# Can books change your life, and which ones?



## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

I know some books changed my life although I'm not sure many I read nowadays can. Although I don't like D H Lawrence now, I know his nonconformist female characters who ran off on their own to Italy led to me doing the same thing years later. Some authors were really inspirational and life changing like that. Some change my life in more specific ways. Lisa Genova's more recent book Still Alice completely changed my view of Alzheimers and how I will feel if I get it, or if somebody close to me does. Have books changed your life or your views, and do you believe books can have this effect?


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## Todd Trumpet (Sep 7, 2011)

There was a (non-fiction) book that "changed my life", in that it changed the way I viewed the world:



*"AIN'T NOBODY'S BUSINESS IF YOU DO" by Peter McWilliams.*

While a fairly thick book, with many different examples, it all boils down to just one principle:

(to paraphrase) _You should have the right to do anything you want as long as it doesn't hurt the person or property of another._

This one simple principle became the only yardstick I needed to measure what had before been seemingly complex and contradictory issues.

I use it to this day.

Todd


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## AnitaBartholomew (Jun 27, 2011)

I can't begin to list the books that have changed my perspective--which, I guess, means they changed my life. But, despite my reading more fiction than non, the life-changing books, in my life, have been mostly non-fiction. 

The one exception that comes to mind is The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood. I was young and naive at the time I read it, and what hadn't dawned on me prior to that was that religious fundamentalism could radically change the future of western society. 

(Like I said, young and naive).

Anita


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

I really must read The Handmaid's Tale. It's such a pity it's not available on Kindle in the UK. I'm so enjoying decluttering my home and only buying books for Kindle. I hadn't thought about nonfiction, so that's interesting too. I'm suddenly reminded I loved Siddharta by Hermann Hesse and want to read it again. I know it's on Project Gutenberg, although I don't mind buying books to get what I want. Another book I keep meaning to read is Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. A quote from it has been enough to make a difference in my life. Many years ago somebody quoted part of it where the author says little things in our lives can be irritating us and just fixing them makes a huge difference - the example quoted was a dripping tap and how we can put up with being irritated by it, whereas fixing it is easy and makes us so much happier. I keep remembering that when I'm putting up with irritations and have the belief things can be improved a tiny step at a time, even when problems seem overwhelming.


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

The funny thing, now that people have mentioned nonfiction, is that I can't remember a self help book every helping me with my life in any way. I used to be tempted to buy so many of them in my early twenties, thinking I'd find the secret to how I was and how I could improve my life in various ways. None of them ever gave me a clue as to how I could do that. They were all a massive disappointment and they all promised so much. I suppose there's an upsurge of these as ebooks now too.


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## Guest (Jan 5, 2012)

I think a book can definitely change your life. A book like Everything Bad is Good for You seriously changed how I view concepts such as intelligence and the cause/effect relationship between people and their media.


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## Kimberly Llewellyn (Aug 18, 2011)

Margaret Atwood's _The Handmaid's Tale _ has stuck with me for decades. It is haunting, poetic, and truly terrifying...especially if our world ever turned out the way she portrayed when she asked the question, What if? in that story. I met her once and was awestruck. That book really changes you.


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## Nancy Beck (Jul 1, 2011)

Hmm...I think I just recently bought one.

I've been on a self-help ebook kick lately, and altho one that (I think) is self pubbed was in the running (it still has some good ideas and exercises), the one that is already beginning to help me is called Reality Creation 101:



I can't say enough good things about this ebook. Nicely formatted, and the author is very down to earth about his chequered past and how he turned it around using this reality creation stuff. Lots of ideas and exercises to put what he says into practice.

Let's just say the reason why I think this particular one is going to change my life in a huge way is because of something that I (unexpectedly) found out about this morning; plus, I'm on track to take care of something hanging over my head like the sword of Damocles (finally!).

I'm purposefully being mysterious about this because I want to pay attention to what I _do _ want as opposed to what I _don't_ want (one of the many tenets he espouses).


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

Perhaps these self help books are getting better....

I really must read The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. I keep having it recommended and it sounds like just my thing. I'm so annoyed it's not available for the Kindle in the UK. I'm going to click the button to say I want one!


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## flipside (Dec 7, 2011)

Yep. It depends on the right time and the right book. 

As a teen, I was swayed by Terry Brook's Shanarra series, especially the concept of the Sword of Truth. Lots of self-deception going around.


