books that have changed your life

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Replies

  • ilookthetype
    ilookthetype Posts: 3,021 Member
    When I was 17 it was The Bell Jar

    Every time I read "To Kill A Mockingbird" I learn something new about myself.
  • mrrodriguez
    mrrodriguez Posts: 158
    Stephen Hawkings "The Grand Design"

    Kevin Grimwood "Replay"

    Phillip Wylie "Tomorrow"

    Robert Heinlein "I will fear no evil"

    Jim Fixx "The complete book of Running:
  • Ante_Up
    Ante_Up Posts: 141 Member
    I've read "The Shack" it's a deep book, as well as Odd Thomas and quite a few others mentioned here. I don't have time atm to read the whole thread, so I'm just tagging it for now. Love this topic! I'd also love to hear "why" the books changed you, or why you were moved by them.
  • SkateboardFi
    SkateboardFi Posts: 1,322 Member
    'persepolis' by marjane satrapi is wonderful. the entire book is written like a comic book and it's an autobiographical look at her rebellious teenage years in the 90s in iran during the reign of the shah.. it's amazing and also made me cry a bit

    also 'things fall apart' by chinua achebe..really short book...150 pages tops. but it stuck with me for life.
  • HollieDoodles
    HollieDoodles Posts: 678 Member
    Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi............. :laugh:


    (sorry, I just couldn't resist)
  • sunkisses
    sunkisses Posts: 2,365 Member
    'persepolis' by marjane satrapi is wonderful. the entire book is written like a comic book and it's an autobiographical look at her rebellious teenage years in the 90s in iran during the reign of the shah.. it's amazing and also made me cry a bit

    also 'things fall apart' by chinua achebe..really short book...150 pages tops. but it stuck with me for life.
    love both of these as well.

    I remembered Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. I find myself taking notice of the symbolism in the story in real life too.
  • heather7marie
    heather7marie Posts: 506 Member
    The Five People You Meet in Heaven has changed my lives in more ways than I can count. I'm not much of a reader, but when I sat down to read that book, I tore through it in a couple of hours. Yes, it's a short book, but I couldn't stop reading it for two seconds.



    Well, and the Bible too, of course.
  • schotas
    schotas Posts: 150 Member
    My Bible
    Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey
  • SkateboardFi
    SkateboardFi Posts: 1,322 Member
    'anthem' by ayn rand.

    i see people saying the bible. is there any particular book in the bible? have you read the entire unabridged bible? 'song of solomon' and 'proverbs' were life changing for me
  • SuperHeroRipped
    SuperHeroRipped Posts: 86
    Millionaire Messenger by Brandon Bucchard
    4 hour body by tim ferris
  • lisadhancock
    lisadhancock Posts: 103
    I am reading The Shack right now!!

    I just finished "the shack" last night, it was pretty interesting!
  • felon72
    felon72 Posts: 21
    Thank you for posting this topic. I have added at least 7 new titles to my reading list. Cannot wait to see what other responses keep coming in.
  • DorkothyParker
    DorkothyParker Posts: 618 Member
    "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" - Philip K. D.ick (OMG, his name is blocked, LOL!). It made me cry; no small task. Since reading this, PKD has become my favorite writer by far. Words cannot express how inspired, curious, and moved I am made by his words.

    "The Elegant Universe" - Brian Greene. I have since read a plethora of books on science history, physics, and string theory and quantum mechanics in particular. It makes me so curious about the world. Also, I don't consider myself religious, but science gives me a connection with the world/universe that makes me feel sort of spiritual, I guess.

    Also, big ups to "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." It's brilliant.
  • SkateboardFi
    SkateboardFi Posts: 1,322 Member
    Thank you for posting this topic. I have added at least 7 new titles to my reading list. Cannot wait to see what other responses keep coming in.

    thanks for appreciating! i work in a hotel and always ask my guests what they're reading so i can add to my book list. i'm soooo thrilled at all the responses because now i have a nice variety and ideas for a long time :)

    another book that was profound for me is 'flowers for algernon'. epic. completely changed my perspective on people with mental disabilities and how they're treated in society. it's awesome. it made me cry the story is heartbreaking...
  • melt57
    melt57 Posts: 60 Member
    My choice would be American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I still remember how it felt the first time I finished reading it, and I've reread it a few times now.
  • TromaRon
    TromaRon Posts: 228 Member
    The Great Shark Hunt - Hunter S Thompson
    Dracula - Bram Stoker
    Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkein
  • Huskeryogi
    Huskeryogi Posts: 578 Member
    The Power of One - Bryce Courtenay

    Unbroken - Laura Hildebrant (The author may be slightly off)
  • brandiuntz
    brandiuntz Posts: 2,717 Member
    1. Fried Green Tomatoes At the Whistle Stop Cafe, by Fannie Flagg.

    6. The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold.

    Fried Green Tomatoes is a great book . I have The Lovely Bones on my bookshelf, I will have to get it down and start it.

    You have to read The Lovely Bones. Really stays with you after you've read it. Fried Green Tomatoes is one that I've read so many times.The way she writes Idgie and Ruth's relationship is what moves me the most. There so much more than that in the book, but those two characters are what sticks with me.

