Jump to content

Menu
Giving You and Your Child a Road Map to the Best Possible Education
The Well-Trained Mind Community

S/O of books you hated...

WarriorMama
 Share

Recommended Posts

WarriorMama

WarriorMama

Posted
Posted

What book, or books, do you LOVE? And I'm not talking 'read it and enjoyed it'. I mean books that had a profound impact on you. Books that left you different than they found you. Books you could read over and over throughout your life.

 

And for bonus points...do you think the age and/or life situation you were in when you first read a beloved book was part of the reason it affected you so much?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
thescrappyhomeschooler

thescrappyhomeschooler

Posted
Posted

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

The whole Harry Potter series

The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck

Captains and the Kings by Taylor Caldwell

Potatoes Not Prozac by Kathleen Desmaisons

 

That's all I can think of for now- I'm sure there are many more, but I have to take the kids to the dentist soon, and don't have time to think.:001_smile:

 

I wouldn't say they all changed my life- some did, but I LOVED them all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Chris in VA

Chris in VA

Posted
Posted

When I was a child, the Little House series stood out for me. I read them so much they almost fell apart. I'm so glad dd shares that love. I can see them thru adult eyes, now, but they are still evocative and lovely stories to me.

 

A Little Princess was also profound for me--I can quote from both the above series and this one.

 

As a young teacher, Torey Hayden's One Child highly influenced my view of teaching, and I think I enjoyed it so much because of the "happy" ending. I was at a point in my life when stories that showed a character's overcoming strength that was brought out by someone special were very profound for me. I think I longed for rescue myself, and knowing it sometimes happened helped me hold on.

 

In college, I loved Sylvia Ashton Warner's book about her time teaching Maori children in NZ. Although I don't agree with her methods as much now, I found her incredibly inspiring.

 

Finally, a devotional that affected me deeply was Oswald Chambers' My Utmost For His Highest .

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ester Maria

Ester Maria

Posted
Posted

La Divina Commedia. You have NO IDEA what you're missing out on if you don't read it. Possibly the most beautiful pages ever written in any language (granted, I'm highly subjective). I find more personal satisfaction, life guidance, truth about people, etc. in this one than in most of the others combined. It might be due to having overstudied it, though, I know huge chunks by heart. :)

 

Ovid's Metamorphoses. They're so strikingly beautiful. Also huge chunks I know by heart. Ovid is amazing.

 

Tehilim. But that's classic, I know, many people read them over and over. And, while we're on Bible, Kohelet. Two of my favorite parts of the Bible.

 

I read multiple times large chunks of Dostoevsky's, Mann's and Shakespeare's opus as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Melissa B

Melissa B

Posted
Posted

Mrs. Mike - It was given to me as a young teen (tween?) and I read it every few years to remind me of what is and is not important in my family life. I will be giving copies to my sister and my daughter this year for their 13th birthdays.

 

 

Antigone - I had to read this for 9th grade English. I loved this book. I'm sure due to age/situation, but that started a love of Greek literature that led me to study in Greece as a college student and has endured to this day.

 

Nicomachean Ethics and Seneca's Moral Epistles - my 'go-tos' on how to live a good life

 

How to Read a Book and Milton's Of Education - my 'go-tos' for educational structure

 

Pride and Prejudice - my favorite beach reading

Link to comment
Share on other sites
smrtmama

smrtmama

Posted
Posted

The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger

Poisonwood Bible and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver

American Gods, Neil Gaiman (honestly, anything by Neil is brilliant)

The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

The Song of Ice and Fire series, George R. R. Martin (hey, it's lit-er-a-toor, but it's a good read)

The Lord of the Rings trilogy, J.R.R. Tolkien

Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer (original Middle English, plz)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Hunter's Moon

Hunter's Moon

Posted
Posted

Fahrenheit 451. And I'm currently reading the Illustrated Man so I'll see where that takes me.

 

Harry Potter series :)

 

Broken Angels. It is about parents raising children with FAS. I read it for Health class and it just amazed me how far a parent's love could go

 

Wuthering Heights

 

Jane Eyre

 

Pride and Prejudice

 

Oedipus the King

Link to comment
Share on other sites
elegantlion

elegantlion

Posted
Posted

As a child:

Bridge to Terabithia (Paterson) - she made me want to write books. Spent all my money on a hardback copy that I still own.

Witch of Blackbird Pond - I related to Kit. I would have rather been out on an adventure than doing household tasks. Still feel the same way.

 

As an adult:

 

The Iliad (Lattimore) - Maybe it was the fact I finished it and enjoyed it. Maybe it was the few gem phrases I picked out that have stuck in my head.

