The Book That Changed Your Life

Several books have been written about books that change people’s lives. I have recently read two of them that provide a look into the heart of writers, historians, musicians, motivational speakers, athletes and others. In each case the author wrote to people of their acquaintance who were famous or at least very successful in their calling and asked them what book they had read that changed their life or at least set them on their career path.

I would suspect that if I sent that inquiry to many of the people with whom I have been friends over the last fifty years they would respond that the Bible most influenced them or changed their life. Actually, I think many would actually say that a person changed their life, not a book. Nonetheless, of the one hundred fifty or so people who appeared in the two books, only one that I recall mentioned the Bible. The point is, though, that some book did change their life or give it direction. I was amazed at the wide variety of literature that influenced the respondents.

Several mentioned that Catcher in the Rye was the most influential book they ever read. Another said The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People turned her life around. Others opted for Huckleberry Finn, The Power of One, The Passion of the Western Mind, or To Kill a Mockingbird. I could go on and on with the surprising titles of books that have changed peoples’ lives, but there is another point I would like to make.

I began to notice as I read through these books that a surprising number of those erudite, famous, and influential people read the book that changed their life around the age of 13. I find it interesting that before the invention of teenagers in the mid-20th century, many young people were set on the course that their life would follow at the ages of twelve to fifteen. Childhood was over and serious consideration of the future as an adult was not just contemplated but initiated. We probably cannot reverse the general cultural trend toward perpetual immaturity (most people would be appalled at the suggestion), but we can influence and encourage our own young people to read good books.

One way to help a child prepare for the world and seek maturity is to encourage good reading habits, including directing the content of what they read. I would suggest you put in their hands literature that promotes noble character, ethical boundaries, and mature decision making. We encourage our own sons to read books that portray men and boys who are resourceful, valorous, respectful of women, and who would rather die than compromise their convictions. Take a stroll through the young teen section of your local bookstore and you will see title after title of the salacious drivel being foisted on our girls and boys. You never know what book will change a person’s mind and heart for the rest of their life.

Bill Potter