Challenge Day 17: A book you’ve read that changed your views on something.

Okay, today I noticed that I somehow managed to get ahead of myself; I completely missed day 17; so while yesterday’s challenge should have been today’s and Saturday’s should have been yesterday’s, the one I’m jumping on now should have followed ‘someone or something I could definitely live without’. Are you still with me? Good, let’s move on.

I think every single book I’ve ever read has altered my perception in at least some small way, but I’m not sure that there’s been a solitary title that’s managed to completely change my views on anything. While I’ve been greatly inspired by many books, I can honestly say that I’ve never had that Eureka! moment of ‘Wow! That’s what I’ve been doing/thinking wrong all this time’. Instead of forcing my brain to try and select a single title, let’s instead look at some of the titles that have inspired the most thought for me over the years.

I shall now list the first 20 books (in no particular order) that come to mind;

1 – Anthem by Ayn Rand

2 – Watership Down by Richard Adams

3 – The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams

4 – The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield

5 – Lord of the Flies by William Golding

6 – Chariots of the Gods by Erich Von Daniken

7 – The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

8 – To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

9 – Night Chills by Dean R. Koontz

10 – On Writing by Stephen King

11 – Animal Farm by George Orwell

12 – Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

13 – Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

14 – Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

15 – The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell  

16 – Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco

17 – Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

18 – The Quran

19 – Misquoting Jesus by Bart D. Ehrman

20 – The Dragons of Eden by Carl Sagan

Wow, twenty came up fast. I could (and probably should) go on to explain how each of these books has effected me and why. However, I find myself with limited time this morning (once again) and I still have many things to get to today. Instead of taking you on a long journey with each of these titles, I’m just going to say that each of these books made me pause and think… and are still making me think today. Most of the titles (if you’re familiar with them) will be obvious as to why. I’d apologize for my slothfulness on this matter, but considering how long-winded I usually am, I imagine most of you will be relieved to find such an easily consumable post… consider this my gift to you! (tee hee) 🙂 

{Note: If I should find myself with extra time and/or interest, I may yet return to embellish here later.}

March 19, 2012 | Categories: 30 Day Blog Challenge | Tags: Animal Farm, Anthem, Ayn Rand, Bart D. Ehrman, blog challenge, Carl Sagan, Chariots of the Gods, Charles Dickens, Crime and Punishment, Dean R. Koontz, Erich Von Daniken, Foucault’s Pendulum, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, George Orwell, Great Expectations, Harper Lee, inspiration, Into the Wild, J.D. Salinger, James Redfield, Jon Krakauer, Joseph Cambell, Misquoting Jesus, Night Chills, Nineteen Eighty-Four, On Writing, Online Writing, Qur’an, Richard Adams, Stephen King, The Catcher in the Rye, The Celestine Prophecy, The Dragons of Eden, The Plague Dogs, The Power of Myth, To Kill a Mocking Bird, Umberto Eco, views, Watership Down, Writing | 21 Comments