Discussions
Books That Have Changed Your Life
Posted by TimWicks • 5/17/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: books, development, self help
I like to share books with others, especially books that have had a big impact on my life. I know that not all (if any) may appeal to you and that they may not even be the sort of book you would read. What I am interested in is the type of books you consider life changing. It may prompt me to check them out.
I will get things started with my list (as seen in the Time To Shine Forum):
The One Minute Manager by Keith Blanchard
Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl
Memories, Dreams, Reflections by C G Jung
Magic of NLP Demystified by Frank Pucelik
Photoreading by Paul Schele
Hypnotherapy by Dave Elman
Presenting to Win by Jerry Weissman
The Mind Map Book by Tony Buzan
The Definitive Book Of Body Language by Allan Pease
Tricks of the Mind by Derren Brown
Presenting Magically by Tad James
Mastering Your Memory by Tony Buzan
Who Moved My Cheese By Spencer Johnson
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime by Mark Haddon
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Yeah, I know, these are all pretty much personal development books! I have a separate list for my favourite (practice changing) teaching books, which I will post soon. Please list some of your “life changing” books, it doesn’t matter if it is one, 5 or 10, it is up to you. Just know that by sharing you are helping to build another persons list too.
If you like this discussion then please add your comment to the blog where this is posted at www.blog.timwicks.com.au
User Comments
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The Giving Tree!!
After reading that book I made the painful decision to never become a tree when I get older!!! -
I haven't encountered one yet -
Gifted Hands by Dr. Ben Carson-
I've read that one...it's very inspirational. -
Yeah, his early life parallels to mine as far as inner city youth and hardships in the home, made me want out as well!
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I will add that one to my list, thanks for sharing
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Run Baby Run...it inspired me to become a social worker.
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Jflower, who wrote Run Baby Run? How did it inspire you to become a social worker?
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It was written by Niki Cruz, a former gang member. It made me aware of the plight of so many teenagers who get drawn into violence and drugs. I wanted to do something to help. There is a movie coming out based on the book.
www.runbabyrunmovie.com/main.php -
Is he the same guy the Cross and the Switchblade was about? I read that a long, long time ago....
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Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut...amazing book and thanks to it I went on to discover other masterpieces of this author like Slaughterhouse 5 and Sirens of Titan. -
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
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Naked Lunch by William Burroughs
Christopher and his Kind by Christopher Isherwood
Plato -
Reinventing Your Life - excellent
Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous - absolute life line-
Who wrote Reinventing Your Life? Bill W's Big Book, interesting choice.
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Papillon by Henri Charriere. I was obsessed with it as a teenager. I even wrote about it in my English class and the teacher said 'but it's not on the curriculum' Why not?-
That was a brilliant book.
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Bible...!
My favorite book all time! -
WaterShip Down
It made me realize that humans do awful things to animals - and that life is more magical than we could ever possibly know.-
I never made it through the whole book, though I was young when I started it.
A book I haven't got on my list yet that REALLY got me into reading ay about the age of 11 was The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein. I was engrossed and from that book went on to devour Lord of the Rings. It was The Hobbit that showed me how much fun reading can be, so in a way it changed my life.
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I can't say I read any book that changed my life, but certainly there were plenty that helped shape my understanding of the world, of the human condition and human nature. Two that stand out are Ursula Hegi's Stones from the River and Gunter Grass's The Tin Drum.
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Thanks Jafa, I will add these to my list to check out.
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The Game -
The Critique of Pure Reason, Kant-
Kant's book changed your life? How?
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Hmmmm, that's a secret.......
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The Gospel of Thomas -
Personal experience has shaped my life more than any book. But writers whose attitude toward life I appreciate and love are:
Walt Whitman
Montaigne
Lao-Tzu
Henry Miller
The Book of Ecclesiastes
The Shakespeare of the comedies-
Lao-Tzu is a loser
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"Lao-Tzu is a loser." He'd be the first to admit it and thank you for noticing it.
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The Book of Ecclesiastes = way good.