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## Not Here (May 23, 2011)

Hummm. Can't say that I've had that happen. When I was a teen I read a number of books that shaped me but I still wouldn't say they changed my life. I mean, if you really mean a changed life then that means the way you conduct yourself and your life was altered in some physical way right? You're not just talking about how we view things right? This isn't meant to be taken as a smart remark. Just trying to clarify.


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

I think all the small ways books change us probably do change our lives too because they help us become who we are. I read so much as a little girl that I think I was far more influenced by authors than by my family and friends. But this could be an accumulation of things rather than one big life-changing event caused by a book. People here who are writers might also feel more influenced by authors they admire rather than by their family. So books can really shape us. But sometimes it's little things that stick - just single ideas. The dripping tap in the Zen book that always reminds me how big a difference it would make to my life to get up and fix things rather than putting up with them nagging away. Sometimes it's the tiny things that change our lives.


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## rubymatthewserotica (Jan 7, 2012)

Autobiography of a Yogi changed my life.  But then again, it's a spiritual book, so I hoped it would.


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## liafairchild (Apr 2, 2011)

What a coincidence to see this posting. I had the same question and decided to make a feature for readers to talk about. The first one posted a few days ago on Quickie Book Reviews (www.quickiebookreviews.com) Thomas Amo talks about how Don't Fear the Reaper changed his life.

If you scroll to the bottom there is a link to sign up for your own "This Book Changed My Life" feature.

Lia


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## Beatriz (Feb 22, 2011)

Adele Ward said:


> I know some books changed my life although I'm not sure many I read nowadays can. Although I don't like D H Lawrence now, I know his nonconformist female characters who ran off on their own to Italy led to me doing the same thing years later. Some authors were really inspirational and life changing like that. Some change my life in more specific ways. Lisa Genova's more recent book Still Alice completely changed my view of Alzheimers and how I will feel if I get it, or if somebody close to me does. Have books changed your life or your views, and do you believe books can have this effect?


Books can definitely change your life. "Angela's Ashes" by the great Frank McCourt changed mine.


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

Oh yes, Frank McCourt is great. I love Irish authors. I also agree about the spiritual books. I do read books about Buddhism, Zen and Meditation. I have one on my To Be Read shelf (from my pre-kindle days).


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## Jon Olson (Dec 10, 2010)

Adele Ward said:


> The funny thing, now that people have mentioned nonfiction, is that I can't remember a self help book every helping me with my life in any way. I used to be tempted to buy so many of them in my early twenties, thinking I'd find the secret to how I was and how I could improve my life in various ways. None of them ever gave me a clue as to how I could do that. They were all a massive disappointment and they all promised so much. I suppose there's an upsurge of these as ebooks now too.


Yeah, I agree with this. "Instruction" turns me off. But a voice or a worldview, such as fiction delivers, can change me.


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## Guest (Jan 10, 2012)

So many books...

Stephen King's _'Salem's Lot_: Convinced me I wanted to be a writer
Harriet Jacobs _Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl_: Shook me out of a depression while I was in college and changed my outlook on life.
William Lutz's _Doublespeak_: taught me how to read between the lines and see what is really being said, instead of what people want me to think is being said
Joseph Campbell's...well...just about everything he ever wrote: sparked my interest in comparative mythology and religion


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

Wow, Bards and Sages. It's so interesting which books you chose and how they each had such a dramatic effect. I hadn't thought about the books that make us want to be writers. I know some make me envious, some some really well written passages in some Martin Amis books like The Information. But it's a good sort of envy. I wish I'd thought of some of the descriptions and even the jokes. It's great if a book could shake you out of depression.

And to the comment about fiction being better than the self-help books. Yes, I suppose it can be although it sounds like there are some good ones. I do also like nonfiction though, just not usually he self-help books any more.


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## Guest (Jan 10, 2012)

Adele Ward said:


> It's great if a book could shake you out of depression.


With _Incidents_, it was the right book at the right time. It was my first year of college. I was working full time, going to school full time, and dealing with parents who thought the reason why I was going to college was to find a husband (they have since evolved in their thought processes). I had hit the proverbial wall and was ready to drop out. I was in counseling and the counselor wanted to prescribe anti-depressants. I read the book during a class on African American literature. It was like someone hit me with a lightning bolt. You get a certain perspective after reading about how a woman spent seven years living in a crawlspace to escape slavery. You realize what others have survived and look at your own condition differently.

I have always been a believer that we meet the people we need to meet when we need to meet them. At that time, I needed to meet Harriet I suppose you could say.


