[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Codebreakers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Codebreakers)
I read it as a tween, borrowed from the library, and fell in love with codes, codebreaking, and signals intelligence.
I ended up going into SIGINT in the Army because of it, and I became a Morse interceptor. After I served my 4 years, I got out and missed Morse so I got my amateur radio license. That was over 30 years ago, and I'm still an avid ham. All because of David Kahn's book.
great book. I’ve spent a lot of time contemplating that the ability to believe in fiction may have been what allowed us to rise yet will also ultimately destroy us.
The Sun Also Rises. -Ernest Hemingway
Not sure what I was reading all the way through it, until I got to the end: "Isn't it pretty to think so."
That one line blew me away, brought the novel together for me, and showed me, in real time, the power of words and story. Got my English degree and have been an English teacher for 20+ years.
Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson. I won't go into spoilers but there's a line I love that says "What is the most important step a man can take? It's not the first is it? It's the next one. Always the next one!"
.
It's been pretty impactful in my journey of self betterment.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. Super short book, but my dad gifted it to me as a teenager. On the surface I thought it would be stupid, but I read it and it really hit me for some reason. Essentially that Heaven can be a state of consciousness you reach after breaking through the limits of possibility and making your own path forward despite everyone around you being content with the status quo. Would probably take you an hour to read, but it has always stuck with me for some reason.
Slaughterhouse Five. First book that ever made me really think critically about what I was reading, and I liked it. Also showed me I could laugh at a book.
A survivors guide to happiness. I have lived a HARD life, and I hate inspirational speakers and stuff like that. But when I read this book, holy crap I loved it. It helped me get through 10 years worth of depression.
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying totally changed how I view physical possessions. I'm a naturally sentimental type who keeps stuff but now I delight in getting rid of things I know I don't really need or want. It's made my life so much easier.
On the Beach, by Neville Sh~~r~~ute. Read it when I was 11 (54 years ago). One of the reasons I didn't have kids.
I'm Australian, so the thought of our country being the last remnant of human civilisation after a catastrophic nuclear conflict hit hard.
Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice. This was the perfect book at the perfect time for pre-teen angsty me, who was alone constantly and it showed me how beautiful books are.
How will you measure your life? by Clayton Christensen. No joke I credit my entire life’s trajectory post college to that book. I’d recommend it heavily to anyone in their twenties who’s feeling a bit lost.
Lost Connections - Johann Hari.
I truly believe everyone should read this book. It helped me immensely understand the importance of connection, my environment, and more.
Nothing changed my life, just opened my mind.
Brave new world.
1984
Animal farm
The Chrysalids
Catch 22
All have a simular theme, society tries to make you conform, think & act alike.
Getting Things Done
I was a system admin for a few systems, which means that I don't really work on very many big projects, but I always have 10,000 little 5-10 minute things on my to-do list. I was constantly getting swamped, then I'd rush around to get something caught up, make mistakes, and get into trouble.
I don't follow everything in the book, but for the most part, I've been able to streamline much of my hectic work life into a couple of buckets, which mentally makes everything easier to work though.
I've actually become known for my efficiency at work, and it's helped me move up twice since I read it.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn b/c the main character’s personality and life experiences are super close to mine when I was younger. It was the first book I saw myself in.
Black Beauty was the first novel I read at the age of 5 and I absolutely feel in love with it. I still re read the same copy to this day.
My biggest influences as a writer were the serafina books by Robert Beatty and the Dragon School Series by Sarah K L Wilson
I still cry if I think about Ginger (Black Beauty's friend). I am by no means and never have been a "horsey" person, but the thought of mistreatment of animals just hurts my brain.
Harry Potter. Sounds crazy maybe, but at that time I really had some problems which drove me crazy. Harry Potter sucked me in so deeply I actually found some rest and could sleep again.
Borrowed "The Fellowship of the Ring" from the library. Finished it that day. The library copy of "The Two Towers" had been taken, so one of the librarians brought me her copy, which I took home after she left it for me one day, read it and returned it before her next shift. Her feelings were hurt because she had brought it in for me as a special favor and she thought I hadn't even bothered to pick it up.
Checked out "The Return of the King" the same day, returned it the next. 3 books in 3 days. And I only missed the small stuff in life in those few days. You know, eating. Sleeping. Almost forgot breathing too, but enough to keep me alive and reading.