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Green eggs and ham - it was the first book I read all by myself-
Thank you, Sam I Am
For reminding me of 'eggs and ham
I had not seen this book for ages
nor engaged in its fun filled pages
Down memory lane with eggs and ham
Thanks again Sam I Am -
hey me too! -
that was a good book.. *sighs*
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A Child Called It
changed my perspective-
What is The Child Called It about?
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7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey,Fibromyalgia & Chronic Myofascial Pain Syndrome : A Survival Manual,"Sphere" and "The Andromeda Strain", by Michael Crichton,"Cancer Ward" "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich", and The Gulag Archipelago (3 volumes) by Aleksander Solzhenitsyn, "Extinction", by Paul Erlich, "Lucifer's Hammer" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle,"Suicide" by Emile Durkheim,"The Stone Angel" by Margaret Laurence,"The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" by William Shirer, The Diary of Anne Frank" by Anne Frank, "Adolf Hitler" by John Toland,"A Bridge too Far" by Cornelius Ryan, "The Aztecs" by Richard F. Townsend, "Vimy" "The Last Spike" and "The National Dream" by Pierre Berton, "A Whale for the Killing" ,"Virunga: The Passion of Dian Fossey" and "Sea of Slaughter" by Farley Mowat-
An eclectic selection of books Albertan. Have all of these books touched you in some way, or are they just favorites?
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1984 by George Orwell
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
The Stranger by Ablert Camus
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro-
I got a lot out of both 1984 and The Animal Farm, though not necessarily life changing.
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The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker -
A Child Called It:
Amazon.com Review
David J. Pelzer's mother, Catherine Roerva, was, he writes in this ghastly, fascinating memoir, a devoted den mother to the Cub Scouts in her care, and somewhat nurturant to her children--but not to David, whom she referred to as "an It." This book is a brief, horrifying account of the bizarre tortures she inflicted on him, told from the point of view of the author as a young boy being starved, stabbed, smashed face-first into mirrors, forced to eat the contents of his sibling's diapers and a spoonful of ammonia, and burned over a gas stove by a maniacal, alcoholic mom. Sometimes she claimed he had violated some rule--no walking on the grass at school!--but mostly it was pure sadism. Inexplicably, his father didn't protect him; only an alert schoolteacher saved David. One wants to learn more about his ordeal and its aftermath, and now he's written a sequel, The Lost Boy, detailing his life in the foster-care system. -
"Emotional Intelligence" (by Daniel Goleman)
Its a brilliant book about the concept of emotional intelligence that was first developed by the psychologists Salovey and Mayer.
"Great Ideas In Psychology" (by F.M. Moghaddam)
This made a great impact on me. It not only talks about (comprehensively) the various ideas that made a difference in Psychology but it tells that developing newer ideas are important and that we should not limit our ideas just for the reason of not having any proof or empirical evidence for it. This is what made me confident about my own ideas and led me to write about them.-
Thanks Saiffarooqi,
I too got a lot out of Emotional Intelligence, and leaving off of my own list was not easy. I appreciate the review on Great Ideas in Psychology, I am now sure I will check it out.
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Catcher in the Rye. Before that I thought all novels were boring, but that book taught me that you can have fun with your writing and also be published. I read this when I was in elementary school btw. -
BIBLE-
oh yes! that one too
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A couple Sc-Fi books
Stranger in a strange land by Robert Heinlein. I read it when young and it made me keep my eyes open for the rest of my life. I read this book at least once per year and have given 50 plus copies away to friends over the years.
Songmaster by Orson Scott Card. This book made me much more understanding about people and why they do some of the things they do. It made me look at the outside vs the inside of a person in a different way. I have read this book well over 100 times. -
don't be sad -
Hi Tim Wicks,thanks so much for taking an interest in what I said in regards to this question.Tim, all of the books I listed have changed me in some way, at an emotional level, cognitive level, and spiritual level.As a result of reading these books I listed (and others), being a rationalist (someone who believes there is a reason for everything), I have been able to understand in my own way, why certain things or events have happened in the past. By being able to understand the "why",this has allowed me to use my understanding to gain further insight into the World, the people here and also gain insight into why I act as I do.These books I have listed, have helped me gain empathy for others,helped me understand a medical condition I am being forced to confront on a daily basis (fibromyalgia),as well as made me realize that all living things on our planet are interconnected. What we do as humans on the planet affects the other life on the planet, so we need to pay more attention to what we do, so that other life on the planet is not hurt or made extinct by our selfish human actions.
