A book can make you cry, chuckle, become angry or bring joy. A book can inform, influence and inspire, expand and challenge perspectives, and take the reader into new worlds, both real and imagined.
Thereβs a permanent shelf in many bibliophilesβ hearts for books that have a significant impact on their lives, sending them in new, unexpected directions.
Last week, we asked readers to share such life-shaping books. Hereβs what we heard:
βThe Feminine Mystiqueβ by Betty Friedan
Rosemary Carmody says βThe Feminine Mystiqueβ βliterally changed my life, as it did for many of my generation.
βI read it as a college junior in 1963 and it gave me permission to reject the role model of the happy and complacent housewife who served others and ignored her own desires that was endemic in the media at that time.
βI had felt that what I saw around me was not what I wanted from life, but this book said it was OK to feel this way and I was not alone. βLife changingβ is used too glibly in many ways.
βThis really was a book that put me on a career-oriented trajectory without feeling guilty.β
βFrom Here to Eternityβ by James Jones
Mike Anderson says he read βFrom Here to Eternityβ in high school in 1971 as part of an independent study fiction-reading project as a senior at Cholla High School.
βThe writing was so powerful, Jonesβ description of Hawaii and Schofield Barracks before Pearl Harbor so vivid, that it made me decide to enlist in the Army to be stationed at Schofield.
βIt was a good choice for many reasons, but it wouldnβt have happened had I not read that book.β
βThe Silent Sky: The Incredible Extinction of the Passenger Pigeonβ by Allan Eckert
Paul Sheppard describes βThe Silent Skyβ as being about the eradication of the passenger pigeon by the purposeful killing of them.
βRealizing that there used to be so many pigeons, billions, but then none at all after just some decades of direct killing, transformed me into resolving to pay attention to such actions. Eckert told this story from the perspective of a single pigeon, a strategy that purists object to on the grounds of anthropomorphism but that I found to be perfect writing.β
βFive Smooth Stonesβ by Ann Fairbairn
Alyce Grissom, who was born in 1947 and grew up in California, says βI didnβt think much about racial backgrounds. It wasnβt an issue with my environment.
βSomehow I got a hold of this book and after reading it, I had a new knowledge of how other people viewed people of color. I have a respect for anyone that is thought of as different. I go out of my way to be extra kind and friendly.β
The Holy Bible
βTo Kill a Mockingbirdβ by Harper Lee
βThe Five People You Meet in Heavenβ by Mitch Albom
Arthur Gill says he loved the Bible βfrom high school. β¦ It led me closer to God.β
βTo Kill a Mockingbirdβ inspired Gill βto continue seeking to understand why racial prejudice was wrong and hurtful,β while βThe Five People You Meet in Heavenβ is a story that βgives hope and understanding as to how we are all connected by our life stories, consistent with biblical overtones.β
βThe Partnership Way: New Tools for Living and Learningβ by Riane Eisler
βCultures of Peace: The Hidden Side of Historyβ by Elise Boulding
βFrom Age-ing to Sage-ingβ by Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
Del Jones says that Eisler βshows us how to move our society from a domination model to a partnership model. Lots about masculine, feminine β¦ lots about moving from domination to cooperation.
βBoulding looked at all the history books and said they were stories of the wars in each era. She decided to look at what was happening between the wars and her book is about all the organizations who worked for peace. We began peace circles here to get the word out and hopefully make a change towards a culture of peace.β
Lastly, Jones say βFrom Age-ing to Sage-ingβ is a βprofound new way at looking at aging, the first book looking beyond childhood, adulthood to elderhood. His idea of sage-ing circles was the basis for beginning elder circles β¦ the Wisdom Journey here in Tucson 12 years ago.β
βDesert Solitaire: A Season in the Wildernessβ by Edward Abbey
Cheryl Stein House says Abbeyβs book gave her new way of looking at nature.
βHowards Endβ by E.M. Forster
Sarah Trotta says βHowards Endβ demonstrated making the past a part of the present.
Reading as children
Several people mentioned books they read as children and teenagers that helped make them become lifelong readers.
Gloria Bloomer says reading βThe Sun Also Risesβ by Ernest Hemingway made her βfeel like an adult.β
Jennifer Boice says reading βOld Yeller,β the childrenβs novel written in 1956 by Fred Gipson, was pivotal as it was the first time she read a book that did not have a happy ending.
Laura Penny says the Nancy Drew mysteries, which debuted in the 1930s and were written by a number of authors under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene, made her a reader and introduced her to learning new words, like βsleuth.β
The 1965 science fiction book βDuneβ by Frank Herbert introduced Eva Graham to the concept of creating another world and she was fascinated by the made-up words and the bookβs glossary. She remains a sci-fi fan.
For Kenna Smith βAliceβs Adventures in Wonderlandβ β often called βAlice in Wonderlandβ β by Lewis Carroll βis a feminist journey.β