Thread: Books that have influenced your life?

So as he title goes, any books that have influenced something in your life like a lesson, an act, or something you've learned from a book.

I will always remember in my first year at school our English teacher, who was also a drama teacher read us a book called the Flour babies. After reading the book, she set us a task to look after an egg and treat it like a baby for two weeks. The whole in fact was based on that book by Anne Fine.

I do remember it was pretty funny to read. Hey the memories, it was so funny, most of us already had our egg broken the first day.

Well the Twilight series really influenced me. I guess just 'cause I keep thinking about it. It's so epic.

I had a talk on the 8 habits of highly effective people during this school leadership training camp last month. Don't know if that counts as reading the book, but it's really affected me.

On The Road by Kerouac.
It showed me that there is a real romantic quality in the life of a vagabond, and that living outside of conventions can be ruthlessly exciting. Now whenever I come across one of society's expectations I ask myself why it exists, and what would happen if I chose to disregard it. There's some great power in this.

And also....

Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis, of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Whether you enjoy their music or not (I do!) I think it's a great read. A real insight into a troubled-mind who wants to be good, but keeps falling short. It's witty, entertaining, moving, and a great insight into the band's history (though the key moments are Anthony's relationships).
That's sorta reading like a book review, but it was a huge influence because it was the first book I read that was brilliantly true-to-life witty. It showed me that writing could be cool, and that there was a market for the compounded thoughts of a witty thinker.

The Stranger

The Joy Of Sex ~ Alex Comfort

As painful at times it was to read; The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (first 11 and prequel anyway).

Mainly because i have such an epic idea which i can't just put down in one or two books, I relate to Jordan who has done something i can only dream of (putting his ideas down on paper for one and being sucessful for the second).

I love the Wheel of Time. Only books in that genre worth reading.

Lord of the Rings, twice. The first time when I was about 13 and read it for the first time, and thought it was the world's greatest story. The second time, a few years later, when I realised it was actually quite tedious in places, was really just a handful of set pieces tied together with string and had all the emotional depth of a wet towel.

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Got me turned on to redheaded guys the summer after I turned 15. That winter--scant days after I turned 16--I met a fabulous redhead who I married three years later.

John Saul's Hellfire. I can't remember why, but it inspired me to write. I'm still not sure if I should bronze it or curse it.

I should add all the books by Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume because they really made me love literature when I was little.

Well, if I narrow it down to books that have influenced my writing life I'd have to cite Dr. Seuss and HP Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury and Donald Sobol, for those were the first authors who spurred me to pen things in imitation. That would be The Lorax, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, Dandelion Wine, and the Encyclopedia Brown stories.
For life in general, I'd have to say the Books of Knowledge and the Grolier Encyclopaedia, which were kept in my room from the time I was four or so, along with a copy of the OED. Those things likely go hand-in-hand.

The Fountainhead
The Catcher in the Rye
Cloud Atlas
Number9Dream
Ask The Dust
The Kite Runner
Look Homeward, Angel
For Whom The Bell Tolls
The Great Gatsby
The Beach
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
The Things They Carried

Those are the books that have made me stop, think and consider. They were all fun reads as well.

Unseen Hand By A. Ralph Emperson.
Teenager Liberation Handbook By Grave Llewellyn.
The Shack By William P. Young

An odd variety, but have all effected me in some way: Unseen Hand by teaching me about conspiracies, the Handbook by showing me that I have been unschooling all along and The Shack by showing me how great a relationship that I can have with God.

Just my thoughts

memoirs of a geisha came to me
at a pinnacle moment in my life
i so love that story *nod nod*