Can you recommend any good books on this? I would be a beginner but am open to all suggestions.

Why read books on meditation

Just sit down, close your eyes, and gently tell your brain to shut the fuk up

I enjoy reading.

basically this. get a chair, feet planted, back straight and take a few deep breaths to start.

Then let yourself breathe naturally. Then focus on yourself breathing, whenever a thought comes up, acknowledge it, then refocus on the breath. Your brain will constantly do this and you rinse and repeat the refocusing onto the breath when thoughts come up. try not to get lost in thoughts or a train of thoughts. start with 5 mins, then 10 mins, then try 20 minute sessions

my tips: dont try to focus too hard, dont go into the meditation thinking: this has to be a good session or theres no point. also, have some background noise like an air filter or fan or whatever

edit: you will suck at focusing your thoughts at the beginning but dont be discouraged, keep trying

if u ever have a thought at all tell yourself that's bad

just focus on how you feel

i decided a while ago that just reading is a better substitute for meditation. anyway, breathing is the easiest and most basic thing that we do, so just focusing on deep breaths when you think about it is really basic and easy, it just takes patience. i would do that and then close my eyes and think about nothing for about 20 minutes. they say it takes about 20 minutes to get the true benefits. these are just my insights, i don't know of any books but encourage you to read anything

I would recommend The Mind Illuminated by John Yates. It actually gives you a roadmap on how to progress in your meditation practice. Meditation takes discipline, much like lifting. You will progress and then hit obstacles and plateaus. The book lays out how to overcome all the obstacles one might face. In between the practical chapters are chapters that explain how your brain works and why it keeps firing thoughts into your consciousness. These are the constant stream of thoughts that build your identity and cause all your emotional triggering. Good luck.