Have you ever Read a life changing book ?

The Witches of Eastwick...I was close to 30...odd as it may seem, the concept that stuck most with me at the end was of "imagining your life" --that was so new to me, wasn't life just what happened? ...my husband left me soon after I read it. That's when I started imagining AND creating my life and it has been so much better since.

Brian Keenan - An Evil Cradling.

The Lord of The Rings. First read it when I was a teenager and it was totally entrancing. It has so much in it, under the obvious story, about appreciation of little everyday things, the importance of good food and understanding that the beauty of the natural world will persevere. It completely changed the way I viewed the world and 50 years on it is still my favourite book.

Totally agree with Susan Jeffers book…I keep that mantra in my head ‘Feel the fear and do it anyway’, best advice! But also the concept of feelings being just feelings not facts.

Joan Didion's Year of magical thinking, shocks me everytime I read it, it drives home the unpredictability and fragility of life, and how one person can stand so much pain.

'Happiness - a guide to developing life's most important skill' by Matthieu Ricard and 'Self Compassion' by Kirstin Neff - two recent ones. But others too including 'A woman in your own right' by Anne Dickson. All are quite easy to read and to relate to life.

Sue Gerhardt's "Why Love Matters". Absolutely not an easy read at this end of our lives, with possible damage done to now adult children; but it definitely explained a lot about how my own childhood affected, and affects, me.

Germaine Greer's The Female Eunuch. I read it while breastfeeding DS born 1971.
I think it made me into a better mother than I otherwise might have been, able to take charge when necessary, less worried about conventional expectations.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Remarque...perhaps it's a book today's leaders should read and think about!

It didn't change my life as such but had a massive effect on me and was the first book to do so.

I found The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer really changed my thinking.

The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer. I read it at 18 and it had a profound effect on me and my way of thinking, it kind of gave a voice and validation to unformed opinions and thoughts I had begun to have.

The Glass Bead game, Herman Hesse one of the few books I've read twice , made me think a lot.
Definitely The Women's Room, Marilyn French and also 'Feel the Fear and do it Anyway, Susan Jeffers

Chris Van Tulleken book about Ultra Processed Food, completely changed my attitude to food

Scribbles

The only book that has truly changed my life was Allen Carr's TheEasy Way to Stop Smoking.

I read it in a couple of hours and I can't begin to explain how it worked but, from the moment I put it down, the struggle was over. No more cravings, no nore withdrawal symptoms; I was an ex-smoker.
Thirty-plus years on, I'm still grateful to Mr Carr.

I still think of the way he describes the addiction as, I think, a sort of a voice inside you clawing away. Alas it didn’t work for me until I had my first grandchild and was never going to smoke around him or even see him after I’d been smoking.

Cry Havoc, by Beverley Nichols, an anti-war book written in the 1930s. I read it as a teenager, and though I wouldn’t exactly call it life-changing, it had a strong effect on me.

Remembered the title "A Woman in your own right" for the main assertiveness training book.

Two books - and I can't remember the title of either of them.

1. It was many years back now when I was in the Quakers for a while. I got used to the idea of a church/meeting having a selection of books to borrow and one of them was archetypical for them - both sides of the argument as to whether to take recreational drugs or no. As I recall - the book got divided exactly 50/50 into arguments for and against. Yep...the "for" bit did go into possible pleasant and/or learning experiences from it, etc. But the "anti" bit hit home as to the downside of doing so and that was my decision made on the spot. That being that I'd never try drugs - even though it would be a shame to miss out on the plus side (interesting "trips", etc).

2. There were two books of a bit later era on assertiveness training for women. Those books and a couple of courses on this were very useful at getting the message over that there are different ways to handle situations, ie get walked over, be assertive, do the walking over and the middle one is the appropriate one to use (ie don't tread on or be the one trodden on). The "broken record" technique advocated has been SO useful - ie repeating the same sentence umpteen times until it sinks into the other persons head you really mean it and stop trying for whatever they're after from you. That proved very useful when I'd got a man in my place that was being very "persistent" (if you get my drift) and I must have repeated "I don't want to" about 10-12 times in a constant row before he stopped/moved back/looked puzzled and left.

That "broken record" was also very useful with the neighbours of my current house. They got up to all sorts and the main problem was their frequent trespassing in my garden (eg the last owner of my house had obviously been walked over at regular intervals by next door neighbour and allowed her to park in my front garden). Generally there was a lot of trespassing from the several other houses involved here. "Get out of my garden" had to be said a LOT until the message sank in and there was an instance where next door neighbour and some of her buddies were all in a group in my front garden and I had to stand there and repeat that sentence quite a few times in a row before they did "contemptuous look and laughing" - but got out of my garden. Boy were those books ever useful - having a technique I could use, rather than having them (and others in different contexts) walk over me.

A book hasn’t been life changing for me but the Thomas Cromwell trilogy by Hilary Mantel was one of the most fascinating journeys I have ever been on.

Wouldn't say it changed my life, but I read We Speak No Treason by Rosemary Hawley Jarman, many years ago,and became a Richard III supporter! Still a member of the Richard III Society.

Not really, but I’m always looking for recommendations , any that really changed your view?

The only book that has truly changed my life was Allen Carr's TheEasy Way to Stop Smoking.

I read it in a couple of hours and I can't begin to explain how it worked but, from the moment I put it down, the struggle was over. No more cravings, no nore withdrawal symptoms; I was an ex-smoker.
Thirty-plus years on, I'm still grateful to Mr Carr.

The Female Eunuch, still relevant and hasn’t dated imo.

Cabowich yes We Need to Talk about Kevin and a novel by Carol Sheilds called Unless were very intense and memorable.

I've read thousands of books, none of which I can say changed my life.

The book that affected me more than any other, however, was We Need To Talk About Kevin.

An Evil Cradling by Brian Keenan.
It’s the memories of his four and a half years in captivity with
John McCarthy.
No two people could be closer.
I can’t listen to Van Morrison without thinking of them.
Brian knew the words to every song he had written.
It’s the one book I could never give away.

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. It’s why I read the subject at university and then taught it for many years, long before ‘green or eco’ were fashionable.

I was lucky to be inspired by it and have had the chance to inspire others.