    Who ever mentioned Philip K. D.ick...one of my favorite authors. The Man in the High Castle is the one from him that really stands out for me.
  • Swimgoddess
    Swimgoddess Posts: 711 Member
    It's Not You, It's Biology

    The Teenage Liberation Handbook

    French Women Don't Get Fat

    On Killing
  • SkateboardFi
    SkateboardFi Posts: 1,322 Member
    memoirs of a geisha was also incredible with painting literary pictures, WAY better than the movie!
  • psb13
    psb13 Posts: 629
    Wurthering Heights, by Emily Bronte. This was the first book I ever stayed up all night to read and when I finally feel asleep while reading the book, I dreamt about the characters. For me this book was the beginning of my love of reading and that is how it changed my life.

    Lord of the Rings did it for me. I think i was about 15 the first time i read it and suddenly realized how much i love reading!!
    also agree with Flowers for Algernon-cried my eyes out
    The Shack was also awesome
    any J K Rowling-my daughter grew up with them and i also fell in love with Harry
    A Thousand Splendid Suns was also quite moving
  • SkateboardFi
    SkateboardFi Posts: 1,322 Member
    Wurthering Heights, by Emily Bronte. This was the first book I ever stayed up all night to read and when I finally feel asleep while reading the book, I dreamt about the characters. For me this book was the beginning of my love of reading and that is how it changed my life.

    Lord of the Rings did it for me. I think i was about 15 the first time i read it and suddenly realized how much i love reading!!
    also agree with Flowers for Algernon-cried my eyes out
    The Shack was also awesome
    any J K Rowling-my daughter grew up with them and i also fell in love with Harry
    A Thousand Splendid Suns was also quite moving

    i keep seeing the shack pop up, anyone care to give me a description? i might have to check it out. 'black girl lost' by donal goines is an awesome gangsta novel from the 1960s
  • StevLL
    StevLL Posts: 921 Member
    Wow great thread; as a book addict with no plans to recover, I have books all over the place and reading beats TV/Movies anyday, This thread rocks!

    Illusion- actually anything by Richard Bach, dating myself I know
    The Color of Water by James McBride
    Celestine prophecy series James Redfield
    Anatomy of Peace
    Fish
    Castenada; once you dig past the datura.
    Memnoch the Devil - made me explore religion more and examine my spirituality.

    For vegging
    Earth Series by Michael and Kathleen Gear
    Belgaraid and Mallorean series by David Eddings
    And for laughs Princess Bride, not life changing but funny and light hearted.
  • inthequiet
    inthequiet Posts: 45
    Invisible Monsters - Chuck Palahniuk
    Survivor - Chuck Palahniuk
    Choke - Chuck Palahniuk
    Into The Wild - Jon Krakauer
  • SkateboardFi
    SkateboardFi Posts: 1,322 Member

    And for laughs Princess Bride, not life changing but funny and light hearted.

    awww i LOVED this movie, i will have to check out the book on this one, the books are always better!
  • Fawnie
    Fawnie Posts: 67 Member
    memoirs of a geisha was also incredible with painting literary pictures, WAY better than the movie!

    i definetly agree. i bought the book as soon as it came out. you should of seen me when i heard they were making it
    into a movie, i was bouncing off the walls!
    the book is alot better but i love ziyi zhang & michelle yeoh so much i ended up buying the movie anyways (lol)

    p.s my book is so old that im afraid to pick it up...
    the last time i tried to read it i saw a silverfish (the little things that eat paper)
    i think im going to have to buy another copy of it (lol)
    many books have influenced my life but there is only one that changed it
    and that is
    the tripods trilogy by john christopher
  • WWH_AJ
    WWH_AJ Posts: 419 Member
    Harry Potter series: JK Rowling (Harry and I go back since I was 10 and I haven't stopped loving it. He's gotten me through a LOT!)
    Lord of the Rings: JRR Tolkien
    Watership Down: Richard Adams
    Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World: Vicki Myron
    Dewey's Nine Lives: The Legacy of the Small-Town Library Cat Who Inspired Millions
    His Dark Materials: Philip Pullman
    The Warriors series: Erin Hunter

    I'm a HUGE animal lover and was coverted to a cat lover back in the 10th grade after I overcame being allergic to them. The Warriors and Dewey are awesome books for any cat lover. The Warriors is more tended toward middle-schoolers, but the messages within are so awesome. Dewey had my in tears. I have yet to finish Dewey's Nine Lives because every story results in me bawling my eyes out. I just wish I could have the honor of meeting Dewey. Those books make me hug my cats extra tight at night and become even more in loved with animals.
  • SkateboardFi
    SkateboardFi Posts: 1,322 Member

    His Dark Materials: Philip Pullman


    i concur! i read the golden compass when i was 12 and was hooked after that!
    i've read my memoirs of a geisha at least 5 times
    some other good ones are 'the joy luck club' by amy tan 'the house on mango street' by sandra cisneros and 'when i was puerto rican' by esmeralda santiago
  • chezmama
    chezmama Posts: 396 Member
    The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz.

    /quote]

    I was SO going to say that!!! LOVE that book...and it has been part of my reason for wanting to learn to speak Spanish. His writing is so compelling and the way he mixes to two languages...it inspired me to HAVE to find the meaning of every word!
  • psb13
    psb13 Posts: 629
    The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon..awesome book!!
    I fully agree about Memoirs of a Geisha also!!
    loving this thread btw. my reading list is growing by leaps and bounds :bigsmile:
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