What book changed your life?

[The Swedish Ninja]

Ohh, so many great books mentioned!

 

My choice would be "Walden" - Henry David Thoreau

 

For me, it got me thinking of living the simple life, without much obligations and foremost, stuff. This in turn got me reading about minimalism, that now is a great part of my life. 

 

I have to say though, Into the Wild came as close, close second.

[Dandizette]

The Testament of Gideon Mack by James Robertson blew my mind.

Also, The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger.

Don't let the fact that it is a picture book fool you. It is not for children and it is deep. So deep

[lumberjane]

Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson

I think it just came to me at the right moment and time. It's a really good book about a good person struggling to be good. Dealing with the ideas of facing every situation as an opportunity to learn something, to prove oneself, or to provide something for another.

[GuriPSYCO]

Wow. People here love Orwell as much as I do. Yep, Nineteen Eighty-Four did change my life. It's the book that made me say GG WP to my childhood and dive into adulthood. Orwell is a master, the Big Brother is a legend.

[eXistenZorcise]

I've loved going through this list and trying to tick off as many as I can that I've read and mentally make a note of some of the ones I haven't.

 

I've read loads of books that I've loved and have had a big impact on me and my reading has exploded during the last 2 and a half years since my partner bought me a Kindle (Best. Present. Ever). But there have only been 2 books that I can say genuinely changed your life and both for completely different reasons.

 

The first was The Game by Neil Strauss. It's basically the story of how a boring, average looking journalist becomes the world's greatest pick up artist. Whilst the whole PUA community is a bit weird and freaks me out a bit, Strauss (known by his PUA name Style) is absolutely ruthless in his dedication. He completely changes his whole life in pursuit of it. Its massively inspiring because its the ultimate zero to hero story from a guy who before he began had only ever been with 3 girls and ended dating supermodels and getting Britney Spears' phone number. Strauss became my favourite author after reading this.

 

The other is The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot. This book is the main reason why I became an atheist and completely changed the way I look at existence. It's really difficult to explain what it's about without sounding ridiculous but one bit that stood out to me was the way atoms only look the way they look WHEN YOU ARE LOOKING DIRECTLY AT THEM. Mind = blown.

[Hong WeiLoh]

Ohh, so many great books mentioned!

 

My choice would be "Walden" - Henry David Thoreau

 

For me, it got me thinking of living the simple life, without much obligations and foremost, stuff. This in turn got me reading about minimalism, that now is a great part of my life. 

 

I have to say though, Into the Wild came as close, close second.

 

Thoreau is awesomeness incarnate, as is Thomas Paine. Walden and Civil Disobedience were amazing (have the both-in-one-cover of them).

 

Just picked up and started Warrior Mindset by Dr. Michael Asken, Loren Christensen, and LTC Dave Grossman (USA, Ret.) ... this book is awesome -- all about self-evaluation and self-improvement tools to improve performance. Geared mainly toward military/LE/Fire types, but is very readable, understandable, and most importantly usable by anyone.  

[ajames]

The worst journey in the world - Apsley Cherry-Garrard.

 

Our lives are very easy compared to what these Antarctic explorers went through.

 

Thinking fast and slow - Daniel Kahneman

 

How we think is not how we think. A very good description of various cognitive biases.

[TheCrimsonFist]

The Blue Nowhere by Jefferey Deaver came to me at a pivotal moment in my life. I was young and had a budding interest in technology and the book exposed me to the concept of hacking. That was my life for the next 5-6 years, and led to me starting a career in IT (which, coincidentally made me hate computers)

 

Hero By Night, a comic by DJ Coffman came to me when I was trying to find something to do with my life that would improve my community. It showed me the power that a superhero can have on a city, not just by fighting their criminals but by being their hero. This book is what inspired me to become a superhero.

 

The Four Hour Body by Tim Ferriss came to me when my body needed it most. I had let alcohol get the best of me, had given up being a superhero, and had just become a fat lazy mess. This book showed me the path to fitness in a way that was engaging and easy for me to understand. It inspired me to stop letting my problems dictate my life and start taking charge of myself. Because of this book, I came out of "retirement" and have been a better hero for my community ever since

 

The Art of Expressing the Human Body by Bruce Lee/John Little is the most recent addition to the list. I bought it on the way out of town for vacation, expecting it to be an interesting beach book to get me through the weekend. I read it cover to cover during the 6 hour car ride to Florida. This book cured me of my misconception about becoming the strongest version of myself. I've always had the dream of being the most physically fit as I can possibly be. Not just strong, but also fast and agile and powerful and able to endure extreme stresses. Reading this book has changed my entire philosophy towards training, and I can't wait to start putting my new plans into action.

[Jothra]

I have read countless books. I use them to knead my brain into new shapes. Even the worst book I have ever read (possibly Twilight at this point, though Battlefield Earth is a contender) has become a part of my consciousness is some way. Literacy is very nearly the most important thing we have.

Treasure Island is badass, though. How do you become a hero? Sometimes it just means making a stupid decision, knowing it's a stupid decision, and doing it anyway.