 

Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury) - I might not have understood the importance of this book as a child. I keep a copy by my nightstand. It started me on reading Bradbury kick. I immediately read the book to ds after I had finished. We had some great discussions about technology and books.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ottakee

Ottakee

Posted
Posted

As a young teacher, Torey Hayden's One Child highly influenced my view of teaching, and I think I enjoyed it so much because of the "happy" ending. I was at a point in my life when stories that showed a character's overcoming strength that was brought out by someone special were very profound for me. I think I longed for rescue myself, and knowing it sometimes happened helped me hold on.

 

].

 

I LOVED all of the books by Torey Hayden. I read them as a teen and then later got a degree in special education and worked some with kids like these and then adopted 3 children with special needs and fostered over 100 others.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Britomart

Britomart

Posted
Posted

-Shards of Honor, by Lois McMaster Bujold - opened up my eyes to what a good story, well-told, can really be. (Her Memory also continues to resonate with me with its discussion of integrity, and A Civil Campaign is maybe the best and funniest love story ever. Also, the discussion of the difference between reputation and honor in that book changed me.)

-Gaudy Night, by Dorothy Sayers - again, the story . . . but all of the discussion about women, academics, intellect, romance, and education . . . wow. You can chew on this one for years.

-Till We Have Faces/That Hideous Strength - Lewis, C. S. Many of his books have changed me - it's just such a pleasure thinking after someone so brilliant - but these two are the ones I keep coming to and struggling with, in a good way.

-The poetry of John Donne. Both the early secular stuff and the later sacred stuff.

 

I also honestly would not be the same person without having read Tolkien, Ellis Peters, Georgette Heyer, Essie Summers, Dante, St. Francis de Sales, Homer, George Herbert and Frederica Mathewes-Green.

 

I guess I think that sometimes it's a book, but much more often it's an author. For each of the people listed, it's hard for me to narrow it down to just one work; it's the body of work that changed me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Giraffe

Giraffe

Posted
Posted

Sarum by Edward Rutherford

The Little House series

Gone With The Wind

John Donne's poetry, especially his earlier works

 

Are these all good writing/great literature? Probably not - but these are all books (or poems, in the case of Donne) that have stayed with me years later. I can still recall where I was when I read them, how I felt when I read them, how I got totally sucked into the story.

 

How To Read A Book - one of the most useful books I've ever read in my life. What a wonderful reference book!

 

And now I can't wait to read Metamorphoses, Antigone, The Illiad, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
LaissezFaire

LaissezFaire

Posted
Posted

I'm wondering if this list will contain the same books as the hated one. It seems that the books some hated, others loved.

 

Personally I LOVE Outlander which is one a lot of people hated. In high school I read In Country by Bobbie Ann Mason and I remember it impacting me a lot then. It's not particularly brilliant but it was raw to me.

 

The Handmaid's Tale and Gone with the Wind top my list too.

I also loved Water for Elephants but I wouldn't say it 'impacted' me. I just really enjoyed it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Crissy

Crissy

Posted
Posted
What book, or books, do you LOVE? And I'm not talking 'read it and enjoyed it'. I mean books that had a profound impact on you. Books that left you different than they found you. Books you could read over and over throughout your life.

 

 

 

The Bell Jar.

 

I have mentioned before that one of my worst traits as a human being is my lack of sympathy/empathy for situations I don't understand.

 

Sylvia Plath profoundly changed my views and understanding of depression and mental illness.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
simka2

simka2

Posted
Posted

I read "The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse" after being assaulted by a senior pastor of a large church. It really helped me proccess how I had gotten to be where I was. Not in a blaming me way, but in understanding how certain scriptures were used to control and manipulate me.

 

The Shack came along shortley thereafter, and really helped me proccess thru the grieving/loss/ and anger stages.

 

Other than that, I do love LOTR, Austen, Stepping Heavenward, and the The Home at Greylocke.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tenoraddict

tenoraddict

Posted
Posted

As a child: The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Rebecca's War, Anne of Green Gables Series, Little House Series, The Trixie Belden Series, Chronicles of Narnia, Little Women. Relating to time of life: Strong female characters, good friendships, adventures - everything a little girl wants to think she'll have/be in life. I still like them.

 

As a young teen: Loved Judy Blume. Going out on a limb here and admitting that I loved the Flowers in the Attic Series. I blame my mother. I mean, where was she? She really should've been monitoring my reading. ;) Time of life? Judy Blume is obvious, but FitA? Hormones, maybe?

 

As an older teen: Began lifelong love affairs with William Shakespeare, Sir Gawain, Beowulf, the Bronte sisters, and Jane Austen. I was clearly getting ready for a hero/prince/gentleman to come and sweep me off my feet.

