As of today, the most inspirational book I have read is Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard. She is a wonderful writer - poetic, courageous and brilliant, IMO. I especially appreciate the scientific lens she uses to view her world, and the detail she includes in her descriptions it.

I dontÂt know if it can be called my inspirational book, but I like to think to The Paul Steet Boys
by Ferenc Molnar as such. Because it was the first book I read in a day, and I was so mesmerized
by it, that in the following days I reread it seven or eight times in a row. Since then my passion for
books.

Another one is Homo Sapiens by Pievani Telmo, a divulgative but well written book about
our evolution. I donÂt know how to put my finger on it, but since then I read it something has stir in
me. Curiosity about my origin, about my phylogenesis, and sooner or later IÂm going to start a
genealogical research.

grelobe

An inspirational book, eh? One that actually inspired me to change something about myself, or go out and do something as a result of reading it? Hmmmm....

Probably Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Daniel C Dennett, which convinced me that I was indeed an atheist, and The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, which has converted me into an evangelical atheist!

martin, Bernard Shaw's books (can't remember which ones now) were the first that got me questioning.

Weve had this conversation before, or one like it. What is the definition of 'inspirational'? My Webster defines it as "imparting a divine influence on the mind and soul" and also as "to stimulate the mind to a high level of feeling or activity" If you are talking about the former, I'm afraid, except from some works by Bernard Shaw, there isn't much I can come up with.

If the latter, well there are hundreds that have done this. Certainly the books that are supposed to be inspirational: Chicken Soup books, Tuesdays with Morrie, most New Age tomes, are too twee for me to get through let alone inspire. But there are many books that caused me to change my world view, or my mind set on an issue, or made me think about my own issues in a different light. There are books that inspired me to act. I can't think of one that stands out, off hand.
.

I really need to read more slowly. I read Martin's post as which convinced me that I was indeed a God. And what book was that?

The Grapes of Wrath challenged my thinking, opened my eyes and, I think, opened my mind about both others and myself in an everyday, "look through this lens" kind of way. On a more spiritual level, Anne Lamott's Travelling Mercies, while perhaps not moving me to action, fits the first part of the Webster's definition as given by Cindy. TGoW falls under the latter definition.

I would have to agree with Thrykas, above, and cite all the Annie Dillard works as life-changing for me. I also loved "Teaching a Stone to Talk." Her poetry is brilliant, as well. After reading "A Pilgrim at Tinker Creek", I've never been able to see the world/universe in quite the same way.

bookmom - I don't know what book that would be, but it sounds as if it might be worth reading!!

Ah, but then, as an atheist, I wouldn't believe in me...which could be a bit tricky...

Martin-how about:
My Life as a God
Caligula

seriously, I'm with Cindy in that most books that set out to be "inspirational" leave me cold-but there have been biographies that have made me stop and think, starting, as a young reader, with The Diary of Anne Frank.

bookmom, interesting you talk about Grapes of Wrath. I read that at age 11 - talk about eye opening. It certainly made an impact on me and influenced much of what I later read.

Hi, new poster (longtime lurker) here. Couldn't resist this thread. Man's Search for Meaning by Vicktor Frankl did it for me. Read it at a low point in my life and was quite inspired to get up and quit wallowing. Another Annie Dillard fan here as well.
Peggy

Hello Peggy and welcome - always nice when a lurker finds a voice!

Welcome Peggy!

Ya know, thinking about it, there were certainly books that did inspire me in the religious sense, when I was in college and at that time a practicing Jew. Martin Buber I and Thou and Guide to the Perplexed written by the Medieval Rabbi 'Rambam' or Maimondes, were both used in our weekly study group with our Hillel rabbi. Much of what I learned about Judaism, and much of what I took with me, were from those books and discussions. There were a few others, can't remember the names.

Welcome, Peggy.

The Moral Discourses of Epictetus were what got me through the angst of my teenage years and young adulthood. That and Twain's The Mysterious Stranger and Sartre's No Exit and his other work. In retrospect, I wouldn't encourage any young person to embrace either stoicism or existentialism. Those are old folk's philosophies, and I hope I'm never old enough for them again.

These days I take my inspiration from Tennyson's "Ulysses." Corny, I know, but it is a choice I make.

By Bernard Shaw do you mean George Bernard Shaw, the playwright? Or did Bernard Shaw the Journalist write an inspiring memoir? Funny thing, I was greatly influenced by G.B. Shaw as a young woman, read all his work and a couple of bios. I am, however, and always have been about as far as one can get from a socialist. So I guess I found his work charming, but not convincing.

Yikes - while I loved the plays of Bernard Shaw, it was Bertrand Russell I was talking about....sorry! :)

Maybe The Secret Garden which I read as a child. Certainly it has shaped my activities and my imagination. After that, maybe one of Andrew Lang's fairy tale collections. While I am a sensible and realistic woman in my outward behavior, I have a rich and magical interior life that the outside world only glimpses now and then.

Rosefolly

Peggy-I agree on Victor Frankl. I've read many inspirational books during the last 10 yrs. or so, as well as books that just inspire me. That sounds funny but they're not necessarily the same-I don't know how to explain it right? I like Annie Lamott quite alot. To Kill A Mockingbird is what I consider inspirational. I'll think on this topic and write more later.....

I thought of 3 more which "grabbed" me: when I was at University and introduced to the work of Albert Camus, especially his "The Stranger", as well as some of his lyrical writings.

Yet another discovery at college age was St. Exupery's "The Little Prince." It has stayed with me all these years.

Lastly, over a decade ago,I read Kathleen Norris' "The Cloister Walk" around a time of great loss and it was helpful.

When I first read Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, I thought, "This is the book IÂve been waiting for all my life!" But then, I felt much the same while reading Carl SaganÂs "Cosmos." After that one, I read everything by Sagan that I could get my hands on. Since then, I have found it difficult to concentrate on novels but seek out books on evolution, cells, the formation of the universe, etc. Admittedly, I donÂt understand everything they contain but with each new book, I grasp a little bit more so that knowledge builds on knowledge in tiny increments. These books inspire me to profound awe, not only for the wonders of the natural universe but for the scientists who study and explain it for us.
However, they donÂt influence my thinking on whether or not there is a God. That is something science cannot tell us. Being familiar with the term "The God of the Gaps," it seems that until there is something else to fill the gaps, the scientific method would be to keep an open mind.

I read Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz back in the early 70s when I was in need of a more positive outlook. I gave away two or three copies to other people whom I thought it would help and kept buying another one for myself. It's been ages since I read it, but I see on the front it says " . . . help you escape life's dull, monotonous routine--make you look younger, feel healthier, be more successful." It may be time to revisit this book.

Also, I read the Bible through every year and never fail to find something I've not been aware of before.