Books that have changed your life?

Probably this book called "The Secret Teachings of All Ages". It's a rather long book, at times hard to get through, but it's interesting. It covers ancient belief systems, symbolism and philosophies, with separate sections for the belief systems and symbols of Masonic, Rosicrucian, Hermetic, Hindu and early Christian Gnostic teachings (to name a few, and probably the most important ones). Reading through it all brought to my attention the stark parallels between belief systems, how things were borrowed and adopted between systems, and the heavy use of parable and metaphor in all religions. It helped me to develop a pragmatic view of religion and spiritual belief systems that put my mind at rest in some ways, and made me no longer fear the unknowns of death, as cheesy and edgy as that may sound.

 

Nothing as interesting/intellectual as Doima but The Shadows of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon has impacted me more than any book before.

 

Probably the Gone series written by Michael Grant for me. The books were unnerving at times and there was some crazy shit in there too but it taught me to never give up and carry on persevering. It also taught me how you can survive with the bare minimum and that you shouldn't take things for granted, because you'll never know when you'll need it the most. It's a really thrilling series of books and I recommend it to most, except for some of the more faint-hearted.

 

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bonte. Wouldn't be the type of book I'd usually read, and the writing style itself is something that needs adjusting too. While going through it for study, I found a lot of words that I had no clue what they meant. But after, reading it over and over, writing down the words I didn't know and finding their definitions, I gradually began to comprehend it. And, once more, more importantly in fact, because I started to write random words down, I began to expand my vocab, and thus my writing skills came on in leaps and bounds. This has now become a habbit whenever I read books for my own personal enjoyment. And for that, though I'd often feign lamentations for the days when we had to study the text in class, I am eternally grateful.

 

Mine is probably You Can't Buy My Love. You Can't Buy my Love is pretty much about how adverts change how we think, even though we think they don't. Everyone is always under the impression they aren't affected by them and that's exactly why they work. They treat people as objects in ads, enforce gender roles, and make us compare ourselves to the magazine and the TV ads unconsciously. "Advertising encourages us not only to objectify each other but also to feel that our most significant relationships are with the products we buy"-first sentence. They treat people as objects in ads, enforce gender roles, and make us compare ourselves to the magazine and the TV ads unconsciously or consciously.I only read about 50 pages, but that's the most influential 50 pages of a book that I've ever read. It completely changed my views on ads tbh.

 

I don't really have books like that, but certain songs sometimes have this effect on me.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJDhNu3Shrs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHVWPXwAhJU

This is just a few among many.