Sep 30, 2011 / Topic Ideas

What 5 books have influenced you the most?

Close Comments

Comments

  2. First and most influential book(s) (1) Power Through Constructive Thinking by Emmet Fox. (2) Forever Amber, (3) Lord of the Rings, (4) If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland (5) Angelique by Sergeanne Golon. A weird assortment, true, but all influenced me at various times in my life, some for the better, some no so much.

    Like

    1. OMG! Desha. You are the only person I have seen that read the book “Forever Amber.” I read it when I was in high school, oh so long ago. I read it one other time several years after high school. It was very intense I thought.

      Like

  3. Some days different books stick out in my mind more than others. I have written before about books that have influenced me. Among the top ones are: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Grapes of Wrath, Gone With the Wind, many of Shakespeare’s plays, The Old Man and the Sea, and of course the Bible. Today, however, I am thinking about poetry. That had such a strong influence on me as well. My parents were always reciting poetry to us. We didn’t own a lot of books but we always had piles of library books around. When my parents were in school they often had to memorize poems to recite–and they remember them to this day. One of my dad’s favorites was …http://believeanyway.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/the-childrens-hour-my-own-post264/

    Like

  5. Hum, that’s difficult, but if I have to choose five special destinations that marked my life, I’d go for Rome, London, Cardiff, Toronto and the Hawaiian islands.
    Regarding movies,I should say the following: Dead Poet’s society, Possession, Psychosis, The Illusionist (http://wp.me/p10iHd-7c) and The red violin (http://wp.me/p10iHd-3W)
    As for the books, here’s a post I wrote a while ago about the books that have changed my life http://wp.me/p10iHd-21

    Like

  6. The first book wich actually amazed me when I was 15 – Rebecca, a novel by Daphne du Maurier. The second it was obviously The Catcher in the Rye ( it has been my favourite for a long period of time), the trird it was genious The Red and the Black , and one the books wich is worth reading is The Splendors and Miseries of Courtesans written by Balzac and the fifth is Manon Lescaut.

    Like

  7. The Little House Series (so crazy to think Laura wrote all those novels in pencil 🙂 Ashes in the Wind/The Wolf and the Dove (both by Kathleen Woodiwiss); Kristen Lamb’s We Are Not Alone: The Writers’ Guide to Social Media.
    Joanna Aislinn
    Dream. Believe. Strive. Achieve!
    NO MATTER WHY
    The Wild Rose Press

    Like

  9. i only have one: “Everyday Greatness”, in first year after bought this book i always read it every night before sleep, hope some miracle will happen to me tomorrow

    Like

  10. The BibleThe HobbitThe Lord of the Rings

    (Counting all 3 as one)
    The Chronicles of Narnia (Counting all 7 as one)
    The last one is somewhat of a toss-up. Not sure if I should go with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Counting all 4 as one), Star Trek: The Motion Picture, or Shogun. Tough call, that one. All have personal significance. Hitchhiker’s was just plain fun; Star Trek was the first book I remember reading just for the sake and enjoyment of reading; and I read (and thoroughly loved) Shogun because I remembered watching (and enjoying) the mini-series with my father.

    Like

  12. I picked 10. Sorry, Can’t pick just 5. Actually, I have eleven after I read the post by elizabetheloquent.
    http://hammerbro82.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/29-sep-journal/
    1. Animal Farm
    2. Rebecca
    3. The Bible (Because I was introduced to it so young)
    4. Jesus Interrupted
    5. The Hiding Place
    6. Principles on the Metaphysic of Morals
    7. Beyond Good and Evil
    8. Son of Hamas
    9. On Killing
    10. Considerations on Representative Government
    11. The textbook for my astronomy class.

    I have gone into detail on my blog (follow the link above). Except “Rebecca”, I forgot about it at first, but it is one of the best books I have ever read.

    Like

  13. Wow, by the books listing, I see we are all so intelligent, introverted, and metaphysical.

    I have something I would like to know: How did the blog owner get the font changed in the header of this theme? Most book people adore fonts.

    Like

    1. CSS will do the trick. The problem comes in if you are a fellow cheap-skate and refuse to pay for any of the additional add-ons. You can’t customize the CSS on a WordPress.com site. Unless you pay, you aren’t able to do it. You can somewhat control how things appear in posts, by using the style= attribute in HTML tags, but that’s about as far as it can go. (That’s how I get all my posts to have full justification!)

