To ask which books have actually changed your life?

[backtoworkhiho]

For me Marie kondo's book or the power of now had a lasting impression but both need re-reading currently

Yours?

Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance.

Reasons to stay alive - Matt Haig
The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins

Alcoholics Anonymous.

Annie yes I went on a visit (pilgrimage) there some years ago. Really, really good and I'm extremely fussy when it comes to zoos.

The great man was unfortunately dead by then but I did meet his wife Lee.

The Diet Myth: The Real Science Behind What We Eat Paperback, by Professor Tim Spector.
www.amazon.co.uk/Diet-Myth-Real-Science-Behind/dp/1780229003/?tag=mumsnetforum-21

Likewise, Barbarian! I actually cried when I saw a Pink Pigeon for the first time, having read about them so many years before. It really is a good place. (And I agree about being fussy about zoos, too.)

I've been to the annual Durrell lecture in London a couple of times - Lee was at that, too.

The Ragged Trousers Philanthropists. I read it when I was about 14
A complete revelation and it sparked my interest in inequality and injusyice

How to do everything and be happy by Peter Jones. It was recommended on mn and now I recommend ot on mn at least once a week.

Also Marie Kondo.

Eat, pray, love by Elizabeth Gilbert.
Opened my mind
Prefer the book to the film

Jung Chang's Wild Swans - reading it just opened my eyes to a world so different, made me realise that there were people out there who were cruel, others who were dying of hunger and poverty caused by a political system gone mad.

My views of China up til then had been the "romanticised" Western views of the Orient.

That changed.

The Shack

Billy Connelly autobiography (not my thing at all ) as a lone parent of 3 DC who had literally lost everything his line "just because you're alone doesn't mean you're lonely" I read that 10 + years ago and opened my eyes 😊

Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, already mentioned by others - a fab book and very straightforward.

The 110 per cent solution by Mark McCormack - another straightforward book, clearly pointing out that if you want different results you need to do things differently!

I love KonMari and reading her first book, but haven't actually done it yet ...

How We Die by Sherwin B Nuland. Not as grim as it sounds. Unsentimental and moving.

The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous.

.

Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami. I noticed an online dating profile because it had this as a favourite book - it's one of mine too - so I sent a message.

8 years, 1 wedding, a mortgage and 2 kids later.....

Beyond Fear by Dorothy Rowe. The kind of book that makes you feel you are not alone, that you can change things, and there is hope.

Living with Intensity. Susan Daniels et al

Also The Women's Room. So glad a couple of people have already mentioned this book. It made me see very suddenly and clearly how we live in a society that is run by men and for men. I read it 30 years ago, just once, and have never felt the need to reread it because its message has stayed with me. The edition I had said 'This novel changes lives' on the cover and it did change my life.

God is not great, Christopher Hitchins

Mine is an honest answer but unlikely to assist anyone else : Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells. I joined the online discussion board and met hundreds of women from all over the world who had formed a fantastic online community and talked about anything and everything under the sun. It was a wonderful place to discuss pretty much anything and very supportive. When the site closed it moved to a closed FB group. Some of those women, most of whom I have never met IRL, are close friends 14 years later.

Aaaaaand if any of them are here I've just outed myself with my user name!! Oops.

Where my Heart Used to Beat by Sebastian Faulks. It completely crushed me and made me realise I can never live happily while I'm living a parallel, alternate life in my head.

The Quiet American by Graham Greene - validated my thoughts about many things so that I have stayed being me and saying it straight irrespective of how uncomfortable the 'uncomfortable truths' made people feel.