Musing with WritingMuse: My Life Affecting Books

Someone on Facebook today asked me to list the top 10 books that have affected my life, and it set me to thinking back about that. As I reviewed my life, and I came up with a list. There are literally hundreds I could have mentioned, but as I meditated on it, these are the ones that stood out for me. Hope you enjoy them. Love to hear your comments or your own list.

10 Books that Affected Me and My Life

by Sandy Penny

Click any book cover to go to the Amazon information/buy page.

1. Hansel and Gretel by The Brothers Grimm. My brother Curt read this to me about 1000 times at my request before I could read. It is still my favorite book about empowerment. The children triumph over evil by cooperating and outsmarting the witch.

2. The Bible because it gave me a base for morality and taught me the golden rule, the law of reciprocity. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And it has some great epic stories. It also made me examine my beliefs in light of all the different interpretations people had of this book.

3. The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale because it taught me that I could change the circumstances in my life by changing the way I think about them. Being more positive leads to a more successful life. I read it when I was 10 years old, and it made perfect sense to me and changed my life.

4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, a beautifully written tale of a woman triumphing over adversity at a time when few options were open to women. It represented courage, strength and acceptance of people's faults. I read it when I was a teenager, then again in my 20s, and again recently. And each time it was powerfully emotional.

5. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, a deeply felt and compassionate tale of the plight of migrant workers. It portrayed the hard lives of these workers and taught compassion for the workers of the world. It also inspired gratitude for what I have. Growing up poor in a family of 10 kids, it was easy to relate to. I read it in 8th grade, and a few more times throughout the years. Some find it heavy and depressing. I found it uplifting and inspiring.

6. Helping Yourself with ESP by Harold Sherman because it awakened abilities within me that I had always known were there, but did not know how to use. No longer in print. Gave me the stair release meditation that led me to my room (womb) of power that I still use to clear my energy and connect with my higher self, guides, teachers and spirit beings. Sherman was an inspirational speaker, a well-known sports writer and avid explorer of metaphysical life principles. I corresponded with him a few times throughout the years, and he was friendly and helpful every time.

7. Life and Teachings of the Masters of the Far East (series), reinforced my experience of life as magical, mystical and miraculous. Taught me to trust my intuition and the unseen beings I interact with. The mysterious beings with magical powers still infuse my life with wonder.

8. I'm OK, You're OK, simple transactional analysis for relationships. It taught me that we can disagree and still respect each other's points of view. We do not have to make others wrong in order to have our own opinions. Very popular in the 60s/70s.

9. The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield . This was the first spirituality novel that hit the New York Times Best Seller List and stayed there for two years. It chronicled the way many spiritual paths unfold and incorporated it into an adventure novel. It appealed to both men and women. I taught classes on the principles expressed in the book because it was the exact way my path unfolded. It let me know that masses of people are awakening to their own spirituality. It was a beacon of hope and a map for exploring personal spiritual growth.

10. The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by by Leslye Walton. It is so poetically written with such deep emotion and poignant style about a girl who is born with wings, and the women in her family who have experienced their own ways of being different. A lovely book that keeps me returning to the characters again and again, wondering how they're doing.

That's the list that came to me today, and it runs through my life like a golden thread of inspiration. There are many many more, and I'll explore some of them on my new blog:
http://myfavoritespiritualbooks.blogspot.com/.
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Click book cover to go to the Amazon Page for my novelette, Covenant of the Dove.