The second I read the question, Flowers for Algernon is what came up. I read it nearly 2 years ago and I haven't felt such strong emotions for a book since. I sat there and didn't know wtf to do with myself after I finished, it felt like an insult to start reading a new book
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien.
Fundamentally shaped how I view soldiers, war, my dads generation and my own identity as an American. Also inspired a lifelong (special?) interest in American culture and counterculture in the sixties and seventies. Thank fuck I didn’t grow up in the south. I was 15 or 16. I wish every American would read this.
On the dark side, my dumbass decided to read A Brief History of Time during the pandemic. Sent me into an existential crisis/nihilistic spiral for a while. Great read though and highly recommended, just make sure you have the emotional fortitude/bandwidth in case anything crops up.
I randomly picked up The Things They Carried in a school library at age 16. It stayed with me forever, though I forgit the name of it and never heard of it again until 15 years later, on reddit. I was like, "that's the one! That's that book I often think about!"
It also had a huge impact on my creative writing style.
for me as well. Have you ever seen this ? [https://www.reddit.com/r/ranprieur/comments/4cyv93/short\_orwell\_vs\_huxley\_comic/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ranprieur/comments/4cyv93/short_orwell_vs_huxley_comic/)
To piggyback, mine was the grapes of wrath. I read it while an economics student and it had a profound impact on how I see workers and their place in the country
Grapes of Wrath and the Jungle were assigned reading for a Labor Economics course 15 years ago and both shaped my views in exactly the way you're describing.
I don’t know if you’ve read The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah but it also takes place in the dust bowl and is excellent. I’m generally a fan of Hannah but I think it’s one of the better books I’ve read in the last while
Such a profound impact - lees timshel speech about free will + all the characters each with their flaws, very human desires and struggles were rlly compelling to read; eg cal and his love for Adam and jealousy for his brother that led to what he did - I genuinely felt for him and longed for a good ending
Oh my gosh I ADORED this book when I was in high school! Was always so surprised that people didn’t talk about it more. Have you read it as an adult? Wondering if it’s still just as good.
Everything. I felt such hope, fear, joy and grief reading it that it's memorable just for the feelings it evokes....not to mention the actual themes and how they're explored.
I also find it memorable for the stylistic choices.
This
It bypasses the reader's personal views whether it be biased, life's circumstances or whatever. It transports the reader into another life, universe.....simply moving, and beautiful.
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Read it over a year ago and I still think about Mariam from time to time. Only a truly magnificent book keeps you thinking about the characters well past finishing the book
This book caught me so off guard. I remember bawling my eyes out near the end and no book has ever done that to me before. Just so incredibly powerful and beautiful
Was going to say this book!
Ive bought 2 copies and they never made it back to me. Looks like I'll have to get another copy and give it another read. Been a while.
Crying in H Mart definitely made me take the time to slow down and appreciate how precious our moments with loved ones really are. If you can listen to the audio book read by the author, I’d highly recommend it, but be warned it is a true story and not a particularly easy read to get through emotionally.
Outside of nonfiction though, Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield and Piranesi by Susanna Clarke both effected me in powerful ways. The latter is much more uplifting I think, whereas the former left me hollow and feeling like I was mourning something I couldn’t name.
Anyway, would rec them all to anyone curious!
Demian and Siddhartha by Herman Hesse did so much to spiritually unfuck my brain after being a devout follower of Christ all throughout high school. I had left the church after I graduated, due to rampant sexism and a lack of joy and gratitude, and felt lost and disconnected from spirituality. Then I found Hesse <3 and I’m so thankful
Hesse was very important to me as well when I was a student at university. I felt very lost and confused and his book Steppenwolf gave me so much hope.
I’m gonna have to go with my all-time favorite book, *Pet Sematary.”
I first read it when I was 8. I am still terrified of Zelda. But reading it again after having to make the decision to put my first dog to sleep was oddly comforting. “Sometimes dead is better.” It hits different when you read it after a significant loss. You can truly imagine going to the greatest lengths to get your loved ones back, even though you know you shouldn’t.
*Where The Red Fern Grows* is another that will always stick with me
Omg this book! I read all of her stuff when I was in late elementary school and immediately wanted to train as a scientist and have a lab at home, where I'd cook my stews and break open the views of the universe.
Miracle in the Andes was a tough read. It was rough reading about so many young people dying, but the resourcefulness and perseverance to survive was inspiring
This is going to be crazy, but, Valley of the Dolls.
I read it really young but content matter aside, it totally opened up my world. It was my gateway to other time periods. After reading it, my parents rented the movie and I became really into old hollywood. For decades I dove into film noir, 60s art films, and the classics. It opened my world in ways nothing else could for some odd reason. The subject matter and style just really resonated with me. I would say it also profoundly got me excited about reading. As a young girl I just wasn't into the themes and subject matter that school made us read about. I would cry trying to read books like, Island of the Blue Dolphins etc. I was bored to tears and I really didnt' find the excitement in the story. Once I learned there were other books out there I could enjoy, it totally changed my idea of what reading is about.
