A Book That Changed Your Life

'Wir Kinder auf Banhoff Zoo' (We children from the station Zoo), true story about young female drug addict from Berlin, with dysfunctional family which led her into all sorts of vices and eventually into prostitution....It's a great book which I've read more than 20 times...

 

GRACE SLICK'S RADICAL HANDBOOK OF DO'S AND DONT'S......a hippie must!!

 

phillip pullmans "his dark materials" trilogy. i started reading it like 7 years ago in 5th grade. it made me start questioning religion and i realized i dont believe in the christian god. and ive been a lot happier since i lost the belief. like i hated the movie, it was horrid, but i still love the books.

 

the dharma bums by jack kerouac

 

A textbook about religions of the world I got when I was in college, it invoked my passion of learning about different cultures and religions.

 

I have 2 books:
1. Initiation Into Yoga - Sri Krisna Prem
2. Lightningbolt - Hyemeyohsts Storm

 

Steal This book and 1984.

 

Fight Club - Writing this just inspired me to go read it again. Helps me cut back on materialist feelings.
&&
Atlas Shrugged (not finished yet, but its a behemoth of a book) - This one pushed me from a pure liberal outlook at business to a more moderate one. Generally my views on business now are a mixed bag based on what subject and what companies are involved.

 

Wow, so many great books listed here! I see several of my favorites are already represented...

The idea that a person can intentionally craft who they become has fascinated me ever since I started to get burnt out in a corporate job some years ago. I love books that explore that theme. One I am reading now is rocking my world and already changing things for me - Soulshaping: Adventures in Self-Creation by Jeff Brown (www.soulshaping.com). It tells the story of his journey (he used to be a criminal lawyer) into a more heartfelt being, including lots of stuff about dealing with his childhood trauma and shedding social conditioning... Lots of good stuff and even some new vocabulary to describe things (my favorite being "co-independent").

 

Eastern Approaches - Fitzroy Maclean.

Ian Fleming based his James Bond character on this guy.

His sense of adventure is infectious......but I could say the same of a lot of travel writers. This was probably my favourite out of a pile of great books about seeing the world.

 

Prometheus rising by robert anton wilson

you can download it free, right now

just google it

 

First and foremost-
1. The Teenage Liberation Handbook. This book gave me inspiration, freedom and a greater understanding and awareness of myself and what I want to do in the world.
2. Lullaby- I sobbed at the end. Chuck Palahniuk is an AMAZING writer.
3. Cat's Cradle- so meaningful, so important in so many ways.
4. Dangerous Angels- Anything Francesca Lia Block writes is pure magic in words. Beautiful.

 

anybody ever read any tolstoy? got any suggestions?

 

Cat's Cradle changed the way I look at everything and everybody, especially myself. It felt like I was being pulled into a slow-spiraling carnival of doom. I can't wait to read it again.

 

The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky
This novel made a deep impression on me.

 

the bhagavad gita

 

Faith of the Fallen
1984

 

Siddhartha
Memnoch The Devil
Brave New World

 

the owl who was afraid of the dark, the hungry catapiller and the little wooden horse

yea im deep too!

 

"Awakening the Buddha Within" by Lama Surya Das , without a doubt the best book i have ever read that explains buddhism.