Name one book that changed your life.

[volstork]

For me it is Wendell Berry's "Remembering."

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

1. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

We had to read it in High school. It had so many emotions - if its ever made into a movie I want to play Pecola ...

[DemocratSinceBirth]

2. Everything You Want To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask

I picked it up when I was twelve at the book section in K-Mart... There was a chapter about oral sex... I thought it was about people talking about sex...

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

3. So cute.

[camero]

4. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

I haven't looked at people in the same way since.

[EFerrari]

5. Little Women. I learned how to read going over this book over

and over until I could decode the words and references.

[laylah]

6. Lynne Andrews

"The Marriage Basket" and Pincola-Este' "Women Who Run With Wolves".

[Rabrrrrrr]

7. The Bible; 1984; Dune; Violence and the Sacred; a biography of Ben Franklin I read in 3rd grade

(and which I had to explain to the librarian at school had gotten waterstained when I dropped it in the tub while I was reading it - she was sad about the damage, and yet, at the same time, I think she was excited that I loved reading so much I'd read it in the bathtub, so she didn't discipline me at all).

[Celeborn Skywalker]

43. Dune is a great book.

I read Dune for the first time in ninth grade and have read it every year since.

[lildreamer316]

8. Illusions by Richard Bach. n/t

[SPKrazy]

9. Illusions by Richard Bach here too.

totally changed my perspective on things...

:hi:

[Dirty Hippie]

18. Same Here

Illusions...

"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly. "

[SPKrazy]

19. in fact...

it's time to read that book again...

I used to read it at least once a year... been a few since then...

:hi:

[prole_for_peace]

48. "Watership Down"

i first read it in 7th grade and many times since then. it made me think of animals as more than just that. i started thinking that maybe they do think and reason and have their own communities just like people. it started me on my path to being an(un-official) advocate for animals and animal rights.

[stuntcat]

73. Watership Down

it counts as a kid's book I think, so I wasn't gonna speak up, but it's the one that I know really effected me the most. I would have respected animals' souls anyway, I mean I don't know if it made the difference in me, or maybe was just a part of it.
I've read it three times and it's been so long that I want to again but I've gotten way too emotional lately about stuff like that story so I'm afraid to.

[mikita]

10. The Culture of Make Believe by Derrick Jensen n/t

[hippywife]

11. Love Wendell Berry.

Have only read his articles, tho. Will have to check out his books.
Thanx for mentioning that.

I would have to say for me it was Zinn's "A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present." Nothing like the unvarnished truth to knock one out of complacency.

[datasuspect]

12. gargantua and pantagruel

[RushIsRot]

13. Walden -- Henry David Thoreau

[jobycom]

14. The Phone Book

Saved me lots of time from going door to door...

After that, Sidhartha by Hermann Hess, and The Catcher in the Rye. The latter not so much because of the normal angst/rebellion stuff, but because of its colloquial style and tight structure. Probably the first "great" book I ever read. It gave me a love for writing, and what could be done with it.

[idgiehkt]

54. Catcher is such a masterpiece

Every time I read it I'm awed at how much that character rings true. There is nothing at all inauthentic about Caulfied, which is pretty amazing. It's just a brilliant rendering.

[graywarrior]

15. The Real Frank Zappa Book

Seriously. He opened my eyes to the political system.

[enigmatic]

16. 2

[Eurobabe]

17. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

One of my all time favorites.

[flvegan]

20. Wherever You Go, There You Are... by Jon Kabat-Zinn

[SPKrazy]

25. Kabat-Zinn Is A Good Author

his studies of mindfulness meditation and the practical application of that with ill people to their benefit is amazing.

[RetroLounge]

26. I'm reading that now...

:hi:

RL

[GOPisEvil]

21. "The Art of Happiness" by His Holiness The Dalai Lama and Dr. Howard Cutler

[Kali]

22. Wendell Berry is confirming for me, Allan Savory's Holistic Resource Management

(first edition) made the change

[amitten]

23. Fahrenheit 451.

As a pre-teen, it made me realize that the world was largely superficial and full of bullshit.

I'd truly never noticed before. Thank you, Ray Bradbury.

[txwhitedove]

39. Another here for Farenheit 451, and anything else by Bradbury...

and then, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

[amitten]

56. Loves me some Bradbury!

Dandelion Wine is my favorite. Gets me in the gut.

