What are the books that changed your life?

Question

What are the books that changed your life?
For those who read, books offer solace, wisdom, and entertainment. Some great books and even some notsofamous books have the power to heal us and make us a different person. What are the books that did that to you? And what aspect of your life did it change?

Answer

A book cannot be said to change my life unless it can be annotated with the tangible consequences you made as a result of reading it. I go with KK.brbrHere are a few qualifying lists that influenced me these books are books that did not change my life, although they tried. I dont mean merely great books, or memorable ones, or favorite ones. I mean books that altered my behavior, changed my mind, redirected the course of my life. Books as levers.brbrHeres my list, in the order they entered my life. Im not the only one affected by these books because each of these titles has a Wikipedia entry, linked here, if youd like to know more. brbrChildhoods End For a kid growing up without TV in the boring enclaves of suburbia in the s and early s, science fiction opened up my universe. I devoured any and all science fiction our public library contained. Arthur C. Clarkes stories in particular birthed a lifelong interest in science, and a deep respect for the power of imagination. This story of a singularity always stuck with me as something to prepare for. brbrWhole Earth Catalog When I was this big catalog of choices gave me permission to have my own ideas, make my own tools, follow my two loves of art and science unabashedly, and invent my own life. Decades later, I worked at the Catalog in my first real job. Cool Tools is just the electronic version of this book.br brThe Fountainhead I got sucked into reading this overthetop manifesto of selfreliance during finals of my first year of college. By the end of the book I decided to drop out of school. I never returned. It was the best decision of my life. brbrLeaves of Grass While reading this classic poetic ode to America and possibilities quotI am multitude!quot my gasket blew and I became seized with an unstoppable urge to travel. I set the book down and bought a ticket to Asia. I roamed there off and on for years. It was my university. brMy Experiments with Truth This autobiography of Gandhi curiously led me to Jesus. Gandhis stance of radical honesty prompted me to attempt the same. I was surprised it took a tough Hindu to make me a tender Christian. brbrbrThe Bible Reading this all the way through, beginning to end, shattered all expectations I had of such a foundational text. It was weirder, stranger, more disturbing and more powerful than I was lead to believe. Ive read through several times more and it never fails to disturb me. brbrGodel, Escher, Bach I was amazed and impressed by the brilliance of GEB when I first read it, but it didnt change my life. However over the years I kept finding myself returning to its insights, and each time I would arrive at them at a deeper level. Now I find them my own thoughts, and I realize I now see the world through a similar lens. brbrThe Ultimate Resource Another book whose influence took time to establish. Simons clarifying insight that mind and intelligence can overcome any physical limitations, and is therefore the only scarce resource has become a big idea that colors much of what I look at. Finite and Infinite Games This small, short book provided me a vocabulary to think about the meaning of life not just my life, but all life! It gave me a mathematical framework for my own spirituality. As it says, the game is to prolong the game, to rope all beings into playing infinite vs finite winloose games, and to realize that there is only one infinite game.