>>24606866
I can also recommend "The Noble Eightfold Path" by Bikkhu Bodhi. Not the most fun read but it covers in great detail every step of the four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path from a Theravada perspective, which are the foundation of all buddhist practice, regardless of school.

Mindfulness in Plain English if you want a very basic introduction to Samatha/Vipassana Meditation. I read it when I was just getting started and it helped but nowadays it sounds too "plain english" for me.

"Why Buddhism is True" by Robert Wright is fantastic if you're a skeptic looking for scientific validation of Buddhism. It shows how western psychology and neuroscience has only recently started to catch up to some of the discoveries the Buddha made about the mind.

>>24607194
You could say the same about any religion with its ascetic practices. The only Buddhists who engage in such extreme forms of meditation are (some) monastics. 99% of practitioners are directed to engage fully with life, with meditation being simply an aid to understand your mind better and develop its faculties.

>>24611101
I might be wrong, but I believe out of the major world religions, Buddhism is the one with the largest body of scripture, by far.

Buddhism is divided into three major branches (Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana) and each have their own canons in their own languages. If you had to start reading any original texts, regardless of the branch you feel most drawn towards, I'd recommend the Theravada Suttas. They are basically the early discourses of the Buddha shortly after he attained enlightenment. Some are quite short and easy to read, but I always recommend starting with secondary literature since it covers more ground more quickly and is less prone to misinterpretation.