What book has had the greatest influence on your life & why?

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Replies

  • Jersey_Devil
    Jersey_Devil Posts: 4,142 Member
    Duff McKagan's autobiography. He was a mess, a junkie and in my favorite band...he turned his life around, got clean and looks like a real rock star now.

    duffmckaganitssoeasy-thumb-350x525.jpg
  • adamb83
    adamb83 Posts: 719 Member
    I would also say "The Good Book: A Humanist Bible" by A.C Grayling because it's based on factual history and philosophy, rather than mythology/opinion. And because its primary purpose is to inspire people to live "good" lives - to be kind, decent, and compassionate.

    As far as Bible's or philosphical texts go - I think this is the one worth reading.
  • bluefox9er
    bluefox9er Posts: 2,917 Member
    "the long walk to freedom", by nelson mandela.
  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,024 Member
    Gilbert Gottfried's memoir "Rubber Balls and Liquor" on audiobook, read by Gilbert Gottfried because sometimes you just wanna stick screwdrivers in your ears.
  • adamb83
    adamb83 Posts: 719 Member
    Andrew Solomon's _The Noon Day Demon_- helped me understand areas of my depression, and continually helps me find ways to work around it.

    Sagan's _Pale Blue Dot_- still gives me perspective sometimes. Helped me better know my place in the universe, and how lucky I am to live here.

    Hitchens' _God Is Not Great_- His work really gave me the kick in the *kitten* that i needed to start enjoying my life and being a better person towards others. Life is too short to be an A**hole personally-- I try to channel my anger and frustration now towards more productive things.

    Just read the synopsis of God is Not Great on Amazon.com - looks interesting! Added it to my wish list. Have you read "The Good Book: A Humanist Bible" ??
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    Conversations with God., the entire series, actually. Especially "Happier than God"

    they are all by Neale Donald Walsch

    These books changed everything for me. I was damn near an atheist. Then I read this and I realized it's not that God doesn't exist, he just isn't anything at all like his followers say he is. What a relief.
  • adamb83
    adamb83 Posts: 719 Member
    "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte: When I was a child, my Dad brought home a clef comic book version of this and it pivotal in influencing my love of classic literature especially the Gothic genre.

    Wuthering Heights was one of the first books to help develop my love of Classics, too! The Brontes were really quite incredible... I just recently read Anne Bronte's Agnes Grey (and of course I love Charlotte's Jane Eyre).

    I have a hard time with the classification of Wuthering Heights as a Gothic novel, though - it's much more complex than the traditional Gothic novels, and it was written well after the Gothic period had ended. I think it's Gothic-inspired, but really more of a complex Romance (capital R) and early psychological thriller.
  • Spice_4_Life
    Spice_4_Life Posts: 225
    Bump!
  • princesspeach577
    princesspeach577 Posts: 56 Member
    Bump
  • Deedsie
    Deedsie Posts: 348 Member
    Mine is My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. (Though I didn't really like the movie as I felt it messed up the main message.) My child has a chronic progressive disease. I have at times focused on the negative and the very real possibility that she will pass away before I do. This book reinforces that no one is guaranteed tomorrow and what is important is how you spend the time you have in this life.
  • EvanKeel
    EvanKeel Posts: 1,903 Member
    It's actually just a short story, To Room Nineteen by Doris Lessing.
  • callmeBAM
    callmeBAM Posts: 445 Member
    VISION by Leonard Read. You can download it for free, google it.
  • christyjoyjr
    christyjoyjr Posts: 91
    The Redneck Manifesto :)
  • robot_potato
    robot_potato Posts: 1,535 Member
    the elephant in the playroom by denise brodey. it is a collaboration of parents writing about life with their special needs children. it is a lonely place when you have a special child, and there is no private life. everything you do is in the public eye. there is no buffer and it is horribly overwhelming. this book gave me peace, it gave me tools to keep moving and muddle through it, work through the mess. i would never have been able to take time to better myself if it were not for this.

    my sister's keeper by jodi picoult. it showed me that although the reality is much more in my face than others, nobody is guaranteed a tomorrow. i live for today instead of agonising over what may come.
  • Donnacoach
    Donnacoach Posts: 540 Member
    "To Kill A Mocking Bird" Teaches us about life's trials and tribulations through the eyes of a child.
  • TylerJ76
    TylerJ76 Posts: 4,375 Member
    The Big Book from AA
  • nwhitley
    nwhitley Posts: 619
    Mine is My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. (Though I didn't really like the movie as I felt it messed up the main message.) My child has a chronic progressive disease. I have at times focused on the negative and the very real possibility that she will pass away before I do. This book reinforces that no one is guaranteed tomorrow and what is important is how you spend the time you have in this life.

