Books that changed your life?

[Poundkey]

I read constantly, but the OP asked for a book that changed my life. That would probably be "Duane's Depressed" by Larry McMurtry.

I really enjoyed "When Genius Failed". Not life altering, but a very interesting read.

 

[CuppaJoe]

Cuppa Joe, Love your Kitty! I have 5, but new (old) computer and have not been able to upload any pix yet!

Thanks, "Fluffy" will enjoy hearing that, I’m afraid it will go right to her head. That was my first attempt at up-loading pix, got it after four tries. Been thinking about switching it for a shot of busy bees pollinating our state flower (indicating I’m still w*rking) but once "Fluffy" gets pulled I’ll be back at square one figuring out how to post photos.

 

[Babeebloos]

The first book that literally aligned my thinking on a spiritual path was
'Illusions' by Richard Bach.... it was a followup novel after Jonathan Livingston Seagull... Anyone remember that

 

[Sarah in SC]

Yes, I loved JLS and Illusions and also liked One, another of Richard Bach's books. I think I even have an album of Jonathan Livingston Seagull somewhere.

 

[Purron]

The first book that literally aligned my thinking on a spiritual path was
'Illusions' by Richard Bach.... it was a followup novel after Jonathan Livingston Seagull... Anyone remember that

I remember Jonathan Livingston Seagull - read it and loved it.

 

[Babeebloos]

I remember Jonathan Livingston Seagull - read it and loved it.

Some books you just gotta LOVE...and another one that I LOVE so much that I
keep it by my bedside for over 10 years is 'THE GAME OF LIFE' by Florence Scovell Shinn. She wrote this book as well as a few companion pieces that are sometimes put together and sold in one volume...
I appreciate it because it's so 'thin' and easy reading... it changed my mindset from harboring anger and feeling rejected after a heartbreaking divorce.
Another surprising thing about this book is it was first published I believe in 1912. It must have been popular when my Grandma was young herself!

 

[kumquat]

It's interesting how many people mention Ayn Rand's books. They are on my list but I doubt any of my friends have heard of them.

Atlas Shrugged
The Fountainhead
The Grapes of Wrath (and almost anything else by Steinbeck)
To Kill a Mockingbird
Welcome to the Monkey House -- Kurt Vonnegut
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest -- Ken Kesey
The Sot Weed Factor -- John Barth


and one for the Canucks here:

Justice Defiled -- Alan Young

 

[Marquette]

I've been thinking hard about this and, while I read rather voraciously, it's the books that I read when I was 13-15 that stick out the most.

From that time period, the ones that stick out the most are:

Scewtape Letters
Out of the Silent Planet (can't remember if that's also the name of the trilogy or just the first book)
1984
Animal Farm
Fahrenheit 451

Every 2 years or so, starting from when I was 8, I come back and read the Lord of the Rings trilogy. So I think that one sticks out rather well.

The earliest bedtime stories I remember are the Hobbit and then the Chronicles of Narnia series.

When I was 17 I read an amusing book on analyzing and understanding algorithms titled 'Compared to What?' It was our course book for one of my senior comp sci classes, but, unlike a lot of my course books, that one actually stuck with me.

I need to add Atlas Shrugged to my list of must-reads.

 

[CuppaJoe]

I've been thinking hard about this and, while I read rather voraciously, it's the books that I read when I was 13-15 that stick out the most....

I, too, can't settle on anything in particular, so from childhood:

The Boxcar Children and The Golden Quest

Later on, Les Miserables, maybe, but I don't think that any one book actually changed my life. I loved Dickens and Mark Twain, maybe because
classics convey universal truths and give ideas about how to survive, and Twain is so funny.

 

[noworkethic]

I have always read a lot and I have read most of the books mentioned in this thread, but no one book has changed my life more than a tiny bit. As a whole, reading has been the biggest influence on my thinking. Has anybody read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig? I probably read that book more times than any other. It has been maybe ten years since the last reading, so it might be time to read it again.

 

[Khan]

Childhood's End (Arthur Clarke)
Tao te Ching
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
The Mysterious Stranger (Mark Twain)

 

[Vinnyfrombrooklyn]

Automatic millionaire - david bach

 

[StJohnsWood]

I have always read a lot and I have read most of the books mentioned in this thread, but no one book has changed my life more than a tiny bit. As a whole, reading has been the biggest influence on my thinking. Has anybody read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig? I probably read that book more times than any other. It has been maybe ten years since the last reading, so it might be time to read it again.

Over the last 25 years I have tried to read this book at least 8 times. I have only made it about half way. There is something in it that will not allow me to finish. I need to try and finish this before I die.

Not sure what it is but I can not seem to get over the hump? I have never had this issue with any other book?

 

[ChrisC]

Over the last 25 years I have tried to read this book at least 8 times. I have only made it about half way. There is something in it that will not allow me to finish. I need to try and finish this before I die.

Not sure what it is but I can not seem to get over the hump? I have never had this issue with any other book?

I have the same problem with One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. My solution to this problem is that I hope to get a book club group and tackle some of the books that participants have had difficulty in finishing.

 

[Salaryman]

These books (and essay) have made deep impact in my life, not in specific order:

-On the Road Kerouac
-Fountainhead Rand
-Atlas Shrugged Rand
-Razor's Edge Maugham
-Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance Pirsig
-Self-Reliance Emerson
-A Tale of two cities Dickens
-Moby dick Melville
-Security Analysis Graham/Dodd
-Bible