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Books That Changed My Life

Started by Charlotte Rowan, July 24, 2008, 01:06:11 PM

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Capt Gabriela Fullpepper

#15
Quote from: Welsh Wench on July 24, 2008, 08:02:22 PM
Right--the centerfold taught him about fractions..

1/3+1/3+1/3= Heaven on earth?

I have to say 'Green Eggs and Ham' (the best Dr Seuss book ever) taught me that breakfast really ISN'T that important!

And THAT changed my life, not to mention my eating habits!  ;)

I love that book, Green eggs and Ham.

Would you Could you in a house?

I cannot say 1 book, most books I chose to read change my life in some way but the ones I loved the most

Youth: Little House books by Laura Ingells Wilder, Little Britches; Father and I were ranchers Ralph Moody and Only Earth and Sky Last Forever Nathaniel Benchley

Teen: The Hobbit and Sword of Shannara as they intorduced me to Fantasy to which I still love this day, Have Space Suit will Travel Robert Heinlin

Adult: Battle Cry of Freedom by James Macpherson about the American Civil War and really shows how much indepth this time and conflict in American history was far more than about slavery and the Six Wives of Henry the VIII by Allison Weir
"The Metal Maiden"
To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody e

Lady Neysa

I've been a book worm ever since I can remember.  So many good books  have remained in my mind.

The "Little House" books, read most of them as a kid and faithfully watched the tv series.  I didn't know a girl my age back then who didn't want to either be Laura Ingalls, or be her best friend, or time travel and show her the wonders of the modern world. (or was that just me, in all my dorkiness? ;))  This series taught me that you don't need to have a lot of money and material things to be happy.  It taught good honest values. 

Piers Anthony's "Split Infinity"- The very first fantasy novel I ever read as a teenager, that started me down the path of the rennie.

Piers Anthony's "On a Pale Horse"- On the surface, it can be viewed as light fantasy, but looking deeper, the topics of balanced souls, free will, and the right to die with dignity, were compelling.  In particular, the scene where the atheist's soul disintegrated because he truly didn't believe in the afterlife.  That part stayed with me for a long time. 

Anne McCaffrey's "Pern" series-They didn't really change my life, buy have been a part of my life for so long. You think it was hard for Harry Potter to be over? I've been reading this epic series since I was a young teen, I think the first one was written in 1967, and they are still being written by her son Todd, (although I've heard they are probably going to be concluded soon.)  I'm still 2 books behind!  It'll be really weird when it's finally over.   

Another nod to Anna Sewell's "Black Beauty", and to Walter Farley's "Black Stallion" series, and Marguarite Henry's "Misty of Chincoteague."
They caused me to fall in love with horses at a young age, and thanks to wonderful parents, allowed me to have a horse.  (Then when I read Split Infinity,  Neysa the unicorn was my favorite character of course!)

Including books like LOTR trilogy almost goes without saying...
Harry Potter almost goes without saying too, these books are forever a part of our pop culture.  Honestly, I can't really think of any other books that have been as big a phenomenon. 

Molden

#17
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig - a decided slide-ways philosophical view on life taking a "some from column A, some from column B" approach. It shattered the illusion of how society says we should live our lives and define success. It was the first to strike a harmonic chord with me.

Illusions by Richard Back - VERY metaphysical. Ascribes to the idea that we attract every person and every situation into our lives.

Growing Yourself Back Up: Understanding Emotional Regression by John Lee. This topic struck a DEEP chord with me when I went to my 1st workshop with him. It explains a lot about some of the fights, hurt feelings that seem to come out of nowhere at times in relationships. I've read this book until it's nearly falling apart and usually by it as a gift for dear friends.

Iron John by Robert Bly. Ahhh - the Mythology of Men. Robert - like Joseph Campbell, sees our lives as the embodiment of our own Hero Myth/Legend. In this, he observes the variety of roles men play through out their lives. He describes a healthy ascent into mature manhood. It also does an excellent job of explaining the truth behind the ever-popular Mid-Life Crisis.

And as referenced above, The Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. An excellent treatment of the idea of the Hero's journey and examination of the world's mythology.

Finally, Jane Austen's body of work. She was a woman well ahead of her time and quite the snark with regard to matrimony. She was one of the first authors to publicly question the institution of marriage as it existed at the time. Her view of what it should be, an expression of mature love, between two partners (essentially equals - remember, this was the 18th century) - rather than to provide status, financial protection of her family/property, or to simply be "acceptable" in society's view. Her heroines always questioned the status quo on many fronts.
Cat-like & Mercurial

Reliably Unreliable

Lady Mikayla of Phoenicia

As a child, I remember being in my room surrounded by lots and lots of books many of which I still have today, tons of horse books, the Little House Set, Disney Books, Dr. Seuss, Black Stallion Books, soooo many.