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## Nicki Leigh (Aug 25, 2011)

Most of the books I've read have changed my perspective in one way or another. But the ones that I feel did it best were:

Lucky by Alice Sebold (memoir)
The Black Gryphon by Mercedes Lackey (fantasy)
Wild Ink by Victoria Hanley (writing how-to book)
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson 
How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card (how-to)

In fact, the piece by Orson Scott Card was my first real writing book, and even though I have multiple tomes on the subject, I always seem to go back to it. There are many more, but these are what I feel have changed me the most as a person, a reader and a writer.


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

That's quite a story, Bards and Sages. It's quite different reading that book rather than having people say 'Think of people worse off than you'. They say this is why people liked the miserable stories in Victorian realism - they made you realise your life wasn't so bad! It sounds like a powerful book. 

You made me smile with your story about your parents too. Whatever I said I was going to do, either at university or as a career, my parents felt men wouldn't marry women who were intellectuals or had a career. They even used to say each career I named meant the women who did well in it were lesbians or I would become lesbian. It didn't stop me, but how funny their generation was and how things have (hopefully) changed.

The final selection also shows the varied selection that can change our perspective.

I hadn't thought about books about writing, and that's interesting.


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## Ann Herrick (Sep 24, 2010)

I found Miss Manners book on Excruiatingly Correct Behavior (or whatever the exact title) to be empowering. To realize that being polite does not mean you have to be "nice" or passive or a wimp or doormat, it just means you have to be polite!  The book is very funny and has tons of topics and examples, and I really feel I can easily handle most any situation ever since I read that book.


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## wdeen (Dec 29, 2011)

2001: A Space Odyssey Read it in 6th grade and been a scifi fan ever since.


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## QuantumIguana (Dec 29, 2010)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy


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## anne_holly (Jun 5, 2011)

It might sound trite, but _Man's Search for Meaning_ by Viktor Frankl completely changed my life.

I first read it at the end of my junior high era, and I was kind of bullied and my family was quite poor, and I was feeling dejected and stymied in "oh, pity poor me". Frankl really opened my eyes to all the things I had, and all the things people could live through if they set their minds to it. Since then, I have never felt I couldn't do what I wanted to do with my life. Whenever I feel put upon, that book sticks with me. I've read it a dozen times, would never part with it, and always take a moment to recall it when I am tempted to get down and out.

I'm not really a logotherapy junkie, but the principle is central to how I handle adversity now. If I have a purpose, I can keep going, regardless of temporary setbacks and lack of resources. It comes with a sense of zen if you can focus on something important to you, a goal or a loved one, etc, rather than the stumbling blocks between here and there.


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

I hadn't expected the personal stories that have come up in this thread, and how they relate to the particular book that helped. It's fascinating and thanks for sharing them. It's also an inspiration to authors to see how a book can change a life in these different ways.


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## Debra Purdy Kong (Apr 1, 2009)

Kimberly Llewellyn said:


> Margaret Atwood's _The Handmaid's Tale _ has stuck with me for decades. It is haunting, poetic, and truly terrifying...especially if our world ever turned out the way she portrayed when she asked the question, What if? in that story. I met her once and was awestruck. That book really changes you.


I agree, that left an impact on me too, but maybe not in a good way. I was left feeling that the world run by men is doomed to fail, certainly on a humanitarian, equality level.

I don't think any book has changed my life, except maybe my Nancy Drew mysteries from over 40 years ago, which turned me onto a lifelong love of reading, and perhaps played a big role in why I'm a mystery writer today.

Atlas Shrugged made me realize that nothing the government, media, or corporations tell you should be taken at face value, and that being different, particularly if you excel at it and gain a lot of attention, has its consequences. Or at least that's what I got out of it. May others see it differently.

Beloved, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Color Purple opened my eyes to all sorts of things we weren't taught in school, here in Canada, and has made me look at American history in a different way than I once had.


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale comes up time after time, and I'm almost afraid to read it - it seems to have such an effect. I want to read it though.

It's interesting what you say about other books that are eye openers on what happens in our society and other societies. You've reminded me about a book I read ages ago about French Canadians. I wish I could remember the title. I had no idea about the history.

Which also reminds me that I like to learn about other countries and their history from novels. I never liked studying history and geography, which left a gap in my education. But novels fill that gap. Tahmima Anam on Bangladesh is one example.

The books mentioned that inspire people to become writers really do change our lives too. Or maybe we discover something about ourselves in them.


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## GGKeets (Jan 2, 2012)

Yes. 

Harry Potter. 

Nuff' said.