    Very true! Love this book!
  • elcieloesazul
    elcieloesazul Posts: 448 Member
    1984.

    Eric Blair. :heart:
  • Blaqheart
    Blaqheart Posts: 235
    "Five Powerful Thoughts Think Less Achieve More" By: Sri Vishwanath

    This is a very deep book that teaches you how to think good thoughts and dump the rest. Most of the thoughts we think have nothing to do with us. They are from who we know, what we see, read, and hear. To change you thoughts is to change your life. Be in the now, let yesterday go, and don't worry about tomorrow.

    I am going to read this one again since I finished it yesterday afternoon.
  • Talazws
    Talazws Posts: 101 Member
    Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse.

    I read it in High School as required reading, and found it amazing. While I am not a follower of any organized religion (the book is basically the story of the Buddha) I found the philosophy and Siddhartha's journey to be very powerful. I went on to read as much Hesse as I could-- and now after writing this I think I am going to re-read some of his work.

    I also love any post-colonial feminist Indian novels-- I know, such a niche genre! I read "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy while studying in India, and I highly recommend it.
  • stingray_11
    stingray_11 Posts: 4
    The Bible- because it tells me everything I ever need to know, and it comforts me as well!

    definitely the Bible. God's Holy Word
  • adamb83
    adamb83 Posts: 719 Member
    Bump
  • holliph
    holliph Posts: 88 Member
    since I started this post I decided I wanted to see/track all the books I have read at least since 1987...about as far back as I can really remember most of the books that I have read (if I still don't own a copy or at least get my library borrowed book lists).

    In compiling that list I have also added a "to read" column and I am quite happy to say that I now have a greater selection of books to choose from when looking for something new to read. I look forward to continued enrichment in my daily quest for new knowledge.
  • Lady_Bane
    Lady_Bane Posts: 720 Member
    The Giver and The Host
  • jesusHchris
    jesusHchris Posts: 1,405 Member
    Stephen King's "It"

    It taught me how to dress up as a creepy clown and hide under sewer drains.
  • nataliecarter2
    nataliecarter2 Posts: 24 Member
    The bible :)
  • JennieAL
    JennieAL Posts: 1,726 Member
    Lord of the Flies sunk deep into my subconscious as a child and teenager... it always stuck with me. On some level it comforted me, while horrifying me simultaneously.

    In college, several of the Existentialist philosophers hit me pretty hard.

    And as a writer... the 3 who've influenced me the most are probably Hemingway, Haruki Murakami & Jose Saramago.
  • achampionsheart
    achampionsheart Posts: 1,020 Member
    The Shack and Heaven Is For Real


    love these too
  • achampionsheart
    achampionsheart Posts: 1,020 Member
    i have read so many that have touched me.....i'll try to narrow them down

    Nicholas Sparks has to be my fave author....when crickets cry is an awesome book, the wedding, the notebook just to name a few, oh yeah and the choice....and nights in rodanthe

    i just read a book called "blood brothers" by elias chacour. he is a real person whose life mission is to seek peace for Israel and the Palestinians (he is a Palestinian Christian)....it tells his story of how his family was exiled from their country and how his father's faith helped him become the person he is today....he also makes a close friend while in seminary and how that friendship molded him.

    also the book Oogy (cant remember the author's name)....about a real dog that had to overcome many things in its life, but how he changed the author's life (the author is the owner)

    Glimpses of Heaven (again, the author's name slips my mind)....written by a hospice nurse and she shares stories of her patient's experiences with death....i am a slightly morbid person and love reading about death and how death affects people and how precious final moments can be
  • Anayalata
    Anayalata Posts: 391 Member
    Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse.

    Read it over 5 years ago and I'm still learning its lessons.
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