First up, speaking of changing lives, there is still time to leave a comment for a great cause! Check out Monday’s post, where every comment means $1.00 for Heifer International. There are many other great blogs participating, and please consider making your own pledge! Whatever amount you decide.
Meanwhile, one of the things I love about the holidays is that they seem like a time of possibility. Maybe it’s the crisp air, the lights, the tradition, or the spreading of goodwill, but it is definitely a time where life feels a little more magical.
And to that end, I thought I’d bring this around to magical books: which one most changed your life?
I would personally have to go with Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I just never knew books could be that funny, and reading it in high school literally opened up a whole new universe.
What about you?
Jenny says
Two books:
1. Just As Long As We're Together by Judy Blume showed me that friendship is and important relationship that takes work.
2. The Babysitter by R.L. Stine–I was babysitting and it scared the living bejeezus outta me. Showed me that stories can cause real emotional reactions!
Sudam says
I started late but one book changed my focus. The Guide by R K Narayan. In the meanwhile read many books but this is my first book that i read and thought to write something. The something though is yet to come still i love this book.
thanks
Corrie Wachob says
A Prayer for Owen Meany is the one that made me think I could be a writer. I started that week. I don't know if I should thank John Irving or not, but that's pretty life changing. 🙂
Kristina says
The Neverending Story. It was the first big book I ever read. My mom forced me to read it and it took 6 months because, at the time, I hated reading. Then I finished it and realized how wonderful reading is, and I've been hooked ever since. 🙂
Teralyn Rose Pilgrim says
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher. It's the first chapter book I remember reading, and I read it around the same time I decided to be an author. It literally sent me on a path that defined who I am and the life I would live. It's a little insane how much a book can change someone.
salima says
Hermann Hesse's Narcissus and Goldmund.:) Hesse introduced my idealistic fifteen-year-old mind to what was possible in life and, as cheesy as it sounds, that my dreams could manifest. 'Cause school certainly wasn't teaching me that. 🙂
Kristin Laughtin says
SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE. I was an avid reader before reading this in high school, but somehow it was the first book that made me realize what could be done with words.
Becca says
Almost every book I read changed my life in some way. But I'd have to say Lois Duncan's Stranger with my Face, (with John Green's Looking for Alaska coming in a close second.)
This book opened up a new genre for me. It introduced me to a type of story I'm more attracted to, and helped me realize I wanted to be a writer.
Jeigh says
I don't know if I'd call them "life-changing", but "The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle" by Avi had a huge impact on me as a child.
"The Two Princesses of Bamarre" by Gail Carson Levine really inspires me as a writer.
And C.S. Lewis' "The Last Battle" gave me a lot to think about.
N.A. says
The Bean Trees – Barbara Kingsolver.
I must have been about twelve when I read it – and I really liked it. Not necessarily because of the story at all, but because it was the first time reading a book was like sitting down to hear a story being told RIGHT AT THAT MOMENT.
That experience is what I still look for as a reader – reading that feels like listening.
As an adult, I've found that much more often in short stories than novels.
Taryn Tyler says
Lloyd Alexander's Westmark trylogy. Without a doubt.
Sarah says
Though there have been hundred of books that changed me, I think the books I read when I was about ten years old probably had the most influence.
The first one was Jane Eyre. The character is so well written, I felt like I had finally found someone I could relate to. I identified with Jane and she made it alright for me to be strange, quiet, thoughtful, ordinary-looking, and creative. Still love her!
The other one was the Lord of the Rings series, because it showed me exactly how large a world can become within the confines of a novel. That one probably got me started wanting to be a writer.
IanBontems says
I think it has to be The Lord of the Rings for me.
When I read them aged 10, they opened my eyes to the how books could take you far away and work on an amazing scale.
A.C. Tidwell says
Richard Dawkins The God Delusion and Don Quixote. I read DQ a year ago for grad school and it made me appreciate Spanish writers all over again. Dawkins book was the first of its kind that made sense to me. Twice in the first twenty pages I went to my wife and said "listen to this" or "you've gotta hear this" I've never been that excited before.