Tim, In what ways have the books you posted as having changed your life done so?-
Hi Albertan,
I appreciate your explanation, it makes sense to me. I will be going to work now, so I will write about one of the books, and add the others here later today.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time is about a child with Autism. It is written from the child's perspective. I had just started working in a Special School when a colleague gave me the book and it gave me insight and empathy for a lot of the children I was working with. Because of this book I can never be the same. -
"Man's Search for Meaning" by Victor Frankl is about his time in a concentration camp. Frankl was a psychiatrist before being captured and became fascinated by the inner strength of some, and the inability to hold on of others (most). I won't explain any more as it is a great book and I want to make sure you get to read it without having someone spoil it for you.
This book opened my eyes to inner strength. I remember being amazed at this guys ability to look for positives in the midst of overwhelming horror.
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Stargirl. and Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller.
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Out of the Crisis by Edwards Deming
statistical-process-control.org/out-of-the-crisis/
In his best known and most influential book written in 1986, Deming set out 14 points which, if applied to US manufacturing industry, would he believed, save the US from industrial doom at the hands of the Japanese. According to W. Edwards Deming, American companies require nothing less than a transformation of management style and of governmental relations with industry.
Who is Deming ? In case you don't know
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHvnIm9UEoQ
statistical-process-control.org/dr-demings-revolution/
Deming introduced quality improvement in post-war Japan, guiding its rise to manufacturing superstardom. In the 1970s, U.S. business leaders worried about Japanese inroads asked Deming for help, beginning the quality revolution here.
Deming’s teachings challenged American business practice at almost every point. Among his most revolutionary ideas were the notions that poor management–not slacker workers–was responsible for most quality problems, and the way to boost quality was to carefully measure defects and the effects of changing processes. -
The richest man in Babylon
This is a book that once you understand the concept and follow it you can be financially free even if you don’t make a lot of money.
Its not what you make, its what you keep that counts.-
Yeah KiefersCorner, This one is on my shelf and I have read it a few times. It is one of those books that keeps passing on gems each time you open it.
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Hi Tim Wicks,
Thanks for your kind words. I look forward to reading your message concerning which books have changed your life. At one point in my life I was enrolled in a specia education teaching program, however my life took on a different course, so I have insight into Autism. I have a cousin who is autistic, he is doing very well in life, with support from his roommates and his family.I haven't until now heard about the book "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time", until you mentioned it,however according to what I have learned about the book unline, it the main character in the book is much like my cousin with autism. It sounds like the author did alot of research concerning autism before her wrote the book, and hopefully this book will be wide-read and help clear up misconceptions the general public have about autism.
Tim, I know in my own way, what you mean when you said "you will ne ver be the same", after you read the book. It was several books by a psychologist named Torey Hayden that was a main reason why I decided to try and become a special education teacher. Her books, like this one you mention, changed me forever! -
The Bible
Out by Natsuo Kirino -
How to change your life in 12 sexy melon filled steps by Dr Milton "Honeydew" Obote -
A Child Called It is about Dave Peltzer's life as a child of abuse.
Follow The River By: James Alexander Thom gave me a love of history
Various religious doctrine taught me it all is pretty much the same
The Life of Golda Meir taught me how to fake reading a book that's boring and get a good grade on it. (It's all in picking out the big words reading two chapters in the beginning, middle, and end)
Ogre, Ogre by Piers Anthony gave me a huge vocabulary. At least that was the beginning of my interest in reading.-
Hi Shiley, I haven't heard of any of these, thanks for posting them, now that my list of 'to reads' is getting so huge I will add these to it and get into them a bit later.
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"Sophie's World" from a Norwegian writer, Jostein Gaarder
Did not change my life but among the thousands I read so far, still one of my favourite. -
With "A Brief History of Time" from Hawking, second best.
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