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## anne_holly (Jun 5, 2011)

Adele Ward said:


> Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale comes up time after time, and I'm almost afraid to read it - it seems to have such an effect. I want to read it though.
> 
> It's interesting what you say about other books that are eye openers on what happens in our society and other societies. You've reminded me about a book I read ages ago about French Canadians. I wish I could remember the title. I had no idea about the history.
> 
> ...


The French Canadian novels that stand out in my memory most are _The Tin Flute_ by Gabrielle Roy and _Maria Chapdelaine_ by Louis Hemon - was it either of those?


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## UnicornEmily (Jul 2, 2011)

Well, of course books can change our lives -- or else, why would we obsessively read them?  

But seriously, as a child, I was extremely lonely.  Most of my friends were books.  Characters taught me far more than peers about what society expects out of people, and how to be a friend, and how to be happy with what you have.  Nonfiction teaches me things like physics, mathematics, or other things I really wouldn't study without an author (like Michio Kaku -- awesome books on quantum physics) cleverly explaining them in terms a layman might need.

Science fiction teaches me about thinking of the future.  Historical fiction teaches me about respecting the lives and achievements of people in the past.  Fantasy teaches me imagination and wonder.  Realistic fiction teaches me about the world that we live in currently.  There are so many things to learn, and books are beautiful and wonderful because they let us record things in permanent ways.


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

It wasn't either of those French Canadian books and it's now going to drive me crazy until I can remember. I read it in the early 1980s and it was about prejudice. Quite a slim book. It showed a society I knew nothing about, which always fascinates me. The author might not have been French Canadian. I think it might be Brian Moore. He's from Northern Ireland, but his name sticks in my mind for this novel, and I see he lived in Canada. That might explain why he could write about prejudice in a way that would appeal to me. I also was born and spent my childhood in Northern Ireland.


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

@UnicornEmily I know what you mean about being alone as a child, reading, and learning from books. I felt like that too. I had a lot of friends, and a brother, but I wonder sometimes if it's part of being a writer to feel different and cut off sometimes. I've never been sure if I became a writer because of feeling cut off, or if it's something about the way we are as developing writers that makes us cut ourselves off. I suppose I'll never know! But books certainly do influence us a lot if they're a part of us becoming part of that family of authors.


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## anne_holly (Jun 5, 2011)

Adele Ward said:


> It wasn't either of those French Canadian books and it's now going to drive me crazy until I can remember. I read it in the early 1980s and it was about prejudice. Quite a slim book. It showed a society I knew nothing about, which always fascinates me. The author might not have been French Canadian. I think it might be Brian Moore. He's from Northern Ireland, but his name sticks in my mind for this novel, and I see he lived in Canada. That might explain why he could write about prejudice in a way that would appeal to me. I also was born and spent my childhood in Northern Ireland.


_Black Robe_? (It's about the French Jesuit mission to the Hurons in the 17th century.)

I love Brian Moore. All of his stuff is worthwhile, but I particularly like _Catholics_ and _The Mangan Inheritance_.

ETA: Sorry - I'll stop guessing now. I'm just like a nervous dog with a bone when someone mentions, "This book/movie once, but I can't recall the title..."


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

Brian Moore is very good. It was a novel set in more recent times, although I read it in the 1980s so not too recent. It might not have been him because I can't see any titles by him that ring a bell. It will now drive me mad until I can think of it! But at least it reminded me I haven't read Brian Moore for a while.


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## Jan Strnad (May 27, 2010)

_Flowers for Algernon_ helped me get out of my own skin and into someone else's and follow that person through an incredible journey.

Steinbeck's _The Winter of our Discontent_ is never listed as a major work, but it made me think about morality and ethics as I hadn't until then.

Vonnegut's _Cat's Cradle_ really informed my worldview.


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## docnoir (Jan 21, 2011)

Reading the first few pages of James Ellroy's WHITE JAZZ while standing in a bookstore in Hattiesburg, Mississippi changed my life. Jaw-dropping. I didn't know you could do that sort of thing in a crime novel, and right then and there I knew I was going to be a crime writer, period.


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

I've never had a book (or movie etc.) change my life personally.

In terms of which ones can, I'd think books that get someone to adopt or change a religious belief would be a big candidate.  Self help books are other obvious ones since they are designed to help people make changes.

I struggle some to see how a work of fiction could ever change my life though.  But reading through some of the posts I can see how relating to a character who's going through something similar to you could have some impact.  Or how a fictional book could still get you to think about something differently and change your life etc.  Just hasn't happened to me yet!


