There’s a little meme going around Facebook that asks you to share your top 10 books. When I started thinking about the books that changed my life, they were all non-fiction. Maybe that means I’m not reading enough heady fiction books., but reading non-fiction books have been some of the most transformative experiences I’ve undergone in just about every aspect of my life.
Career
I went from thinking I’d be an elementary teacher at an international school overseas to working for myself as a web designer. How? Books. (Okay, and blogging. And some community college courses.)
The Anti 9-to-5 Guide: Practical Career Advice for Women Who Think Outside the Cube – Introduced me to the idea of working in an alternative career. Read my first or second year out of college when I was not loving my job. It was clarifying.
Womenomics: Work Less, Achieve More, Live Better – Somewhat the opposite of “leaning in,” it advocates a way for women to step down the career ladder or take another career ladder so they don’t have to choose between kids and work. I found myself nodding along as I listened (audiobook on a long commute to work).
The Boss of You: Everything A Woman Needs to Know to Start, Run, and Maintain Her Own Business – Gave me the tools I needed to start freelancing!
Honorable mention: Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability – To niche to recommend it generally, but it informs every single website I put my little grubby fingers on.
Personal & Parenting
The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide – I’ve mentioned this book a thousand times on this blog. It absolutely changed my relationship with stuff and my relationship to cleaning.
Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids – This book is full of practical ways to parent with less. Less activities, less toys, less intensity. Some pooh-pooh the idea of reading about parenting, but like anything else that I care about, I find that reading about it can help me figure out what I think is important and give me support.
The Happiness Project – Gretchen Rubin improves her life, one month at a time. At the time I read this, it was revolutionary to me. Now, it might seem a little cheesy if I re-read it, but I still love the idea of monthly goals (obviously).
Social Justice & Spirituality
Once upon a time, I was a very religious teenager who liked to do community service. These books, combined with some experiences and a few college courses, transformed the way that I thought about the poor, society, and politics. I entered my 20s a completely different person than I left my 20s, in almost every way, but starting with my values that I formed through these books.
The Long Loneliness: The Autobiography of the Legendary Catholic Social Activist – Oh, Dorothy Day. I wanted a daughter just so I could give her Dorothy as a middle name as an ode to my idol. I read this book while spending a semester in Hawaii and it turned my beliefs on their head and my life has never been the same.
Irresistible Revolution – I saw this author speak when I was in college and was intrigued. He was quite religious but also super radically progressive. So I read his book and found myself underlining a lot. I started thinking more about where things came from, how they were produced, and what my actions, spending, and life was doing.
Food
Diet for a New America – A book about veganism written by a relative to the Baskin-Robbins empire. Okay, I must say that this book is probably a little extreme, but it took me from “eh, I don’t like the taste of meat” to “I’ll never eat meat again.” It introduced me to the impact we have with what we eat. It’s a little intense with the mentions of animals suffering, and I’m not a vegan like he advocates, but it was taken with a big ol’ grain of salt and still affected me.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life – This book about an author who becomes a self-sufficient farmer in the hills of Virginia. I have no (NO) desire to do that or to live rurally (NONE), but it changed how I shopped for food. Not 100% of our food is local by any means, but we do what we can with what we have – farmer’s markets and CSAs are staples now.
Honorable mention: Vegan with a Vengeance – A cookbook isn’t really a book you read, but this cookbook changed my approach to cooking and I started to cook more vegan since it turns out vegans really know how to make vegetables delicious. It also helps my default meal planning to not involve copious amounts of cheese (as delicious as it is).
If you have any book recommendations for me (fiction or non), hit me up! Or tell me which fiction books I should be reading to change my life.
I’ve been working on a list like this for my blog but I’m having a hard time narrowing it down to just 10! A few of the books that will probably make the list: Beautiful Joe (Marshal Saunders), A Writer’s Diary (Virginia Woolf), anything by Donald Miller, and Redeeming Love (Francine Rivers). I’ve added a few of the ones you suggested to my holds list at the library! Now to pay off that hefty fine …
I need to do this… but I will struggle to come up with 10 I’m sure!
I didn’t know you wanted to be an elementary school teacher… were you ever?
Also I’m glad I read this post today. I had a library mishap where I ended up with like 10 books on my kindle at the same time. One of them was Simplicity Parenting. I was going to read it but I don’t have time to read all 10 of these books before they need to be returned. Looks like I’ll have to do the not turning wireless on trick with this book because if it changed your life, I have to read it!
I love Simplicity Parenting! Also The Joy of Less. Great reads.
I did a book group with friends from church; we read “When Helping Hurts”. Really really gave words to some nagging feelings I had about short-term mission trips. (And I have done many!). I knew I was uncomfortable with many aspects of them and reading this book was putting a finger on why. I approach “helping” others very differently now.
Ooh, sounds good! Based on the title alone, I think I’d be into that book. I read a great article in college about why community service shouldn’t be required. Good food for thought instead of just praising people for “helping!”
I’ll have to check out the Simplicity parenting book; anything that helps me to be a better parent/version of myself/provide for my step daughters is a win in my book.
I don’t know if I can suggest just one fiction book that will change your life… I did this post a few weeks back and shared a bunch of my favorites, all for various reasons. http://www.walkingwithnora.com/2014/09/05/ten-books/ Maybe there will be one that you would fancy?!
Love this!!! Adore Kingsolver & like you, probably would find Happiness Project silly now but enjoyed it at the time. :)
I am FINALLY starting to write about books I read, more as a personal record for me. My memory is horrendous unless I have something to jog it. Haha.
Oh, you and me both! Why do you think I have a blog? ;)
Thank your for putting these book recommendations in different categories :) I have added quite a few of these to my “TBR” pile. I have a book that offers advice and helps both your career/business and personal life called “Life In Half a Second” by author Matthew Michalewicz (www.LifeinHalfaSecond.com <—you can download the first chapter for free on his website). It was recommended to me by a friend and although I went in a little skeptical, wow was I wrong. This book is a perfect example of what can be achieved by an author who is an expert at his subject and very passionate as well. He provides a fact based formula for achieving success not only in business but in life. It is not often that I come across a business book that also tackles self help too! Using real world examples and even science to relay the material, this book can really boost you into overdrive to achieve your goals and desires. I highly recommend it because it really can inspire anyone (students, CEOs, people who feel stuck in their jobs) check it out!
“The Boss of You” sounds great! I have my own small business and I find that nothing helps to motivate me more than inspirational self help and business books. Its always great to see what methods and ideas have worked well for other successful entrepreneurs in the past. I recently finished a very interesting book entitled “Mentor Me: GA=T+E: A Formula to Fulfill Your Greatest Achievement” by author Ken Poirot. The GA=T+E means greatest achievement equals time plus energy, how true is that! I really liked the down to earth style the author chose to write this “self help” book, he is self aware of what the genre is and offers some information that you wouldn’t expect in this kind of book. I really recommend it to anyone looking to get ahead or get out of a rut. Hope you and your readers will give it a read – http://www.mentormegate.com