Suggested Reading List for Jehovah's Witnesses Exiting JW.org

if you left the Watchtower religion without being deprogrammed, you may continue to suffer psychological trauma for many years afterwards. It is essential that you cleanse your mind of its false doctrines, so that you can look to the future without fear of impending destruction by a vindictive God, at “Armageddon, soon”. If you are unable to function in the normal world, there is a very strong probability that you will return to the familiar ground of the Watchtower "family".
The following books will show you that you made the correct decision to exit JW.org, which is most certainly not “the truth”, despite its claims. Incidentally, if you are still using "Watchtower talk" like that phrase above, you are reinforcing its belief in your mind!

The following are not extensive reviews. If you go to an online bookstore, you will find Customer Reviews. Used books are available at reasonable prices. Most of the following are in British public libraries too.

Crisis of Conscience
and
In Search of Christian Freedom 
Raymond Franz

Nephew of Fred, the 4th Watchtower president, Raymond Franz served on the Governing Body for about 9 years and reveals some scandalous events in Watchtower policy during the early 90s. Now considered a standard textbook among former JWs.
His second book is a review of major Watchtower teachings compared to the Bible.

Apocalypse Delayed
and
Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Third Reich
Jim Penton

Jim Penton was an academic historian at Toronto University. He gives a very fair (and far too generous) analysis of Watchtower history. 
The second book details the Witnesses’ experiences in Germany and discusses the notorious letter sent to Hitler by Rutherford, the 2nd Watchtower president. Penton looks at the extent of “persecution” of Jehovah’s Witnesses, who want you to believe their "spin" that they were right in the middle of the Holocaust with 6 million Jews. In fact, only about 200 Witnesses were actually executed by the Nazis.

The Gentile Times Revisited
and
The Sign of the Last Days - When?
Carl Olaf Jonsson

The first of these is the material that Jonsson sent to Brooklyn in the late 60s, inviting the Governing Body to examine and use his research to publish a revision of the Watchtower teaching under its own banner. Instead, they disfellowshiped him
The book looks at Babylonian history relating to Jerusalem’s fall and its importance to the Watchtower’s 1914 date. I found it pretty dry reading, but it is useful.
The second book looks at Matthew 24 and compares it with world history, showing why the events of the 20th Century were of no special significance, contrary to Watchtower claims.

Twisted Scriptures
Mary Alice Chrnalogar

This examines religions, including Christian groups, which sometimes misuse scriptural authority to control people. It is not only the Jehovah’s Witness religion which seeks to control people although they are among the worst. 
If you become a Christian, be on guard against people who say, “God told me to tell you…….” or “God wants me to…....” Funnily enough, God never seems to tell Christians to give away all their money and live in a cold climate where they will be in danger of their lives by persecution. I wonder why?

The Bible - a Biography 
and
A History of God 
Karen Armstrong

This woman knows more about the Bible, God and religion than all the “men in Brooklyn” collectively. You will be surprised when you discover who actually wrote the Pentateuch and the multiple accounts of Genesis and Isaiah, and where and when, as well as the gathering of the books for the Bible canon.
The other book details the finding of God by Jews, Christians and Muslims throughout history. I recommend any book on religion by Armstrong.

The God of Philosophy
Roy Jackson

Any introduction to philosophy or religion is worth reading, to start you thinking about miracles, the existence of God, the problem of evil and life after death.

"A Very Short Introduction to..........."
Various authors and various titles/themes

These booklets, written by experts and academics, cover many subjects from science, the Bible, theology, history, the Arts - every subject that you can list. A good way to find key facts or to stimulate further reading.

The Bible 
Yes, I am recommending the Bible, even though you may think you have had more than enough of it! I am sure that the majority of Jehovah’s Witnesses have never read the whole Bible right through. I know I hadn’t, after 25 adult years as a Witness. On leaving Watchtower, I read it in about 6 weeks and continued reading the NT again, 7 or 8 times.
If you care to leave a brief comment telling me if you honestly read it from start to finish, while you were a Witness, it would be interesting.
If you are saying, “I am sure I must have read it all” or "I think I read it all", then you have NOT read it! Reading selected citations in Watchtower publications is not “reading the Bible”. So, give it a fair trial. 
If you find the OT boring, I suggest you start with the NT and intersperse OT books between, keeping a careful note so that you do not cheat.
And by the way - don't read the Really Not Well Translated Version. 
Get yourself a proper Bible!
Who knows? You may become a Christian. Or an atheist!