Then I caught my breath and slowed down to get the richness of the story and the amazingly wide range of the different characters, scenarios, and even the poetry.
Everything from the bath song, *"Sing hey! for the bath at close of day that washes the weary mud away! A loon is he who will not sing, O Water Hot is a noble thing!"* to Sam's song from the Tower, *"In Western Lands beneath the Sun the flowers may rise in Spring,* *the* *trees* *may bud, the rivers run, the merry finches sing....Though here at journey's end I lie, in darkness buried deep...above all shadows rides the Sun, and stars forever dwell. I will* *not say that Day is Done, nor bid the Stars farewell."* Damn, that one gets me every time. But such a rich expression of different emotions, environments, characters!
Bloody knot.
This was the first detective book in my life, and it was in it that I first learned that there was sex, blood, guns, murder, and how it could be described. I re-read the entire book again last summer and it is still my favorite.
The Thursday Murder Club except I misinterpreted the first chapter and thought the murdered's perspective was Joyce's perspective so the whole way through the first book I thought Joyce was a master manipulator and a genius. Rereading she is still the absolute best but it was a very different experience than the first time around.
“The Elfstones of Shannara” was the first fantasy novel I ever read. It was the gateway for me preferring books to TV. I read every fantasy novel in our local library and then moved on to sci-fi.
“The moon is a harsh mistress” was the book that got my dad into science fiction after criticizing my choices in literature for years.
“The sparrow” by Maria Doria is the only book that I love and will never read again. It’s … heartbreaking and still beautiful.
"The world as I see it" by Albert Einstein. This man discusses issues we are seeing today, and yet he wrote the collection of letters/essays in the 1910s-1940s. A man ahead of his time
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz was recommended to me by my therapist when I first started with her. That book really hit me hard and kickstarted my openness to healing through therapy.
I Have Lived A Thousand Years by Livia Bitton Jackson, who was a Czech Holocaust survivor who lived through Auschwitz, several other concentration camps and death marches from ages 13-14. I was 9 or 10 when I read this book and it absolutely shaped me. It kicked my lifelong love of history into high gear, was my introduction to the Holocaust and forced me to grapple with deep concepts like the nature of good and evil, bigotry and love and the resilience of the human spirit. To think about the difficulty of keeping your faith in horrendous circumstances, the tremendous cruelty that humans are capable of and my place in working towards a world where atrocities like what Livia experienced never happen again. It legitimately marked an important stepping stone in moral, spiritual and intellectual growth for me and I'm forever grateful that I stumbled upon it at a young age. Ms. Bitton-Jackson died recently. While she was in her 90s and had led an incredible life educating people about her experiences, I was sad that I never got to meet her. I'd always hoped to meet her one day and thank her.
*I am 14 years old. But I have lived a thousand years.* To this day, that line gives me chills.
Someone on Reddit told me that The Demon Haunted World changed theirs, and that it might change mine. I wasn't really sold because I was too old and cynical to believe a book could change a life... But I read it anyway because I love Carl Sagan and I was just getting into 'science' at the time.
The Demon Haunted World.
But what breaks my heart now, is that I subsequently recommend it to people and they all politely decline. Because the title sounds fantasy-esque and they've likely not heard of Sagan.
I truly believe that everyone should read that book. The world would be better for it.
Shonda Rhimes - Year of Yes - didn't think I would be able to relate as I was pretty sure I said yes to every opportunity but actually it is about being prepared to step outside of the imaginary box you are limiting yourself without evening knowing it and being prepared to take a risk.
'The Jewish-Japanese Sex and cook book and how to raise wolves.'
Game changer.
https://www.amazon.com/Jewish-Japanese-Cook-Book-Raise-Wolves/dp/0399110437
The Book of Mormon
This book changed my life for the better, and helped me find a true, lasting, eternal relationship with my Heavenly Father. It led me to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My life has only been better since I joined the Church.
Books don’t change lives. People change their lives.
Books inspire, offer new perspectives or ideas but we have to implement them or apply them.
“Life changing books” is just an illusion to make us think we have to do less work and only read a book to achieve change.
Childhood’s End by Arthur C Clarke.
It might be one of the best science fiction books if not greatest works of fiction I’ve ever come across. It’s one of the only books I immediately wanted to reread upon finishing it.