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## Steverino (Jan 5, 2011)

Debra Purdy Kong said:


> Atlas Shrugged made me realize that nothing the government, media, or corporations tell you should be taken at face value, and that being different, particularly if you excel at it and gain a lot of attention, has its consequences. Or at least that's what I got out of it. May others see it differently.


I'm surprised Atlas Shrugged has only been mentioned once so far. In at least one list of life-altering books I saw, it came in second after the Bible.

It certainly does what Debra mentions, but it goes quite a bit further into the basics of society and economics, and illustrates how human creativity is the prime mover. It totally opened my eyes 20 years ago, and I'm generally always reading it -- my copy is never without a bookmark.


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## JFHilborne (Jan 22, 2011)

Anne Frank's Diary didn't change my life but it makes me thankful for everything I have.


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## jwest (Nov 14, 2011)

When I was a kid I read everything I could get my hands on. There was always a Louis L'Amour western, or a romance book of my mom's laying around the house. Then, when I was 13, my aunt gave me The Talisman by Stephen King. That book changed my life. Not only is it one of the greatest stories ever, but as soon as I closed the last page I knew I wanted to be a writer. It set me on a path that has literally defined my life. 

I've read many wonderful books that have touched me in some way, but the experience of The Talisman will be with me forever!

Great question


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## Tony Richards (Jul 6, 2011)

My theory is that every good book that we read changes our minds -- and therefore our lives -- in some small way.


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## Debra Purdy Kong (Apr 1, 2009)

Adele Ward said:


> Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale comes up time after time, and I'm almost afraid to read it - it seems to have such an effect. I want to read it though.
> 
> It's interesting what you say about other books that are eye openers on what happens in our society and other societies. You've reminded me about a book I read ages ago about French Canadians. I wish I could remember the title. I had no idea about the history.
> 
> ...


That's part of the beauty of books. Even in fiction, there's often an authencity about the human experience that, while it might be quite different from our culture, it still creates a strong a connection.


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

I like that idea that every good book will change or affect us in some way. I know that my favourite books are those that have at least one comment somewhere that will make me think and will stay with me for life.


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## LGOULD (Jul 5, 2011)

Reading _The Grapes of Wrath _ in high school opened my eyes to social injustice more effectively than reading the daily news at that time.


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## Tony Richards (Jul 6, 2011)

LGOULD said:


> Reading _The Grapes of Wrath _ in high school opened my eyes to social injustice more effectively than reading the daily news at that time.


That's a great example. I did that novel at high school too ... our Eng Lit teacher even went to the trouble of taking us to see the movie.


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## 31842 (Jan 11, 2011)

First off, I LOVE this thread. I'm downloading a mess of books right now! And so many of these books also changed me... I was a military brat and when my best friend moved away, I spent every lunch in the 7th grade in the library, pouring through every book I could get my hands on. Handmaiden... Cat's Cradle... Siddartha...

There was a poster above who was curious about fiction books being able to change someone, and I think that sometimes fiction can gently present new ideas in a non-threatening manner, as a hypothetical question rather than a "THIS IS THE WAY THINGS ARE" shout, that can get the gears in your brain turning. In middle school, I lived in a part of the world where people used religion to instill fear. This simple little fantasy book made my 14-year old self look around and go, "Maybe this is not the way the world should be."



When I left college, I went through a period of five star meals of INCREDIBLE books. I don't know if it was just the time, but these all defined me during that era... Wild Swans : Three Daughters of China, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Into Thin Air, Under the Tuscan Sun, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Alienist, Devil in the White City, I am Jackie Chan (no, really. you have to read what this man has been through.), Post Office and Factotum, Word by Felske...

More recently, I came across this book about the work of Dr. Paul Farmer in Haiti and it completely changed who I am and my beliefs on what is "possible" and what is "important". I am a better person for this book.


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## purplepen79 (May 6, 2010)

Every book I've ever read has changed my life in one way or another. That said, the following title has probably had the most positive impact on my spirituality of any book I've ever read.

I can't get the link-maker to pull it up, probably because it's been out of print forever, but the book is called _Always Karen: More Alive than Ever _ by Jeanne Walker.