[Arugula Latte]

24. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

It sort of woke me up to the evil lurking in the rightwing -- although the evil that manifested after she wrote that took a different form. Still, it made me determined to fight against rightwing religious fuckwads for the rest of my life.

[Ghost in the Machine]

27. Playboy - - - I was 9...

What?!? You other guys were thinking it... I just said it out loud!

[terrya]

28. "The Front Runner" by Patricia Nell Warren

It was the first book I read that had gay characters in it. When I was coming to terms with my homosexuality, I honestly wondered if there were books about gay people and books that talked about homosexuality. It helped to know that there were books and information about gay people.

[SaveElmer]

29. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe...

The book I was reading when I discovered I liked reading, rather than having it be a school chore!!!

[angrycarpenter]

30. The giving tree by shel silverstein

first book I ever chose to read.

[Critters2]

31. Rene Girard's _The Scapegoat_, and "Things Hidden Since

the Foundation of the World_; Matthew Scully _Dominion_.

[lost-in-nj]

32. Not a book

per say
but like I said in another post
Evangeline by Longfellow
still haunts me from the sixth grade, till today.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangeline

awesome love story

lost

1984 bothered me a little to
but I was a teenager and didn't believe it could happen
stupid teenager......

[SPKrazy]

68. mebbe a cajun in another life?

Evangeline Parish is one of the mainstays of "Acadiana" which is where the "Cajuns" settled after being displaced as in the story.

I saw a bumper sticker that said:

Bush/Cheney 1984

:rofl:

[DU GrovelBot]

33. ## PLEASE DONATE TO DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND! ##

==================
GROVELBOT.EXE v4.0
==================



This week is our third quarter 2007 fund drive. Democratic
Underground is a completely independent website. We depend on donations
from our members to cover our costs. Thank you so much for your support.

[AwakeAtLast]

36. I don't know that one.

Have to go to the library to check it out!

;)

[Mojambo]

34. A People's History... n/t

[Mz Pip]

35. Dragons of Eden

Carl Sagan's Pulitzer Prize winning book. Demon Haunted World would be another.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[nytemare]

44. I can't pick a favorite from him.

Other than whichever one I am reading at the moment. I love his writing. So sad he is gone.

[IDemo]

46. Everything I've read by Sagan

Demon Haunted World should be required reading in the seventh grade. Cosmic Connection got me hooked on science and astronomy when I was that age.

[electron_blue]

82. me, too! Made me want to become an astronomer.

I even wrote Sagan and asked advice (he wrote back). Until that book I never had any idea that one could choose a truly fascinating career.

I haven't read Demon Haunted World - do you think that book is aimed for the "choir", or could it reach those who are stuck on the creationist side of the fence.

[RetroLounge]

37. Well, it's a BIG book...

and it was written anonymously...

:D

RL

[fudge stripe cookays]

38. "And the Band Played On"

I read it in 1995 because I felt bad about not being able to see the AIDS quilt while it was in town. It blew me away at how much my gay friends had had to endure, and what they were still dealing with, as far as judgemental assholes, and not even being able to be with those they loved in their last moments.

After an abortion the year before and then reading that book, I turned into a RAGING liberal. I had lived a completely self-involved, naive existence before that-- hated politics, never got involved.

After that, it was only a matter of time before I became hardcore.

[legally blonde]

84. that's the book that has influenced me the most

Or the one that always stands out in my mind, anyway.

Some others are The Jungle, On the Origin of Species, To Kill a Mockingbird, . . .

[SeattleGirl]

40. The Women's Room by Marilyn French

I'd always been somewhat aware of women's issues, but that book totally opened my eyes to the difference is how men and women are treated,, and the difference between how men see women, and how women see themselves.

[REP]

41. It's a play, but "Heartbreak House" George Bernard Shaw

[Wapsie B]

42. The Little Red Hen.

[Katina]

45. Siddartha

yeah, ok anything by Herman Hesse.

[benny05]

51. I liked that one the most

I'm not certain I live up to "I can think. I can wait. I can fast."

[Dogmudgeon]

47. Charlotte's Web

It was the first "real" book I read entirely on my own, and it was my first experience with the joy/despair emotional sandwich.