Stephanie says
Not to sound boastful, but writing my own novel "Warring with Emeralds." I never intended it to be a 550 page novel–it was just supposed to be a fun little short story–but it changed me, opened my eyes to so many things, revealing my true self.
But if I had to pick a book not my own, it is without a doubt "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" by Jaime Ford. I've never cried so much reading one book. I never knew Americans put Japanese in concentration camps, and it broke my heart to learn this.
John says
Frank Herbert's DUNE revealed that I wanted to be a writer in 1984. Oddly, it was the movie and the sequels. I didn't read the book until 1996.
J. T. Shea says
The Bible. A fairly obvious choice, but it certainly changed my life the most, along with the lives of billions of other people, many of whom never read it, and not always for the better. Apart from that, anything by C. S. Lewis. Also TOXIC PSYCHIATRY by Dr. Peter Breggin, the title being self-explanatory.
I'm doubtful about HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY. The last time I went hitchhiking across the galaxy with it I got lost near Alpha Centauri…
AnnabelleOsborne says
The Everafter by Amy Huntley, that book changed the way I looked at life and death. Not long before reading it I lost a loved one and this book helped me feel much better about it. I really think everyone should try it. Even though it's very sad I think it's a great book.
Mark Terry says
This is surprisingly easy for me. "Fear Itself: The Horror Fiction of Stephen King" edited by Tim Underwood and Chuck Miller. But that's actually not as specific as this actually is. From that book, there's a Foreword by Stephen King titled "On Becoming A Brand Name."
I read this in college. It was between my junior and senior year. I was finishing up a BSc in microbiology & public health. I was struck by the fact that one didn't necessarily go to school to become a writer (specifically a novelist), but one wrote.
And so, inspired, I wrote an SF short story. And a year or so later I tried my hand at a novel.
And now, some 24 years or so after reading that book and that essay, I am a full-time freelance writer, editor, novelist and ghostwriter. With 10 novels published, one nonfiction book, several short stories and well over 600 articles, etc.
That's life changing.
Barbara's Spot on the Blog says
The book that changed my life was The Splendid Art of Decorating Eggs by Rosemary Disney. I read it many times as a child and then as a teenager I read it again and from the directions in the book learned to make the Faberge-like eggs. Then I started my first business as an artist. I was 19 and it was awesome. I learned so much from that whole experience. I'm forever grateful to that author for sharing her knowledge.
Emy Shin says
It's definitely the Harry Potter series, for me. It isn't my favorite series of all time, but it gave me the love for writing. 🙂
write4chocolate says
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I first read it at age 15 and it had a profound impact on my thinking about the poor, justice, and what it means to be a humanitarian. During my PhD program I chose French as my required language so I could read the original.
Nicole L Rivera says
How to Eat Fried Worms. When, Mrs. Jenkins, my forth-grade teacher read it I fell in love with books. Then I went through my rebellious middle-school years and stopped reading. In high school Harry Potter pulled me back in. Post-highschool horrific romance pulled me away and then The Left Behind series brought me back in. So I owe my love of writing and the dozens of books I read a year to three books: How to Eat Fried Worms, Harry Potter Series, and The Left Behind Series.
lexcade says
The Island of Dr. Moreau by HG Wells. It inspired the novel I'm querying and propelled me into wanting to write for a living. Changed EVERYTHING.
D.G. Hudson says
Books have changed my way of thinking and through that, have changed how I look at life in general.
ON THE ROAD – Jack Kerouac – made me realize I needed to see more of the world. I wanted to see the places I read about. (in college)
THE HOBBIT – Tolkien – made me remember the world of fantasy with Elves, fairies, and the like. Elves, swords, magic – what's not to like? (late teen years)
Asimov's FOUNDATION, any novel in that series, but the first one in particular made me realize my favorite thing to read is science fiction stories written in the epic manner.
Books have played a major role in my life, as has writing. Books can change the way we perceive – and help us grow into a more tolerant species. Maybe.
