everything I encounter changes me in some way ~ from hummingbirds pausing to sip at my feeder, to a daughter’s tight hug, to that first stimulating cup of coffee each morning ~ but these five books changed me in deep, provocative ways, and though I first read all of them years (sometimes decades) ago, threads of their offerings have woven themselves into my core self.

they enticed me to see the world differently ~ by offering ideas foreign to me, by validating my own experiences, by encouraging me, by widening my views. and, in each one, through the magic gift of storytelling. by letting me into the author’s world, either directly through experience, or more subtly, via the lives of their characters.

here are five:

a tree grows in brooklyn, betty smith

angle of repose, wallace stegner

atlas shrugged, ayn rand

bird by bird, anne lamott

the artist’s way, julia cameron

I’d love to read five of yours!