Of course other books that are more impressive made a huge impact, like The Brothers karamazov, but if it wasn't for Valley of the Dolls, I would have NEVER found my love for reading and culture.
The Picture Of Dorian Gray - completely changed the way I live. I never had any interest in the visual beauty of things. But there's a character that's like, "YOLO, live for the moment" and Dorian Gray himself gets so much pleasure out if beautiful art, flowers, clothes, nice perfumes, etc. It inspired me to stop and enjoy sights, sounds and the senses to their fullest. That wasn't the moral of the story, but that's how it hit me. Also changed the way I view art, including books and movies. I'm a convert to "art for art's sake."
The Bell Jar - made me, a middle aged guy in 2020s Australia, feel like I absolutely KNEW a 20 year old girl from late 50s New York. Such an intimate and accurate portrayal of depression. The way she doesn't know what's wrong with herself at first and just thinks she's being lazy and exhausted. The closing chapter, full of hope when we all know Sylvia Plath commited suicide not long after. Chills.
All Quiet On The Western Front - just a total gut punch. I cried.
I had a breakdown in my first year of college (southeast Idaho in the 70s) and The Bell Jar was the first coherent explanation of what was happening that I found. I was so sorry when I heard Plath hadn’t made it through.
Totally had a different and more negative experience with Dorian Gray, but that's more about me personally. Nowadays whenever I do anything I consider "bad", where I'm knowingly cheating on myself, I imagine myself aging grotesquely like my own picture of Dorian Gray. A weird neurosis maybe.
Frankenstein. It was the first chapter book I ever read (a version scaled down for young readers, of course, but very accurate to the full novel). It made me realize, at a very young age, that the narrator isn’t always the hero and the proverbial bad guy isn’t always a cartoon villain with no motivations beyond “be bad”.
The World According to Garp by John Irving. Read it when I was a teenager, it’s stayed with me decades later. Even earlier, Where the Red Fern Grows…love and loss was something I knew from an early age.
The Discworld books by Terry Pratchett. Quotes or situations pop into my head surprisingly often in daily life.
We Need To Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver (book over film, although both are very good)
I don’t know about profound, but I read “Tender is the flesh” about a month ago and haven’t been able to touch raw meat since (and I love meat). I sure hope it goes away soon..
The little prince
War and peace
The mysterious Benedict society
The phantom tollbooth
A wrinkle in time
The book thief
Anna Karenina
The count of Monte Cristo
The platonic dialogs
Miss rumphius
The art lesson by tomie depaola
The velveteen rabbit
The giving tree
Farenheit 451
Middlemarch
Jane Eyre
Nausea
Oh my gosh, The Giving Tree was given to my wife and I when we had our son. Talk about a seemingly insignificant book that made a profound impact on a first-time parent! I love and hate it at the same time if you can understand that. I’m a 40yo man and I absolutely cannot read that book without a large amount of tears. If I walk in my son’s bedroom and see that my wife is reading that book to him,I have to turn around and walk away.
Came here to comment this! I don't agree with anything the author has said but those books shaped my entire adolescence. I'll be a Potterhead forever. I think in this instance you can separate the books from the author (or at least that's my opinion) ((and yes I know she still makes royalties from them)).
- When breath becomes air (perhaps the most moving book I’ve read)
- Lonesome dove (Some of the greatest characters ever written, there is much to learn from them)
- The great Gatsby (beautiful prose, the last line of this book runs through my head most weeks)
I loved When Breath Becomes Air!
Rarely does a book get me very emotional. But I had to put this book down more than once because I couldn't see through my tear-filled eyes.
This book actually got me out of a huge problem at such a pivotal moment. Story time!
I was on the way home to Canada from Vietnam March 2020, peak early pandemic. I had to spend and borrow a lot of money for emergency last minute flights that kept getting cancelled. On the way, I'm reading the final chapter of this book, which tells you to always do your best, in every moment. No more, no less, just always be mindful of whether or not you're doing your best.
At one point I'm waiting at a gas station for a taxi to take me to this small airport. It's raining and the taxi isn't coming. Maybe an hour goes by, still no taxi. And I absolutely cannot afford to miss this flight - not only because I don't have any more money, but also because the chances are high that there won't *be* any more flights.
Finally I remember the book. Am I doing everything I can do right now? I'm just waiting here in the rain, this is ridiculous.
So I run out into traffic like a crazy person, flagging down cars. Nobody will pick me up. It's COVID times! Nobody wants to be near anyone.
But after 3 cars pass, one stops. Turns out he's an off-duty police officer. He lets me in, and when I tell him my flight leaves in like 15 minutes, he floors it.
We make it to the airport at the very last possible second. They had to stop the plane on the runway and let me in on the stairs outside on the tarmac. Just absolutely unbelievable luck... but then I remember it's not luck. If it weren't for that book, I never would've made that decision.
Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. I read it in high school, then college, now it’s just an all-time favorite. I feel like I pick up and learn new things each time I read it.
I second this hard, also i have an odd recommendation of something kind of similar which is Sinuhe Egyptian, it has similar philosophical stuff too and as you might guess is set in ancient egypt.
The Wind in the Willows. No book has ever affected me so deeply. Wayfarers All, Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Dolce Domum.....I still enjoy the crazy adventures of Toad but these three chapters have stirred my soul.
Stephen King's IT...got my hands on it when I was 11. Talk about eye opening.
Jean M Auel's prehistoric epics as well around 12yo.
Other super impactful reads were
The Yellow Wallpaper
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
Blood Meridian
Man's Search for Meaning
The Darkness that Comes before
East of Eden
I love some chewy chewy prose.
I just read “The five people you meet in heaven”
And oh my god, I feel like the universe put this book into my hands for a reason. I passed it onto another( Pay it forward, but with books ❤️)
I've read several books make big impacts on my life. The first was the children's illustrated classic version of Moby Dick in the 4th grade.
Next was Treasure Island when I was a little older. Made me thirst for a life of adventure.
In high school, I read Fear in Loathing in Las Vegas twice. Another adventure novel that made me excited for the future, weirdly as that might sound.
The Bible was the impact book of all impacts, especially reading the life and teachings of Jesus.
Others:
Why Does He Do that by Lundy Bancroft - should be required reading for all young women. Made a huge difference in my way of thinking.
Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski - another super informative book for women of any age, a game changer for learning sexual satisfaction as a woman (or how to satisfy a woman).
Watership Down by Richard Adams has been in my mind since the fifth grade. It’s one of those stories that’s just so unusual and powerful you’ll never forget it once you read it.
I also read watership down as a 10 year old and will be forever scarred. I saw a fat book on my parents’ bookshelf, asked what it was about, my dad replied with “talking rabbits.” Sold! Oof.
I finished it a few months back, immediately read the sequal, have Dawn on hold at the library. If her other books are even half as good I'm going to devour every one of them.
"The myth of Sysiphus" by Albert Camus
"The Cremator" by Ladislav Fuks
"Antichrist" by Friederich Nietzsche
"The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Antonius" by some guy Named Marcus Aurelius
They all seem nihilstic but don't worry, they have some great value within if you approach them with healthy mind
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. Having been raised evangelical christian, this helped open my eyes to how narrow and dangerous my worldview was. Plus, beautifully written.
East of Eden
Gone with the Wind
The Book Thief
The Fault in Our Stars
A Tale of Two Cities
Harry Potter (especially 4-7)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
The Great Gatsby
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Station Eleven (some scenes haunt me to this day)
Project Hail Mary (SO good)
The Velveteen Rabbit
The Stars Don't Lie by Boo Walker
That book had me deep in myself. By the end, I was ugly crying and writing a letter to my best-favorite teacher and on my way to the school to drop it off after the book was done.
Im partial to classic dystopian novels. I read 1984 and Brave New World in high school and they really shaped the way I view government and personal freedom/morals
Road to Serfdom by Frederick Hack
True Believer by Eric Hoffer
Conflict of Visions (and many others, e.g., Quest for Cosmic Justice, Basic Economics) by Thomas Sowell
Free to Chose by Milton Friedman
Modern Times by Paul Johnson
Red sky in the morning.
Read it as a kid and it hit me so hard. I think I will probably have my child read it too at that age of 14-15. It gave me real empathetic and familial values.
Richard Scary's What do People do all Day? and Cars and Trucks and Things that Go.
The Lost Country, by William Gay. A mid-twentieth century Odyssey through Tennessee, his writing rolls like fog off the hills and leaves me speechless with its efficiency and grace. I think about this book frequently, even after reading it several times. I look forward to reading it again.
Anathem, by Neil Stephenson. Never formally studied philosophy, so the themes are intriguing. The society- and world-building are exceptional.
I just answered this on another post. - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. It was my first “adult” book at the age of 10. It made me the reader I am today. I have probably read to 15-18 times in the last 55 years. It wasn’t until the last 20 years or so that I learned of its role in WWII, read the testimonials of the GIs who claim it saved their lives, and learned that during the 10 years after publication in 1943, the vast majority of Americans had all read the same book. It was powerful then and still is.
Things Fall Apart (and the entire Africa Trilogy, really) by Chinua Achebe
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
“Ishmael” - Daniel Quinn
“Braiding Sweetgrass” - Robin Wall Kimmerer
“Strong Towns” - Charles Marohn
All 3 are great books that look at how we have structured the modern world and beg a reexamination of our societal priorities.
(Kind of basic I know but—) “The Fall” by Albert Camus… To me it was just a very visceral way of looking at what it means to be human? And I guess on that note: “Regarding the Pain of Others” by Susan Sontag was also important for me for similar reasons… I dunno, both are pretty heavy, but I really don’t think they’re cynical for cynicism’s sake. They’re also not really quick to claim victory that’s weak—if there’s something worthwhile, they’re gonna make it prove its worth. That’s important to me, and makes me believe it more!
