Hi AnnClare! funny a good friend just asked mw the same thing yesterday! I recommended first of all to checkout these books by western authors as they may be easier to relate to! the first woudd be any book by Alan Watts the author who has been blamed for westernizing buddhism!lol! Another insightful yet western author is d.e. harding and his book "On Having no head:" and the newer and popular" Chop wood Carry water" by Rick Fields and friends! All these books will help th ewestern mind absorm this eastern phylosophy! Grog

Try the Buddha in Daily life by richard Causton!!! awesome

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HI Anne
Thats a big subject! There are various schools of buddhism. The basic are Theravadan(in south east asia) and Mahayana(Tibet, china, japan, Vietnam).

Some books that might interest you
1. Any life of the Buddha is an important place to start.You can find these easily enough on the internet.
2. Ayya Khema was a german buddhist nun who wrote many excellent and readable books:
Such as 'Being Nobody, Going Nowhere'.'Who is My-Self'

http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/6774/a_khema.htm

3.Books by the Dalai Lama(from a Mahayana perspective)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1573221112/104-1471599-5182335?v=glance&n=28...

4. I also strongly recommmend reading books about famous meditation masters:

esp men like Thai masters Ajaan Maan and Ajaan Cha(i have their biographies at home)

5. For the really interested there is Tibetan Dzogchen (which is my main interest):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1559391359/104-1471599-5182335?v=glance&n=28...

Brian
Australia