When I was younger, I liked Dr. Seuss' oeuvre. Especially "Yurtle the Turtle," a primer in left-wing politics. The book also has a story about a vain bird who grows lots of plumage but becomes too heavy to fly and has to get all the feathers plucked from her ass -- a metaphor for the futility of conspicuous consumption, and with a nice little Freudian twist.

Derrida was still in the French equivalent of college at the time.

--p!

[w8liftinglady]

49. forgive me--"Atlas Shrugged" got me involved in politics

obviously-I no longer share Ayn Rand's views on the world,But I was a Randian Objectivist for almost 20 years.I campaigned HARD for Libertarians in Texas until my son went to Iraq.

[Ikonoklast]

71. Had the exact opposite effect on me. Interesting.

I've always felt that Rand was the epitome and excuse for selfishness.
Objectivism is a failed religion that has left devastation in its' wake. See: the current crop of neocons and their love for Rand.

She made me realize that if a society does not co-operate, it is doomed to failure.

[Dervill Crow]

80. One of my covenmates loves Ayn Rand.

I don't get it.

[JTG of the PRB]

50. "On The Road" by Jack Kerouac

Helped me realize that what I want to do is write and travel across the United States. One of my favorite books ever now.

[AnotherGreenWorld]

52. In Search of Lost Time and Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

Lots of others, too.

[MilesColtrane]

53. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

...followed shortly thereafter by "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas".

[idgiehkt]

55. it would be poetry

Not Vanishing "by Chrystos

knocked holes in my limited causasian perpective with a great big sledgehammer, I have never looked at the world in the same way.

[frogcycle]

57. The notebooks of Lazarus Long - RA Heinlein

Close second is the Foundation Trilogy - its three volumes, sold separately, but one intact work - Isaac Asimov

[FloridaJudy]

58. Cat's Cradle

By Kurt Vonnegut. It cemented my conviction that in a nonsensical world the most important thing is compassion.

[taterguy]

63. I guess that one indirectly changed my life

I had several life-changing experiences at a bar named after that book.

[BlueIris]

59. Jean Hegland's "Windfalls." After that I decided never to take any more shit from men

regaring sex, contraception, pregnancy, childbirth, childrearing or role equity, never to be bulled into making health-destroying "choices" regarding birth control, or be made to feel guilty for refusing to bear the sole responsibility for birth control or for maintaining the functionality of the sex life in what should be a fair relationship between two people. Men should be forced to read "Windfalls," a lot, in order to have some understanding of the way society brutalizes and neglects women with regard to contraception, pregnancy and childbirth especially. Plus, it's an excellent novel. Extremely well-written and enjoyable, well, when it isn't making you cry your eyes out.

[orleans]

60. the happy hooker

(just kidding...well, kinda)

[Redneck Socialist]

78. LOL, a teacher confiscated that book from me in Jr High

I never got in trouble because of it so I suspect that he kept if for himself.

[jgraz]

61. The Bible

It made me an atheist.

[Dervill Crow]

77. Beat me to it.

It took me three times reading it through, though. I was a bit slow in my younger days.

[Fox Mulder]

62. 1984

[Inchworm]

64. yup

:)

:hi:

[Connonym]

81. And Animal Farm

[Fire Walk With Me]

65. Books are always changing my life, so I can't name a single title...

Phantom Tollbooth when a child, as I'd never before heard wordplay (grew up in an incredibly boring town with incredibly boring people).

1984 and Animal Farm for the cautionary examples.

All of Ray Bradbury's work. The Good Earth by Buck.
Ursula K. LeGuin's work. Larry Niven's work. Many other SF authors for envisioning a better tomorrow and for the insight into ourselves.

"The Path of Emancipation" by Thich Nhat Hahn. The socio-biologic recommendations in the Bible. The Bhagavad Gita (-really- depends upon the translation. Mascaro's for the poetry, others for the in-depth analysis).

"Analog Days" for the window into the social and musical scene in which the analog modular synthesizer came into being via Bob Moog and Donald Buchla.

Gogol's "St. Petersburg" era short stories for the sheer humanity and humanitarianism (haven't read the novels yet.)

Some seemingly friendly spiritual books that showed me the true face and genuine nature of evil. Soured me to having anything to do with negativity, even a little "harmless" negativity now and then. As BushCo have shown, a very few dedicated persons can screw things up for the rest of us, unless contained and isolated. "There are things that one should never see." -Front 242

And I'll have to agree with Retro. Some things resonate with unmistakable truth.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

66. Dune.........

I first got through it at about age 14-15, and some of the things I learned from that book I carry with me today. It may sound cheesy, but there are times to this day when I'm nervous or scared that I find the Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear calms my nerves.

