Books that have changed your life

Wtf I hated the wasp factory but I have never put a book down unfinished. If mice and men was fantastic though. For me, and this is a stretch, Wizard of earthsea. It is essentially a tale of overcoming your internal demons and looking inside yourself before blaming outside influences. Also it has a dragon in it.
 
Another one I've really enjoyed is Round Ireland With A Fridge. Gives you an entirely different outlook on life
 
7 habits of highly effective people - Steven Covey, about 25 years ago.
It’s long with one nugget - explains about personal responsibility.
’You make me angry when you do that’ v ‘I’ve decided to be angry as a result of what you have done‘ gives you a totally different perspective.

The Antidote - Oliver Burkeman. Helps with understanding depression. Have recommended To many people and it has really helped them

Most recently
The courage to be disliked and The courage to be happy Fumitake Koka. Brilliant at helping me understand how much control I have particularly socially.

Camus’ L’etranger brings it all together
 
Ham on Rye - Bukowski. Anything by him is great but that was the first i read. Lean on Pete by Willy Vlautin is a fantastic book as are all of his. Would highly recommend The Free by him although not an uplifting read.
 
(not in any particular order)

Bible.
Qur'an.
Russell's Teapot.
Down and Out in Paris & London.
Ragged Trousered Philanthropist .
Englands Dreaming.
Obsession. (Bob Carlos Clarke)
The Dandy
The Flying Spaghetti Monster.
China, Inc.: How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World.
Cider with Rosie
We are the People (Geoffrey Beattie)
The Politics of James Connolly.
The Origins of the British Welfare State ( Bernard Harris)
The Beano
Oxford English Dictionary & Thesaurus.
The Enemy Within (Seamus Milne)
Extra Time (W. Maddren)
The Grapes of Wrath

and about 300 others.

after that, the rest were just mild amusement and time fillers, and theres absolutely nothing wrong with that
 
I didn't like cider with Rosie, Laurie lea as I recall. Read it as a14 year old at school and it bored me too death. Not read it since so maybe I would appreciate it more now.
 
And 2 newer ones I listened to and just gave me huge nostalgia feelings.. Ready player one and armada. Not any kind of literary genius but got my mind into the 2 to 3 hours in the car a day for work. Ahh and KES read that again in rehab recently and it still makes me cry..
 
Mine was a pamphlet. It was about a concentration camp where inmates had to wear no socks with boots too small and wringing wet.
 
Kes is a great book, it's actually called A Kestrel for a Knave from the 15th century harleian manuscript and was changed to Kes on the back of the popular movie.
 
Wtf said:
And 2 newer ones I listened to and just gave me huge nostalgia feelings.. Ready player one and armada. Not any kind of literary genius but got my mind into the 2 to 3 hours in the car a day for work. Ahh and KES read that again in rehab recently and it still makes me cry..
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Now your`e talking.
Love the characters in the book as much as the film:)(y)Kes.png
 
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Brian glover in the PE scene is absoloutely terrific and we all had a games teacher at school who had shades of Mr Sugden (I think) about him.
 
red_harrington said:
Well it will change your life if you take heed of the contents, but TBH I would not recommend doing so!

Seriously, for non-fiction try Factfulness

Fiction anything by George Orwell
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When I was about 10 I loaned Animal Farm from Skelton Library. I didn't get any of the symbolism or allegories whatsoever just thought it was a grand book about animals. So I thought I'll read another by that Orwell gadgie, and got out 1984. Blew my tiny little mind.

Interesting fact George Orwell wrote Animal Farm at Carlton in Cleveland.
 
The Card Cheat said:
When I was about 10 I loaned Animal Farm from Skelton Library. I didn't get any of the symbolism or allegories whatsoever just thought it was a grand book about animals. So I thought I'll read another by that Orwell gadgie, and got out 1984. Blew my tiny little mind.

Interesting fact George Orwell wrote Animal Farm at Carlton in Cleveland.
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I never knew that!

Interesting that you read that when you were 10, when Orwell saw another 10 year old, which partly inspired him to write Animal Farm:

"I saw a little boy, perhaps ten years old, driving a huge carthorse along a narrow path, whipping it whenever it tried to turn. It struck me that if only such animals became aware of their strength we should have no power over them, and that men exploit animals in much the same way as the rich exploit the proletariat."
 
The Card Cheat said:
When I was about 10 I loaned Animal Farm from Skelton Library. I didn't get any of the symbolism or allegories whatsoever just thought it was a grand book about animals. So I thought I'll read another by that Orwell gadgie, and got out 1984. Blew my tiny little mind.

Interesting fact George Orwell wrote Animal Farm at Carlton in Cleveland.
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I think it's the Carlton outside Stockton
 
atypical_boro said:
Neil Warnock’s autobiography. After reading it years ago I started to lead the charge on social media for his appointment at Boro. Then it happened this year and I’m basically saying that it was all because of me.
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Funny that, I was only telling the Delai Lama the same thing this morning.

I'm not sure I'd claim they were life changing' but Birdsong and is a book that will always stay with me.

Also Shantaram, both get under your skin and have a lasting effect in you.
 
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Laughing said:
Kes is a great book, it's actually called A Kestrel for a Knave from the 15th century harleian manuscript and was changed to Kes on the back of the popular movie.
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Yes, centuries ago they used to rate each hunting bird by who was worthy to own it, hence:

'An Eagle for an Emperor, a Gyrfalcon for a King:
a Peregrine for a Prince, & a Saker for a Knight,
a Merlin for a lady, a Goshawk for a Yeoman,
a Sparrowhawk for a Priest, & a Kestrel for a Knave.'

Good book too.
 
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