The book you like most discussion
What was the book that had a significant impact on your life?
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Viel
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Oct 29, 2023 07:48PM
It was "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho and it was the book that started my obsession about reading
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Love Does by Bob Goeff because it kick-started my journey with God...and The Hunger Games because that whole series got me into reading❤️❤️
Tbh I think all books have an impact on someone's life, even if it's just very small or not even anything new. But every story has something that the reader takes with them.Not sure which book had the biggest impact on me, though. I'll have to think about it.
Jane Eyre and Pride and prejudice. Not for the books themselves but for the new perspective about reading and literature they gave me. Ngl Jane Eyre saved my life tho.
For the longest time, I was so depressed that I couldn’t even read or do anything I enjoyed, and Inkheart by Cornelia Funke pulled me out of that. I love that book still. One of my favorites.
For me it's 'It ends with us'. I read a lot of negative review & comments on it. But actually it's a great book which teaches the importance of saying NO TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. I think all those who plan to settle in a married life should read it. The importance of putting ourselves first, knowing our worth and the courage to say NO
1984 By George Orwell and Flowers For Algernon By Daniel Keyes
"Frog. the Horse that Knew No Master." it was set in India and was the 1st book that made me realize how much I loved to read.
Schultz, by JP DonleavyI read it in my early teens and ended up being somewhat like the character, albeit in the music world not the theatre.
This was coincidence and not because I emulated him purposefully, but to this day - decades later - no one has spoken to my nature in quite the same way as that book did. In difficult times, I often picked it up again, or considered it's light hearted approach to chaos, and it got me through.
It also definitely informed one of my own books; "Rock Star" which is a satirical reflection on the journey I took through the London music industry. Ultimately, "Schultz" helped me survive the joys and pitfalls of it, I have no doubt.
(shameless plug: I am eager for reviewers of said book, if you might be interested, see my profile and DM me for a copy)
Viel wrote: "It was "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho and it was the book that started my obsession about reading"I loved that book, and it took me to Tarifa with nothing but a backpack and a guitar, and I was so disappointed to find the place now full of kite surfers instead of the world he described in that book. Naive of me, and obvious when I realised, but it also prodded me to continue on to Morocco the next year, and so this book actually inspired a number of great adventures for me.
Good call, ser!
Non-fiction: The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism in Un-American by Andrew L. Seidel and
Fiction: The Gate to Women's Country by Sheri Tepper
There's not a singular but a couple:Dune - I was young, my Dad gave it to me and that was a big deal since it was a very "older people" book for me at that age... but it radically bombarded my perceptions of politics, religion, human society and behaviours and many many things and sparked interests in philosophy, social anthropology, reading about other religions, etc, etc that all added to helping my mind grow and evolve past what it might have been otherwise.
VALIS - my parents used to be pretty liberal about letting me pick books and for a long time we went every sunday to this wonderful little bookstore and this was one I picked up when I was maybe... 10? 11? .. which in hindsight, maybe not the brightest choice because this was my introduction to PKD's work and while I loved it immensely, it is in essence him at his most theological and philosophical (which I learned years later) and was another book that exploded my perceptions of the world we live in and the things we are taught and take for granted/as gospel by the societies around us - in its own way, it put me on the first steps to the concept of humanism and was the first brick in the foundation of my life-long love of the works of the author.
Asterix and Obelix - simple, clean, dense, fun, riotously cheeky and witty and some of the most timelessly brilliant books ever created, in my humble opinion. I read them over and over and over and continue to do so even to this day - there is something truly remarkable about these tales by Goscinny and Uderzo about this tiny Gaulish village that transcends so much. Simply love them.
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - if you know this one, then you know it and not much need to explain. It is a voice unique to me even now and has so much in it to love. This whole series is pretty much at the top of my desert-island reading list.
For the Man Who Has Everything - a one-off comic that I bought with my own saved up money at a book fair as a kid. It was my first experience of the legendary Alan Moore's work. I had read many comics as a child but this was different, this had adult concepts and thought-provoking moments, including some very heart-wrenching stuff that was unique to the young me and spoke so nicely about the ideas of regrets, dreams and wishing and the pains that come with it.
So... yeah, off the top of my head, these are the ones I'd feel okay putting here. There are a few more I'm sure that would fit the bill but I don't want to push the boundary of the topic-brief of "a book" :D
cia wrote: "For the longest time, I was so depressed that I couldn’t even read or do anything I enjoyed, and Inkheart by Cornelia Funke pulled me out of that. I love that book still. One of my favorites."Oh that was lovely! I came across a single edition that had I think 3 books in the series together - I had never heard of it and it was a genuine delight. I even remember watching the movie which I maintain was very much under-appreciated (as are many Brendan Frasier movies).