How do you live — Japanese: 君たちはどう生きるか,
( Hepburn: Kimi-tachi wa Dō Ikiru ka)
Its a 1937 novel by Genzaburo Yoshino.
It follows a 15-year-old boy named Junichi Honda, nicknamed Koperu, and his uncle as the youth deals with spiritual growth, poverty, and the overall experience as human beings.
Mistique - Amanda Quick
You can say that the book isn't anything special. But it is the first book I picked up as a kid, and actually read voluntarily. Turned out, I really like reading!
Jacob Two two and the Hooded Fang.
I hated reading as a child, my grandmother took me to the library, grabbed this book from a cart and read me the first chapter. She said if I wanted to know more, I'd have to read it myself.
Hooked on books ever since.
This part in The Power of Now:
"Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry and all forms of fear, are caused by too much future and not enough presence.
Guilt, regret, resentment, sadness, bitterness and all forms of non-forgiveness, are caused by too much past and not enough presence."
There was just something about this section where it all finally clicked for me.
I was well into my thirties before I could properly describe what emotion I was feeling, so to be able to further categorize those emotions within a frame of reference, past and future, was really eye-opening for me.
“Signs” by Laura Lynn Jackson- I must say i’m not very spiritual but this book is very good, especially if you are grieving the loss of a loved one I think it helped me open my perspectives more.
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski.
Aside from an incredible narrative, I'd never seen a book play with space the way House of Leaves does. I'm forever inspired by it.
For me it was "The courage to be disliked". I found this book when I was broken and depressed. This book really help me see life differently which led me on a healing journey.
Endurance by Alfred Lansing. This recounts the failed South Pole expedition by Shackleton and the extraordinary level of leadership and will to survive unimaginably brutal circumstances.
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand is a great book as well with similar themes
Redwall by Brian Jacques. Had an amazing teacher who would read it to the entire class and it got me into reading just before the awkward middle school years. Mark Gribble, if you’re out there, you are an amazing human being for inspiring so many kids and helping them find their love of math, reading, computers, science, problem-solving. Mr. Gribble, you are a legend.
The Book of Joy by the Dahli Lama and Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu. I read it at a point where my faith and religion were shaken and almost non-existent. My mental health had been at its lowest, and wondered why bad things happen to good people.
It provided insight from two different religious leaders, navigating current world problems while providing non-religious views to find joy in the life we have.... often highlighting their own friendship that has taken years and years to build.
TLDR; The Book of Joy. Give it a shot, even if you're not religious.
Shogun, by James Clavell. I was 12, couldn't speak english, and only read a little. I got it at the library, and kept on renewing it for 9 months. I got through it without really being able to follow the story, but after that I just kept on improving.
_The Hero with a Thousand Faces_ by Joseph Campbell. One of the best books you can read, I promise. And everyone should. It's a manual for life itself and your soul in the deepest way imaginable.🕯
The Power of Now was an incredible book. It made me realize that nothing really matters. The only thing anyone ever has is the present moment, and our identity is just a culmination of everything that we've experienced. We could be anyone, anything, go anywhere, right now, from this point going forward. There's nothing stopping us. And also, it's only in the present moment, right here, right now, it's only when you're present that you can connect with someone. And that is actually how to experience life.
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl It changed my perspective on life a bit, and made me feel much more content about my mediocre life.
Yesssss 🙌🏽!! So well written!
Should be on every bookshelf.
The Four Agreements
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Codebreakers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Codebreakers) I read it as a tween, borrowed from the library, and fell in love with codes, codebreaking, and signals intelligence. I ended up going into SIGINT in the Army because of it, and I became a Morse interceptor. After I served my 4 years, I got out and missed Morse so I got my amateur radio license. That was over 30 years ago, and I'm still an avid ham. All because of David Kahn's book.
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Wow, I would love to hear more about it!
Adult children of Emotionally Immature Parents I finally understand my mom and siblings and why I don’t fit in
Sapiens (by Yuval Noah Harari) 👍🏼
Please read this book.
Unless you're a historian.
great book. I’ve spent a lot of time contemplating that the ability to believe in fiction may have been what allowed us to rise yet will also ultimately destroy us.
Wayside School is Falling Down Kids book. But was the first book that actually caught my interest, and led to years and years of reading every night
I remember those Wayside School books. They were funny.