 

As an adult: The Shadow of the Wind, Redeeming Love, LotR (didn't think much of Tolkein when I met him in The Hobbit earlier), The Red Tent (I know a lot of people here didn't like it, but it did a lot to give me a more positive view of relationships between women), Ivanhoe

 

As a mom: On Becoming Babywise, The Out of Sync Child, I Love You the Purplest (kiddie lit)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Cindy in the NH Woods

Cindy in the NH Woods

Posted
Posted

 

The Well-Trained Mind

 

 

Beloved

 

 

I agree! The Well-Trained Mind revolutionized not only my home schooling, but also my self education. Beloved broke my heart; it also opened my eyes to things I would never have understand about some of the roots of black culture and experience.

 

The devotional Streams in the Desert has been an anchor for my soul in some very dark places. Wallace Stegner novels always remind me of the brevity of human life, and about why I love whom I love. I am grateful to historians like Paul Johnson, J.M. Roberts, and others who make history "make sense". And thanks to the very many British mystery/suspense novelists who have provided me with the break from reality that refreshes me.;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Stacia

Stacia

Posted
Posted (edited)
Books you could read over and over throughout your life.

 

Well, I don't generally re-read books, even ones I love. That said, some books that I've loved through time....

 

Richard Scarry books :D

Blue Hat, Green Hat

The Outsiders (when I was in middle school)

Heart of Darkness

The Count of Monte Cristo

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

I, Claudius

Fahrenheit 451

Good Omens

The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear

Born to Run

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World

Murder in the Cathedral

A Christmas Memory

The Wee Free Men

Sleeping in Flame

Edited by Stacia
Link to comment
Share on other sites
dripdripsplat

dripdripsplat

Posted
Posted

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. That book had the most profound influence on me, and I don't think it was because of any life situation... Just a really good book, with a lot of real information (in fact, everything I know about boats came from that book. I used to spend HOURS looking at the diagrams, and recreating them, listing all of the parts.)

Little Women was another one that I still love to this day. I'm planning on starting it for our read-aloud time, and hope (fingers crossed) that my kids love it as much as I did.

And the last one, that I can think of right now is House of Stairs. Looking back, I would not say that this is a kid-friendly book. But it did teach me a lot about how our minds work, and the subtle programming that encompasses our lives.

Ooh, two more. In the Secret Place of the Most High and Created to be His Help Meet. Those changed my life, my marriage, my everything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Spy Car

Spy Car

Posted
Posted
I believe it , but why ? :lol::lol::lol:

 

Do you mean:

 

I believe it , but why (do I believe it)? :lol:

 

Or

 

I believe it , but why (in the world would you care to read it)? :D

 

Anyway, I'm a team-player so when my wife was pregnant The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding and The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy by Vicki Iovine (her books) became two of the least-likely choices to ever make my book list.

 

Both top-notch btw.

 

Bill (who has read no such books before or since :tongue_smilie:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tenoraddict

tenoraddict

Posted
Posted
The Well-Trained Mind
*gasp* I thought I had clicked on the Books We Hate link, and I thought, "Mrs. Mungo! How brave and daring! But really? I thought I knew you..." Imagine my relief when I went back to the beginning of the thread to verify. ;)

 

You're right; this book was a life-changer for me, too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
helena

helena

Posted
Posted (edited)
What book, or books, do you LOVE? And I'm not talking 'read it and enjoyed it'. I mean books that had a profound impact on you. Books that left you different than they found you. Books you could read over and over throughout your life.

 

And for bonus points...do you think the age and/or life situation you were in when you first read a beloved book was part of the reason it affected you so much?

 

Ooo! I'll take the bonus points! :001_smile:

When I was around 16 I was introduced to existentialism. My age and "life situation" played a big part in this love affair. I had just left a terrible life, and moved to a new town. I met a group of punks who lived down the street from me and became good friends for many years. I was fragile and raw when I met these guys. They took me under their wings and turned me on to so much beyond my own life and problems. These were the kind of guys that stayed up all night arguing, corresponding with people all over the world (pre email), engaging writers, musicians, artists...

I read a lot of books then, but it was Sartre, Camus, Kafka and so on that really moved me. It changed the course of my life. I could finally see things from a perspective that wasn't tainted by my past, and the people from my past.

It didn't have anything to do with agreeing with everything they said, I didn't. It had everything to do with me and controlling how I wanted perceived the world. To be engaged, to debate, and maybe even change my mind.

I associate those books with the time in my life where fear was smashed by love, passion, and intellect.

Good memories. Good books.

 

The other would be the writer Antoine de Saint Exupery. His writing moves me deeply. I don't know what it is about him...

He wrote little things in his books that make so much sense to me. I get emotional just thinking about it. I will never stop reading his work.

