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July 14, 2012

elephant asks: What Book Changed Your Life?

 

photo: tumblr

We all have those special books.

I think it would almost be easier to say what books changed different parts of my life. Born Free and Silent Spring changed the way I thought about animals and the environment. Walden, Leaves of Grass and On the Road changed the way I thought about adventure and writing and life. Shambhala: Sacred Path of the Warrior and Peace is Every Step changed how I thought—about everything. And The Little Prince, well, I could re-read The Little Prince monthly and never tire of it.

 

So we asked what books changed your lives, and you answered:

    • Tatum Bacchi The kind diet.

      July 9 at 8:13am via mobile
    • Anna Sheinman I have a box [TV] with no cable… rarely I flip through the Nextfix for about 5 minutes to only turn it off:-)

      July 9 at 2:50pm ·
    • Kate Glover The candida cure by Ann boroch. Sally kemptons meditation for the love of it. Chez panisse cafe cookbook by Alice waters. A life of balance by maya tiwari. The urban homestead by Kelly coyne and Eric knutzen. Oh yes and one of the most life impacting is Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler. ♥ books!

      July 9 at 10:52pm via mobile
    • Mathew Dillon Both, ‘On The Road’ and ‘Dharma Bums’ by Jack.

      Tuesday at 12:22am ·
    • Simone Coppola The Dharma Bums by Jack and “La fine è il mio inizio” by Tiziano Terzani

      Tuesday at 6:26am ·
    • Anna Sheinman‎ 1) The brave new world – “get rid of the TV” 2) On the Road – “explore, risk, go” 3) Gurdjieff – “experience, don’t believe your ears” 4) Bhagavad Gita & Yoga Sutra – “change beyond words” 5) Steve Jobs – “be hungry, be stupid” 6) Tom Robbins – “creative mind, dream on…” 7) Ayn Rand – “it is ok to be different” 8) Tantra: Path of Ecstasy by Dr. Georg Feuerstein – “human life is short, but precious in a sense that it is the ladder to realizing the self” 9) The Illusion of Conscious Will by Daniel M. Wegner – “does free will really exist?” 10) John Perkins – “change a dream, change a reality”

      Tuesday at 8:06am ·
    • Anna Sheinman Kate, you inspired me to write a blog…xoxo

      Tuesday at 8:06am ·
    • Susanna Harwood Rubin Proust.

      Tuesday at 11:28pm ·
    • Kate Fields Bartolotta À la recherche du temps perdu? And his madeleines?

      Tuesday at 11:29pm ·
    • Susanna Harwood Rubin Oh, yes…and it’s all really one long book, so…Proust 🙂 Heavenly. Some in French & most in English!

      Tuesday at 11:30pm ·
    • Kate Fields Bartolotta I have read pieces, but need to read the whole thing.

      Tuesday at 11:32pm ·
    • Lauren Hanna Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl!

      Tuesday at 11:33pm ·
    • Susanna Harwood Rubin It’s a lot & some of the middle 1000 pages or so drag a bit 🙂 But the 1st 1000 & last 1000 are gorgeous! Actually if you just read Combray – the 1st section, you get the point. The rest is only if you fall in love with it. (still on Proust here!)

      Tuesday at 11:34pm ·
  • DiAnna E. Ritola The Mists of Avalon

    July 9 at 8:12am ·
  • Mary Ocken Dream of the Earth, by Thomas Berry

    July 9 at 8:19am ·
  • Jen Maddox A New Earth

    July 9 at 8:21am ·
  • Amy Yount Adams Pale Blue Dot

    July 9 at 8:23am ·
  • Tony Hewlett Three-The Celestine Prophecy(James Redfield), The Alchemist(Paulo Cuehlo), The Power and the Glory(Graham Greene).

    July 9 at 8:26am ·
  • Jennifer Brown Rolling Thunder…by Doug Boyd

    July 9 at 8:31am ·
  • Franklyn Lo’presto sara book 1. the power of now. the diary of anne frank. a million little pieces. the akashic experience.

    July 9 at 8:33am ·
  • Kevin Frields Lance Armstrong It’s Not About the Bike…

    July 9 at 8:35am ·
  • Sarah Thompson Start something that matters by blake mycoskie, screw business as usual by richard branson

    July 9 at 8:45am
  • Kevin Frields‎…and Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild..

    July 9 at 8:46am ·
  • Melanie Merle Root‎”Ishmael” by Daniel Quinn or, much more recently, “True Love” by Thich Nhat Hanh

    July 9 at 9:00am ·
  • May Wong Happy Yoga by Steve Ross!

    July 9 at 9:10am ·
  • Jeffrey Littleton The Snow Leopard- Peter Mathiesson

    July 9 at 9:29am ·
  • elephantjournal.com ‎”Yoga and the Quest for the True Self” by Stephen Cope http://amzn.to/sL9Vp–Bob W.

    Yoga and the Quest for the True Self

    www.amazon.com

    Millions of Americans know yoga as a superb form of exercise and as a potent sou…See More
  • Melissa Curtis Webb The Four Agreements…best book ever.

    July 9 at 10:26am ·
  • elephantjournal.com‎”Thoughts Without a Thinker” by Mark Epstein; “The Pursuit of Perfection” by Marion Woodman; “An Actor Prepares” by Constantin Stanislavski; there are a good number of “life changers” for me, too many to mention– Genna

    July 9 at 11:24am ·
  • Kelly Thompson So many! (approx. dates) 1985. The Road less Traveled, The Big Book 1990. End of Illusion, Aquarian Conspiracy1992. Sacred Path of the Warrior 1996. Ishmael 1998. The Peaceful Warriors Way, Life You Were Born To Live 2009. The Red Book 2012. The New EarthBy no means an exhaustive list!

    July 9 at 12:00pm ·
  • Trianna Serene The power of now.
  • Brianna Bemel Every book I read changes the way I live, at least for a little while. Here’s three: The Snow Leopard, Dharma Art, Toward a Psychology of Awakening.

 

If you didn’t get a chance to answer, leave us your favorites in the comments!

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~

Kate Bartolotta

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