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Books! What Books made a effect in your Life?


Tao

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I love to read,  I love books and being around books and have many but there are some that have

changed my life and stuck with me even as a group up!   So I want to know what books hit a place in your

heart,  helped you get pass a bad day or event in your life and why and such etc!?

 

For me,  its a bit of a list:

 

The Last Unicorn: Peter S. Beagle

This book become the founding for my love of writing and fantasy if anything!  I have a copy I keep close if I ever need that escape or reminder why I love the writen word!

 

the hollows by kim harrison

While I was hopelesss, I found one the first book in a used bookstore and needed something to read to kill the time,   So I started it,  a bit shaggy on it but once I got pass 50 pages I was in love with the story but also the cannons and the freindship they had,  how Rachel stays true to herself and also how her friends also to her!   The last book just came out and I was happy in the ending!

 

The Earth Children by Jean M. Auel

I read the first book in 4th grade,  and I feel in love with the Ice Age but also Ayla!  How strong she is,  breaking old school rules and remaking them but also in her use of her brain and also the hell she has to over come....

 

So tell me what books you loved and changed you in some ways!

Thanks, Tao!

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  • 5 months later...

Out of the hundreds of books I have read in my 16-year life, it's hard to pick.

 

Spellbound Fireflies, A Bluebird's Song, The Homesteading, Best Young Flyer, and a few other fimfictions really are some of my favorite books. There's Call of the Wild, Shadow on the Trail, Captains Courageous, Huck Finn, Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, and such that have broadened my view on the world and humans; remember, novels explore the human condition. Nonfiction narratives, of which I don't feel like listing, also are nice. And, of course, there's the Bible.

 

I hate lists because I tend to Twilight-level worry about if I got everything on the list. I guess I'll stop worrying now and post an incomplete list.

 

P.S. To Kill a Mockingbird

 

P.S.S. artofmanliness.com

 

P.S.S.S. I'm not including books I've read online

 

P.S.S.S.S. I should stop.

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*Scrolls through thread. Mind explodes due to book exposure* All jokes aside, many books have effected my life in some way. For example, the Lord of the Rings series has changed my view on fantasy. Before, I didn't like fantasy due to reading those vile Twilight books+the many other young adult books I've read. I thought most fantasy book shad romance and we're just plain boring, until I picked up LOTR. Now, fantasy is my favorite book genre and LOTR became on if my favorite franchises.

 

The Bible. Well, that story is super long, so I'm not going to post it here. xD

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Call of the Wild

Jack London is an excellent author. Have you read The Sea-Wolf? It doesn't get as much attention as his Klondike novels, but it is an incredible look at how people become who they are.

 

As for what books have affected my life...well, Kurt Vonnegut's novels (Mother Night especially) taught me to laugh when life is difficult, and the Taoist interpretation of the I-Ching by Liu I-Ming has also really helped with important decisions. It's nice to have a good source of solid advice to get you to reconsider your perspective.

 

I could write a whole novel in response to this question, but I'll leave it at those.

 

...okay, just one more. The Lord of the Rings. I've been bloody obsessed with that book for the past decade and a half. I think I'm going to reread it again soon.

 

Because it's amazing.

 

Amazing.

 

Read it.

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Jack London is an excellent author. Have you read The Sea-Wolf? It doesn't get as much attention as his Klondike novels, but it is an incredible look at how people become who they are.

 

I agree that he is an excellent author; check out http://www.artofmanliness.com/tag/jack-london/ for a great series on his life. I haven't read The Seawolf, however I have read about it; I've wanted to read a lot of stuff, from the Odyssey to LoTR to fimfiction, just haven't had the time.

 

Why does everyone value LoTR over the Hobbit, out of curiousity? (I haven't read either)

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I agree that he is an excellent author; check out http://www.artofmanliness.com/tag/jack-london/ for a great series on his life.

Thank you, this looks excellent!