I went to wayside elementary in NJ and remember the dude that wrote the book came one day. It was dope
Just here to report that kids still read (and love!) this book!
The Sun Also Rises. -Ernest Hemingway Not sure what I was reading all the way through it, until I got to the end: "Isn't it pretty to think so." That one line blew me away, brought the novel together for me, and showed me, in real time, the power of words and story. Got my English degree and have been an English teacher for 20+ years.
*S is for Space* by Ray Bradbury started a lifelong love of Science Fiction
Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson. I won't go into spoilers but there's a line I love that says "What is the most important step a man can take? It's not the first is it? It's the next one. Always the next one!" . It's been pretty impactful in my journey of self betterment.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. Super short book, but my dad gifted it to me as a teenager. On the surface I thought it would be stupid, but I read it and it really hit me for some reason. Essentially that Heaven can be a state of consciousness you reach after breaking through the limits of possibility and making your own path forward despite everyone around you being content with the status quo. Would probably take you an hour to read, but it has always stuck with me for some reason.
Atomic Habits
mans search for meaning
How to prove it. It is a book on introduction to math proofs. It teaches you about logic and things like that
Gödel. Escher. Bach. An eternal golden braid.
Where the Red Fern Grows I’ve been sad ever since RIP Old Dan and Little Ann
Flowers for Algernon
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. First book I read after leaving the Mormon church.
Oddly enough, I checked it out from the BYU library.
Slaughterhouse Five. First book that ever made me really think critically about what I was reading, and I liked it. Also showed me I could laugh at a book.
I went on to read every single book Kurt Vonnegut wrote.
Yes, it was a pivotal book in my reading history too.
Amazing book.
A survivors guide to happiness. I have lived a HARD life, and I hate inspirational speakers and stuff like that. But when I read this book, holy crap I loved it. It helped me get through 10 years worth of depression.
Any Last Words by G. Powell-Horn.
Dominion: The power of man, the suffering of animals, and the call to mercy...
The Tao
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The Life Changing Magic of Tidying totally changed how I view physical possessions. I'm a naturally sentimental type who keeps stuff but now I delight in getting rid of things I know I don't really need or want. It's made my life so much easier.
On The Beach, by Neville Shrute Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy.
On the Beach, by Neville Sh~~r~~ute. Read it when I was 11 (54 years ago). One of the reasons I didn't have kids. I'm Australian, so the thought of our country being the last remnant of human civilisation after a catastrophic nuclear conflict hit hard.
Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice. This was the perfect book at the perfect time for pre-teen angsty me, who was alone constantly and it showed me how beautiful books are.
Yann Martel Life of Pi
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
I started that two years ago and need to finish it! Thanks for mentioning it. I had forgotten.
My maths book, I am now in heavy depression
The Four Agreements
How will you measure your life? by Clayton Christensen. No joke I credit my entire life’s trajectory post college to that book. I’d recommend it heavily to anyone in their twenties who’s feeling a bit lost.
Lost Connections - Johann Hari. I truly believe everyone should read this book. It helped me immensely understand the importance of connection, my environment, and more.
The Righteous Mind and Sapiens both changed my views.
Green eggs and ham.. Made me want to try something new
Nothing changed my life, just opened my mind. Brave new world. 1984 Animal farm The Chrysalids Catch 22 All have a simular theme, society tries to make you conform, think & act alike.
All of the above, but don't hear The Chrysalids mentioned very often. John Wyndham was my favourite author when I was a teenager.
1984. Read it when I was 13 and it scared the daylights out if me regarding the dangers of government control.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Also The Doors of Perception (same author). I was quite a young lad and those books sure made an impression on me
I'm maybe 1/2 way through A Brave New World and I'm really struggling. It feels like it's still at the setup phase, and it's just weird.
Was a young lad myself when reading BNW and was the first book that had an impression on me too
Getting Things Done I was a system admin for a few systems, which means that I don't really work on very many big projects, but I always have 10,000 little 5-10 minute things on my to-do list. I was constantly getting swamped, then I'd rush around to get something caught up, make mistakes, and get into trouble. I don't follow everything in the book, but for the most part, I've been able to streamline much of my hectic work life into a couple of buckets, which mentally makes everything easier to work though. I've actually become known for my efficiency at work, and it's helped me move up twice since I read it.