Conceptually wonderful and I remember thinking and being surprised that it was not a much more popular book/series at the time.
I would have to say The Bell Jar by Slyvia Plath.I first read this book as part of a class in college. At the time, it was probably my darkness, low point of my life(realizing it now looking back) and my perspective of it was more negative cause I was feeling the same way as the character did.
I recently read the book again, knowing I had a connection to it somehow and after a few years, I really did change my outlook in a more optimistic way and I had more of a positive reaction to the book.
In the book, you never knew if the main character was doing better and was finally going to have a good life or if she was in this cycle that would ultimately leading her to unalive. I will always say that it’s not necessarily my FAVORITE book of all time but it is one that I was grateful enough to change my perspectives.
That was in 1975/1976 when I discovered Laird Koenig's novel "The Little Girl who lives down the Lane". The German translation turned out to be even better than the English original.One year later the film came late at night during the week on German TV and I had no VCR before the summer of 1980. So I stayed awake and watched the Jodie Foster & Martin Sheen film and was as thrilled as I was with the book (Laird Koenig had written the screen play).
On the next day I went to a record store in Braunschweig in my lunch break and bought both Chopin piano concertos by Arthur Rubinstein. - 30 years later I met my third husband with whom I'm still happily married. Somehow we talked about TLGWLDTL and he told me that he went to a record store on the next day after watching the movie to buy Arthur Rubinstein's first piano concerto. In that moment I just knew that we are soul mates. :)
From 1988 on I started wearing duffel coats just like Rynn Jacobs, I read more about Sylvia Plath, I visited the Emily Dickinson homestead in Amherst, MA. There were so many things that influenced me in this book.
for me, it was the wee free men by Terry Pratchett. I read it when I was a young teen, and it made me realise books could be fun and creative and weren't just boring things u needed to use for school.forever thankful
Larissa wrote: "for me, it was the wee free men by Terry Pratchett. I read it when I was a young teen, and it made me realise books could be fun and creative and weren't just boring things u needed to use for scho..."Pratchett will have that effect! :D
IT.ENDS.WITH.US.- yessss I said it.
The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker. I read it before the pandemic and then again after. It was powerful both times but in different ways.
The Grapes Of Wrath (Steinbeck), To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee), Catch 22 (Heller), L'Assoimoir (Zola)
The Prophet.It put these large ideals in simple words and it just made me realize things about myself. Was reading it casually on a train once not thinking much about it next tThe ProphetThe Prophething i know im staring out the window with these complex emotions XD
Voice in The Wind series by Francine Rivers
Into the Wild. It gave me perspective on life, human connection, traveling and living your own truth.
Rosa wrote: "Into the Wild. It gave me perspective on life, human connection, traveling and living your own truth."Is that the one by Sara Donati?
Watchers Dean Koontz I had stopped reading for a while this book got me to live reading again.
The Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta. I read it in primary school. Before then, I had known the world could be unfair to women, but my eyes had yet to be opened to the true extent of that reality.
A more recent one is Reflecting on the Names of Allah by Jinan Yousef. It's done wonders for my relationship with God, and is largely responsible for this new peace and resilience that I have just become acquainted it.
the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho... I keep reading that book every few years since I feel lost and need some direction in my life
Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin! It was the book that got me into reading as a kid.
A difficult question - I am one of those readers who falls in love with almost every book I read - the first book series that I waited hours for in a queue was the Harry Potter series, and for some reason, the book I recommend to everybody, Five stages of falling in love by Rachel Higginson. Oh and definitely, the Plantation series by Stella Fitzsimons.
Outliers by Malcolm GALDWELL
An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor
The SecretThe Alchemist
The Kite Runner
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
The Little Mermaid
I am going to be old school here - The Bible
I’m going to say Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-I was a kid and I went to see the movie with friends and their aunt who took us,she was a school teacher and she told me it was a book. I got it from the library and have been an avid reader since.
As a kid? The Secret Garden, and The Velvet Room. The idea of a secret place I could be in and not be noticed or seen.As an adult? The Last Conversations of St Therese of Lisieux, for one. So many, but that one did keep me sane at a time of enormous stress--and in those days I wasn't a Catholic.
the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo, perks of being a wallflower
The book you like most
Books mentioned in this topic
The Fault in Our Stars (other topics)Delilah Green Doesn't Care (other topics)
The Prophet (other topics)