Great question.
Backfence says
Aside from The Bible – two come to mind. Both reflect the writers’ optimism and belief that there is good in the world, despite the horrendous vantage point from which each sees it. 1) The Diary of Anne Frank, and 2) Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt. Also The Gift of Fear by Gavin DeBecker gets honorable mention. Good, sound advice on how learning to listen to your instincts could save your life.
patlaff says
I used to hate reading. Then I read Bonfire of the Vanities.
I was in high school in southeastern Connecticut (a distant suburb of NYC) when the whole Tawana Brawley and Rev. Al Sharpton fiasco gripped the city (if not the nation). Ten years later while on vacation somewhere, I read Bonfire of the Vanities and realized, in awe, how an author can manipulate the real, raw emotions of the reader to create a unique, powerful emotional tie to his work of fiction. The book must have been 700 pages and I would have kept reading for another 700 had Tom Wolfe not decided to move on to his next project by tying everything up in the epilogue.
It, more than any other book, changed my life.
Book Bird Dog says
The Once and Future King by T. H. White certainly got my imagination rolling…. as well as the books of C. S. Lewis.
Anonymous says
I'd have to say, when I was younger, it was The Lord of The Rings trilogy. The book was so expansive and rich and it opened up a whole new world to me (well, it was Middle Earth).
Nowadays, I'd have to admit to The Twilight series. I know they aren't the best written or the most imaginative but the books strike an undefinable chord within me. So much so, that I've read the books over and over.
Stasia says
As a little girl, BALLET SHOES – Noel Streatfeild. As a teen, OF HUMAN BONDAGE – W. Somerset Maugham. As a writer, CRANK – Ellen Hopkins and THE FLYING CHANGE – Henry Taylor.
DesertComet says
The Giver was probably the first novel I ever read and liked. It got me to read fiction.
Ender's Game was the first time I read a book that made me think and that really resonated with me. I remember reading it in high school and then deciding that I didn't want to be a writer anymore. It was so good and I felt that nothing I would ever write would be even a sixteenth as good as that. For whatever reason that discouraged me for a while, lol.
The last one is The Catcher in the Rye. I won't go into details but Holden thought the exact same way I did as a teenager. The book became a lens that let me look at my childhood, make peace with it, and move on.
Books are amazing. Not only can they be incredibly entertaining but they can open your eyes to new possibilities and show you things you never could have seen before. Reading through all the comments and seeing how different books have touched people's lives has been great!
Neurotic Workaholic says
I'd like to say it was one of the classics, like Pride and Prejudice or I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. But actually it was Jen Lancaster's first memoir, Bitter is the New Black. She was one of the first writers I ever read who was totally neurotic and obsessive but made these qualities seem hilarious. I also liked that in her memoir she didn't try to portray herself as an innocent victim or as the perfect heroine; instead she portrayed herself as a real person that I could relate to, someone I would want to be friends with. Reading her books makes me want to write even more.
Kath says
Podcayne of Mars. A revelation that the protagonist could be strong, funny, smart, engaging, three dimensional, and female.
Kath
kath-lettersfromearth.blogspot.com
Down the well says
Weird choice for a girl maybe, but My Side Of The Mountain by Jean Craighead George changed my life. Seriously, the book ricocheted my life in a direction that lasted until well past college. It influenced what degree I sought, where I live, and how I view the natural world around me.
Fenris says
As one of the younger generation, I'd probably have to go with the first 'Harry Potter' book. I read it when I was about seven, after a friend of mine told me I looked like the main character.
The fantastical, somewhat whimsical voice impacted me especially at that age, since my imagination was still unfettered by petty things like realism. And since I was younger than the age of "acceptance" in the book, I frequently dreamt of getting a letter from Hogwarts myself — hey, I was seven!
Now that I've started writing, nearly ten years later, I look back and realize that the HP series impacted me more than I thought, as I've found myself adopting a bit of Rowling's writing style, and even a bit of the voice. So it's with confidence that I can say "Harry Potter and the Sorceror's/Philosopher's Stone" was easily the book to leave the biggest impression on me.
