Books for those of no fixed religion but want 'life guidance'

I've been a Pagan for many years now, I started with Wicca, but my spirituality has grown a bit now, or Wicca has narrowed, I'm not sure which, although it does seem to be becoming more codified something I don't feel it was ever intended to be. To quote Sir Terry Pratchet, '.. witches [Wiccans] believe in their gods like they believe in the postman', this is very much how I feel, it's beyond belief or faith, it just is. 

I notice all the faiths you mentions are basically Christian, have you ever moved outside of Christianity or montheism? For me a multiplicity of Gods and Goddesses is obvious and I can't get my head around montheism anymore, it's taken me a while to reach this point having been brought up with the idea if not the practice of montheism. I dont' find myself with a lack of morals although I sometimes find myself with moral conumdrums and sometimes my moral compas is like that of Cpt Jack Sparrow, in that it points to what I want rather than whats a particularly "good" thing. But then one of the things about following a path such as Wicca is that it makes you conciously think about morality and what good and bad/evil actually mean.

Have your ever read The Tao of Pooh? Or Buddhism for Sheep? The Tao of Pooh, looks at Taoism via the medium of Winnie the Pooh, its a whimsically wise book. Buddhism for Sheep is a short book using the life of sheep as a metaphor for Zen Buddhism. Both of these books should be easy reading and a good way to start exploring spirituality.

I think an atheist religion is a contradiction, I get where de Boton is coming from, and it's been a conundrum for humanists and atheists for many many years, how do you have morality without a deity to enforce it? Personally I find it quite easy, our deities don't enforce in the way a monotheistic deity does, or at least what priests tell us pleases their god to punish or allow.

A lot of Christianity is based around Plato and Neo-Platonism, so you may find those interesting.

I like Rumi.

I am neither Christian, nor Jew, nor Magian, nor Muslim …

https://archive.blogs.harvard.edu/sulaymanibnqiddees/2012/11/06/rumi-i-do-not-recognize-myself/

I sort of get this but a bit beyond my intellect! [I wish I was super-clever like my brother but alas did not inherit that gene]. Is it, that knowing myself I can then be one with God? It's more about learning to love the self, and thus finding peace and joy in life.

Oh my goodness, what similarities! I divorced one parent and changed my surname. You did well to attain an MSc in four years in your mid forties! 

My academic journey was more staggered. A BSc in my late 30s, a PGCE at an Institute attached to a university in my mid forties and an MA with Distinction at a traditional university in my late forties. It’s contrasted against being last in the class in most subjects apart from Maths until about P3. English and French were the only subjects I scraped through. 

I hated school but ended up changing career and becoming a teacher. It was hard going and I was bullied by management and became burned out. An illness a year and a half into teaching finished it off for good. I recovered somewhat, completed the masters and worked abroad for a bit, but I could never get myself together properly to make a lasting career of it. 

Theres more to intellegence than qualifications, you come across to me as an an intellegent, funny and thoughful person, being thoughtful and having a sense of humour balance the intellegence, life must be very dull with only cold hard logic for companionship.

I was never encouraged either only discouraged, I spent many years feeling like my own ghost, if that makes any sense?

Thank you! Yes, I think part genetic, part life experiences. I think you never fully recover but learn to live alongside the past. I 'divorced' my parents by changing my surname, then choosing a different date for my birthday. That helped a lot. I didn't go to University until I was 42 and passed MSc. at 46. Became an author age 47. Glad to hear you went to OU - fantastic institution.

Thank you! Yes, I think part genetic, part life experiences. I think you never fully recover but learn to live alongside the past. I 'divorced' my parents by changing my surname, then choosing a different date for my birthday. That helped a lot. I didn't go to University until I was 42 and passed MSc. at 46. Became an author age 47. Glad to hear you went to OU - fantastic institution.

Oh my goodness, what similarities! I divorced one parent and changed my surname. You did well to attain an MSc in four years in your mid forties! 

My academic journey was more staggered. A BSc in my late 30s, a PGCE at an Institute attached to a university in my mid forties and an MA with Distinction at a traditional university in my late forties. It’s contrasted against being last in the class in most subjects apart from Maths until about P3. English and French were the only subjects I scraped through. 

I hated school but ended up changing career and becoming a teacher. It was hard going and I was bullied by management and became burned out. An illness a year and a half into teaching finished it off for good. I recovered somewhat, completed the masters and worked abroad for a bit, but I could never get myself together properly to make a lasting career of it. 

Theres more to intellegence than qualifications, you come across to me as an an intellegent, funny and thoughful person, being thoughtful and having a sense of humour balance the intellegence, life must be very dull with only cold hard logic for companionship.

I was never encouraged either only discouraged, I spent many years feeling like my own ghost, if that makes any sense?