books that changed my life
wuthering heights by emily bronte
eleven minutes by paulo coelho
the house of the spirits by isabel allende
anna karenina by leo tolstoi
the unbearable lightness of being by milan kundera
the bell jar by sylvia plath
the journals of sylvia plath, by sylvia plath, edited by karen v. kukil
the handmaid's tale by margaret atwood
pride and prejudice by jane austen
emma by jane austen
3 notes
·
View notes
But there is a weaker form of this law of iterated knowledge. I can be phrased as follow: to understand the future to the point of being able to predict it, you need to incorporate elements from this future itself. If you know about the discovery you are about to make in the future, then you have almost made it. Assume that you are a special scholar at Medieval University's Forecasting Department specializing in the projection of future history (for our purpose, the remoted twentieth century). You would hit upon the inventions of steam machine, electricity, the atomic bomb, and the Internet, as well as the institution of airplane onboard massage and that strange activity called business meeting, in which well-fed, but sedentary, men voluntarily restrict their blood circulation with an expensive device called a necktie.
The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
0 notes
What books have changed your life?
For our final gathering for the year 2017 my book club didn’t read the same book to discuss as per normal, however we were asked to bring a book that had changed our lives.
This was a hard ask and took quite a lot of thought and still I ended up with a list. So I thought I’d present my list - incomplete as I am sure it is - I’m bound to think of more - and encourage you to also think about it because it was quite an interesting process and very interesting to see what books others had chosen.
After a lot of thought, the main book I chose was
Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster
because it was a book that actually changed how I did things, not just how I thought. It changed actions as well as thought processes and gave me really practical ways of engaging my faith with everyday life. There were concrete changes. And it’s still a book I’m happy to go back and re-read.
I didn’t actually mention this one in our discussion, but I probably should have because it was quite literally life changing.
The Brains way of Healing by Norman Doidge
This was life changing because it told me about a different therapy for fibromyalgia, which I followed up and which, physically, actually, noticeably changed my health for the better. In many ways, this book gave me my life back - if before it was a half life, I’m now at about 3/4 of a life- any improvement was welcome. If you have fibro, read up on low level laser therapy and see if it might help you. No guarantees - but it helped me.
The thing is though, I’d already created a list of books before I settled on these two as my top two. So the rest of the books come in no particular order but where all books that came to mind, and the sort of book that I’m prepared to read and re-read and so for that reason they seem significant.
When I was in my early teens I read
Bury me in my boots by Sally Trench
for the first time. My parents owned it and I so I must have found it on a bookshelf or Mum might have suggested it. Anyway, it is an autobiographical book about a women who, in her teens, becomes so concerned about and connected to, those who are living on the street that she becomes one of them to help them and goes about trying to find ways to connect with people who are homeless and find ways to most practically help them. It opened my eyes to my own privilege, and gave me a wonderful lesson in seeing others for who they are - human beings. Sally Trench is still doing good things for people.
Bonhoeffer: Pastor martyr, prophet, spy by Eric Metazas
A wonderful book - in depth, biography that includes significant amounts of Bonhoeffer’s writing, theological and letters, and it offered such a different view of history and of the second world world and how it happened. It helped develop how I think about other people and how I understand how circumstance influences decisions. It was able to give me an insight into the nationalism in Germany at the time leading to world war two, they way things changed, how friends turned to enemies, as well as being the story of a man who was so deeply searching for God, so passionate about reaching people and so intellectually engaged in life. It was fascinating and provided a great combination of history, how theology is developed and how people wrestle with faith in difficult (impossible) circumstances. It made theology real and relevant (not that it hadn’t been before but it made it more so!).
Where the hell is God?by Richard Leonard, SJ
This book follows in books of the tradition of Where is God when it Hurts by Philip Yancy and The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis - both of which are excellent but this particular book came to me at the right time, and in a slightly different format to the other two, which I had previously read, and it helped in a way that I needed at the time. A great, short, easy, read on pain and suffering and still believing in God.
Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden
Some fiction at last! Fiction has been important to me, I’ve read a lot since I was reasonably young and there have been lots that have effected me - books are an escape, a way of meeting new people, of doing things I’d never otherwise have a chance of doing, going to different places and dealing with all sorts of questions with life. However, this book effected me because it set me on a course of being interested in dystopian type books - a genre I still read a lot today. I actually still re-read this series. In fact, I’ve probably re-read the whole series (including the last 3 followers up, once they came out) every couple of years since I was about 13. These books made me think about my own privilege of living in a safe country, of not having to go through war but of what it might mean if we did have, and made me consider what is important. It also showed me that teenagers could probably do more than we sometimes think, but also that it’s hard to be one. It showed me that its possible to have compassion for people who seem so different to you. And it showed me the first fully fledged Christian character in a ‘non christian’ book that seemed like a real, reasonable, good but flawed person - someone who was well written, who had strengths and weaknesses and was both admired for her faith and sometimes ridiculed. She seemed real. (by the way, this is not referring to the film, which in my opinion, ruined Robyn’s character - they completely missed the point - of her as a person, and of her as a character in the story. The book Robyn is much better).
This series probably led to me to be be fascinated with 1984 by George Orwell. I didn’t actually read this until after school, but I’ve since read it numerous times. It’s by no means a nice or easy book but it is powerful and makes you think about so many different aspects of society. This book also lead me to others, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley ….. (the classic trilogy of dystopian stories).
Roaring Lambs: A Gentle Plan to Radically Change your World by Robert Briner
I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this book now, or rather, there are others that I’d recommend first, however it changed my life because it made me believe it was worthwhile going into the arts. I’d made the decision to change focus and head towards a theatre degree, a decision I made without really knowing anyone else in the arts, or having any connection and this book helped cement for me that there was worth in being involved, that there already were Christians involved in the industry and it gave me hope that it was a worthwhile (and not frivolous) pursuit.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The most recent fiction on this list. This book came along at a really low point in my life. I was really unwell, I was overwhelmed, I was lost, I’d had to given up things I loved doing yet again, and I had no connection to anything or anyone much. This book gave me back the magic in life. It was beautiful at a time when i needed beauty. It was magical when I needed to be reminded that the world is not just what we can see. It was inspiring and it was quite simply, just beautiful to read. I initially borrowed it from the library but I immediately bought it and re-read it twice more. I read it 6 times in the first 12 months. I keep re-reading it. It is my beautiful, happy, inspiring, challenging, beautiful place.
And that’s all without mentioning books and articles about art, or relationships or theology, or ones the spoke of God and art, God and imagination, God and faith, feminism and equality, prayer books, books about worship, and that book about reading children fairy tales and more fairy tales (what was that book? I’m so going to look up my old essay so I can read it again….)
So that seems like a good place to finish (for now!!!)
What are the books that have changed your life? I’d love to hear from you.
Enjoy reading!
1 note
·
View note