What Book Changed Your Life?
People die, but words live forever.
Ideas drive humanity forward, which is why the written word has more of an impact on world movement than anything else on the planet.
Books can lead to global movements or personal change. From Thomas Paine’s Common Sense to David Allen’s Getting Things Done, books spark action and affect change like little else.
Of course, the world has its sacred texts, but beyond religion, where would the world be without any of the following books?
The Wealth of Nations: Adam Smith’s 1776 book is considered the genesis of modern economics, advocating a free-market economy and laying the scaffolding of the earliest theory.
On the Origin of Species: Charles Darwin’s book was a revolution in its time and is still regarded as the foundation for the theory of evolution today.
1984: George Orwell’s dystopian tale paints a picture of life under totalitarian rule, from a government that has taken away its citizenry’s rights. Like Shakespeare, Orwell’s vision has had an effect on our language, giving us the terms “doublespeak” and “Big Brother.”
Diary of a Young Girl: Anne Frank’s chilling diary documents her Jewish family’s trials while staying hidden from the Germans during the World War II Nazi takeover of the Netherlands.
The Interpretation of Dreams: Sigmund Freud brought the science of psychology to the mainstream. And while many of his contemporaries disagreed with his theories, as do many scholars today, no one can question the book’s impact on the world.
The Rights of Man: After Common Sense, Pain argued that it’s a government’s job to protect the citizens, and if the government can not meet its duty, it is the duty of the citizenry to overthrow that government.
Walden: Henry David Thoreau isolated himself from society by living alone on Walden Pond. Though written a couple of hundred years ago, Thoreau’s work is still a seminal voice in the minimalist movement.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Harriet Beecher Stowe was a middled-aged white woman when she wrote the book that’s been credited with shifting the views of slavery in the north and shining a light on some of the darker after affects of a country involved with such a dark and horrible act.
Brave New World: Like Orwell’s Opus, Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel is considered one of the great works of the last century. Huxley’s novel focused on technology and the loss of individuality in a world where technology reigns supreme.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: JK Rowling’s first book changed the world and fueled the imagination of a massive chunk of the newest generation of readers. The most successful author in the world, Rowling’s Harry Potter franchise made more money than the Queen of England and has turned a generation of children into avid readers.
The written word is everything to the world.
Books have shaped who I am and who I will to be. The book that made the most difference in my life is an aborted manuscript I wrote four years back. Not because the book was any good, it’s actually quite terrible.
That book taught me that I wanted to write, and that I was born to do it, as the millions of words from the thousands of books I’ve read came pouring from my fingers and onto the page.
Yet, how could anyone ever know where to start?
So many books are out there, it’s impossible not to get lost without a map.
Fascinated with the idea that a single book could change your life, and that the right book could change it for the better, I wrote a character into my novel, Four Seasons, named Mrs. Stamp.
Mrs. Stamp runs an independent bookstore and almost supernaturally knows the perfect book for every reader and every occasion. The books she recommends change the lives of the readers who read them.
You can be a Mrs. Stamp and change someone’s life too.
Do you know someone who can use a specific book?
Regarding value, few things are as valuable as the perfect book for the right person. Putting the right book and person together means you are helping someone else to enrich their life in a way they would not have otherwise.
Books can empower or console, make you laugh or make you think. The trick is to cultivate a garden of ideas.
Share a book and change a life. Just don’t forget to pick out something for yourself as well.