      Like

      1. Of course, looking at it more closely, it might just be an image of the text replacing the actual header text. (That may still require a paid feature to achieve, since that’s usually a trick of CSS as well, if not outright template modification.)

        Like

  15. Good topic. Let’s see . . .
    Cujo, Stephen King (first King book I ever read; made me a lifelong fan)
    The Wolfman, Nicholas Pekearo
    To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
    The Book of Lost Things, John Connolly
    A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers

    Like

  16. 1. The Millionaire Next Door, it teaches the basics and should be a must read for all.
    2. The Tipping Point, for how little things can influence and impact change.
    3. The Far Arena, By Richard Ben Sapir, Fiction that left me with the impression time changes perspective.
    4. Chicken Soup for the Entrepreneur’s Soul, Great information on how business can come from humble beginings.
    5. John Adams by David Mccullough, to have all of the journals and letters about the life of John Adams in one read is great. History has many lessons about what is wrong with today.

    Like

  17. I agree, seems this has been posted before.
    I trace the books that influenced me the most to a time when I was reading for pleasure and had little else to worry about. 6-8th grade, sharing books with friends, often reading under the desk during school.
    Top 5: To Kill A Mockingbird, Diary of Anne Frank, 1984, Jane Eyre and Exodus.
    Readers: I recently re-read To Kill A Mockingbird- after reading it first in 1968 , then teaching it during the late 80’s and through the 90’s. A local theater group is putting it on in play form and I wanted to reread it. Powerful still. It seems to appear as a title in many posts- I’m curious about when others first read it and their reactions, relationship to the book. Perhaps a future blog post- would love your input.

    Like

  18. The Astrology of Fate by Liz Greene
    The Celestine Prophecy, an adventure by James Redfield
    Linda Goodman’s Love Signs
    The Higher Taste, A guide to Gourmet Vegetarian Cooking and a Karma free diet.
    Bhagavad-Gita, as it is.

    Like

  19. The Dance by Oriah Mountain Dreamer
    Power vs. Force by Dr. David Hawkins
    Love Poems by Rumi
    The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
    The Divine Matrix by Gregg Braden

    Like

  21. el libro que mas me ha influenciado es el “diario de Ana Frank”. bueno no es que allá leído muchos pero se me hace muy curioso la perspectiva de ella, la manera en que veia las cosas para mi que aun soy una adolescente es significativo.

    Like

  24. I have brought & read the book ABUSIVE POWER by Micheal Savage & if you want a book that will get & keep your attention than this it! Plus to really get to even know this author then go to KFIY Radio this broadcaster as well as a fine Author will capture your mind with the true unbiased new’s of what’s the real truth of what’s going on in this world! Dr. Michael Savage is on from Monday thru Friday at 7pm Arizona! Do not miss this man who tell’s it like it is!

    Like

  25. Stories about righting wrongs helped shape my moral compass – “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Grapes of Wrath” fall in that category. “In Cold Blood” was a great psychological drama that hit real close to home about a decade after I read it when a similar crime happened that I covered as a reporter. For a lighter look at crime, I love “Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas” and “Get Shorty.” Wonderful writing, great stories, spot-on character development.

    Like

  26. Dune by Frank Herbert
    A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander
    The Alphabet Versus The Goddess by Leonard Shlain
    How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read b y Pierre Bayard
    Someday Said Mitchell by Barbara Williams

    These are the books that immediately come to mind. World-building, problem-solving, tongue-twisting, conversation-starting, mother-loving good books.

    Like

  27. Dune by Frank Herbert
    A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander
    The Alphabet Versus The Goddess by Leonard Shlain
    How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read b y Pierre Bayard
    Someday Said Mitchell by Barbara Williams

    These are the books that immediately come to mind. World-building, problem-solving, tongue-twisting, conversation-starting, mother-loving good books

    Like

  30. (1) A Brief History of Time
    (2) Physics Of The Impossible
    (3) The Grand Design
    (4) Harry Potter Series
    (5) Digital Photographer’s Handbook

    Actually what inspires me is magazine’s articles and my inner-self

    Like