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My journey into this world started with Watts' "The Way of Zen", and later, with his posthumous book "Tao: The Watercourse Way"

And I am a big fan of Ron Hogan's "Getting Right with Tao" translation/modern interpretation of the Tao Te Ching.

I just finished Everyday Zen by Charlotte "Joko" Beck, and it's very pragmatic and good, IMO, though you won't learn a lot of doctrine from it.

Zen is not a good Buddhist tradition to start with unless you have a skilled personal teacher, IMO. I would recommend starting with something like dhammatalks.org instead. (Click on the "For Beginners" header near the bottom of the page.)

Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching (Translated Ursula K. Le Guin) The Way of Lao Tzu (Wing-tsit Chan)

Of all the translations of the Tao I've come across, none dissolved me into the flow as deeply and effortlessly as Ursula's.

I try to keep multiple copies around so I always have a couple to gift to someone...

The book is a source of primordial wisdom, boundless serenity, and transcendent signal

P.S. my encounter with it completely redefined what I considered language to be capable of communicating and distilling - inexpressible, ineffable experience... divine poetry