Also, Neverwhere was the last book I read before I left my old job, city, and province for a completely new and uncertain existence. That's kind of fitting.

[Elisha]

ALL the books! lol

The Outlander books changed my life for very personal reasons. The summer my mom died, I had to live with my Grandma. She was even more in the country than we were and she only had 4 t.v. channels. Not to mention my step-grandpa would get on my case if I ever had the t.v. on. So we went to the book store and I bought the biggest book I could find and the 3 sequels. Ever since I have been spending my life waiting for the next one to come out. 

The Life Of Pi is fantastic and hits a very deep chord within me. 

The Good Mood Diet completely changed the way I saw food.

 

The 5 Love Languages changed how I saw relationships.

So many more, but those are the ones that jumped out at me.

 

[Elisha]

Treasure Island is badass, though. How do you become a hero? Sometimes it just means making a stupid decision, knowing it's a stupid decision, and doing it anyway.

Also, Neverwhere was the last book I read before I left my old job, city, and province for a completely new and uncertain existence. That's kind of fitting.

Well, if that's what it takes to become a hero, I am on the fast track.

 

I LOVE Neverwhere!

[Godeskian]

Changed my life?

 

How to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie. I've owned three copies at various times, it's the only book I actually give away to people just because I think they might benefit from it. I've learned more about positive social interaction from applying its principles than I have from anywhere else.

[SugarRay]

One book that stands out for me is the Ramayana, a Hindu epic poem/religious text.

Not a religious guy, but there are some awesome stories in that book. One of the stories is about a man who surpasses the gods through his own hard work, despite being opposed by them; that one story has influenced the way I carry out my own work a great deal. 

 

Another book would be Chaos: Making a New Science. It's what started my passion for mathematics and physics, which has been the bulk of my academic life for a few years now.

[Lalie Fanyarendil]

Peter Pan. I don't remember how old I was when I actually read the book for the first time, but the story has been one of my favorites literally for as long as I can remember.

 

Beowulf and The Once and Future King, which got me started on myth and fantasy. I didn't realize this until years later.

 

Story of a Soul by St. Thérèse of Lisieux, because it explained a life of service through frequent, small acts of love (instead of big things) in a way that helped me figure out how I could implement this in my own life.

 

Two Treasures by Thich Nhat Hanh. Not for any particular content in that one, but because it was the first of his books I read, and because of his writing voice. He has such an amazing writing voice. I swear, you can feel the calm and kindness radiating off the pages. I'm not Buddhist, but I have learned many things from his books that have made my life better.

[pianolady2005]

Assassin's Apprentice and the other 2 books in Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy.  The characters are so real and exhibit emotions that made me think about my own emotions.  These books have excellent dialogue and some of the quotes from different characters have stuck with me for many years.  This was one of the first books that I got my mom to read as well, and started the two of us sharing books and being able to talk about them with each other.

[Gentle_Mystic]

Man I need to stop looking at this thread. Everytime someone posts something I feel the need to go back and reread all of these amazing books and hug the people saying these books changed the way they looked at the world. (Reading is probably one of my favorite things to do in the world, I might get a little too excited over books.

I second that! I just discovered this books section of NF and I'm tempted to just get lost here and start checking out books like crazy! Must remember- I'm here mainly for the fitness bit. :-P

I definitely want to share with you all one of the books that has changed my life-- Peace Is Every Step, by Thich Nhat Hahn.

This was my introduction to mindful breathing practice and and mindfulness in general and it seriously changed my life! It's so easy to rush around from task to task, to be swept along by our emotions, to live in our heads focused on the past and the future, without pausing to experience the present moment, tune into our bodies and our breathing and all the wonders surrounding us. This book encourages us to cultivate a mindfulness practice and "return to the breath" to help us return to ourselves, let go of tension and negativity, and find joy and peace in the simplest of things.

"Breathing in, I calm my body,

Breathing out, I smile."

This is a short book, simply and beautifully written by one of the eminent Buddhist monks of our time. The book was given to me by a friend, and indeed, every subsequent copy I've found has a note to a friend inside the cover! It seems that many people's lives have been changed by this one and they want to share it. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to live more in the present moment, anyone looking for more peace and beauty in life.

Thanks for sharing, friends, and don't forget to breathe. <3

[0gravity]

Seconded. What a small, simple, amazing book.

 

 

I definitely want to share with you all one of the books that has changed my life-- Peace Is Every Step, by Thich Nhat Hahn.
 

[Padfoot]

For me, the prime one is Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card, followed closely behind by the "Young Wizards" series by Diane Duane. Speaker is one of the greatest stories about the power and responsibility of truth and compassion that I've ever read. Duane's work has heavily informed my views on morality and my purpose in the world--specifically, to do as much as I can, where I am.

[amar2396]

"Eight theories of Religion" more specifically the chapter about Karl Marx. Man was amazing, to bad people only associate him with Soviet communism, when in reality his theories on government were amazing! Sad to see people misunderstand his work.