Folks Online List 30 Books That Blew Their Minds And Changed Their Lives

The Bible. It made me an atheist.

the girl with the dragon tattoo when I was 18. I didn't go to highschool for reasons and this book made me go get my highschool degree and go to college because I wanted to become a journalist because of that book. I graduated college last month.

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy got me into reading

Nathaniel66 said:

1984- Orwell

DT-Archer added:

Just finished this one last week. Such a great book that still manages to be relevant 70 years later. Makes me worried about some of the trends we see today and how we need to put more value in privacy. It also made me really value the simple things that are so easily taken for granted like having your own place with your SO and the ability to lead a life of your choosing.

There is a Monster at the End of this Book. It really led me on a journey to overcome my fears and deeply examine what it means to be a monster. Also, pulling really hard against Grover to turn the pages helped me get buff. Really I was helping Grover face fears he was not ready to face. But we faced them together.

The Hobbit.

As a young child, I had always found reading to be pretty dull. This changed when I was 7 and got my hands on The Hobbit- I realised that it wasn't reading that was boring - I just wasn't reading the right books!

The Hobbit started my life-long love of reading, particularly fantasy and sci-fi- A passion that I am now following as a writer!

Maus; the first and only graphic novel to win a pulitzer price

It is a book about a second generation survivor of the Holocaust retelling his father memoirs of the event. This semi-biographic book puts into perspective the whole feeling of absolute terror and give us an insight on the before-after situation. The jews are portrayed as mouses and the nazis as cats, elaborating on the whole cat and mouse chase premise which demonstrates the horrors the jewish felt. Although it is a graphic novel, its images do really say more than words.

It is to this day, the only book which has made me cry and feel hurt; it makes the whole subject feel very personal.

charxc2222 said:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

ronearc responded:

That's my answer as well. A book that legitimately changed my view of the world and the people in it.

Flowers for Algernon. I read it as a teenager, and it made me realize that my intelligence was a privilege, and that it didn’t make me better than people who are less intelligent than me.

The Easy way to stop smoking by Allen Carr.

I had zero intention to stop smoking when I started reading that book. To say I was sceptical about it would be an understatement. I was a heavy chain smoker. Smoked more than anyone I knew. But I went cold turkey after I read it. 3 years strong. I have not had a single puff since finishing that book.

If you smoke. You want to read this book now. I wish I read it earlier.

Dune. Fear is the mind-killer.

Also, A Wrinkle in Time.

The Outsiders. Beautiful story that opened me up to the wonders of the 50's and 60's in the western U.S. absolutely loved it. Please read it, who ever reads this.

A Brief History Of Time. The insanity and complexity of the universe was explained in understandable terms, bonkers.

I remember when I read Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel. I was about 10 years old and I had seen the movie a dozen times before I found out it was a book. I devoured it in 2 days. I was hooked on the whole series for decades and it started my obsession with books. I will read anything but historical fiction is my favorite and it started with the Earth's Children series.

The Kite Runner

Completely eye-opening, and an emotional roller coaster.

The Long Walk by Stephen King. Greatly shows the variety of lives and some lessons about the life itself.

Probably Redwall because it got me into reading as a child, and later writing.

I’m embarrassingly basic but the hunger games. It got me into reading in grade school/high school which really benefited my comprehension, vocabulary and writing.

The Giver

I remember reading that book in 6th or 7th grade and just being blown away. I had never experienced a book like that before and it really had a huge impact on me.

I'd also say The Harry Potter series because as a young kind reading those books I really felt like I was escaping into this magical world.

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut.

"The things other people have put into my head, at any rate, do not fit together nicely, are often useless and ugly, are out of proportion with one another, are out of proportion with life as it really is outside my head."

juicebox647replied:
Vonnegut is so profound and yet can say absolutely nothing at the same time. I love the way he writes so much. I've been reading this textbook sized book full of all of his short stories recently and they're amazing. Reading about the Tralfamadorians when I was a younger me totally changed my outlook on life and how I think about the time we have here. It really did transform my life.