Here's the review I wrote for it, the last review I wrote on Amazon before I quit reviewing:

For anyone who's suffered loss, the first part of this book is a great comfort as the reader witnesses the Walkers meet tragedy with grace and love for each other. However, it is the second part of the book where Karen informs Jeanne about the afterlife that truly changed my spirituality. This account of the afterlife is the only account I've ever heard or read that makes sense and really seems like a true continuation (evolution, perhaps, though that can be a charged word paired with religion) of life on the physical plane. Too many accounts of heaven/afterlife confuse me as they seem like a complete disconnect from this life. After all, none of us die in a state of such perfection that we're ready for the heaven of endless bliss many religious people describe. And in fact, that idea of heaven has always bored me. I much prefer the idea that we leave the physical realm behind but still have much work to do spiritually when we pass, which is what _Always, Karen_ suggests. We're so limited here that it makes sense that there is work that can only be done on the other side after the blinders of physical existence are off. And that the whole universe, not just humankind, is involved in this spiritual evolution picks at a common thread, the interconnectedness of all things, that underlies Toaism, Christianity, and other major belief systems. Please read this book and tell others about it after you do--it will change your life.

Edit: I came back because I realized I could make a link to this book God at the Speed of Light, which also changed my spirituality--rather than a personal account like _Always, Karen_, _God at the Speed of Light: The Melding of Science and Spirituality_ is a more general discussion of physics, near-death experiences, the meaning of light in the Bible, the consciousness of light photons, among other fascinating, mind-bending topics.


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## EStoops (Oct 24, 2011)

Arthur Golden's Memoir's of a Geisha, given to my mother by my Nana (became my book, via stealthy measures.) I've read it until the cover filtered out. Now that, in my mind, is an impossibly good book. If I ever produce anything half as good, I'll take a bow, then and there. And I don't think I'd be back for an encore. I haven't been able to pull all the stops out yet, but that book, from it's perch, goads me on.

Garth Nix's Sabriel. I didn't read fantasy (not as a matter of course, anyway) until I read this. This book opened every door and window. I've never taken a better trip down the rabbit hole. If I knew the day I would die, I'd probably reread this book on the way out.

Kristen Britain's Green Rider: I just like this book. I hold it to the same level of fascination that a loose diamond holds to a child. There is something perfectly lovely about this book. I've never put my finger on it. I think it might be the beautiful characterization of the father. I guess what this book said was that a tired genre could learn new tricks and also, that a reader didn't have to completely understand a book to love it.

So many author's contributed to my wonderful world of books. 

But really, the book that changed my life, was my own. Writing "Emelle" saved me from two horrible, awful years at college. I think if I hadn't had this book to write, I'd have washed out, drugged up, or done myself in. No joke. I bet most people here feel similarly. I don't think I could have hoisted my own petard, however, if I hadn't read books before hand that basically, lit the pathway. I would have been monumentally screwed without them.

Also, can I say that Twilight changed my life? I read it, and that's when I realized I had NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING to lose in publishing. I couldn't even lose my pride.


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

I love that comment about Twilight!

And I'm glad others have found a load of books to download from the thread.

Thanks for mentioning Siddharta. That's one that changed my life when I was much younger, and I know it would again if I read it now. It's on my to be read list and is easy to get for free. It's on Project Gutenberg I think. I keep asking book discussion groups to read it again with me.

It's funny reading a book again after many years. In some ways I'm afraid to in case it isn't as good as I thought. But each time I've found that a good book has new things to say to me at a different time in my life.


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## Judy Powell (Sep 25, 2011)

'The Psychology of Achievement' by Brian Tracy has had a great influence on me.  So have 'To Kill A Mockingbird' and 'Les Miserables'.  I definitely think books can change your life.


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## Coral Moore (Nov 29, 2009)

Wow! What really strikes me about this thread is the vast array of books that changed people's lives. I kind of expected (and shame on me) to come in here and see a bunch of hefty literary titles, but there's everything from Harry Potter to Atlas Shrugged. What a wonderful and complex melting pot we are here at KB. 

I'll have to mull over my answer to this question for a while, but I just wanted to comment on that while it was in my head.


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## JeanneM (Mar 21, 2011)

My brother gave me a book to read years ago on subliminal advertising.  It had magnified things that weren't really seen overtly by the naked eye, but were percieved on a subconscious level.  After reading it, I could never look at advertising in the same way again.  Wish I could remember what it was called.  Also "What the Animals Tell me" by Sonja Fitzpatrick completely changed the course of my life.  That had a huge impact on me.


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## Guest (Jan 20, 2012)

I really love how eye opening Marisa de los Santos books have been so far. There are some other authors I love, but she in particular can really illuminate the complexity of human nature.


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## belindaf (Jan 27, 2011)

The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck is a GREAT book for people dealing with life and family issues, co-dependent relationships, and anything of that nature. I re-read it every few years because it's full of great information and it reminds me of things I tend to forget.