 

Why does everyone value LoTR over the Hobbit, out of curiousity? (I haven't read either)

Well, the Hobbit was Tolkien's first exploration of the world and was aimed primarily towards children. It's a great read for all ages, but is approachable to a much younger audience.

 

LotR, on the other hand, was his attempt to really develop the world of Middle-Earth through a modern epic. It spent so much time talking about the history and lore and character of the world that Tolkien's publishers refused to print it, claiming that it was far too heavy and long. The only way that he changed their mind was to agree to cover half of the printing costs in exchange for half of the profits.

 

He made out pretty well on that deal.

 

What other authors do you enjoy?

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Thank you, this looks excellent!

 

 

Well, the Hobbit was Tolkien's first exploration of the world and was aimed primarily towards children. It's a great read for all ages, but is approachable to a much younger audience.

 

LotR, on the other hand, was his attempt to really develop the world of Middle-Earth through a modern epic. It spent so much time talking about the history and lore and character of the world that Tolkien's publishers refused to print it, claiming that it was far too heavy and long. The only way that he changed their mind was to agree to cover half of the printing costs in exchange for half of the profits.

 

He made out pretty well on that deal.

 

What other authors do you enjoy?

Sooo...how deep is this middle-earth? As in, how deep does the fantasy world go in terms of lore? I haven't read many of these types of books.

 

I've read over a million words of fimfiction, and that really prevents me from delving into other fantasy worlds time-wise; as for authors, I like Theodore Roosevelt's writings, many good nonfiction like the Great Frontier by Walter Prescott Webb and his other works (history), most any science book (theoretical physics, hopefully with no calculus--haven't done calc yet), London's work of course, Shakespeare, quotations from Churchill, Twain's works, To Touch a Wild Dolphin by Rachel Smolker (terrific book about dolphins), and a bunch of blog articles around the internet on various topics quoting essays by great men of old that I don't want to look up right now. I feel like this is just a rant on books...and my bookshelf is not a depiction of what I read because the library is five blocks away. I don't like library books though, and try to buy books when money allows. I have about 200 books and that isn't enough--I should just put a statue in the center of my room, get a loft bed, and make my own Golden Oaks Library. I'll just say that Tirek, with chaos magic, teleported the library into my room.

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Well, there's this YA series called The Mortal Instruments, which is basically what Twilighf hoped to be. What was noticeable about it though was that it portrayed both gay and lesbian couples. Being the homophobic bitch I was back then, I was annoyed by this but continued the series because it was quite funny.

 

As I read the series, though, my opinion changed. I began to like the couples together, and pretty soon my views started changing considerably. It's not the best series, but without it I would have been a biased chit. So, I'm thankful towards it and it's author.

 

Terry Prachett and Stephen King also made me decide to become a writer...I want to be as good as them some day :)

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ALL OF THEM! :D All the books I've read in my life have just given me more reasons to keep reading. I love to discover new and awesome literary gems I can indulge in and not want to set down :catface:

 

*sigh* If only I could be near a library or books in general again :( I miss them too much, they were such an essential part of my life and being without any sucks ^_^

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I can't pin point just a few books, there are too many. I can say, however, how they all collectively affected me.

 

In real life I felt alone. Not that suicidey alone but just a 'I'm not like everyone else Allen's and trust me, it didn't feel good. Whenever I was somewhere, everyone would be quiet. I had done nothing yet I guess that classifies you as an outsider, someone who will never understand how they all thought. But when I read, I was on top. I wasn't the weird girl nobody wanted to talk to, I was the hero who saved the village, the angel with the big white wings who soared through the heavens, or the genius who was accepted into society. While everyone's else's head moved cowards slowly, mine was running fast. I read four books a night and savored every word, after all, that was my me time. I still have bags under my eyes, and that was 4 years ago. Do I regret it? No.

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Sooo...how deep is this middle-earth? As in, how deep does the fantasy world go in terms of lore?

 

Well...for one, Tolkien (being a linguist and a philologist) developed a number of different languages for Middle-earth. For one of the Elven languages, you can actually become fluent. You can become conversational in a couple of his other languages, too.

