Thursday, December 10, 2015

What Book Has Changed Your Life?

I've spent the last couple of days deciding what books I want to read in 2016. This was sparked by The 2016 Reading Challenge on Tim Challies' blog this week. I printed off the challenge, taped it in my bullet journal, and started marking it up with the titles I would like to read.

My husband and I have an embarrassing number of books on our shelves that we have not read yet. We have always been readers, but have slowed down quite a bit (with the adult reading, anyway) since having children. Somehow our book acquisition rate has not slowed with our reading rate. The truth is, we still want to be avid readers, and are not willing to let that image of ourselves go. We need a plan.

Given our shelves full of books, I populated most of the list with titles from our bookshelves. Books we don't own will hopefully come from the local library.

Here are some of my picks so far:
A book about Christian living: The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis (on my shelf)
A biography: The Personal Life of David Livingstone by William Blaikie (on my shelf)
A classic novel: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (already started, will finish in 2016)
A commentary on a book of the Bible: I Wish Someone Would Explain Hebrews to Me by Stuart Olyott (on my shelf)
A book with the word "gospel" in the title or subtitle: The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler (on my shelf)
A book more than 100 years old: Kept for the Master's Use by Frances Havergal (on my shelf)
A mystery or detective novel: Arthur & George by Julian Barnes (at my library) or something by Dorothy Sayers (also at my library)
A book with at least 400 pages: George Whitefield Vol. 1 by Arnold Dallimore (on my shelf)
A graphic novel: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller (at my library)

One recommendation stopped me, though. "A book someone tells you 'changed my life.'" So I decided to turn to you, dear readers. What book has changed your life?

I can't exactly return the favour, because I don't really tend to think in dramatic terms like that. Usually if a book has come close to "changing my life" it's because it was at the culmination of a long process of life or thought change anyway. Other books have changed my life for a few years or a decade, but the change has not been permanent. But I will give you a list of a few of the best books of my life, if you like. (Amazon links included for your reference. I am not an affiliate. If you're buying, I'd suggest supporting someone who is.)

Literature:
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
A Sacrifice of Praise: An Anthology of Christian Poetry in English from Caedmon to the Mid-Twentieth Century ed. by James H. Trott

Theology: 
When Grace Comes Home: How the Doctrines of Grace Change Your Life by Terry Johnson
Dynamics of Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Theology of Renewal by Richard F. Lovelace

Christian Life:
Each for the Other:Marriage As It's Meant to Be by Bryan Chappell
Family Vocation: God's Calling in Marriage, Parenting, and Childhood Mary Moerbe and Gene Veith

Education:
Home Education:Training and Educating Children Under Nine by Charlotte Mason

There. Now I'd like to hear from you. What are the books that have changed your life?

Comments (23)

Loading... Logging you in...
  • Logged in as
Anna Karenina
1 reply · active 485 weeks ago
I think I may read this with my book club this year, so when I do, I'll be able to check it off under this category. Thanks for the suggestion!
Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
2 replies · active 485 weeks ago
Great choices! I should actually have put The Hiding Place on my list above. I'm trying to find a book I haven't read yet, though. :)
I was going to say The Hiding Place also! I re-read it this summer and it had a much more profound effect on me than the first time I read it. I actually had a hard time reading anything for quite a while after I finished it -- everything else seemed so frivolous and shallow!
Aaah! "Large Family Logistics" by Kim Brenaman . Her stuff on how to reach goals changed my life... And her 'days of the weeks' housekeeping, and her one-outfit-for-each-day-no-thinking.
Though I'm sure it was part of a cumulative thought process that included CM's stuff on habits.
1 reply · active 485 weeks ago
Do you have it available for lending?
I like your list, but I haven't read nearly enough of them. How did Jane eyre change you? "I am a free human being with an independent will, which I now exert to leave you."?
1 reply · active 485 weeks ago
I read it probably ten times starting when it was nine. It's hard to measure how literature shapes us. I lived in the story in my imagination. Your quote is actually a good example...I identified with Jane and her virtuous choice.
Love and Respect by Dr Emerson Eggerichs.
1 reply · active 485 weeks ago
Thanks, Wendy! I've actually already read that one, too. I'm trying to find one I haven't read before...
Mutant Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan
1 reply · active 485 weeks ago
Thanks, that sounds fascinating, and completely outside my worldview/experience/comfort zone. The challenge I'm taking has a category for that, too. :) I'll check if my library has it.
The Bible, definitely. And many others to various degrees. Sometimes just one phrase from a book will change so much in your life that it changes your life, even though a book isn't really life-changing, if you know what I mean. Here's a list of my 5-star books on GoodReads. Many of these have greatly affected me, either in the way I think or the way I do things.
1 reply · active 485 weeks ago
Yes, absolutely. The book of Psalms would be at the very top of my list in the Bible (if it's okay to have a favourite...).
I do know what you mean about one phrase. I had an experience like that with Gary Smalley's Love is a Decision, and it happens once in a while with other books, too.
What about Hannah Coulter? I don't know if it was *life changing* for me, but it did make me think about contentedness. Or Till We Have Faces - I will definitely read this one again.

I actually asked this same question on FB about a week ago and got some great suggestions. Some I am really interested are: Hinds Feet on High Places, God's Smuggler, The Faerie Queene, Anna Karenina, Mind of the Maker, and Les Miserables. And this wasn't on the list (you've got it on yours!) but I really want to read The Imitation of Christ.
2 replies · active 484 weeks ago
I just read Hannah Coulter and loved it! I haven't read Till We Have Faces, but I do have it on my shelf so I might give it a try. (There's a C.S. Lewis or Tolkein category as well...)
So funny, I just got Hannah Coulter from the library!
The book that changed my life is The Holy Bible. :) After that there are SO many I will have to think about that...

I'm almost finished with Imitation of Christ and it has some good stuff! I'm finding it a *bit* hard to get through, just FYI....
1 reply · active 485 weeks ago
Okay. :) I had it down as an easy read, so that's good to know! I was thinking of reading a chapter at a time, kind of like a devotional. Do you think that would be a good way to read it?
The books about Hizkia and Ezra from Lynn Austin. I love them. They are all great lessons from me
1 reply · active 485 weeks ago
Thanks! I found the one about Hezekiah at my library (Gods and Kings) so I'll try it out!

Post a new comment

Comments by