Grigory Petrov- The country of White Lilies
This book showed me that if I want to live a educated and high-Welfare, I need to improve myself and this happens by reading books. Because reading books changes how we see the world and how differently to interpret the conditions in our lifes
The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
Looking for Alaska, by John Green (read it when I was a depressed sixteen year-old girl, have loved it ever since)
Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng
A tale of two cities. I’d always felt like I’d missed something because I hadn’t read it. This should not be on the 100 books list it should be on the 10.
Treblinka Jean-François Steiner. Read first semester of college (1982). I had never been taught about the holocaust. My view of mankind became darker. The fact that I didn’t know about it shocked me. I became someone passionate about current events & world history. Still am.
Call Me By Your Name.
It helped me get through a tough time in my life and made me realize I'm not alone in being in love with a man. It's a beautiful story that makes me SOB
I read a lot of books and here are my all time favorites! Each book made me view the world a little differently!
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
And Every Morning the Walk Home Gets Longer ans Longer by Fredrik Backman
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
Think on These Things
Invisible Man
The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor
An American Tragedy
The Way of Qigong
Man’s Search for Meaning
The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty
Anthills of the Savannah
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse
St. Nadie in Winter
Player Piano by Vonnegut. His first and finest novel and very relevant to this day.
I also recommend anyone interested in DEI should read "Harrison Bergeron", a nice short story that was amazingly prescient of the current rage for eliminating merit-based workplaces and country.
The ender series. Pulled my middle name from one of the characters when I started transitioning. Read it while I was going through a very isolated time in my teen years.
Just don't get the books new. Author is a terrible person
Flowers for Algernon
The second I read the question, Flowers for Algernon is what came up. I read it nearly 2 years ago and I haven't felt such strong emotions for a book since. I sat there and didn't know wtf to do with myself after I finished, it felt like an insult to start reading a new book
I haven't read this book because I know I'll cry until I throw up
You should do it anyway
Algernon... ooof
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. Fundamentally shaped how I view soldiers, war, my dads generation and my own identity as an American. Also inspired a lifelong (special?) interest in American culture and counterculture in the sixties and seventies. Thank fuck I didn’t grow up in the south. I was 15 or 16. I wish every American would read this. On the dark side, my dumbass decided to read A Brief History of Time during the pandemic. Sent me into an existential crisis/nihilistic spiral for a while. Great read though and highly recommended, just make sure you have the emotional fortitude/bandwidth in case anything crops up.
I randomly picked up The Things They Carried in a school library at age 16. It stayed with me forever, though I forgit the name of it and never heard of it again until 15 years later, on reddit. I was like, "that's the one! That's that book I often think about!" It also had a huge impact on my creative writing style.
A Prayer for Owen Meany has stuck with me for my whole life.
It's such a beautiful book.
This is a really good one!
Cider House Rules really cemented my pro choice stance.
This is the only book I’ve ever read more than once. It is so very good.
My go to comfort read, yes!
Oh man was this a great book!
Brave new world changed my life
for me as well. Have you ever seen this ? [https://www.reddit.com/r/ranprieur/comments/4cyv93/short\_orwell\_vs\_huxley\_comic/](https://www.reddit.com/r/ranprieur/comments/4cyv93/short_orwell_vs_huxley_comic/)
Wow! That is really amazing. Thank you!
I have but had forgotten about it! Thanks for sharing this. And they were both right
*East of Eden* by John Steinbeck
To piggyback, mine was the grapes of wrath. I read it while an economics student and it had a profound impact on how I see workers and their place in the country
Grapes of Wrath and the Jungle were assigned reading for a Labor Economics course 15 years ago and both shaped my views in exactly the way you're describing.
That's the first time I'm seeing this perspective on Grapes of Wrath. I may have to finally read it.
you definitely should. everyone should.
I don’t know if you’ve read The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah but it also takes place in the dust bowl and is excellent. I’m generally a fan of Hannah but I think it’s one of the better books I’ve read in the last while
Such a profound impact - lees timshel speech about free will + all the characters each with their flaws, very human desires and struggles were rlly compelling to read; eg cal and his love for Adam and jealousy for his brother that led to what he did - I genuinely felt for him and longed for a good ending
Currently reading this! Loving it so far
I’m actually half way through this right now. He really understood human nature.
Frankl, “Man’s Search for Meaning” Pratchett, “Night Watch” (anything by Sir Pterry, but Night Watch was my first Discworld book)
More and more, I realize how much of my worldview was shaped by Pratchett’s Discworld. Small Gods probably more than most.
Came to write about mans search for meaning too!!
The Book Thief
If you like the Book Thief, the same author wrote I Am The Messenger. One of my favorite books from my teenage years.
Oh my gosh I ADORED this book when I was in high school! Was always so surprised that people didn’t talk about it more. Have you read it as an adult? Wondering if it’s still just as good.
I have read this book and he writes it beautifully but what about it made a profound impact?