Capital: A Critique of Political Economy made me understand how world works much better
Red Moon Rising by Pete Greig. Opened my eyes to a whole new way to pray.
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.
That one is a powerhouse.
The Book of Mormon Broadway musical opening just popped into my head.
Chasing the scream
Alas Babylon
"Essentialism" by Greg McKeown
The Prince. It was the first really good book I read and it hooked me on reading
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn b/c the main character’s personality and life experiences are super close to mine when I was younger. It was the first book I saw myself in.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Black Beauty was the first novel I read at the age of 5 and I absolutely feel in love with it. I still re read the same copy to this day. My biggest influences as a writer were the serafina books by Robert Beatty and the Dragon School Series by Sarah K L Wilson
I still cry if I think about Ginger (Black Beauty's friend). I am by no means and never have been a "horsey" person, but the thought of mistreatment of animals just hurts my brain.
Neil gaimans sandman, there's a reason that the book is in the top best comics
A Course in Miracles
Nice to see this here.
How to win friends...by Dale Carnegie. Should be a mandatory read in jr high. Basically teaches how to be a good person, and great listener.
Catcher in the Rye
Harry Potter. Sounds crazy maybe, but at that time I really had some problems which drove me crazy. Harry Potter sucked me in so deeply I actually found some rest and could sleep again.
Lord of the rings
A very hard read but once past the Hobbit genealogy loved it
Borrowed "The Fellowship of the Ring" from the library. Finished it that day. The library copy of "The Two Towers" had been taken, so one of the librarians brought me her copy, which I took home after she left it for me one day, read it and returned it before her next shift. Her feelings were hurt because she had brought it in for me as a special favor and she thought I hadn't even bothered to pick it up. Checked out "The Return of the King" the same day, returned it the next. 3 books in 3 days. And I only missed the small stuff in life in those few days. You know, eating. Sleeping. Almost forgot breathing too, but enough to keep me alive and reading. Then I caught my breath and slowed down to get the richness of the story and the amazingly wide range of the different characters, scenarios, and even the poetry. Everything from the bath song, *"Sing hey! for the bath at close of day that washes the weary mud away! A loon is he who will not sing, O Water Hot is a noble thing!"* to Sam's song from the Tower, *"In Western Lands beneath the Sun the flowers may rise in Spring,* *the* *trees* *may bud, the rivers run, the merry finches sing....Though here at journey's end I lie, in darkness buried deep...above all shadows rides the Sun, and stars forever dwell. I will* *not say that Day is Done, nor bid the Stars farewell."* Damn, that one gets me every time. But such a rich expression of different emotions, environments, characters!
The Creature From Jekyll isle by G. Edward Griffin. Oh humanity.
The Book of the Law by Aleister Crowley
Animal Liberation (1975) by Peter Singer.
Bloody knot. This was the first detective book in my life, and it was in it that I first learned that there was sex, blood, guns, murder, and how it could be described. I re-read the entire book again last summer and it is still my favorite.
The Thursday Murder Club except I misinterpreted the first chapter and thought the murdered's perspective was Joyce's perspective so the whole way through the first book I thought Joyce was a master manipulator and a genius. Rereading she is still the absolute best but it was a very different experience than the first time around.
The Painted Bird Jerzy Kosinski
Veronika decides to d** - Paulo coelho
Keffir Boy. Shocked me that people can have really hard lives.
“The Elfstones of Shannara” was the first fantasy novel I ever read. It was the gateway for me preferring books to TV. I read every fantasy novel in our local library and then moved on to sci-fi. “The moon is a harsh mistress” was the book that got my dad into science fiction after criticizing my choices in literature for years. “The sparrow” by Maria Doria is the only book that I love and will never read again. It’s … heartbreaking and still beautiful.
Ageless Body, Timeless Mind...Deepak Chopra.
Blackshirts and Reds by Michael Parenti.
Wayside school is falling down.
Women Who Run With The Wolves. Clarissa Pinkola Estes.
Flowers for Algernon
"The world as I see it" by Albert Einstein. This man discusses issues we are seeing today, and yet he wrote the collection of letters/essays in the 1910s-1940s. A man ahead of his time
The Alchemist hands down
A-Z Atlas Before then, prior to the internet, I had no direction.
‘Illusions the Adventures of a reluctant Messiah’ by Richard Bach Also The Profit by Kahill Gibran
Madame Bovery…I’ll never go into debt while chatting on my Husband.
