Books That Changed My Life

Over my history with the written word, I've had books that have changed my mind, my views and totally did my head in.  Then, there's books that have completely changed my life around and made me think long after I've closed the cover and put it on the 'Read' shelf of my bookcase.  Now, I got this idea from Misfit Salon Blog where she shared a book that changed her life; and I'd like to share the book/s that have changed mine.  Let's start with non-fiction and work into the fictional world.  

There's two books that I must say have changed my life completely.  The first being 'A Perfect Mess' by Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman is a great book about mess and how we can't live without it; however being too messy isn't good for us.  But being too clean isn't either... there is a 'just right' amount of mess we have to live with as the mind is a messy place.  And this book covers a lot of ground when it comes to messiness; well worth a read; and yes, it did change my life.  It's also the reason why I never make my bed anymore.

The next book is 'The Brain That Changes Itself' by Norman Doidge, MD.  Now, for those who have had brain damage in any way - whether you were born with it or acquired it during your life - all is not lost.  You can rewire your brain to work the way you want it to; it's called neuroplasticity and it's something you can teach your brain to do.  I've taught mine as I've got problems with my brain, however over my life, I have retrained and rewired it to do things it shouldn't be able to do (like read music, keep to the beat of a song and other algorithms to do with maths; as that part of my brain isn't functioning).  This book is brilliantly written and well set out by this wonderful doctor.  I even e-mailed him and told him my story and he wrote me right back - personally - and told me how impressed he was at how far I had come in my life.  Norman Doidge is about to publish a book on Epilepsy and Neurofeedback.  This is where he's worked on getting other non-functioning parts of the brain to work; fantastic research.

Okay, here are the fictional books that changed my life.  

'Lord of the Rings' by JRR Tolkien.  This book - for obvious reasons opened my mind to the possibilities of where my fiction could take me.  The immense imagination of this man was amazing.

'The Stand' by Stephen King.  What can I say about Sai King except the he is as much the King of literature as Tolkien is of sci-fi fantasy.

'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Trilogy In Four Parts' by Douglas Adams.  Another great author; however his life was cut so unfairly short.

'House on the Hill' by Estelle Pinney.  Now, Estelle is a new author I've added to my list; mainly because it's been over five years since I read this book; and yet I can still remember the whole plot, the love and laughter and heartbreak of it all... and those pineapple sandwiches too.

'Other Colours' by Orhan Pamuk.  This is another new author I've added to my list here as he's a new one I've begun reading recently.  I picked up this book in The Book Warehouse on a whim; and found I couldn't stop reading his essays and stories in it.  The visual pictures were so clear and beautiful, I felt as though I was right there next to him the whole time.  Now, that's how it should be with an author.

So, there you have it. Books that have changed my life.  This list never used to be this long; and as time has gone by, I've noticed it's been getting longer.  So, I'll keep you up-to-date with what other books have change my life over the next few years; you never know who I might read to add to the list.   Who has changed you life?  Let us know; you never know we might agree on the same things about an author, or find something totally different about them. Until my next post, happy reading.