Books that have changed your life

I apologize for multiple posts today, but I wanted this particular topic to have it's own post. And this may not be my last one before the day is out either since I have today off (consider that your fair warning).

During my conversations last night in my book club and with Joe afterward, there was talk of books that have really had an impact on one's life. I LOVE to read but like to fill my time with quality books. I don't just like self-help/pop-psychology/counseling-focused/etc books. I do enjoy good fiction- suspense books, mystery books, etc. I always enjoy recommendations on every front. However, it was suggested to me by the woman who showed up for the book club that maybe people should share what books they find have been most influential in their lives and then we can choose from that list for our books to read. I kind of like the idea of discussing fictional novels (at least every now & again), but I liked her idea as well. She mentioned that there are 5 books she could list right away that she said have "changed her life." She then shared with me those titles. I have not yet read any of them, but here they are (in no particular order):

1. Personality Plus: How To Understand Others by Understanding Yourself by Florence Littauer (in doing a search for this one on Amazon.com to add to my wish list, I noticed the author also wrote a Personality Plus book for couples and one for parents)

2. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle

3. Of Monkeys and Dragons: Freedom from the Tyranny of Disease by Michele Longo O'Donnell

4. Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About by Kevin Trudeau

5. (The title she gave me I can't find an exact match to) Wayne Dyer is the author and the title given was Tao Te Ching. I found a book titled: Living the Wisdom of the Tao: The Complete Tao Te Ching and Affirmations, so maybe that's it.

Like I said, I haven't read any of these books yet, so if you have and have feedback (they don't all have super positive reviews on Amazon.com), feel free to share that feedback with me and my blog readers by adding a comment below.

This got Joe and me to thinking about and discussing non-scripture books we'd say have either "changed our lives" or had a very strong impact on us and our perceptions.

Here's my list (in no particular order):

1. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

2. The Miracle of Forgiveness by Spencer W. Kimball

3. Choice Theory: A New Psychology of Personal Freedom by William Glasser

4. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

5. The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work and Why Marriages Succeed or Fail: And How You Can Make Yours Last by John Gottman

6. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini (who incidentally was one of my psychology professors at ASU. He talked about some of the stories included in this book during the course of the social psychology class I had with him, and I am thrilled that just now I found he released on August 8th the 5th edition of this book titled Influence: Science and Practice. I had lent my copy to someone a while back and have been missing it ever since, so I may just have to pick up the new edition one of these days.)

In adding Joe's 2 cents, here is a list of books he says changed his perception:

1. The Law by Frederick Bastiat

2. Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman by Richard P. Feynman

3. The Illustrated Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

4. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott

5. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

6. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki

Out of all of the books on Joe's list, I've only read the one that is on both of our lists, so I've got a lot more reading I can do! But before I get started on that, I want to finish reading Jane Austen's Emma and the 2 books I have checked out from the library.

What books would you say have had a strong impact on your life, whether life-changing, perception-altering, or the like? (For those who receive this blog currently via email, I'd love if you answered this one online so you can share your choices with others who read the blog and have a great place I can refer to when I'm looking for a good book to read. If you don't know how to post a comment here, let me know and I'll try to help.)