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## anne_holly (Jun 5, 2011)

I was about eight or nine years old when I first read _The Outsiders_. My brother, who was in junior high and not much of a reader, discarded it and I salvaged it. I recall being absolutely absorbed in that for about a year, and read it a couple times. The "Wow" moment at the end of "Ponyboy actually wrote this story" stuck with me, along with learning SE Hinton was only 16 (I think) when she wrote it, made me want to write my own stories. It inspired me to start a journal, which turned into many hours of enjoyment and introspection for me. I'd say that book changed my life.


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## Mike McIntyre (Jan 19, 2011)

Sophomore year of college, girl tore the heart right out of me. I holed up in my single dorm room. No classes, no meals. I fell for another girl -- Ayn Rand. Found a copy of "The Fountainhead" a friend had given me months earlier. It was in a box of things in the closet under a pile of dirty laundry. I crawled back into bed with it. When you get older, it's hard for a book to change your life. But at 19, yeah, "The Fountainhead" saved me.


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## Steve Silkin (Sep 15, 2010)

A very hip, very smart student teacher decided I wasn't getting enough out of her class, so she told me I didn't have to attend for the next two weeks if I spent the time reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey and wrote a book report on it. To this day, it's one of my favorite books. I still remember the teacher. She was right: My time was better spent reading that book.

Two years later, a friend loaned me The Stranger by Albert Camus. The mystery of that book intrigued me, so I also read The Plague. Changed my life? Those were the books that really taught me about subtext and interpretation. So yeah, they did change my life.


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

Somebody said what a vast array of different books - and it's true!

I also loved Camus and other French writers years ago, and the things they said stuck with me and return regularly. I think there's a touch of absurdism in my writing. And that idea of the people who help being seen as hospital or medical workers - a kind of repeated image.

I hadn't expected people to say how books had influenced them to become writers, but now I see it in so many answers it seems so obvious and important.

I'm also reminded of a day I read a short book about hypnotising yourself. I read it and did the exercises. Nothing happened. I suppose I expected to put myself into a trance! However, I went out to a party that night and was a different person. I was the life and soul of the party without having a drink or anything else like that to explain the 'high' I was on. I realised afterwards that it was the self hypnosis book, but I'm a bit scared of that kind of effect on our minds.


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## jtw78 (Jan 20, 2012)

Several marriage enrichment books have had a huge impact on my wife and me: Love is a Decision, The 5 Love Language, Love and Respect. 

But the biggest impact has been on my financial situation through: Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. It hurts so good.


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## Barbara Rayne (Nov 17, 2011)

This one did:
The Presence Process - A Journey Into Present Moment Awareness

At first, I didn't believe it, I thought another self-help bull. Then I read it and got curious. I thought, what the hell, I'll try it, nobody will know it  and if it works, hey, good for me! My life hasn't been the same ever since. First, my previous life disintegrated and I was cursing the day I tried it. I had a good life and curiosity brought me misery. And then, new life built itself gradually making me happier and better person, realizing that what I had before was good, but not great, everything in life can be "more". Most of all, I redefined the meaning of freedom and choice. Priceless!

Hope that helps...


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## AllenMitchum (Jan 12, 2012)

Absolutely. Non-fiction can change your politics and world view which will affect your life. Certain fiction works instilled in me the strong desire to write creatively. Even though I don't write fantasy novels and don't really have an interest to do so, the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are directly responsible for my pursuit of being a writer. Michael Crichton generally (no specific work comes to mind) also had a strong influence. Rather than spend my time doing X or Y over the years, I instead put pen to paper, potentially missing out on personal and professional opportunities. With that in mind, I'd say books have definitely changed my life.


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## sarahsbloke (Sep 24, 2011)

Don't know so much about books, but the song 'Angels and Insects' by Papa Roach and the Movie 'American Beauty'
Made me give up the rat race and start a less 'thing' orientated lifestyle.

From the song.
There's no money, there's no possession, only obsession, you don't need that &^%*.
The stuff you own, owns you 

Forgot
Fight Club, made me realize men have become wage slaves, to big finance.


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## Jen Black (Oct 17, 2011)

Every book has a little to add. Without books I wouldn't know much about the American west or life in China or Iran. Think what you'd lose if the knowledge you've picked up from every book was suddenly sucked out of your brain! I my case I think it would leave it rather empty. The dialogue in Game of Kings delighted me, the Handmaid's tale made me thankful I was living in my time instead of Offred's time, to Kill a Mocking Bird made me realise how strong prejudice can be - something I'd never encountered in my life until then. Everytime I read a book where the author put into words some half-felt emotion or thought that I'd known, however vaugely, I cheer!
In a nutshell, books have always, and no doubt always will, change my life by enriching it.