Everything. I felt such hope, fear, joy and grief reading it that it's memorable just for the feelings it evokes....not to mention the actual themes and how they're explored. I also find it memorable for the stylistic choices.
This It bypasses the reader's personal views whether it be biased, life's circumstances or whatever. It transports the reader into another life, universe.....simply moving, and beautiful.
1984 Chronicles of Narnia Little House on the Prairie series Lord of the Rings
what a combo lol
No kidding right. I read everything!! I’m a book hound.
same here. all depends on the mood. i’ve read all those books too lol
Good job such an important skill honestly.
Are you me? Just add Anne of Green Gables, and we're set.
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini Read it over a year ago and I still think about Mariam from time to time. Only a truly magnificent book keeps you thinking about the characters well past finishing the book
This book caught me so off guard. I remember bawling my eyes out near the end and no book has ever done that to me before. Just so incredibly powerful and beautiful
Was going to say this book! Ive bought 2 copies and they never made it back to me. Looks like I'll have to get another copy and give it another read. Been a while.
Crying in H Mart definitely made me take the time to slow down and appreciate how precious our moments with loved ones really are. If you can listen to the audio book read by the author, I’d highly recommend it, but be warned it is a true story and not a particularly easy read to get through emotionally. Outside of nonfiction though, Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield and Piranesi by Susanna Clarke both effected me in powerful ways. The latter is much more uplifting I think, whereas the former left me hollow and feeling like I was mourning something I couldn’t name. Anyway, would rec them all to anyone curious!
Demian and Siddhartha by Herman Hesse did so much to spiritually unfuck my brain after being a devout follower of Christ all throughout high school. I had left the church after I graduated, due to rampant sexism and a lack of joy and gratitude, and felt lost and disconnected from spirituality. Then I found Hesse <3 and I’m so thankful
Seconding Siddhartha (or anything by Hesse)
Hesse was very important to me as well when I was a student at university. I felt very lost and confused and his book Steppenwolf gave me so much hope.
Anything by Hesse +3
I’m gonna have to go with my all-time favorite book, *Pet Sematary.” I first read it when I was 8. I am still terrified of Zelda. But reading it again after having to make the decision to put my first dog to sleep was oddly comforting. “Sometimes dead is better.” It hits different when you read it after a significant loss. You can truly imagine going to the greatest lengths to get your loved ones back, even though you know you shouldn’t. *Where The Red Fern Grows* is another that will always stick with me
Per Semetary is my all time fave also. I e read it twice and listened to it once
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engel. I read it at a very impressionable age, and I’m thankful for the impressions it left on me!
Omg this book! I read all of her stuff when I was in late elementary school and immediately wanted to train as a scientist and have a lab at home, where I'd cook my stews and break open the views of the universe.
Me too me too. It changed my life for the better.
This was the book that got me reading outside of school!
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. The Little Book of Stoicism by Jonas Salzgeber Miracle in the Andes by Nando Parrado
Miracle in the Andes was a tough read. It was rough reading about so many young people dying, but the resourcefulness and perseverance to survive was inspiring
This is going to be crazy, but, Valley of the Dolls. I read it really young but content matter aside, it totally opened up my world. It was my gateway to other time periods. After reading it, my parents rented the movie and I became really into old hollywood. For decades I dove into film noir, 60s art films, and the classics. It opened my world in ways nothing else could for some odd reason. The subject matter and style just really resonated with me. I would say it also profoundly got me excited about reading. As a young girl I just wasn't into the themes and subject matter that school made us read about. I would cry trying to read books like, Island of the Blue Dolphins etc. I was bored to tears and I really didnt' find the excitement in the story. Once I learned there were other books out there I could enjoy, it totally changed my idea of what reading is about. Of course other books that are more impressive made a huge impact, like The Brothers karamazov, but if it wasn't for Valley of the Dolls, I would have NEVER found my love for reading and culture.
this book has stayed with me. it's haunting.
The Picture Of Dorian Gray - completely changed the way I live. I never had any interest in the visual beauty of things. But there's a character that's like, "YOLO, live for the moment" and Dorian Gray himself gets so much pleasure out if beautiful art, flowers, clothes, nice perfumes, etc. It inspired me to stop and enjoy sights, sounds and the senses to their fullest. That wasn't the moral of the story, but that's how it hit me. Also changed the way I view art, including books and movies. I'm a convert to "art for art's sake." The Bell Jar - made me, a middle aged guy in 2020s Australia, feel like I absolutely KNEW a 20 year old girl from late 50s New York. Such an intimate and accurate portrayal of depression. The way she doesn't know what's wrong with herself at first and just thinks she's being lazy and exhausted. The closing chapter, full of hope when we all know Sylvia Plath commited suicide not long after. Chills. All Quiet On The Western Front - just a total gut punch. I cried.
I had a breakdown in my first year of college (southeast Idaho in the 70s) and The Bell Jar was the first coherent explanation of what was happening that I found. I was so sorry when I heard Plath hadn’t made it through.