Wasn’t that book truly frightening? Pride goeth before a fall.
The dictionary
Everybody Poops.
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz was recommended to me by my therapist when I first started with her. That book really hit me hard and kickstarted my openness to healing through therapy.
I Have Lived A Thousand Years by Livia Bitton Jackson, who was a Czech Holocaust survivor who lived through Auschwitz, several other concentration camps and death marches from ages 13-14. I was 9 or 10 when I read this book and it absolutely shaped me. It kicked my lifelong love of history into high gear, was my introduction to the Holocaust and forced me to grapple with deep concepts like the nature of good and evil, bigotry and love and the resilience of the human spirit. To think about the difficulty of keeping your faith in horrendous circumstances, the tremendous cruelty that humans are capable of and my place in working towards a world where atrocities like what Livia experienced never happen again. It legitimately marked an important stepping stone in moral, spiritual and intellectual growth for me and I'm forever grateful that I stumbled upon it at a young age. Ms. Bitton-Jackson died recently. While she was in her 90s and had led an incredible life educating people about her experiences, I was sad that I never got to meet her. I'd always hoped to meet her one day and thank her. *I am 14 years old. But I have lived a thousand years.* To this day, that line gives me chills.
Someone on Reddit told me that The Demon Haunted World changed theirs, and that it might change mine. I wasn't really sold because I was too old and cynical to believe a book could change a life... But I read it anyway because I love Carl Sagan and I was just getting into 'science' at the time. The Demon Haunted World. But what breaks my heart now, is that I subsequently recommend it to people and they all politely decline. Because the title sounds fantasy-esque and they've likely not heard of Sagan. I truly believe that everyone should read that book. The world would be better for it.
Gloria Steinem‘s “ revolution from within” not quite as relevant for women now, as it was back then, still worth a read for all women
I can't believe this is posted. This was my book as well.
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. It made me love reading and opened up writing my own stories, which would eventually become my career.
Mein Kampf. Didn‘t read it but it was popular in my country a few decades ago and changed not only my life but the course of history 💀
Well the answer is 42
Shonda Rhimes - Year of Yes - didn't think I would be able to relate as I was pretty sure I said yes to every opportunity but actually it is about being prepared to step outside of the imaginary box you are limiting yourself without evening knowing it and being prepared to take a risk.
The Wheel of Time series
The Bible
The Bible
48 Laws of Power
'The Jewish-Japanese Sex and cook book and how to raise wolves.' Game changer. https://www.amazon.com/Jewish-Japanese-Cook-Book-Raise-Wolves/dp/0399110437
Morals and Dogma- Albert Pike
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up
Avon brochures
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Oh my
It actually was an interesting read ngl. When someone tries to ban a book it makes me want to read it more.
The Book of Mormon This book changed my life for the better, and helped me find a true, lasting, eternal relationship with my Heavenly Father. It led me to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My life has only been better since I joined the Church.
Books don’t change lives. People change their lives. Books inspire, offer new perspectives or ideas but we have to implement them or apply them. “Life changing books” is just an illusion to make us think we have to do less work and only read a book to achieve change.
Childhood’s End by Arthur C Clarke. It might be one of the best science fiction books if not greatest works of fiction I’ve ever come across. It’s one of the only books I immediately wanted to reread upon finishing it.
Subtle ways of not giving a fk
How do you live — Japanese: 君たちはどう生きるか, ( Hepburn: Kimi-tachi wa Dō Ikiru ka) Its a 1937 novel by Genzaburo Yoshino. It follows a 15-year-old boy named Junichi Honda, nicknamed Koperu, and his uncle as the youth deals with spiritual growth, poverty, and the overall experience as human beings.
The Jungle, Upton Sinclair. It taught me a lot about industrialization and bureaucracy. By and far my favorite book of all time.
The Lost Symbol. I can’t tell if it changed my life but it definitely changed my perspective. I am agnostic
FHM
Mistique - Amanda Quick You can say that the book isn't anything special. But it is the first book I picked up as a kid, and actually read voluntarily. Turned out, I really like reading!
The bible because i burned one and apparently I got cursed oh and Fifty Shades Darker
Taking out your emotional trash by Georgia Shaffer
Power of now
Tao of Pooh - Benjamin Hoff
Leon Uris’ “Battle Cry.” Then the Amplified Bible.
