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?

Allen Carr's easyway here too. 4 years a non-smoker after 22 years. Have added lots of books to my amazon wish list!

1984, and of mice and men

Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estés

Deep and powerful, uses Jungian theory and archetypes, myths and fairytales to explore the female unconscious.
Life changing.

Another vote for the female eunuch. First time I ever thought properly about feminism. Like a lightbulb going on.

Yes, yes, yes to Marie Kondo. It sounds trite but it really is magic. A pp asked if you need to keep doing it. For me, I think the reason it works is that it really changed my whole approach to 'stuff'. Somehow it just keeps me tidy.
Another book that had a huge effect on me is Small Island by Andrea Levy which is based on personal experiences of people who moved from the West Indies to the UK just after WW2. The hardships and hostilities they had to deal with was such an eye opener. I can't recommend it enough.

Allen Carr for me, too. I've always been a bookworm and have read thousands of books but this, above all, changed my life.

Fay Weldon's books, particularly The Heart of the Country, Growing Rich and Big Women. She made me into the feminist I am today!

Thanks to this thread, I just read Marie Kondo's book and threw out over 75% of my clothes! My husband is horrified.

What the is normal by Francesca Martinez
it really changes your whole perception of disability

The automatic millionaire. I read it shortly after graduating. It changed how I dealt with money. It has led to a degree of financial comfort that we wouldn't have had at this point otherwise.
Secondly, Marie kondo's life changing magic. I read it 18 months ago. I got rid of so much stuff and I am much happier for it. It has made buying new stuff almost impossible though

I can't think of any particular book that is life changing but I did have it in my hands and it slipped through my fingers.

I don't know it's name or author but one thing I do remember is

We teach people how to treat us.

That was really powerful.

I leant my exh cousin £200. He never mentioned it although he had promised he would pay the money back with interest, which I did not want.
This debt affected out relationship. It definitely strained it, I thought it can't get much worse.
Did I want the money. No. Did I need the money? No.
Did I want to be the sort of person that other that other people thought they could take advantage of? No.

So I wrote and asked for my money back. I got it back and our relationship improved no end.

So, now I expect to be treated like I would treat others.

Healing Back Pain and The Mind Body Prescription by Dr John Sarno. I was crippled with back pain for years and couldn't even work a full time job, read and followed those books and have been pain free for 18 years.

I've liked a lot of the other books mentioned here but I've never found their message stuck with me enough to make them life changing. Currently working through 'Overcoming Low Self Esteem' by Melanie Fennell and desperately hoping that will be life changing too.

'An Amateur Marriage' by Anne Tyler.

'Lucky' by Alice Sebold

And all Jane Austen except for Northanger Abbey which I just can't get in to.

It was a chick lit novel. I don't even recall the title. I fear this makes me very shallow.
The protagonist has a full on time consuming pressured job as a lawyer in London, splitting her life into 6 minute segments. She walks out of work over a terrible mistake and goes to hide in the country. Relaxes and meets lovely bloke who seduces her picking peas.
I found it very profound at the time. And it gave me the confidence to quit my job. God knows where i put the book though

The Undomesticated Goddess Sophie Kinsella.

Fab book!

Brittbugs - I like the sound of that!!

Another one for The Women's Room here. I read it when I was already a feminist as a young woman but the sheer scale of it and the history I was following made an enormous impression on me.

Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse also had a big impact on me. I lived in my imagination too, and suddenly I wasn't alone.

Bloody hell - it's been on my shelf all these years - along with all her others cos i love her books. I guess i didn't connect the title to the story.
Thank you so much guys!
Off for a reread.
Life now very different to my life plan but so much happier.

I ordered how to do everything and be happy and it looks brilliant (yet to properly implement it, mind!).
This is a thinly veiled bump for more inspiration.

Eating Less: say goodbye to over eating by Gillian riley. Teaches you to take responsibility for your own food choices. For the first time ever i felt in control of my eating. Its not a diet, it helps you to make a lifestyle change.

The L-shaped Room, Lynn Reid Banks. Impressionable teen at the time and made me realise that having children needed careful thought and the person you had them with needed more than good looks, nice car etc.
House of Spirits Isabel Allende, so beautifully written, made me slow down and properly read it (instead of skimming) which led me to The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon opened my eyes to some many things.

The Mind Body Prescription by Dr John Sarno. Cured my RSI which had left me in agony for over a year. I read it and 2 weeks later the pain had gone. Amazing book and amazing theory!

I also love the Undomestic Goddess, reread it just the other day! Along that line is Left Neglected, by Lisa Genova, about a high flying family/career woman with a life moving so quickly she can only just keep up. She has a devastating accident and the story follows her trying to adjust to her life and ability and expectations afterwards. It echoes a transition I had to make in my twenties when I was very ill, and is one of those, "what really matters?" books that gives a fresh perspective on life.

That, and The Life-Changing Magic Of Not Giving A F**k by Sarah Knight. Liberating.

Buddhist Bootcamp by Timber Hawkeye. He has a Facebook page too if you wanted to "try before you buy" - his "teachings" ( he's not at all preachy imo ) are truly life changing. I live a more peaceful & contented life as a result of his words.

Following. I find it really difficult to read nowadays and also to remember what I have read.