Jen


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## markcooper76 (Jan 22, 2012)

Yes there are books that can change your life. One such book for me was How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie. In fact, all of Dale Carnegie's books were inspirational. He came before his time and is the reason we have a booming self-help industry.


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## Lisa Scott (Apr 4, 2011)

I don't think there's been a life altering book for me, but I take away a little something from each book. I do remember reading _Cold Mountain_ and just being so grateful for my life. And of course most fiction I read provides entertainment, something to look forward to etc. and that's quite valuable, too. Nothing like the anticipation of getting back to a good book!

The career book _Do What You Are_ was a very important book for me. After I was let go from my job, I just didn't want to find a typical 9-5 office job, and felt like I was being lazy. But after reading this book and taking the personality test, I learned I wasn't being lazy, I was being true to myself as people with my personality type are happiest working for themselves.

Also, the book _Happy For No Reason_ introduced me to the concept that happiness isn't something acquired when x,y, or z happens, or you get certain things. It's not "I'll be happy when." Although I do have to revisit this lesson often.

Thanks for sharing, everyone. This is fun.


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

I have some lovely books about meditation and Buddhism which certainly help me through stressful times and also in general. I hadn't thought about them. I don't think I'd recommend particular ones as it can be different for each person. The basic principles of Buddhism should be the same in each book.


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## Sean Patrick Reardon (Sep 30, 2010)

I'm sure this one has changed some lives.


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## Hippoglyph (Jan 22, 2012)

There were two books that radically changed my life: "The Wisdom of Insecurity", and "The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are". Both were by Alan Watts, a former Episcopal priest who later became an expert on Eastern philosophical traditions and later used his unique perspective to synthesize a remarkably clear conception of how the universe works (and, ultimately, ways to live your life sanely). It's not really religious per se, more a logical and philosophical examination of how things really work, but I found both works incredibly profound, and I would recommend them to anyone interested in investigating the nature of reality.


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## Rebecca Burke (May 9, 2011)

"Life-changing" is too big a claim to make for just one book, in my case, but there are books that meant a lot to me at certain times or that I can look back at and see that they helped me to grow intellectually, sharpened my wit, gave me insights that led to certain decisions, helped me love literature so much that I eventually became an English major, teacher, writer, etc. It's complicated .

Here are just a few: Harriet the Spy (for girls who want to be writers and for its wit), Little Women (yes, for strong-minded Jo), Catch 22 (writers can write about WWII like this? In a way that makes you fall off your chair laughing?), The Handmaid's Tale (uh-oh, being a woman can be dangerous), Les Miserables (the power of history, captured through the unforgettable hero Jean ValJean), Catcher in the Rye, My Antonia. I could go on.

I also remember reading a nonfiction book about Cesar Chavez that made a huge impression on me and opened my mind up to social injustice, especially the kind directed at Mexican laborers. Years later, I can see how it led me to do work with a multicultural angle, travel to Mexico, learn Spanish (sort of  ).

Interesting thread!


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## JEV (Jan 7, 2012)

The books your read right during those intense, early 20's years of your life, when all roads seem open to you.  For me, that book was Middlemarch.


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## Guest (Jan 26, 2012)

They can. I've read books that completely altered how I viewed the world.


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## Debra Purdy Kong (Apr 1, 2009)

I forgot to mention a book that had a profound impact on me on a child, and again as an adult when I re-read it after 40 years. It was a short book called The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico. The book moved me as a child, and all these years later it still brings a tear to my eyes. But what I've learned as a writer is how a powerful and moving story, that addresses really big issues, can be told in just a few pages.


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## Joseph_Evans (Jul 24, 2011)

His Dark Materials changed my life because it taught me that being an atheist can be something to be proud of, even when the Christian schools and colleges I attended would have me believe I was worthless and should be punished for it.


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## Adele Ward (Jan 2, 2012)

I don't like Pullman's writing style but can see how supportive you could find it to read it and find a like-minded atheist when surrounded by believers. 

I agree about Middlemarch - it also had a strong effect on me in my early twenties.

And I'm realising The Handmaid's Tale is definitely a must on my to be read list - next after the others I've got for my Kindle following recommendations here and on the Literary Fiction thread.


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