Books That Changed My Friends’ Lives

In my last blog I asked if books change lives. The resounding answer I got from Facebook friends and family was yes, of course. I also ended up with a long reading list that keep me busy for the rest of the year, and likely beyond.

Books That Create Readers

Many of us grew up assuming that books change lives. We assumed the books we read at school were life-changing. We had lists of classic books and trendy books and devoured them, changed by each and every one. For natural readers, the mark of a “good” book is, of course, the mark it leaves on you.

But not all books that change lives are “good” or “classic” or “literary.” Here it’s worth sharing the story behind Steffani Fine Mykins life-changing book, Barbara Taylor Bradford’s A Woman of Substance, a book that, Steffani is the first to admit, is “probably not the response you would expect.”

“It is by no means a ‘good book’ and probably nowadays would be a Lifetime movie. It is a silly drama with a few sequels and once was a prime-time TV mini-series,” said Steffani. However, she explains, this was the ” first really big book” that she read for pleasure in high school.

It is by no means a “good book” and probably nowadays would be a Lifetime movie. It is a silly drama with a few sequels and once was a prime-time TV mini-series… But it was the first really big book that I read for pleasure.

Steffani Fine Mykins

“Growing up we did not read like kids read nowadays,” she explained. “There were no bookstores we could just go purchase what we wanted. We went to the library at school and picked a book for the week, and I just usually glanced at it. I wasn’t much into reading. In high school I never enjoyed English class…because the books were boring. The few books I did truly enjoy, my teachers ruined them by telling the class what the author was trying to convey….I was just turned off.”

Becoming a Reader of Substance

And then Steffani read A Woman of Substance.  As a teen, she was immediate “drawn in and super engaged. I stayed up night after night reading it. I came home and read nonstop. I was so enthralled by what would happen next. It was overdone and juicy, and I loved it.”

After that book, Steffani says she has been “devouring books” and passing her love of books on to her children. “Luckly I have broadened my scope of reading, but every now and then I will read a drama/saga similar to my first love just to get lost and enjoy the book.”

Books That Changed Our Lives

Below you’ll find this treasure trove of books my friends say changed their lives. Some are old classics. Others are brand new. Some are off the beaten “serious reader” path. But all have changed a life.

The non-fiction books struck me as falling into 6 life-changing categories:

• Human Relationship To Other Living Things
• Inspirational People
• Learning and Education
• New Takes on History, Politics, and Society
• Rethinking the Human Place in the Universe
• Self-Understanding and Personal Relationships

I starred the books that came with multiple recommendations.

Caveat: My sources are likely not a representative sample of readers. However, they do represent a diverse group of people who love to read. I suspect you’ll find some surprisingly new and intriguing reads, below—and, if you’re like me, too many new and intriguing reads.

Fiction: The List

Octavia E. Butler. Parable of the Sower

Octavia E. Butler. Parable of the Talents

Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler…are set in a near future dystopian world. The young female protagonist founds her own religion. The religion’s basic premise is intriguing, and I find myself thinking about it a lot. It has helped me mentally recently get through some difficult times. Others have actually embraced this as a new religion. I haven’t gone that far to hop on board—but it is intriguing.

Michelle Crunkleton

*Anthony Doeer. Cloud Cuckoo Land

Louise Erdrich. The Night Watchman

Lauren Groff. Matrix

George Orwell. 1984

George Orwell. Burmese Days

*Marcel Proust. In Search of Lost Time

*Rohintron Mistry. A Fine Balance

Samuel Sagan. Atlantean Secrets (an epic saga in 21 books, 4 volumes)

*Kurt Vonnegut. Cat’s Cradle

Frank Waters. The Woman at Otowi Crossing

Cameron Wright. The Rent Collector

“The Rent Collector by Camron Wright really struck me. There were touches of wisdom that I wanted to keep close.”

Ellen Howse

Non-Fiction: The List

Human Relationships with Other Living Things

Jennifer Ackerman. The Genius of Birds

John Gray. Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals

*Merlin Sheldrake’s Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape our Futures

Inspirational People

Melinda Gates. The Moment of Lift

*Tracy Kidder. Mountains Beyond Mountains

Learning and Education

Susan D. Blum. “I Love Learning; I Hate School”: An Anthropology of College

Todd Rose. The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World that Values Sameness

Both The End of Average and “I Love Learning; I Hate School” (both by university professors)…espouse how unsuited our system of education is to actual learning.

Michelle Crunkleton

New Takes on History and Society

Michelle Alexander. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

Joel Colón-Ríos. Weak Constitutionalism: Democratic Legitimacy and the Question of Constituent Power

Daniel Immerwahr. How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States

Ibram X. Kendi. Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America

Jessie Singer. There Are No Accidents: The Deadly Rise of Injury and Disaster—Who Profits and Who Pays the Price

[There Are No Accidents is] just an amazing book, thoroughly researched and artfully presented. You’ll never look at “accidents” the same way.

Claudia O’Keefe

Rethinking the Human Place in the Universe

Carlo Rovelli’s The Order of Time

Max Tegmart. Life 3.0: Being Human in an Age of Artificial Intelligence

Self-Understanding and Interpersonal Relationships

Brené Brown. Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience

“I just finished Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown, and the research on all the different emotions and how they relate to connection was eye opening. Definitely shifting how I move forward on engaging people who have different viewpoints—as well as how I can better support family and friends.”

Kate Doyle

Melissa Febos. Girlhood

“I don’t know if it changed my life, but [the book Girlhood] made me feel both better and angry. The writing is beautiful.”

Quincy Kirsch

*Jay Shetty. Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day

Irvin D. Yalom. Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death