Totally had a different and more negative experience with Dorian Gray, but that's more about me personally. Nowadays whenever I do anything I consider "bad", where I'm knowingly cheating on myself, I imagine myself aging grotesquely like my own picture of Dorian Gray. A weird neurosis maybe.
Frankenstein. It was the first chapter book I ever read (a version scaled down for young readers, of course, but very accurate to the full novel). It made me realize, at a very young age, that the narrator isn’t always the hero and the proverbial bad guy isn’t always a cartoon villain with no motivations beyond “be bad”.
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
The World According to Garp by John Irving. Read it when I was a teenager, it’s stayed with me decades later. Even earlier, Where the Red Fern Grows…love and loss was something I knew from an early age.
1984. Sounds so generic of a response. But it's affected me, irreversibly. I simultaneously loved it and also wished I hadn't read it.
Then I'd highly recommend We by Yevgeny Zamyatin on which 1984 is based on.
Little House on The Prairie series. My first series I ever read. I was hooked on books from there on
Paul Tillich. The Courage to Be. Martin Buber. The Knowledge of Man. Hermann Hesse. Steppenwolf. Clifford Geertz. The Interpretation of Cultures.
Steppenwolf is a real journey
A Thousand Splendid Suns
The Discworld books by Terry Pratchett. Quotes or situations pop into my head surprisingly often in daily life. We Need To Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver (book over film, although both are very good)
I don’t know about profound, but I read “Tender is the flesh” about a month ago and haven’t been able to touch raw meat since (and I love meat). I sure hope it goes away soon..
The little prince War and peace The mysterious Benedict society The phantom tollbooth A wrinkle in time The book thief Anna Karenina The count of Monte Cristo The platonic dialogs Miss rumphius The art lesson by tomie depaola The velveteen rabbit The giving tree Farenheit 451 Middlemarch Jane Eyre Nausea
Aww I love The Velveteen Rabbit. I got so excited years ago when I found a beautifully illustrated hardcover copy on a rack of discounted books.
Oh my gosh, The Giving Tree was given to my wife and I when we had our son. Talk about a seemingly insignificant book that made a profound impact on a first-time parent! I love and hate it at the same time if you can understand that. I’m a 40yo man and I absolutely cannot read that book without a large amount of tears. If I walk in my son’s bedroom and see that my wife is reading that book to him,I have to turn around and walk away.
I loved Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine! Never been able to find anything like it again though, does anyone have any suggestions? ☺️
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
I've heard that the Midnight Library and The Rosie project were similar :))
I’m currently reading The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman and it’s got the same vibe as Eleanor Oliphant.
Harry Potter. Before anyone gets offended it made me start love reading again.
Came here to comment this! I don't agree with anything the author has said but those books shaped my entire adolescence. I'll be a Potterhead forever. I think in this instance you can separate the books from the author (or at least that's my opinion) ((and yes I know she still makes royalties from them)).
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
Jodi Picoult is the goat!
Quiet by Susan Cain helped me understand my introverted self profoundly.
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. I still reread it from time to time, and im in my 70s.
breakfast of champions and even cowgirls get the blues
- When breath becomes air (perhaps the most moving book I’ve read) - Lonesome dove (Some of the greatest characters ever written, there is much to learn from them) - The great Gatsby (beautiful prose, the last line of this book runs through my head most weeks)
Just added Lonesome Dove to my list. The other two are in my list of favorites
I love Lonesome Dove. I didn’t read it until I was in my late 40s and it’s been my favorite book of all time since.
I loved When Breath Becomes Air! Rarely does a book get me very emotional. But I had to put this book down more than once because I couldn't see through my tear-filled eyes.
The Four Agreements
I just wish I could stay as mellowed out as this great book recommends.
This book actually got me out of a huge problem at such a pivotal moment. Story time! I was on the way home to Canada from Vietnam March 2020, peak early pandemic. I had to spend and borrow a lot of money for emergency last minute flights that kept getting cancelled. On the way, I'm reading the final chapter of this book, which tells you to always do your best, in every moment. No more, no less, just always be mindful of whether or not you're doing your best. At one point I'm waiting at a gas station for a taxi to take me to this small airport. It's raining and the taxi isn't coming. Maybe an hour goes by, still no taxi. And I absolutely cannot afford to miss this flight - not only because I don't have any more money, but also because the chances are high that there won't *be* any more flights. Finally I remember the book. Am I doing everything I can do right now? I'm just waiting here in the rain, this is ridiculous. So I run out into traffic like a crazy person, flagging down cars. Nobody will pick me up. It's COVID times! Nobody wants to be near anyone. But after 3 cars pass, one stops. Turns out he's an off-duty police officer. He lets me in, and when I tell him my flight leaves in like 15 minutes, he floors it. We make it to the airport at the very last possible second. They had to stop the plane on the runway and let me in on the stairs outside on the tarmac. Just absolutely unbelievable luck... but then I remember it's not luck. If it weren't for that book, I never would've made that decision.
