Have you ever Read a life changing book ?

The Selfish Pig’s Guide to Caring. Hugh Marriot

Not whole perspective, but
Men are from Mars was a bit of an eye opener
So was Mean girls[cant remember rest of title].

The Mean girls one I happened to buy around the time one of my daughters realised she was on the outside of a clique without meaning to be, if you see what I mean.
She got out when she realised what was happening.
I gave her the Mean Girls book. She was astounded.
It described her group of frineds.
She even managed to put her friends' names to each Character.

Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar. I can't quite put my finger on it, but something just clicked with me when I read it. I was a teenager at the time, and here was someone putting into very eloquent words much of what I was feeling at the time.

The Bible.

In my early 20s two books had a real impact on me because they were the first feminist texts that I read.
Fear Of Flying by Erica Jong 1973 was groundbreaking for its time raising discussions about women's rights and sexual freedom.
The other was The Women's Room by Marilyn French 1977. This is about a housewife who undergoes a profound transformation after her husband leaves her.
I read Fear of Flying again a few years ago and thought it was so dated.
These days it is 1984 that is having an impact on me as it has now become more of a prediction of the reality of 2025 than a work of fiction.

The Dice Man by Luke Reinhardt opened my eyes at a young age about choice.

Have you, sleepeyes?

The first adult book I read was Animal Farm which led me to read 1984. I have read 1984 several times since and it becomes more alarming each time I re-read it.

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl.

Might not sound very deep and meaningful but Less by Patrick Grant (Sewing Bee) totally changed my attitude to how much unnecessary stuff we have, especially low quality un-ecofriendly stuff. And made me question the way most businesses function, constantly striving for higher profits at the expense of employee and customer happiness

Magenta8

The first adult book I read was Animal Farm which led me to read 1984. I have read 1984 several times since and it becomes more alarming each time I re-read it.

I had to stop reading it. For that reason.
Started to give me bad dreams.

The Women's Room.

‘Quiet’ by Susan Cain.

The Pearl by John Steinbeck.
I read it as a teenager and it has always stayed with me as a reminder to be careful what you wish for!

Mere Christianity by C S Lewis. I had thought Christianity was intellectual suicide till I read that. It started me on looking into Christianity, and after three years I became a Christian. Thank you C S Lewis!

How interesting! Thanks everyone for sharing. Books were suggested to me but I didn't much like them.
My mother myself by Nancy Friday.
The women's room,
Fear of flying

Life changing? I can't think a single book has changed my life.

The long long way by Sebastian Barry gave me a whole new insight into the first world war from an Irish perspective.
Pat Barker's war trilogy Regeneration also was deeply moving.
I found the world turned upside down about Religious upheaval in the 16th century changed my views and taught me things I hadn't realised.
I'm a sucker for history books!

The Woman's Room and Fear of Flying are of their age. I think we women have moved on since the 70s with our expectations. 1984 now..

Germinal in my late teens which turned me into a socialist. A Clergyman’s Daughter which made me realise how easy it is for someone to slide down the social ladder through no fault of their own and disappear through the cracks. My Small Country Living which resulted in me getting a sighthound instead of a spaniel ( my whippets have been my world ever since). I wishI’d read Men Are From Mars: might still be married now.

The Water Babies - Mrs doasyouwouldbedoneby and Mrs bedonebyasyoudid as a ten year old certainly got me thinking...

Yes, but perhaps not what you’d expect. It’s Puck of Pook’s Hill by Rudyard Kipling and it has given me a life long love of history, especially the history of the Romans in Britain.

Taichinan I loved The Water Babies.

Roots, which I read many years ago, did affect me quite a bit when I read it, in contemplating the sheer horror of Kunte Kinte being snatched away from all that was familiar to become enslaved in an alien land.

The Water Babies was and still is my favourite childhood book

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. It’s why I read the subject at university and then taught it for many years, long before ‘green or eco’ were fashionable.

I was lucky to be inspired by it and have had the chance to inspire others.

An Evil Cradling by Brian Keenan.
It’s the memories of his four and a half years in captivity with
John McCarthy.
No two people could be closer.
I can’t listen to Van Morrison without thinking of them.
Brian knew the words to every song he had written.
It’s the one book I could never give away.

I've read thousands of books, none of which I can say changed my life.

The book that affected me more than any other, however, was We Need To Talk About Kevin.