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Bloomsbury Good Reading Guides
100 Must-read Life-Changing Books
100 Must-read Life-Changing Books by Nick Rennison
Novels which transform our ideas about human possibilities, biographies which celebrate the achievements of extraordinary individuals, polemical works of non-fiction which oblige us to alter our views of the world or of human society: all of us can remember reading at least one book which made us think about the world anew. Here, the author of the popular Bloomsbury Good Reading Guide, selects the very best books which may or may not have changed the world, but which have certainly changed the lives of thousands of people who have read them.
Some examples of titles included:
Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - a poignant recording of the author's triumph over the obstacles of being black and poor in a racist society.
Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist. Santiago's meeting with the alchemist opens his eyes to the true values of life, love and suffering
The Diary of Anne Frank Half a century later the story of a teenager coming to maturity in the most terrible of circumstances remains profoundly moving.
Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet Gibran's poetic essays reveal his thoughts on everything in life from love and marriage to the enigmas of birth and death.
Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Pirsig's narrator creates a philosophical masterpiece that has the power to change lives.
Novels which transform our ideas about human possibilities, biographies which celebrate the achievements of extraordinary individuals, polemical works of non-fiction which oblige us to alter our views of the world or of human society: all of us can remember reading at least one book which made us think about the world anew. Here, the author of the popular Bloomsbury Good Reading Guide, selects the very best books which may or may not have changed the world, but which have certainly changed the lives of thousands of people who have read them.
Some examples of titles included:
Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - a poignant recording of the author's triumph over the obstacles of being black and poor in a racist society.
Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist. Santiago's meeting with the alchemist opens his eyes to the true values of life, love and suffering
The Diary of Anne Frank Half a century later the story of a teenager coming to maturity in the most terrible of circumstances remains profoundly moving.
Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet Gibran's poetic essays reveal his thoughts on everything in life from love and marriage to the enigmas of birth and death.
Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Pirsig's narrator creates a philosophical masterpiece that has the power to change lives.
148 pages, Paperback
First published September 25, 2008
7 people are currently reading
105 people want to read
About the author
Nick Rennison
57 books23 followersNick Rennison is a writer, editor and bookseller. His books include Sherlock Holmes: An Unauthorised Biography, Robin Hood: Myth, History, Culture, The Bloomsbury Good Reading Guide and 100 Must-Read Historical Novels. He is a regular reviewer of historical fiction for both The Sunday Times and BBC History Magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 30, 2024
Good overall
Though a few too many bestselling pieces of froth.
Eleven more words required, it says, so on I type anyway.
Though a few too many bestselling pieces of froth.
Eleven more words required, it says, so on I type anyway.
May 9, 2014
I’m a bit of a fan of ‘titbit’ books that you can pick up; gain something useful from by way of inspiration, information, motivation and probably any other of a hundred other words ending in –ion; and put down without worrying about losing your place!
This book certainly fulfils that criterion. The author begins by asking, at the start of the introduction, what makes for a ‘life-changing’ (?) book and then proceeds to answer this question in the remainder. This makes for an interesting short read in itself. However, he appears to make an assumption, which is evidenced abundantly in the subsequent discussion and which he fails to acknowledge; i.e. that such a book must, necessarily, bring about a change for the better. This, of course, implies that he knows what ‘better’ is! One criterion he does posit, even though possibly only implicitly, is the number of lives changed and he goes on to justify, later on, the inclusion of J. K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter novel, by citing the number sold and therefore, by extension, the number of young people ‘switched-on’ to reading fiction whom otherwise might never have been. This is, of course, a contentious claim in itself but, possibly, one with which many might agree. In which case, one could reasonably argue for the inclusion of Mein Kampf, which has probably never been out of print and is probably one of the World’s best-selling books. However, it doesn’t make the cut!
Most reasonable people would not expect to find all of their favoured tomes inside and it was in this spirit that I approached it when opening it for the first time. Yet I still found myself applauding the author when he had included something which, in my estimation, deserved inclusion, and railing against him when one of my favourites was missing!
