What Are Your Life-Changing Books?
What books have changed your life?
If you could recommend 3 books to us…books that will improve our creative journey in some way, what would they be?
Here are 3 that have changed my life, both personally and creatively:
1. Loving What Is by Byron Katie. If I had one book to give someone to help them overcome anxiety and become enlightened it would be this. Byron Katie’s “Work” is simple, powerful, and life-altering - like a miracle whenever I do it, which isn’t nearly enough. You simply apply 4 questions to any stressful thought. The result is clarity, acceptance and peace. You might not like or agree with everything here (I don’t), but Katie’s Work is radically changing millions of lives. All you need is a pen and paper. (Here are videos of Katie doing The Work with people.)
2. Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. Because it taught me and millions of people how to draw and I’ve made my entire living at it.
3. A tie: Jitterbug Perfume and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, both by Tom Robbins. I had to include some fiction here, and Robbins is my favorite. I remember feeling high as a kite after finishing Cowgirls, and the last sentence of Jitterbug made me pray that one day I might create something as wonderful and masterful. Robbins is an acquired taste with his wild metaphors, but his worldview is fun and magical, and my life is that much more so because of his books.
Okay, your turn! Tell us your top 3 life-changing books…add a comment!
great question, Mark! SO looking forward to what others suggest.
without any explanation, i’ll give you my top three that first come to mind-
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
Not Quite What I was Planning … six-word memoirs from writers famous and obscure
Teaching a Stone to Talk by Annie Dillard
ps - LOVED Cowgirls and that last line in Jitterbug, too. YAY you for spotting it!
Tough one, because books reach out and affect me based on where I am at in my life. So, I will go with the three books I read yearly because they have obviously proven to me something to me:
1. A Man For All Seasons
2. The Stand
3. Mrs Mike (a book written in the 40s that my mother read yearly growing up, and then I took it over)
And just because once you get me started I can’t stop, I am a sucker for the classic children’s stories like Winnie-the-Pooh. And I am NOT talking the Walt Disney version.
You’re going to get me to read Tom Robbins, Mark - on my way . . .
Got three here that have truly helped me do stuff:
1. The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. Inspirational, practical advice motivating us to get off of our rear ends and do our thing. His lack of pulling punches speaks to me.
2. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Michael Chabon. If you win the Pulitzer writing about comic books I’m in . . .
3. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. Do your thing - Artistic Integrity. Bill Watterson (Calvin & Hobbe) just might be a modern day Howard Roark.
Great post, Mark
Ok if you’re talking “life changing” I have to say the Bible. How could I not? But other books include:
Sex God by Rob Bell
Captivating by John and Stacy Eldredge
Passionate marriage by David Schnarch
Grace and addiction by Gerald May
I read nonfiction.
This is a great topic, Mark! Thanks for all the great suggestions, everyone.
I was always intimidated by the length but now I’m 3/4 the way through ‘War and Peace’. It’s dramatic, historical and amazing! It’s going to change my life because what I thought
These sound great you guys. (Be sure to explain why you love these books and/or why they’ve changed your life!)
Ok, explain why I like them….
The Bible- It is the word of God and is what I my foundation is based on.
Sex God by Rob Bell - really helped me understand about relationships, healthy ones, unhealthy one, and one with God.
Captivating by John and Stacy Eldredge - put to words many things I have felt as a woman and how God views me as one.
Passionate marriage by David Schnarch - was about differentiation marriage. It is a great resource for developing a healthier marriage.
Grace and addiction by Gerald May helped me understand my quirky additions ( Like blogging :O) ) . He discusses the biology of addiction and then ways to move away from them. Very good book. Christian based.
How’s that?
JF - I still have to read “The Amazing Adventures…” thanks!
Cliff - War & Peace, wow. I’m glad to hear it’s a good read. I’ve always been curious.
Laurie - Thanks, that helps!
oooooooo missed the quest for explanaion - wasn’t trying to be secretive .
here’s why i picked what i did (see above message) -
anything by Tolkien stirs my imagination. The Hobbit was the start for me.
that whole SIX WORD MEMOIR thing stirs my brain. AT THIS POINT (as i say in my blog) mine is “Laughed and cried every single day.” (i’d LOVE to know yours)
this particular collection of essays from Annie Dillard stirs my spirit. “Living Like Weasels” rocked my world.
btw - Laurie, Jerry May was one of my most profound teachers at a place called Shalem http://www.shalem.org/ He was a wild, musical, rare, and holy man. Will and Spirit is my favorite by him. it ALSO changed my life. every day it helps me notice the difference between willFULLness and willINGness. wOw.
Thanks Lisa!
And hey - How is it that only 5 people have responded to this post? What, you don’t like books? You on safari in Africa? Hmmmm.
Oh! You mean like real homework? Okay, a further explanation:
1. A Man For All Seasons -
Norfolk: Look, I’m not a scholar, and frankly I don’t know whether the marriage was lawful or not — but Thomas, look at these names! You know these men! Can’t you do as I did and come along with us for fellowship?