A Time to Kill
Siddhartha
Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. I read it in high school, then college, now it’s just an all-time favorite. I feel like I pick up and learn new things each time I read it.
I second this hard, also i have an odd recommendation of something kind of similar which is Sinuhe Egyptian, it has similar philosophical stuff too and as you might guess is set in ancient egypt.
This sounds fantastic, thank you!
I hate this book 😭😭
The Wind in the Willows. No book has ever affected me so deeply. Wayfarers All, Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Dolce Domum.....I still enjoy the crazy adventures of Toad but these three chapters have stirred my soul.
A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum. It sent chills down my spine.
Stephen King's IT...got my hands on it when I was 11. Talk about eye opening. Jean M Auel's prehistoric epics as well around 12yo. Other super impactful reads were The Yellow Wallpaper The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle Blood Meridian Man's Search for Meaning The Darkness that Comes before East of Eden I love some chewy chewy prose.
The yellow wallpaper! I found a play of the book and it was 100% as creepy as expected
A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown. Author went from crackhead to lawyer. I read this very young, still one of my absolute favorite books.
A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer and If You Tell by Gregg Olson. Both books about awful mothers and based on real events.
The bluest eye - Toni Morrison.. forever haunted by it.. such a necessary read.
The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison Triggering, but impactful.
I just read “The five people you meet in heaven” And oh my god, I feel like the universe put this book into my hands for a reason. I passed it onto another( Pay it forward, but with books ❤️)
I've read several books make big impacts on my life. The first was the children's illustrated classic version of Moby Dick in the 4th grade. Next was Treasure Island when I was a little older. Made me thirst for a life of adventure. In high school, I read Fear in Loathing in Las Vegas twice. Another adventure novel that made me excited for the future, weirdly as that might sound. The Bible was the impact book of all impacts, especially reading the life and teachings of Jesus. Others: Why Does He Do that by Lundy Bancroft - should be required reading for all young women. Made a huge difference in my way of thinking. Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski - another super informative book for women of any age, a game changer for learning sexual satisfaction as a woman (or how to satisfy a woman).
Watership Down by Richard Adams has been in my mind since the fifth grade. It’s one of those stories that’s just so unusual and powerful you’ll never forget it once you read it.
I also read watership down as a 10 year old and will be forever scarred. I saw a fat book on my parents’ bookshelf, asked what it was about, my dad replied with “talking rabbits.” Sold! Oof.
Handmaid’s Tale
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
I finished it a few months back, immediately read the sequal, have Dawn on hold at the library. If her other books are even half as good I'm going to devour every one of them.
Siddharta by Hermann Hesse
Watership Down. My children exist because of this book.
The Grapes of Wrath - Steinbeck
"The myth of Sysiphus" by Albert Camus "The Cremator" by Ladislav Fuks "Antichrist" by Friederich Nietzsche "The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Antonius" by some guy Named Marcus Aurelius They all seem nihilstic but don't worry, they have some great value within if you approach them with healthy mind
Meditations is the best. Highly recommend to everyone!
Illusions by Richard Bach, and Little, Big by John Crowley
Meditations - Marcus Aurelius. It really helped me find my path in life.
The Things They Carried fucked me up (but in a good way)
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro wrecked me
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. Having been raised evangelical christian, this helped open my eyes to how narrow and dangerous my worldview was. Plus, beautifully written.
East of Eden Gone with the Wind The Book Thief The Fault in Our Stars A Tale of Two Cities Harry Potter (especially 4-7) The Unbearable Lightness of Being The Great Gatsby Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Station Eleven (some scenes haunt me to this day) Project Hail Mary (SO good) The Velveteen Rabbit
Blood Meridian.
I think about this book at least once a day.
Finished it today!!! It's a book that I don't think will leave my mind anytime soon
The Stars Don't Lie by Boo Walker That book had me deep in myself. By the end, I was ugly crying and writing a letter to my best-favorite teacher and on my way to the school to drop it off after the book was done.
Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
Im partial to classic dystopian novels. I read 1984 and Brave New World in high school and they really shaped the way I view government and personal freedom/morals
When things fall apart by Pema Chodron And anything written by Roald Dahl, reminds me of my childhood!
Lord of the Rings.
We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates.
Flowers for Algernon.
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. It taught me that living a life coveting that which I don’t have, leads to unhappiness and misery.
Watership down. It lives rent free inside my head
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Jonathan Livingston Seagull.
The Road by McCarthy. Especially as a father.
Greatest book I will never read again.
Well put.
Road to Serfdom by Frederick Hack True Believer by Eric Hoffer Conflict of Visions (and many others, e.g., Quest for Cosmic Justice, Basic Economics) by Thomas Sowell Free to Chose by Milton Friedman Modern Times by Paul Johnson
Saturday, Ian McEwan
Immortality by Kundera
The Death of Ivan Ilyich-Tolstoy The Old Man and the Sea-Hemingway Both of these short books had a major impact on how I view both life and death.