 

He also developed a huge mythology, too, which was published posthumously in The Silmarillion and a bunch of other books. They go all the way back to the creation of the world, the demigods that shaped it, and the rise of evil through Morgoth and his servants, Sauron being one of them.

 

The mythology can be a bit dry at times, but it is deeper and more thorough than just about anything out there. It's crazy.

 

 

I've read over a million words of fimfiction

 

A million words? That's...wow. What's your favorite?

 

 

I like Theodore Roosevelt's writings, many good nonfiction like the Great Frontier by Walter Prescott Webb and his other works (history), most any science book (theoretical physics, hopefully with no calculus--haven't done calc yet), London's work of course, Shakespeare, quotations from Churchill, Twain's works, To Touch a Wild Dolphin by Rachel Smolker (terrific book about dolphins), and a bunch of blog articles around the internet on various topics quoting essays by great men of old that I don't want to look up right now.

 

 

Teddy! Incredible man. If you've never read The River of Doubt, it tells the story of when he lost the race for the Presidency under the Bull Moose flag and decided to cheer himself up by charting a section of the Amazon that had killed every other exploration team before him. He wasn't just the ultimate manly man, he was also incredibly considerate and wouldn't sit on the chair that they brought for him, instead preferring to sit on the ground if the grunt laborers in the party didn't get a chair as well.

 

If you like science, you have to check out Phantoms in the Brain - it was the book that first got me into neuroscience. The author Vilyanur Ramachandran, is the greatest storyteller to come out of the field since Oliver Sacks. It's not physics, but there is so much to learn! Have you tried any of Hawking's stuff yet?

 

Normally this is the part of the post where the thought processes start to slow down and the writing winds up, but that's not really happening...just one more paragraph...one more book to bring up...

 

Alright, one last question: what's interesting about To Touch a Wild Dolphin? That stands out on your list. I can certainly see why the topic is interesting, though. The episode "Hello" of Radiolab talks about the attempts to decipher dolphin communication and build a human-to-dolphin translator, and it's pretty amazing.

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Not much of a reader but both the Redwall and Silverwing series' are staples in my life. I still haven't even read all the Redwall books. It's too bad the author's gone. There'll never be another Redwall or Castaways of the Flying Dutchman. :(

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Teddy! Incredible man. If you've never read The River of Doubt, it tells the story of when he lost the race for the Presidency under the Bull Moose flag and decided to cheer himself up by charting a section of the Amazon that had killed every other exploration team before him. He wasn't just the ultimate manly man, he was also incredibly considerate and wouldn't sit on the chair that they brought for him, instead preferring to sit on the ground if the grunt laborers in the party didn't get a chair as well. If you like science, you have to check out Phantoms in the Brain - it was the book that first got me into neuroscience. The author Vilyanur Ramachandran, is the greatest storyteller to come out of the field since Oliver Sacks. It's not physics, but there is so much to learn! Have you tried any of Hawking's stuff yet? Normally this is the part of the post where the thought processes start to slow down and the writing winds up, but that's not really happening...just one more paragraph...one more book to bring up... Alright, one last question: what's interesting about To Touch a Wild Dolphin? That stands out on your list. I can certainly see why the topic is interesting, though. The episode "Hello" of Radiolab talks about the attempts to decipher dolphin communication and build a human-to-dolphin translator, and it's pretty amazing.
 

 

Thanks for the recomdenations. I haven't read Hawking's works directly. My family, more correctly my mom, is very biased against Hawking, Dawkin, and most anybody that is evolutionist or anti-Christian. I disagree with that; I should not withhold myself from reading books just because I disagree with them, provided I don't start believing wrong things without proof. I'm not saying that evolution is wrong, don't mis-interpet me please.

 

Usually when I read science books not aimed to scientists, I get a bunch of stories and background "this person did this and this at this time" uselessness. Science commentary and science are two different things. Which is Phantoms in the Brain?