More: And when we stand before God, and you are sent to Heaven for doing according to your conscience, and I am sent to hell for not doing according to mine, will you come along with me — for fellowship?”
This man stuck to his principles!
2. The Stand - absolute classic good triumping over evil. But aside from the paranormal of the telepathy, and the allusion to Satan, ordinary people trying to survive in a world gone wrong. And I am such a sucker for the little guy winning.
3. Mrs Mike - Mrs Mike leaves New York as a girl to move to Alberta. Falls in love with a Mountie (Mike) and moves into the wilderness with him. Faces wild winters, mosquitos, loses her children to small pox, leaves her husband to return to the city, to realize she needs to be back with him. Sounds like a Harlequin Romance, but it’s not written that like. I believe it’s quite a realistic depiction of the hardships faced by people chosing to live in the Canadian wilderness in the 1930s, and the deep love of land and people that is developed.
As for the classic children’s stories? Because they were extremely well written, and stand the test of time. I read each and every one of them to my children: Winnie-the-Pooh, House at Pooh’s Corner, Alice in Wonderland, Alice Through The Looking Glass, the entire Narnia series. And they will read them to their children.
Urban Panther - thanks for elaborating! I’ll check those out. (Everyone I know who has read The Stand loves it, and I’ve never read it!) And yes, the classic kids stories are awesome. I re-read the first few Narnia books a couple years ago - fantastic.
wow…I have some reading to do! Now I know how I can learn to use the sketch notebook more effectively…thanks Mark!
My tips…wow. I feel this same way when someone asks me for my fav movies of all times. I am different at differnt stages of life so certain things really work for me then…
But you can’t go wrong with:
Fiction: Robert Jordan: The Wheel of Time Series - lots of volumes, lots of pages and TONS of fantasy…if you like that kind of thing.
Fiction - for a completely different look at fiction: Alexander McCall Smith: The Number One Lady’s Detective Agency - set in Africa, where I have worked for many years- a real surprise.
Non-Fiction- Eckhart Tolle- A New Heaven; and the Power Of Now - if you know my blog you will know why.
I could go on a long time with books. But I need to get to the library. I am looking to check out several after reading your blog today. THANKS
WAIT>>>>one more I must mention. I just read recently Deepak Chopras book on BUDDHA. It is a story, not a bio, and it is amazing.
Just 3?! All righty -
Be Here Now - I read this book just after going through a spiritual awakening, partially caused by a very intense acid trip… It was the perfect book at the perfect time. My life definitely changed because of it; it gave all my feelings and yearnings some direction.
The River Why by David James Duncan - OK, I’m cheating - I had already changed, and this book was the perfect thing to read after that! But I try to slip this book into conversation as much as I can. I’ve read it every year for 20 years, and it never fails to move me. It is funny, moving and very wise. Oh, wait - one thing: It let me know I didn’t have to fit my spirituality into any kind of preconceived box or religion or set of beliefs, it could be (and is) my own. All hail the Whopper!
Tie: There is Nothing Wrong with You by Cheri Huber - Excellent book by a Buddhist teacher, teaching just what the title says. Very deep and true. And Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach - Why fight against what is? Especially - why fight who you are? She shines the light of compassion on our thought processes and feelings of unworthiness. Loving What Is takes this awareness even further - but you already mentioned that one, plus I read Radical Acceptance first.
I could go all day - so, so many great books!
The Sandman graphic novel series by Neil Gaiman is an utterly remarkable epic spanning different times and universes. It’s fantastic, supernatural, and about one of the most normal things - family. It’s my favorite thing in the world.
His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman was certainly incredibly influential to me in my teens.
Tank Girl, the comics by Alan Martin. She’s rude, crude, unapologetic, and I really think that if you’re going to be evolving anywhere creatively, you need to be challenged. You won’t be helping yourself if you only read things that you know are ’safe’ and avoid the things that make you feel a little icky inside.
Same goes for Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite.
Hell, the Bible made *me* feel icky inside and *I* still read it.
Harmony - thanks for elaborating and for your awesome list.
Vann the man - Yes! I dig your choices. And while I know about all of them I’ve never read them. Thanks for the list. And hm…*I* suspect you found *my* blog via Advaita circles?
Mm… more like the chick. And I don’t know what Advaita is, I totally Stumbled Upon you.
Cloud Atlas/David Mitchell - Every genre in one work of fiction
The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay/Michael Chabon - The great American novel
All Families are Psychotic/Douglas Coupland - The best dialogue in the business
Candide by Voltaire changed my life. I used to let stuff get me down to a point where it was really hard to live my life… now I realize that yes, the world kinda sucks, but I just have to put my head down and “go to work in my garden.”
Vann - my apologies! (I love when I make assumptions and am proven wrong; in your case, twice!) For the record, Advaita is a hindu philosphy and a podcast that I listen to - “The Advaita Show”. Advaita teaches that there is no independent entity here, so when you added asterisks to the words “me” and “I” that was a very Advaita thing to do.
Chuck - welcome and thanks for the adds!
Kendra - Thank you…haven’t read it but will add it to the list!