To ask you for your all-time favourite life-changing books?

[frogsoup]

Now my kids are getting older I'm finally getting the chance to start reading again. I'm at a bit of a crossroads in life and career terms and I'm feeling the need for books that are so amazing that they make you rethink life, the universe and everything. Any suggestions?

My starter for 10: Primo Levi's 'The truce', about his journey home from Auschwitz. One of the most astonishingly life-affirming books I've ever read.

A Suitable Boy
Wild Swan
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist

Love the Jon Ronson books & Sapiens. Have totally forgotten all the other ones I likes as have been on amazon looking at all the recommendations

Just now bought The Truce and will be adding more from this list

I've always loved Woman on the edge of time by Marge Piercy.

Thanks x

1984. The single most impactful and life changing book I have ever read.

The first book I connected with after motherhood was Sara Maitland’s “the book of silence”, where she explores her new found appreciation for solitude through experiences and research. It’s one of few books which I’ve re- read and recommended.
I also recommend “The Wall” by Marlen Haushofer.
Both have been great for crossroads - not necessarily for direction more to get your feet firmly down before moving on

Brave New World

The Heart of the Matter

The End of the Affair

If you want literature that is well written, paints an image perfectly and has well drawn characters I really don't think you can do better than Graham Greene.

Not your run-of-the-mill life-changing book, but my own life was well and truly changed when I read Liar Moon by Ben Pastor when I was recovering from a serious illness.

The Female Eunuch, when I was a teen. Mind blowing.

I second The Book Thief, it's the most beautiful book I've ever read. Also yes to whoever said The Catcher in the Rye.

I'd recommend All the Bright Places, it's technically Young Adult Literature but it's gorgeous

Life-changing and not absolute favourite:

Freakonomics (one fo their insights has saved me a load of money)

Not Buying It, Judith Levine - a woman stops buying anything except ingredients for meals/fuel for a year. Yes she is super middle class but it has regularly had an effect on me

Wilful Blindness, Margaret Heffernan - you just stop trying to explain the behaviour of white men, you realise they are all suffering from wilful blindness at all times. It's not exclusively about white men but that was my take-away

Quiet by Susan Cain, someone mentioned it before and it's specifically made parenting an introvert easier for me

And fiction I don't want to get into as my choices would really out me! I give a lot of books as gifts.

In Dubious Battle. Hence the username!

Another vote for The Woman who Walked into Doors and the sequel Paula. As a child of an alcoholic it really helped me to understand that alcoholic parents are just people and that everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

These are the first books I've read that were simultaneously heart breaking, life affirming, tragic and hilarious in equal measure. A definite 'must read' for anyone who hasn't already.

Hanif Kureishi - Intimacy. So beautifully written. And very short if you're pressed for time!

I hated Quiet. I thought I would like it but just found it a bit...anecdotal.

Great thread, op

I’m another to recommend Wild Swans, it’s such an amazing book.

I’ll add The Art of Hearing Heartbeats. Absolutely beautiful.

Sorry to hijack but I’m partial to a great love story, anyone have any recommendations that aren’t beach/‘chick lit’?
My favourite is Aphrodite’s War

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. Have read 4 times and just find it heart breaking and uplifting in equal measure. Phenominal

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon - I can’t stop re-reading it

Women Who Run With the Wolves

An Absent Mind

Fiction, but changed the whole way I look at/think about/understand dementia and Alzheimers.

Definitely, a fine balance. Such an amazing book that will stay with you for a long time

I love this thread - I really thought I was 'well read' but haven't heard of half of these books! Have googled most now and my amazon is well and truly smashed!

Thank you for covering my next three years literally!!

Totally different vein but "Convince Them in 90 Seconds or Less: Make Instant Connections That Pay Off in Business and in Life". Very simple, actually plain obvious tips how to make connections and be likeable. But I am still amazed what difference this book has made to my career.

G5000 - Have you read 'The 48 laws of Power' Robert Greene? A bit more brutal in its thinking...