The Philosopher's Stone

10 Books That Changed My Life -

In the process of catching up on my BookWise training, I listened to a session in which our mentor Robert G. Allen asked "Have you ever read a book that changed your life?" The answer, for me, is a resounding yes.

• Foundation by Isaac Asimov
• Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens*
• Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
• Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card*
• Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling*
• American Gospel by Jon Meacham
• Misquoting Jesus by Bart Ehrman
  
• Multiple Streams of Income by Robert G. Allen*
  

* - Books indicated with an asterisk are also available through my BookWise bookstore. You can join as a Preferred Customer, completely free, and then search for books at great discounts, some as low as wholesale!

Several of these books touched me on multiple levels, triggering intellectual, professional, and spiritual paths of thought which have ultimately lead me to my current position in the world, of which I'm quite fond.

For example, Stranger in a Strange Land was the first book I read which touched on religious and spiritual themes. Even though I have, in the years since, come to believe that the spirituality Heinlein presents is fundamentally limited (not to mention chauvinistic), it still resonates with me as being the first introduction to a wider sense of spirituality beyond the strict confines of Christianity which, as a participant in American society, it is impossible to avoid.

Calculating God touches on religious themes in a very different way, but that was not its greatest impact on me. No, Calculating God was significant because it introduced me to the work of Robert J. Sawyer and ultimately lead to an opportunity to meet with him in person. He has proved to be something of a role model and mentor to me, and I have learned many lessons about the publishing industry from him. He has also helped to inspire me to continue writing in the face of difficult, disheartening times.

Books have a power to connect us to greater truths, to the deepest components of our own minds which are searching to transform into the next important phase of our lives. All of these books helped motivate and inspire me into a transformative phase of my life. What books have inspired you in this way?