In college I wrote a paper for my religion class, "The Reincarnation of the Dalai Lama".  My research on that title surprised me as a 17 year old, very sheltered young lady.  I was amazed at the process.  It touched my interest in signs, intuitions and cultures outside of the U.S.  I also studied Holocaust Literature as a 1 month intensive in college when I was 18.  The truest dark side of humanity...since then I prefer to stay in the light...

The 4 books I keep close to me are:

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman a "collection of prayerful meditations and Christian writings..."

Feelings Buried Alive Never Die... by Karol K. Truman - In it she discusses how we bring about illness and dis-ease to our bodies through feelings and experiences.  It helped me to indentify toxic situations within myself and my life and the importance of 1) removing oneself from those situations and 2) finding the healthful alternatives. 

For example I opened the book to this page...

"Chapter 15 Eliminating Stressors

How important and desirable is it to eliminate the stressors in our life?

Our body responds to stress with an alarm reaction.  This alarm reaction in our brain signals our adrenal glands to produce a stream of stress hormones which are chemical messengers that instantaneously increase our supply of energy, sustain blood pressure and assist other hormones in functioning more efficiently..

Our immune system, our autonomic nervous system and our brain are directly impacted by these hormones, helping our body to adapt to the stress.  The body's magnificent intelligence always serves us during stressful crises.  If the stress continues for a prolonged period of time, however, serious damage may be caused as the production of stress hormones can and does get out of control.  When these stress hormones are out of control, our body's biochemical balance becomes upset and functions entirely out of harmony.  This then impairs our immune system and leaves us open and vulnerable to invasion of dangerous infections and cancer cells.  According to some scientists, stress hormones also hasten and compound the aging process, Cortisol being one of them.

To answer the original question, "How important and desirable is it to elimminate the stressors in our lives?" , it is evident from the foregoing information that we would be doing our bodies a favor if we were taught how to minimize or eliminate as many stressors as possible on a daily basis." 

Considering I eliminated a major stressor in my life earlier today, I take this as confirmation I decided wisely.   :)

and one more...

Trust Your Vibes by Sonia Choquette "Secret Tools for Six-Sensory Living" - She shares with us that we all have that 6th sense of intuition, it's up to us to choose to listen and develop it. 

Secret #9 Psychic Protection

"This week, protect yourself energetically by consciously creating good vibes.  Speak positively to yourself and others, and recognize who and what feels good.  Pay close attention to the energy around you at all times.  Remember not to take any negative vibration or energy personally - simply refuse to be harmed by someone else's missed opportunity to love.  Shield yourself with positive, loving energy, and stop any unpleasant energy with intention.  And know that if the vibes are really bad, you can always freeze them." 

IMHO - Sometimes it's just better to bow out gracefully and simply follow Elvis' lead and leave the building.   ;D ::) :)
"Embrace those who love you and rid yourself of those who bring you down."

Lady Caroline

My all-time favs are:

The Autobiography Of Henry Vlll by Margaret George.

Clan Of the Cave Bear.

Forever Amber.

Gone With The Wind.

Anything by Steinbeck.

The Long Walk by Stephen King (writing as Richard Bachman)

Anna Iram

As others have said it *is* hard to say any one book has changed my life. I have two more to add to my list that are highly recommended.

The Power of Attracton

A New Earth: Awakening to your Life's Purpose.





Welsh Wench

#21
This says it all....
It changed my life. I never ate breakfast again.  :D

Show me your tan lines..and I'll show you mine!

I just want to be Layla.....

Lady Nicolette

Wenchie, now THAT is truly disgusting!

In response to some other books mentioned, I read all of the Marguerite Henry books,some of them multiple times!  "Forever Amber," was a family favorite as well, and we all read "Gone With The Wind," in my household.  Other books that we read were the "Jeeves" books and "The Egg and I," by Betty McDonald, which inspired the Ma and Pa Kettle films. 

We had a kind of obscure book in my home library called "The Well of Loneliness," by Radcliff Hall, which was written in 1928 about a lesbian and her difficulties.  Although I'm decidedly heterosexual, I read it before I really understood the implications and developed a keen sense of the unfairness that is meted to those who are different than the norm.   

As a young teen, I immensely enjoyed (and still do) the absurdity of Richard Brautigan.  And later on, was introduced to Edward Gorey, one of the best writers of black (or gallows) humor of all time, in my opinion.
"Into every rain a little life must fall." ~ Tom Rapp~Pearls Before Swine

Lady Nicolette

All of these other strange books are coming to mind to me as well. 

The Oz Books!  The first book I remember my mother reading to me every night  at bedtime was "The Wizard of Oz."  We had the beautifully illustrated entire series from the 1930's in our home library.  Is it any wonder that tornadoes freak me out?

I still am working on a collection of these books to replace the ones from my childhood, along with the Uncle Wiggly Longears series from the same era.  Along with these themes are of course, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," and "Through The Looking Glass."