 

To Touch a Wild Dolphin is the story (see: commentary, this time it enhances the story) of a researcher down in Australia in Shark Bay (I think) that is focused on researching dolphin behaviour. While usually, dolphin research is human-dolphin, this is mostly dolphin-dolphin, with human interaction coming naturally sometimes. The focus of the book is talking about her experiances and how the dolphins interact and form social bonds. The males form alliances to fight for females, she discovers the dolphins using sponges on their noses to grab food from among spikey plants, and that sort of thing. It's also a nice story. I've read many dolphin books over the last year of a dolphin interest, and this is the best one.

 

Now you're making me annoyed that I don't read more often. ;)

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Thanks for the recomdenations. I haven't read Hawking's works directly. My family, more correctly my mom, is very biased against Hawking, Dawkin, and most anybody that is evolutionist or anti-Christian. I disagree with that; I should not withhold myself from reading books just because I disagree with them, provided I don't start believing wrong things without proof. I'm not saying that evolution is wrong, don't mis-interpet me please.

 

It's always made me sad that so many find science and religion incompatible. If there is a God, it seems to me that it would make sense that He would set up detailed rules for how the matter that He created worked. Defining the rules does not in any way rule out the rulemaker.

 

But that's a heavy topic, and we'll get sent to the Debate Pit if we're not careful!

 

 

Usually when I read science books not aimed to scientists, I get a bunch of stories and background "this person did this and this at this time" uselessness. Science commentary and science are two different things. Which is Phantoms in the Brain?

 

Phantoms in the Brain is a wonderfully rare thing: it is one of the preeminent scientists in the field (in this case, neuropsychology) telling stories about how he came to his discoveries and doing so in a way that is both engaging and quite informative. This guy unraveled out the mystery of phantom limbs with a hunch, a cotton swab, and a map of the motor cortex. Great stuff, and he's a marvelous writer. It won't be as information-dense as a textbook, but still it digs into a good amount of hard science.

 

And thank you for the recommendations! To Touch a Wild Dolphin is now on the list.

 

Now I just need to get time to read more often...I feel you there.

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It's always made me sad that so many find science and religion incompatible. If there is a God, it seems to me that it would make sense that He would set up detailed rules for how the matter that He created worked. Defining the rules does not in any way rule out the rulemaker.

 

But that's a heavy topic, and we'll get sent to the Debate Pit if we're not careful!

Yeah, and I already had to end one conversation because it got sent to the pit; I don't yet have 40 posts so I can't access the debate pit. But I'll just say real quick: detailed rules are ok, and science is ok. Religion and science are not incompatible, it's just when science starts to do things that people assume are against what the Bible says (7 day creation) that they start to get hostile. I love learning about nature, and how nature works, and I don't see that in conflict with religion. In fact, I see it as supplementary to religion.

 

That does spark the question of whether or not evolution/cosmology is against the Bible/God or not. That, however, is not a disscussion but a debate.

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The book that has inspired me is Harriet The Spy. Not only is it my favorite book, I really admire the way the author wrote it and my writing is somewhat influenced by her style. The sequel book The Long Secret and Sport are also good books as well.

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The Fall by Camus. It isn't long at all, in fact I just finished rereading it. All of his novels move me at least a little bit, but that is the one that rests its chin on my shoulder and whispers in my ear.

 

 

Nobody Writes to the Colonel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I always had a soft spot for loving grandfatherly characters and sad stories.

 

 

Even though it isn't a book, The Overcoat by Gogol. It doesn't really come across online but I'm somebody who laughs heartily and winks when he says something that he thinks is important. Gogol's dark humor draws me and I think that story is the best of his work. Dead Souls would be here instead but it was never finished and suffers from that.

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I can honestly say there are two books which have changed my entire outlook on life; books I came away from with the profound sense that I had been woken up, altered in someway.

 

The first is the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy by Phillip Pullman. (The Golden Compass, Subtle Knife and Amber Spyglass. So, technically three books there.)

The second is '1984' by George Orwell.

 

I would recommend them most highly.

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