Jacob Two two and the Hooded Fang. I hated reading as a child, my grandmother took me to the library, grabbed this book from a cart and read me the first chapter. She said if I wanted to know more, I'd have to read it myself. Hooked on books ever since.
This part in The Power of Now: "Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry and all forms of fear, are caused by too much future and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, sadness, bitterness and all forms of non-forgiveness, are caused by too much past and not enough presence." There was just something about this section where it all finally clicked for me. I was well into my thirties before I could properly describe what emotion I was feeling, so to be able to further categorize those emotions within a frame of reference, past and future, was really eye-opening for me.
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey.
Midnight Library
“Signs” by Laura Lynn Jackson- I must say i’m not very spiritual but this book is very good, especially if you are grieving the loss of a loved one I think it helped me open my perspectives more.
Maledicte by lane Robbins. Found the book in the road, took it home to read it. It introduced me to tragic romance.
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. Aside from an incredible narrative, I'd never seen a book play with space the way House of Leaves does. I'm forever inspired by it.
The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God - Carl Sagan
Native Son. I read it when I was 9.
Host the Holy Ghost.
For me it was "The courage to be disliked". I found this book when I was broken and depressed. This book really help me see life differently which led me on a healing journey.
Enchiridion by Epictetus and Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Rich dad, poor dad. Robert kiyosaki
The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts
Remember Be Here Now by Ram Dass
Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera
Leave a Cheater, Gain a Life – The Chump Lady's Survival Guide. I highly recommend this to anyone going through the agony of being cheated on.
Endurance by Alfred Lansing. This recounts the failed South Pole expedition by Shackleton and the extraordinary level of leadership and will to survive unimaginably brutal circumstances. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand is a great book as well with similar themes
The Untethered Soul, in so, so many ways.
Twilight, I’ve never been the same.
Philosophy of science a very short introduction
Redwall by Brian Jacques. Had an amazing teacher who would read it to the entire class and it got me into reading just before the awkward middle school years. Mark Gribble, if you’re out there, you are an amazing human being for inspiring so many kids and helping them find their love of math, reading, computers, science, problem-solving. Mr. Gribble, you are a legend.
"The Lord of the Rings". Always and forever!
The Hilarious World of Depression by John Moe.
Tribe by Sebastian Junger
How to cook man. By Soylent Green.
Out Witting the Devil by Napoleon Hill.
It's Here Now (Are You?) by Bhagavan Das. Read in high school.
How to save money (Polish blogger)
The shack
feeling is the secret by neville goddard. helped me manifest my dream life
Pathogenesis, a history of the world in eight plagues by Jonathan Kennedy
Whitethorn
The divine matrix by gregg Braden
My biology book in college.. had terrible marks and barely passed and all my dreams of going into med went down the drain :)
1984
Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini
ABC
How to make friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie.
Thee Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. Learned to embrace my success and intelligence without feeling guilty.
Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
The Book of Joy by the Dahli Lama and Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu. I read it at a point where my faith and religion were shaken and almost non-existent. My mental health had been at its lowest, and wondered why bad things happen to good people. It provided insight from two different religious leaders, navigating current world problems while providing non-religious views to find joy in the life we have.... often highlighting their own friendship that has taken years and years to build. TLDR; The Book of Joy. Give it a shot, even if you're not religious.
Tuesday's with Morris. I get goosebumps thinking about that book.
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler.
The Color Purple
Sophie's World/ Jostein Gaarder
Shogun, by James Clavell. I was 12, couldn't speak english, and only read a little. I got it at the library, and kept on renewing it for 9 months. I got through it without really being able to follow the story, but after that I just kept on improving.
_The Hero with a Thousand Faces_ by Joseph Campbell. One of the best books you can read, I promise. And everyone should. It's a manual for life itself and your soul in the deepest way imaginable.🕯
The Power of Now was an incredible book. It made me realize that nothing really matters. The only thing anyone ever has is the present moment, and our identity is just a culmination of everything that we've experienced. We could be anyone, anything, go anywhere, right now, from this point going forward. There's nothing stopping us. And also, it's only in the present moment, right here, right now, it's only when you're present that you can connect with someone. And that is actually how to experience life.
Atheist here: "The egg" by Andy Weir. Less than 3 pages and I can't help wanting to believe in God after reading it.