We also enjoyed a funny little series from the 50's, written by a Carmel, CA author, Eleanor Cameron, "The Mushroom Planet," books.  Kids made a rocket ship and journeyed to the Mushroom Planet, the inhabitants came back to Earth as well and they had some interesting adventures.
"Into every rain a little life must fall." ~ Tom Rapp~Pearls Before Swine

Lady Renee Buchanan

The first historical novel that I read was Katherine by Anya Seton.  About the mistress and eventual wife of John of Gaunt, and their children, who became the basis for the Tudor and Stuart families.  I had just moved to England, and Steve's Aunt Daphne lent me the book.  I think that began my love affair with British history.  And then Steve and I went for a weekend to Kenilworth, and I was hooked on castles, knights, which led us to begin brass rubbing.

Another book that affected me deeply was Caravans by James Michener.  I read that just out of college, about 30+ years ago.  For some reason, it really touched me.  The straight-laced government guy found freedom in the form of a tribe of desert wanderers.  It began my fascination with Afghanistan.  So I now seek out whatever I can find to read about the country.  Also deepening my interest was Lie Down with Lions by Ken Follett, and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
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Member since the beginning of RF
All will be well. St. Julian of Norwich

Noble Dreg

The book "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle, literally (pun intended) charted the direction my life took from that day forward.  Read to us by our 6th grade teacher, Mrs Hammernick at afternoon "rest period".  My interest in science and engineering grew directly from that book.


My mother ran into Mrs. Hammernick years later, she remembered me and gave my mother her phone number and asked I give her a call.  My mother lost the number!  Never had a chance to thank that woman...
"Why a spoon cousin? Why not an axe?"
Because it's dull you twit, it'll hurt more. Now SEW, and keep the stitches small

Mischka

"The Chronicles of Narnia."  I only read them recently, and was astounded...finally, a concept of God/Jesus that works for me!!!  Those books totally changed my life.

"On Combat" and "On Killing" by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman.  Gave me a LOT of perspective, especially being married to a police officer, and having PTSD myself.

Lord Finger

#27
I spent my teens reading Dragonlance novels, all entertaining but not very deep.

A chance discovery in a college library introuced me to Isaac Asimov's science fiction and short stories. I'll always remember how The Last Question made my jaw drop. http://www.multivax.com/last_question.html

House Of Leaves by Mark Danielewski - totally rearranges how a novel can be presented, uses footnotes, colored text and scattered text arrangements to inspire confusion and leave you open to terror. A love story in disguise.
http://www.amazon.com/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/0375703764/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217163135&sr=1-1

Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon! My Mother and sister made me read the first book and I've been up late ever since, even halfway through a second read! Sorry, a quick review:
From Publishers Weekly
Absorbing and heartwarming, this first novel lavishly evokes the land and lore of Scotland, quickening both with realistic characters and a feisty, likable heroine. English nurse Claire Beauchamp Randall and husband Frank take a second honeymoon in the Scottish Highlands in 1945. When Claire walks through a cleft stone in an ancient henge, she's somehow transported to 1743. She encounters Frank's evil ancestor, British captain Jonathan "Black Jack" Randall, and is adopted by another clan. Claire nurses young soldier James Fraser, a gallant, merry redhead, and the two begin a romance, seeing each other through many perilous, swashbuckling adventures involving Black Jack. Scenes of the Highlanders' daily life blend poignant emotions with Scottish wit and humor. Eventually Sassenach (outlander) Claire finds a chance to return to 1945, and must choose between distant memories of Frank and her happy, uncomplicated existence with Jamie.
http://www.amazon.com/Outlander-Diana-Gabaldon/dp/0385319959/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217162550&sr=1-1

Amyj

Quote from: Molden on July 25, 2008, 01:02:17 PM
Illusions by Richard Back - VERY metaphysical. Ascribes to the idea that we attract every person and every situation into our lives.

Ahhhhh...I love Richard Bach's work!!!  My favorites, ones that changed my method of thought a bit, were "Bridge Across Forever" and "One". 

I'm finding so many of my favorites being mentioned here...very cool thread!!!!
I'm not fat, it's just that a skinny body couldn't hold ALL THIS PERSONALITY! ;)
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Charlotte Rowan

Wow, it' really interesting to read everyone's responses!!

I just thought of another one (yes, it's impossible to pick just one!!): The Five Love Languages (http://www.amazon.com/Five-Love-Languages-Heartfelt-Commitment/dp/1881273156/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217343691&sr=1-2) by Gary Chapman. It really helped me understand what had gone wrong in some of my previous relationships. And although Chapman is pretty religious, the book doesn't contain too much preaching and you can kind of ignore the religious references, if it's not your thing.
Masquerading as a normal person day after day is exhausting.