Ten books to inspire your life

West Kildonan

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/02/2023 (966 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When I was a child, a large cardboard parcel was delivered to the house one day. It was pretty unusual because it wasn’t anyone’s birthday, it wasn’t Christmas and we weren’t exactly rolling in money.

When we were allowed to open it, my older brother and I found it piled high with hardcover books of all kinds. Many were for children, Sleeping Beauty, Treasure Island, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, The Peterkin Papers and much more.

They were an unexpected gift from a parent who lived, breathed and devoured books. If bored, the children in my family were often told to “go play outside” or “read a book.”

To this day, I have turned to books to learn more about the world, for entertainment, armchair travel and inspiration, or for support. For so many things. Books have helped me in many ways and have been lifelong ‘friends.’ My brother, too, became an avid reader and collector of books.

If books could speak, I wonder if, in this modern technological age, they would whisper these words (often attributed to Mark Twain): “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

Actual books have an esthetic, magical and comforting appeal no device can replicate.

February is I Love to Read in Manitoba. So, with that in mind, I have come up with a list of 10 books (out of many) that have seriously affected or inspired my life.

Why read at all? Here is another reason. To borrow a line from the movie The Dead Poets Society: “Words and ideas can change the world.”

They can change your world. They can change your life.

Try any of these books from this list or make up your own list of books you can turn to again and again, for comfort, to get you thinking, to inspire you or just to get you through these cold winter months until spring appears and once again brightens up our days. Stay warm and take care of yourselves.

1) The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

2) Tuesdays with Morrie – Mitch Albom

3) The Book of Comfort – Matt Haig

4) Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell

5) A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens

6) To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

7) Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy – Sarah Ban Breathnach (For women)

8) The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank

9) The Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor – Eddie Jaku

10) All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten: Uncommon Thoughts on Common Things – Robert Fulghum