TWENTY BOOKS THAT HAVE SHAPED MY WORLD…
I first compiled this list in 1997 when a friend asked me for a list of the 10 books that most shaped my life. Of course, I couldn’t restrict the list to just 10. I think in the original I kept it to a dozen or so. In the eighteen years since the list has grown to 19 as of 12 August 2015 with the addition of Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything, a book I put side-by-side with Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.
Here they are in alphabetical order since I can’t really rank them any other meaningful way.
Chosen, The by Chaim Potok;
Clarence Darrow for the Defense by Irving Stone;
Crystal Cave, The by Mary Stewart;
Demon-Haunted World, The Carl Sagan.
Dune by Frank Herbert;
Hell’s Angels by Hunter S. Thompson;
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien;
Movable Feast, A by Ernest Hemingway;
Narcissus and Goldmund by Herman Hesse;
Obesity Code, The by James Fung;
Razor’s Edge, The by Somerset Maugham;
Shogun by James Clavell;
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson;
Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut;
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein, the original uncut version;
Teachings of Don Juan, a Yaqui Way of Knowledge, The by Carlos Castaneda;
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley;
This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein
Time Power by Charles Hobbs;
Walden by Henry David Thoreau; and
Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy.
thanks jeff! I like that we have many similar tastes! :)
Shalom Jaclyn,
No surprise there.
B’shalom,
Jeff
May I borrow a book or two from you? I promise to take good care.
Mary Jo
Shalom Mary Jo,
We do have such a great library system.
B’shalom,
Jeff
Just counted that I read 10 on your list. It is funny because I was thinking a few days ago about the books that really lit me. Such as
Sometimes a Great Notion
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Atlas Shrugged
The Magnus
There are more but this is your blog
Be well Jeff!
Daniella,
I just finished reading 100 years a few months ago.
Are you still blogging?
Jeff
Not blogging but I miss it so much, I never felt as alive as when I blogged. So I am thinking of a new blog, it must be about really good things because that is what I wish for all of us.
I like reading blogs and have followed you. I am FB friends with some of the old Blogappalooza days. I hope you keep going.
Salut!
I have been a self-help book junkie and I have to say beyond a shadow of a doubt, “Time Power” by Charles R Hobbs is head and shoulders above the rest. This book was originally published in 1987, I would say the principles and methods in this book are timeless. The only thing that is changed is that today we have digital tools as an option to paper and pen. Thank you for the book notes. Reading and implementing the “One Hundred and One Time Management Goals” from Mr Hobbs alone would be enough to take one to the top of their field.
Good morning Roger,
First, thank you for stopping in, for reading and, mostly importantly, for taking the time to write a comment. We build our communities with our conversations.
Second, I’ve probably read a dozen or so productivity porn book over the years, but they have all been pale imitations of Hobbs. While I have made my own modifications over the years his work remains my safe harbor that I return to each year for evaluation, reflection and planning.
Cheers,
Jeff