Edited by helena
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Audrey

Audrey

Posted
Posted

Germinal by Emile Zola changed my life profoundly. I could even argue that it led me to my dh.

 

I re-read Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco about every other year -- sometimes more frequently. It changed the way I process connections between (seemingly) random things.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
kalanamak

kalanamak

Posted
Posted

[quote=Crissy;2030485

 

Sylvia Plath profoundly changed my views and understanding of depression and mental illness.

 

:iagree:

 

Point, Counter Point taught me that there were whole worlds in people's heads I'd not considered. Rosshalde made me understand that people's motivations change with age. That hadn't occurred to me. Both books have a child in it with meningitis, and they influenced my career choice.

 

Freedom From the Known gave me the idea that what I thought of, and how I felt about it, was not something that just passively happened to me, but is under my control. That was the most profound revolution I've had from a book.

 

A House For Mr. Biswas taught me that once you are out of starvation poverty, the next level is a poverty of opportunity and the subjugation of the poor to the poor with 10 dollars more.

 

I read all these before the age of 21.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
helena

helena

Posted
Posted
Germinal by Emile Zola changed my life profoundly. I could even argue that it led me to my dh.

 

I re-read Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco about every other year -- sometimes more frequently. It changed the way I process connections between (seemingly) random things.

 

These look great! I look forward to reading them.

Thanks :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
i.love.lucy

i.love.lucy

Posted
Posted

The Bible, of course.

 

If non-fiction counts then "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" is the best book I have read on understanding the female body, and fertility. Got me a son out of that deal!

 

Other than the Bible, I really don't care to read and reread books over and over. Never have. I will have to think more about what fiction works have really stood out for me and changed my life.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Miss Sherry

Miss Sherry

Posted
Posted
Do you mean:

 

I believe it , but why (do I believe it)? :lol:

 

Or

 

I believe it , but why (in the world would you care to read it)? :D

 

Anyway, I'm a team-player so when my wife was pregnant The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding and The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy by Vicki Iovine (her books) became two of the least-likely choices to ever make my book list.

 

Both top-notch btw.

 

Bill (who has read no such books before or since :tongue_smilie:)

This one

 

"I believe it , but why (in the world would you care to read it)?" :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites
nmoira

nmoira

Posted
Posted

I'm limiting my self to books that I read when young -- a couple as late as 20, but most between 14 and 16 -- images from which still stay with me.

 

Non-fiction: Manufacturing Consent

 

Fiction:

 

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

 

1984

 

Brave New World

 

Slaughterhouse-Five

 

In Cold Blood

 

Helter Skelter

 

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

 

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch

 

The War of the Worlds

 

The Name of the Rose

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 5 months later...
KristinaBreece

KristinaBreece

Posted
Posted
The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger

Poisonwood Bible and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver

American Gods, Neil Gaiman (honestly, anything by Neil is brilliant)

The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

The Song of Ice and Fire series, George R. R. Martin (hey, it's lit-er-a-toor, but it's a good read)

The Lord of the Rings trilogy, J.R.R. Tolkien

Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer (original Middle English, plz)

 

:001_wub:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
PinkInTheBlue

PinkInTheBlue

Posted
Posted (edited)

Atlas Shrugged - I was so relieved that someone else saw the world the way I did. It also gave me even more to think about than I already was moving towards.

 

Well Trained Mind - I know it's seems so typical but when I first found this in a bookstore at the beginning of my homeschool journey it felt so "ah-ha!". Over the years it's been both my blessing and inspiration and my curse and frustration. :) LOL

 

Pride and Prejudice - I tried getting through it a couple of times but when I finally found my groove in it, I ran through all her books immediately. I don't think I had tried anything more than modern literature since high school. This really opened the door to me that I could read more things than I thought. Don Quixote and Great Expectations have stumped me but it's really about boredom and reaching a high "I don't care what happens in this story" limit than anything. I'm still determined to complete GE though.

 

Well Educated Mind - Again, I hate to be predictable but seeing step by step, obvious ways to read the tough books made it so accessible to me. High school English classes mostly managed to make the classics so dull and difficult that I assumed it wasn't even worth the effort. This made it bite-sized.

Edited by PinkInTheBlue
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mejane

Mejane

Posted
Posted (edited)

Some of mine have already been mentioned: The Chosen and The Handmaid's Tale, for example. I was also profoundly moved by a book called The One Hundred Dresses. I read it to my kids and could barely finish it for weeping; I thought about if for weeks after. Then there's my all-time fave, To Kill a Mockingbird; just the perfect book, imo, and Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet. I don't even know how to say how much that little book affected me.

Edited by Mejane
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...