spiritual text called The Da Jane, written by LaSu.”
Where to get it
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The Odyssey
Homer's epic poem The Odyssey recounts the arduous ten-year journey of the Greek hero Odysseus as he strives to return home to Ithaca following the Trojan War, facing mythical monsters, divine wrath, and profound personal trials along the way.
Discussed“In the Odyssey, he talks about the 'wine-dark sea.' Who thinks the ocean looks like wine?”
Where to get it
Questions about Rick Rubin’s book recommendations
What book does Rick Rubin recommend most?
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. Rick Rubin discussed it in 4 episodes.
How many books has Rick Rubin recommended on podcasts?
We have found 11 books Rick Rubin recommended or discussed, across 10 episodes of 8 podcasts. Ad reads and passing mentions are not counted.
What books are on Rick Rubin's reading list?
The books Rick Rubin has recommended most on podcasts are Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Season of the Witch by David Talbot, Tao te Ching by 老子 and Beatles - Please Please Me by The Beatles. The full book list below has all 11.
What books has Rick Rubin written?
The Creative Act (2023) and The Way of the Code (2026).
What did Rick Rubin recommend on The Daily Stoic?
Tao Te Ching, The Creative Act and On Writing, among 5 books in all.
What is the latest book Rick Rubin recommended?
Tao Te Ching, discussed on The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett (2026-09-21).
People who recommend the same books
Appearances
Other mentions (11: passing, ad reads, own books)
“And one of the things that I learned through working on the creative act, one of the things it talks about a lot is we're given information all the time around us.”
“The Way of Code is a book about vibe coding.”
“The Way of Code is a book about vibe coding.”
“Well I I think this the reason I chose the lu uh the da jing to base it on because the the da jing is how to live how to be it's the way transl way.”
“and it's what the book's about is like really for people to trust artists to trust in themselves make something that speaks to themselves and hopefully someone else will like it”
“You have to find some way to be present and both very committed and also, as you talk about in the book, kind of detached from all of that external stuff. Absolutely, and I recommend that artists engage or re-engage with why they wanted to do it in the first place and really find their love.”
“If we put our—one of the things I recommend in the book is like creating the equivalent of creating office hours, having a schedule to work. Where you say I'm going to sit down for this could be 20 minutes, could be three hours; it's up to you what that window is and how you want to do it.”
“That's when you can start thinking; we call that the crafting phase in the book. The first stage is the seed phase where we're gathering ideas; the second phase is the experimentation phase where we're watering those seeds, seeing what they want to be on their own.”
“But one of the things that I've learned from the book in working on the book is that that last phase, the editing and getting ready to share it, you can do that on a schedule. Whereas you can't really collect the seeds on a schedule, you can't really do the experimentation on a schedule.”
“It’s the book I wanted to write; that’s one of the things about it is like—and I think when we did talk about it all those years ago, that was probably what you said. It’s like, why do you want to do that book?”
“The big part of what the book's about is that the artist's work is to live in the world in a way where you notice the things that no one else notices.”