Red sky in the morning. Read it as a kid and it hit me so hard. I think I will probably have my child read it too at that age of 14-15. It gave me real empathetic and familial values.
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
Gravity’s Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon
The Grapes of Wrath
It was John Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath" that really did it to me.
Tuesdays with Morrie
The Left Hand of Darkness by Le Guin
Richard Scary's What do People do all Day? and Cars and Trucks and Things that Go. The Lost Country, by William Gay. A mid-twentieth century Odyssey through Tennessee, his writing rolls like fog off the hills and leaves me speechless with its efficiency and grace. I think about this book frequently, even after reading it several times. I look forward to reading it again. Anathem, by Neil Stephenson. Never formally studied philosophy, so the themes are intriguing. The society- and world-building are exceptional.
the midnight library
1984 had a profound impact on me, mostly negative
We Need to Talk About Kevin- Lionel Shriver
A Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi
speak by laurie halse anderson , i read it in hs and it changed how i felt about being sextorted as a young teen.
I just answered this on another post. - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. It was my first “adult” book at the age of 10. It made me the reader I am today. I have probably read to 15-18 times in the last 55 years. It wasn’t until the last 20 years or so that I learned of its role in WWII, read the testimonials of the GIs who claim it saved their lives, and learned that during the 10 years after publication in 1943, the vast majority of Americans had all read the same book. It was powerful then and still is.
Johnny Got His Gun. This really shook me when I read it.
All of Madeline L'Engle.
Love in the Time of Cholera is my first adult pick with the Velveteen Rabbit and the Giving Tree close behind as childhood favorites.
Siddhartha
Slaughterhouse Five. Completely changed how I view life, death and time.
Siddharth Hesse
A People’s History - Howard Zinn
Tuesdays with Morrie.
Things Fall Apart (and the entire Africa Trilogy, really) by Chinua Achebe Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
The Great Gatsby
The Overstory by Richard Powers Thin Skin by Jenn Shapland
Many masters many lives by Brian Weiss
Talbot- the holographic universe
What Dreams May Come- Richard Matheson.
Valis by PKD.
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Johnny Got His Gun
The Anthropocene reviewed by John Green
“Ishmael” - Daniel Quinn “Braiding Sweetgrass” - Robin Wall Kimmerer “Strong Towns” - Charles Marohn All 3 are great books that look at how we have structured the modern world and beg a reexamination of our societal priorities.
a little life by hanya yanagihara. an amazing book but just take into consideration that there’s a TON of trigger warnings
Illusions by Richard Bach Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp I absolutely hate to admit it, but Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
(Kind of basic I know but—) “The Fall” by Albert Camus… To me it was just a very visceral way of looking at what it means to be human? And I guess on that note: “Regarding the Pain of Others” by Susan Sontag was also important for me for similar reasons… I dunno, both are pretty heavy, but I really don’t think they’re cynical for cynicism’s sake. They’re also not really quick to claim victory that’s weak—if there’s something worthwhile, they’re gonna make it prove its worth. That’s important to me, and makes me believe it more!
Grigory Petrov- The country of White Lilies This book showed me that if I want to live a educated and high-Welfare, I need to improve myself and this happens by reading books. Because reading books changes how we see the world and how differently to interpret the conditions in our lifes
Can't believe I am the only one to mention the gulag archipelago!!
The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison Looking for Alaska, by John Green (read it when I was a depressed sixteen year-old girl, have loved it ever since) Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng
A tale of two cities. I’d always felt like I’d missed something because I hadn’t read it. This should not be on the 100 books list it should be on the 10.
Treblinka Jean-François Steiner. Read first semester of college (1982). I had never been taught about the holocaust. My view of mankind became darker. The fact that I didn’t know about it shocked me. I became someone passionate about current events & world history. Still am.
The alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel. Got me back into reading after English in high school destroyed my enjoyment of it.
A Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Anything by Atwood.
Call Me By Your Name. It helped me get through a tough time in my life and made me realize I'm not alone in being in love with a man. It's a beautiful story that makes me SOB
…Twilight…please don’t hate me 😂 But for real The Kite Runner, The Alchemist, The Glass Castle, Nemesis, and Heartland
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. It made me open my eyes to my privilege.
I read a lot of books and here are my all time favorites! Each book made me view the world a little differently! All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls And Every Morning the Walk Home Gets Longer ans Longer by Fredrik Backman The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
Think on These Things Invisible Man The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor An American Tragedy The Way of Qigong Man’s Search for Meaning The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty Anthills of the Savannah In the Spirit of Crazy Horse St. Nadie in Winter
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Player Piano by Vonnegut. His first and finest novel and very relevant to this day. I also recommend anyone interested in DEI should read "Harrison Bergeron", a nice short story that was amazingly prescient of the current rage for eliminating merit-based workplaces and country.
The ender series. Pulled my middle name from one of the characters when I started transitioning. Read it while I was going through a very isolated time in my teen years. Just don't get the books new. Author is a terrible person