# Books That Have Truly Changed Your Life



## Danielsearch (May 27, 2011)

Ender's Game and Shadow of the Giant - Both by Orson Scott Card.

Ender's Game helped me realize my ambitions. Shadow of the Giant just put the destiny of our species into perspective.


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## caramel_choctop (Sep 20, 2010)

Studying Ted Hughes' _Birthday Letters _got me interested in Sylvia Plath, which in turn got me writing poetry. I'm not saying I'm the next poet Laureate or anything, but it was the first thing I've been really passionate about. 
It also helps to have a goal (publishing) and an outlet/something you can craft and mould and basically control, when your life isn't going too well.

Yes, I know it's cliched to discover poetry via Plath, but the way she played with sounds was what attracted me to her poems in the first place.


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## ThisAnonymous (Feb 24, 2011)

Books! I love books! 

Siddhartha changed my life. It made me appreciate all the esoteric use of symbols and literary devices more and got me reading more. Oh, and Perfume. I discovered the my taste for morbidity in books.


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## Aedesia (Nov 17, 2011)

Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters by Peter Vronsky 
The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide by Robert Jay Lifton 
Me Against My Brother: At War in Somalia, Sudan, and Rwanda by Scott Peterson 

I don't really read a lot of fiction.


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## friendly80sfan (May 12, 2011)

The Bible-It tells me how to live a good life for God, so that's a pretty big impact.
The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton-It opened me up to a new world and helped me truly realize who I am and what I want to do. I also loved the movie(the reedited version though because that includes most of the book). It resparked my interest in acting and movies and made me a huge 80s fan.
That Was Then, This is Now by S. E. Hinton-It had a lot of really good lessons and interesting characters. I loved it so much.
Others: Rumble Fish by S. E. Hinton, Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe(I;m not done yet, but it gives you an inside look at acting and the life of one of my favorite actors).


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## Yourlovelyquinn (Mar 20, 2011)

_The Gift of Fear_ by Gavin De Becker
This book showed me better ways of listening to my intuition, I never not listen to it. Also I can read the signs of danger a lot quicker. I'm more observant. I recommend this book to everyone. It could save your life.


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## blkrbt (Oct 29, 2011)

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand -- changed the way I approached living my life
The Wanting Seed by Anthony Burgess -- changed the way I looked at my politics


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## OakTreeSquared (Nov 21, 2011)

Gray Skies said:


> _Financial Peace_ by Dave Ramsey. It completely changed my mindset about debt, saving and my personal finances in general.


That's a good one. I haven't read it all the way, but listen to him on the radio, did one of his video seminar series, and take tips from my parents who have read the book and are now debt free.


I have a few more to add. I can't copy my entire good-books list (waaaayyy to long), so I will stick to psych type related titles ... and a few others.

_Gifts Differing_ by Isabel Myers (Reading the theory clarified the application)

_The Five Love Languages_ by Gary Chapman (I found the theory applies to all relationships not just romantic ones, and it changed how I communicated love to everyone)

_The Introvert Advantage: How to thrive in an extrovert world_ by Marti Olsen Laney (gave me great life skills/tools on how to truly be *myself* instead of succumbing to acting like an extrovert)

_The Art of Speedreading People: Harness the Power of Personality Type and Create what you want in Business and in Life_ by Paul Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger (not necessarily life-changing, but very useful)


As for non-psych-type titles, a few children's books and teen fiction books have shaped who I am: 
_Ms. Rumphius_ by Barbara Cooney (about having adventure and making the world more beautiful)
_The Princess and the Kiss_ by Jennie Bishop (about purity)
And several re-told fairytales I read as a teen. What did they all have in common? A strong, female lead character who happened to be an introvert, and happened to save the day for the family and friends she loved. Can you say INFJ girl? Yes.


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## Etherealite (Nov 26, 2011)

The Bible, Phantom of the Opera, Harry Potter... so many important themes and parables


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## Promethea (Aug 24, 2009)

one-dimensional man
ethics of ambiguity
society of the spectacle
prometheus rising
illuminatus trilogy


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## Promethea (Aug 24, 2009)

Sebastien Lenette said:


> Men are from Mars, Women from Venus - John Gray


thats a shame.. his book is full of absurd generalizations that many people simply will not fit. i really hope it was your own criticism of his bullshit that changed your life.


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## QueCueYew (Aug 20, 2010)

The Grand Inquisitor by Dostoevsky 
Full text of "The Grand Inquisitor"


Sort of made me realize the bullshit spin which Jesus is shown in and who he may have actually resembled. Much to the dismay of many warmongering Christians.


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## MNiS (Jan 30, 2010)

Promethea said:


> one-dimensional man
> ethics of ambiguity
> society of the spectacle
> prometheus rising
> illuminatus trilogy


This is an awesome list. Thanks!


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## Anubis (Nov 30, 2011)

slaughterhouse five by Vonnegut.

Totally changed my perception of time and existence


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## thephilosophist (Dec 2, 2011)

Flowers for Algernon


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## Princessportent (Dec 2, 2011)

^ yes

"Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl
"A Day No Pigs Would Die" by Robert Newton Peck Jr. (I read this as a kid!)


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## Bia (Oct 31, 2011)

Gray Skies said:


> _Financial Peace_ by Dave Ramsey. It completely changed my mindset about debt, saving and my personal finances in general.


Heck yeah!!! lol Dave Ramsey is awesome!! (I literally yelled that out when I read your post lol) 

I'm reading his "Total Money Makeover" right now, half way through it. I thought after "Financial Peace" Dave couldn't get any better, but he did!! lol 

"Financial Peace" has impacted me SO MUCH that I have decided to get my B.A in Finance just because I have learned that the way you _handle_ money greatly affects your quality of life, no matter how much your making!! I love the idea of being able to help other people take control of their money and teach them to _give back_ as well. Good stuff.


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## Bia (Oct 31, 2011)

"The Rape of Nanking"-by Iris Chang.

I was never the same again. While it devastated me to think that the human race is really THAT sick and THAT twisted, I gained a deeper appreciation for the human life because of this book. It continues to motivate me to do whatever I can for the greater good of humanity.


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## TheBeanie (Apr 8, 2011)

Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling (I've been fixated on this series for most of life.)
Fountainhead - Ayn Rand 
1984 - George Orwell 
A Brief History Of Time - Stephen Hawkins (Made me realise what I want to do for a living)


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## paintsaint11 (Nov 5, 2011)

For the better:
_The Bible_ - most definitely.
_Fight Club_ - made me question things more, which just led to a deeper faith as I couldn't find any fallacies in my religion.
_Wuthering Heights_ - It made me more aware of vanity. Not saying I was vain to begin with, but I've got a sort of fear of it now.
_The Catcher In The Rye_ - Yes, I actually really enjoyed this. If they made a movie, Holden would be so adorable(; But what I got from it was sort of the same thing from Fight Club - don't be afraid to ask questions or be different. Also, Holden's tendency to be introverted matched that of my own and I was glad to find a literary character I could relate to.

For the Worse:
_The Twilight Series_. - total disgrace to _Dracula_, although the latter didn't change my life, it was still a great read and I am ashamed of my generation for making such a big deal about this epic fail.


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