"I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain."

[Jade Fox]

67. "The Autobiography of Malcolm X"... "The Magus" John Fowles

I read it at about 14. It opened up the world for me in many ways.

The John Fowles book I read in my early 20's.

[YankeyMCC]

69. "The Metaphysical Club" by Louis Menand

It was really my first introduction to philosophy and showed how it can truly have relevance in daily life.

But I'll also list:
"Stranger in a Strange Land"
"1984"
"Brave New World"

[hyphenate]

70. Hard to say

Over the years I've read many books which had an influence on me.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe -- one of the first books to introduce me to fantasy which is one of my favorite genres;

Planet of the Apes -- I think it was the first book I read all the way through in a couple of hours;

A Separate Peace and Death Be Not Proud -- Both books were among the first to have me bawling by the time I finished them;

the Harry Potter books -- getting swept up in Pottermania has been one of the infectiously fun things which I've enjoyed over the past few years, even giving me smiles when I've not been happy.


I've never stopped reading, and there have been so many books in my lifetime that have made me happy, sad, introspective, intrigued, and curious. It is distinctively difficult to judge how each and every piece of literature has affected me through the years, except to say that if I had never read them, I would have been poorer still in my knowledge and wisdom.

Some of the books were among those I was forced to read in high school, and it is significant that while I went screaming and kicking into the original reading of them, I would be remiss to say that looking back, there are reasons why many of these books are chosen for the curriculum. Looking back, it is good to know that our teachers had a little more wisdom than we gave them credit for in choosing reading material for our growing minds.

[Faygo Kid]

72. "A Stillness at Appomattox" - Bruce Catton

Not only turned me into a total history buff, it became writing that I have striven to emulate all my life. Just about as good as it gets.

Another all-timer in history was "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich;" in fiction, a lot come to mind, but "Call of the Wild" when I was a kid, and a little later, "Heart of Darkness," "Frankenstein" and "Grapes of Wrath" jump to mind.

[ThatsMyBarack]

74. Jodi Piccoult: "Please Stop Laughing at Me."

As it turned out, I wasn't the only one who was relentlessly teased and bullied in school.

[skygazer]

75. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

Read it in 9th grade - my history teacher mentioned it, I got curious and checked it out of the library.

It made me realize that my country is not always right, that people are not always fair, that change needs to me fought for and is always needed in some way, shape or form. It shocked my sensibilities and made me look at life from a different angle. It also made me strive to see other points of view.

[Redneck Socialist]

76. Here are three that had an enormous impact on me.

Walden, Desert Solitaire and The Monkey Wrench Gang.

The first by Thoreau and the others by Ed Abbey, if'n youse didn't already know that.

Hell, let's make it four. All Quiet on the Western Front pretty much blew me away the first time I read it.

[Jack_Dawson]

79. Rich Dad Poor Dad

Great read.

[electron_blue]

83. Does the Art of War count?

I came across that during my divorce and it helped me get centered, calm down and focus on what was really important in all the legal mumbo jumbo. .... and it helped me see through my ex's facades.

[Bryn]

85. When God was a Woman ... When God was a Woman

by Merlin Stone

[SarahB]

86. The Continuum Concept by Jean Liedloff

It made me parent by my gut and heart rather than western society's expectations. I don't agree with everything, but it made me more comfortable in my own parenting decisions.

[Lindsey]

87. The Prophet by Kahil Gibran and recently Ask and it is Given by

Abraham/Esther & Jerry Hicks.

[Az]

88. The Art of War by Sun Tzu

I found myself searching through western philosophy and finding it constantly wanting. It sought to answer questions and issues that I had little concern with. In my endevours I came across The Prince by Machiavelli. Reading this book left me feeling horrible. I sought out something to counter this book with and came across Sun Tzu's work.

The Art of War teaches more about how to deal with conflict set to the frame of war. And it advises that you should seek to win before a single sword is drawn. The philosophy contained in it changed my path of studies. It lead me to eastern philosophies and in particular Taoism which I find much more in harmony with my natural thinking.

[WCGreen]

89. The compilation of Penthouse letters....