But to cut what could easily be a long story short: it’s an excellent little book that can be picked up at a ridiculously low ‘snip’, especially the kindle version!
This book certainly fulfils that criterion. The author begins by asking, at the start of the introduction, what makes for a ‘life-changing’ (?) book and then proceeds to answer this question in the remainder. This makes for an interesting short read in itself. However, he appears to make an assumption, which is evidenced abundantly in the subsequent discussion and which he fails to acknowledge; i.e. that such a book must, necessarily, bring about a change for the better. This, of course, implies that he knows what ‘better’ is! One criterion he does posit, even though possibly only implicitly, is the number of lives changed and he goes on to justify, later on, the inclusion of J. K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter novel, by citing the number sold and therefore, by extension, the number of young people ‘switched-on’ to reading fiction whom otherwise might never have been. This is, of course, a contentious claim in itself but, possibly, one with which many might agree. In which case, one could reasonably argue for the inclusion of Mein Kampf, which has probably never been out of print and is probably one of the World’s best-selling books. However, it doesn’t make the cut!
Most reasonable people would not expect to find all of their favoured tomes inside and it was in this spirit that I approached it when opening it for the first time. Yet I still found myself applauding the author when he had included something which, in my estimation, deserved inclusion, and railing against him when one of my favourites was missing!
But to cut what could easily be a long story short: it’s an excellent little book that can be picked up at a ridiculously low ‘snip’, especially the kindle version!
October 12, 2024
"100 Must-read life-changing books" is een interessante gids voor iedereen die op zoek is naar nieuwe leeservaringen. Het boek presenteert een brede selectie van literatuur, van klassiekers tot moderne werken, die allemaal op een of andere manier impact hebben gehad op lezers.
Waarom 3 sterren?
* Goede selectie: Het boek biedt een gevarieerde lijst met titels, waardoor er voor ieder wat wils is.
* Inspirerend: De korte beschrijvingen bij elk boek zijn inspirerend en maken je nieuwsgierig om meer te willen lezen.
* Onvolledig: Hoewel de lijst uitgebreid is, zijn er ongetwijfeld nog veel meer boeken die als 'life-changing' kunnen worden beschouwd. De selectie is dus subjectief en niet volledig.
* Weinig diepgang: De beschrijvingen van de boeken zijn vaak te kort om een echt goed beeld te geven van de inhoud en de impact ervan.
Kortom: "100 Must-read life-changing books" is een handig naslagwerk voor iedereen die zijn of haar leeslijst wil uitbreiden. Het boek biedt een goede start, maar is zeker niet de enige bron van inspiratie.
Waarom 3 sterren?
* Goede selectie: Het boek biedt een gevarieerde lijst met titels, waardoor er voor ieder wat wils is.
* Inspirerend: De korte beschrijvingen bij elk boek zijn inspirerend en maken je nieuwsgierig om meer te willen lezen.
* Onvolledig: Hoewel de lijst uitgebreid is, zijn er ongetwijfeld nog veel meer boeken die als 'life-changing' kunnen worden beschouwd. De selectie is dus subjectief en niet volledig.
* Weinig diepgang: De beschrijvingen van de boeken zijn vaak te kort om een echt goed beeld te geven van de inhoud en de impact ervan.
Kortom: "100 Must-read life-changing books" is een handig naslagwerk voor iedereen die zijn of haar leeslijst wil uitbreiden. Het boek biedt een goede start, maar is zeker niet de enige bron van inspiratie.
December 3, 2015
Although reading a book that recommends books may be boring (and dangerous for my wallet) this was pretty well composed. It provided background information on all the authors throughout the timeline of human existence as well as a brief synopsis of each book. I liked that it was in alphabetical order and that it recommended future readings if there was something that caught your interest. The constant use of the word university when they did not disclose the name of the college the author went to annoyed me after a while though.
December 25, 2011
This book lists 100 good books and gives a short introduction about each book.
January 22, 2012
Full review at
When She Reads
reference
October 30, 2016Thanks to my friend chris for buying me this book for my birthday!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews