Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
What we're reading

Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

Which books changed your life, and why?

35 replies

juniper904 · 23/09/2012 01:11

I'm of the Catcher in the Rye camp. I know it's very mainstream and therefore I am a dick, but it genuinely changed my life. I remember lying in bed, with snow falling heavy outside, reading the book whilst I should have been at sixth form. It hit me in a way no other book has.

My DP was equally moved by To Kill A Mockingbird and wants to give our first born son the middle name Atticus, but that's a different thread but I didn't feel particularly enamoured by the book.

So which books have changed your life, and why? What should I read to have another heart-stopping, existence-questioning moment?

OP posts:
SinisterBuggyMonth · 23/09/2012 02:13

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
juniper904 · 23/09/2012 02:03

"I must, I must, I must increase my bust"

sobs

OP posts:
TheRealAmyFarrahFowler · 23/09/2012 01:51

Oh my god I did the pencil under boobs thing because of that biatch!
When I was 11 I went to a jumble sale with my granny and bought a Judy Blume book cause I loved her. Granny's friend had a flick through it on the way home and told granny she thought it was a bit risque for wee girl. Forward thinking Granny left me to it. It was fekkin soft porn. It was called 'Wifey' and I loved it.

Original poster
juniper904 · 23/09/2012 01:40

Judy Blume broke my heart. She told me you only need a bra and will be a proper woman when you can put a pencil under your boob and it doesn't fall loose.

Bitch. Ahem.

OP posts:
rollmeover · 23/09/2012 01:36

Oooh, great thread!

Trainspotting - to read a book the way I knew people to speak was amazing, it opened my eyes that not all "literature" has to be chaucer or shakespeare (though I do love a bit of will s) but that the current vernacular is just as acceptable. And also cause I'm a bit of a radge, ken.

And earlier to Trainspotting - Judy Blumes one about sex (Forever?) I always thought nice girls only had sex with one boy and that was the one they married. It was nice to be shown a less idealised way of life to a romantic teenager. Thank god I didnt marry my first boyfriend - having read that book it gave me the courage to end an abusive relationship and know that I wasnt a "slag". I always meant to write to Judy Blume and thank her.

TheRealAmyFarrahFowler · 23/09/2012 01:34

juniper - you gotta read the annotated version. Everything means something else.
But on a more reading for pleasure note - The Book Thief was the first book in years that made me think WOW - books can be amazing. Just because it was so good.

AugustMoon · 23/09/2012 01:26

Also a bit of a cliche but 10+ years ago.... The Alchemist
All depends on the stage of life you are at though really - don't think I'd fall for it now!

LadySybildeChocolate · 23/09/2012 01:22

The dictionary. I'd be screwed without it.

Original poster
juniper904 · 23/09/2012 01:20

I saw Lolita as a film and thought it was fairly controversial, so I expected the book to be OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG etc. I found it weird that she just classed him as one of her many lovers...
But I haven't studied it.

OP posts:
TheRealAmyFarrahFowler · 23/09/2012 01:18

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov.
Because it opened my eyes to seeing everything from many different points of view.
I studied it for uni and the author is a genius.

Swipe left for the next trending thread