So of course, I now write fantasy.
Diana says
There are three books that I read when I was a teenager that had an impact on my life.
Testimony of Two Men by Taylor Caldwell – the story is about a doctor who is accused of performing illegal abortions on women. The real culprit is the other doctor in the story who for years uses his position to mutilate women without fear of being caught or prosecuted because none of the women that he mutilated would press charges as they would also have been prosecuted for having an illegal abortion.
Mandingo by Kyle Onstott – this was a novel about slavery before the Civil War. It showed all the brutality and cruelty that slaves were subject to.
Cape of Storms by John Gordon Davis – set in the early days of Apartheid in South Africa. When they start segregating the races, the heroine who only has 1/16th "black blood" (ie only one of her 16 great great grandparents was black) is prohibited from visiting her white mother and must move into the black sector. The story showed how wrong Apartheid was and for many more reason than what I have stated.
It was horrifying to see how bad mankind can treat other humans.
Danielle La Paglia says
I love books. All kinds of books. I read (probably) too much. But…reading The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe with my daughter before the movie came out will stay with me longer than anything I read for myself. Discovering a new world together was the most amazing experience.
Ermo says
Freakanomics. In terms of positioning how I view the world, I would say that is the book I've read that has had the most impact.
Kari says
The first four Harry Potter books. I can say without a doubt that these books saved me from MANY hours of boredom.
lahn says
One Hundred Years of Solitude. My first taste of magical realism.
Icy Roses says
Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia for instilling a lifelong love of reading.
Ella Enchanted (Gail Carson Levine) and Spinners (Donna Jo Napoli, Richard Tchen) for a lifelong love of fairy tale retellings.
Mary, Bloody Mary (Carolyn Meyer) for a lifelong love of history, which incidentally, my major in college.
Anassa says
I thought this would be a hard question to answer but it isn't, really. I have to say The Canterbury Tales, because reading it sparked a chain of events that's lead to me becoming a writer.
My second most influential book, because I can't just name one book in a comment, is The Hobbit, because it's the first novel I read on my own and the first novel I reread.
MJR says
Other than kid's books (I have a very long list of those), I think JANE EYRE. I remember reading it when I was 11 and I literally couldn't put it down–my mother drove me someplace and I took the book with me in the car. That was the beginning of my love of literature….
Kristi Helvig says
Going back to my childhood, I would have to either say A Wrinkle in Time or The Wizard of Oz.
treeoflife says
The Hobbit. I read it way back in grade 3, and I continue to read fantasy more than 20 years later.
Sadly, the genre is pretty stale… they all seem the same now. My love of the genre manifests itself more in MMORPG's than in books these days.
Anna says
This one isn't very deep, but Baroness Orczy's Scarlet Pimpernel sparked my passion for all things French and Revolution-y. I'm now in grad school studying Romanticism and about to leave on a vacation to Paris.
Huntress says
At the risk of getting hate mail or derision, Twilight.
I lost 70 pounds and began running 4 miles a day. The books made me want to be a better person.
lindsey lane says
Black Beauty
Because it told me the truth about life…that cruelty lived right alongside kind and gentle people and your path could go either way.
Postman says
Good choice on "Hitchhiker's." Remains one of the few books that actually makes me laugh out loud until my sides hurt.
I think the one that really changed my life was H.G. Wells's "The Time Machine." That, and Wells's other excellent stories, got me into science fiction. I found it an enjoyable genre to read, and it showed me that not all fiction has to be grounded in the real and familiar, and that you don't have to write books like "Of Mice and Men" and "The Great Gatsby" to be a "credible author."
Anonymous says
Atlas Shrugged; no other book comes close. For me, most "great" novels and stories can be entertaining and moving and even enlightening in little ways (e.g., Mark Helprin's stories), but not truly life changing like Atlas Shrugged. It was (and remains) a momentous intellectual event in my life.