Books That Changed Your Life

[velma 6]

Wow,Its nice fro once to see people who read! Well I cant say that one particular book changed my life or anything of that sorts. I loved the Orwell "Animal farm" and the way it has shown humans, James herriot's classics were beautiful and filled to the brim with positivity in every situation of his life, Durrall's funny family and his love for animals, I am like durall forever collecting animals though was not lucky to get an owl,Like I said every book teaches whether those comics or novels or fiction for we will never know what drove the author to write it. Iam an avid book reader and will read anything possible. Life teaches you in various forms whether you meet people or read all day long. I learnt bit by bit reading my butt off but it is true that the author is putting a bit of himself in the book when they write it. If the person is writing for merely money and nothing else you will recognize in his style of writing. But a person who writes out of love to share will give you a different feeling when reading. I never cared about the intentions of a person writing a book but always kept it in mind that the book itself is life in its tiniest form waiting to be opened and studied, to be learnt. No book is bad or good, Think of it as a bit of life and you will see yourself eager to know it. Cheers to happy readers

[Zlash 0]

The book that changed my life? What book could that be? I really don't know. I don't even know if a book has ever changed my way of thinking. It may be so though, but as far as I can think there is no book that has had a big impact on my mind. I could say that all books I have ever read have made me understand that writing a good book is hard. When you get a burning story in your mind you will have to write it and finish it fast before you slip it right through your hands. Then it will be lost forever. Harry Potter has changed me in a way. The beginning of the first book when he lived with his uncle and aunt without knowing that he was a wizard made me think about other children in the world who doesn't have parents and live a miserable life. Harry Potter made me also think about loosing people you love. Then at last he showed me that he is a lousier lover than me!

[Watermonkey 0]

George Orwell, 1984 and Animal Farm both influenced how I view the politics of this world, and especially the United States of Amerika. But to provide me with a proper reference, I read William Bramley's The Gods of Eden and I found that book ties everything together in a nice neat package making the world of politics seem a little more transparent.

[elrohir 0]

Mary Stewart's Crystal Cave series altered my perspective to fantasy, which in turn got me into;

 

THE WORLD OF TIME by Robert Jordan

 

That is something I will always cherish

 

Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye" was monumental, as well. There's a lot to be learned from any book that was written because the author had a story to tell, rather than for the sake of writing a book. Because if the author went to the trouble of writing a book based on this idea, there is a valididty to the story that grows around it that just doesn't appear elsewhere.

 

-E

[reelkill 0]

I really don't think I ever read a book that changed my life,being as I have only read 3 or 4 books over my lifetime so far.I did like halo:The fall of reach,I think that if they made a halo movie it should be based on that book,as it tells the complete story of who the master chief is and also how he got to be who he was.

[NNH1254 0]

I read Animal Farm in 6th grade. Unfortunately, I was FAR too young to grasp any of the underlying concepts. Maybe I should pick it up again...hehe

Same here, I'm thinking about reading it when school's over.

I read Lord of the Flies in 6th grade too, didn't really get it, and read it again the summer after 8th, which was better. I wouldn't say it totally changed my life but it was important. Also Plato's Republic, I didn't agree with most of it but the allegory of the cave really did change how I looked at things.

[kraizii88z 0]

I like-->
~Paramahansa's Autobiography of A Yogi~
~Kitchen Confidential - Anthony Bourdain~
~London - Edward Rutherford~
~Anne Frank's Diary~
~Thiaoouba Prophecy - Michel Desmarquet~
~Messages From Water - Masuru Emoto~
~Sunfood Diet Success System - David Wolfe~
~Law of One - Carla Rueckert, Don Elkins, Jim McCarty~
These books are all very different but
they have all helped me in different areas, oh,
and of course, anything by ~Shakespeare~ &
~Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet~
I like reading.

[DeM0nFiRe 0]

For me, it'd be Masters of Doom. It's about the people who made, you guessed it, Doom. I mean, I always wanted to do game development, but once I read that book I was like Holy crap, I can do that!

[runescapeguy 0]

the only books that i have ever read and that have "changed my life" were The Harry Potter series. It all started out with my parents getting mad at me and sending me to my room..pft buttholes *rofl* neways, my grandpa had given me the books earlyer that day and so i decided to pick up the first book and start to read it and i liked it ...i didn't go to sleep until late that night because i was getting so far into the book..I never read before that..never..not unless i was forced..andd they encouraged me to read..but i only read those other books dont appeal to me..but iw also changed my life because it made me want to make a harry potter fan site which is what i am working on now...so you could say that is the reason i am so kean to the internet and making websites and i owe it all to my parents :-D heheit has also made me such a harry potter freak! i have like 10 posters in my room that are harry potter related!! and i love it!! sometimes im ashamed to admit it but ive had dreams i was in the sequal...it has also changed my life by encouraging me to write..J.K. Rownling is so excelent at this stuff that i thought maybe i can write like her some day and encourage others haha yeah right..but i am in the process of writing my own fan-fiction story some-what close to her books..so you can say i am a HUGE HARRY POTTER FREAK and that i am a HUGE HARRY POTTER FREAK oo yeah and that i am a HUGE HARRY POTTER FREAK..and it has changed my life quite a bit

[mama_soap 0]

@DeM0nFiRe: I haven't specifically read Masters of Doom just yet, but I know exactly what you're talking about. Every single time I read a story-behind-something-big book, my faith in my current interest begins to dwindle, and I want to switch careers Actually - this happens with television too, I should really stop watching inspiring interviews of actors I admire, I end up with this very non-trivial desire to stop-hacking-and-start-acting... {grin}

 

Coming back to books, The Man Who Loved Numbers, The Man Who Knew Infinity, Genius, Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman, and others are similarly inspiring. Anyone read those encyclopedia type (i.e., popular-science-ish, nothing technical) books that explain what goes into the making of special effects in movies? Or glossy reference books that enumerate dance cultures around the world? I have been subjected to the library for many hours on end (for reasons beyond my control, and not worth going into ), and I ended up browsing the reference section for a good deal. Wasn't life changing, but there were some interesting eye openers.

 

Particularly memorable was the a book which was, erm, a comprehensive archive of crimes during a certain period of time in western Europe, if I am not mistaken - I stopped reading when it got gruesome, but the thing about reading non-fiction is that it's a distinctly unpleasant feeling to realize the nasty stuff happens outside Doyle's imagination too. (Yeah, yeah... I don't watch too much reality TV and steer clear of news channels ) I am usually affected more easily by non fiction than fiction as far as the written word goes, although writers like Orwell make for (important) exceptions.

[Evolke 0]

The book that changed my life would defintely be The Art of Happiness by Howard Cutler. Its an amazing books. Its a combination of discussions with H.H. The 14th Dali Lama. Its got methods or relieving stress, coping with death, and just finding yourselve the brighter side of life. Theres not a day that goes by that I don't use on of the methods. Buddhism in general to me is such a beautiful way and peaceful way to live.

[xenador 0]

Some of my favorites in no particular order.Religious Sense - attempts to explain the reasons behind thing specifically our need for religion and begins to teach you a method to judge reality.Why the Church- helps to look at the reality of the church in everday life.The Journey to Truth is an Experience- how to experience truthDante's Divine Comedy - beautiful italian series of books about one mans decent into hell, purgatory and finally heavenAt the origin of the christian claim - what christianity is really all abouta generative thought- an introduction to the movements history that is Communion and LiberationGod at the Ritz - Lorenzo Albacete's outlook on life at the Ritz hotelEnder's Game (series) - military training book, interesting views on life though too.

[Crowe 0]

I actually have two that really have changed/inspired me.

 

A Child Called "It" - Dave Pelzer

The Paths we Choose - Sully Erna

 

For some reason, I can relate to them, especially A Child Called It. Another good one would have to be the autobiography of Ric Flair--I forgot the title of it though. They all have a great deal of meaning to them, and I enjoyed reading them.

[quangvan 0]

Brilliant thread..."Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki, inspired me to drop out of school to start my business career."Awaken the Giant Within" by Anthony Robbins, made me believed anything was possible.Those are really the first two books I've read, and it made me a lover of reading. Def. a must read for anyone.

[asdftheking 1]

Undoubtedly the Bible has greatly changed my life. Also John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life. You will never be able to look at your life the same after reading it.

 

Other HIGHLY recommended reading would be:

All of Andrew Murray's writing especially Absolute Surrender

Don Richardson's Eternity in their Hearts, Peace Child and Lords of the Earth

Amy Carmichael's If and A Chance to Die

K.P. Yohannan's Revolution in World Missions

All of John Eldredge's writings are phenomenal!

David Shibley's The Missions Addiction

 

I could go on and on because there are many life-changing books out there but I have to stop somewhere.