Five Books That Will Change Your Life's Perspective

“People don’t realize how a man’s whole life can be changed by one book.”

  -Malcolm X

This was one statement my English lecturer quoted very often and back then in school, it just made me roll my eyes. I mean, how in the world would reading a book change your perspective towards life? And that was when he gave me a copy of Charles Dickens’ The Great Expectations and ever since that day, I have read that book five times. I do not believe in reading a good book once and shoving it inside my shelf. A beautiful book can never turn obsolete, isn’t it? I am a voracious reader, and I love reading books that belong to different genres, and recently, I have read few books that have changed my perspective towards life, and I believe they would have impacted many readers out there. *Drumroll*

And here is the list:

 Eat, Pray, Love-Elizabeth Gilbert: One day, I was browsing when I saw a quote, “Stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone ought to be”, which made me read this book. And of course, Julia Roberts. Eat, Pray, Love is a story of a woman, her trepidations, her relationships, spirituality, traveling, depression etc. Elizabeth is a very successful woman with a healthy marital life, however, instead of being happy, she was plainly discontent. She leaves behind everything and goes in search of peace, travels to Bali, Paris, India and discovers her true self. What this book teaches us is when we find what we love, and do what we want, everything falls in place.

To Kill A Mockingbird-Harper Lee: To kill a Mockingbird is a genius book, and genius is still an understatement. It won the Pulitzer Prize, and you get a fresh perspective towards life each time you read it. So what is so special about this 1960s book that has never gone out of print? It is still one of the highly read best-sellers. This book talks about love and hatred, compassion, humour and emotions, kindness and severity. Like I already said, this book gives you a fresh and a different perspective towards life every time you read it.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower-Stephen Chbosky: This is a very contemporary book that most of the youngsters relate themselves with. This is a story of Charlie, a teenager who is caught between trying to live his life and running away from it. An intelligent, shy, socially awkward kid that he is, he wants to be a writer when he grows up. He tries to participate in activities, makes new friends, reads good books, makes mix tapes, and has his share of dates, family relationships etc. He is deeply affected with his Aunt Helen and best friend’s death and has a tough time dealing with them. This is such a beautiful book and makes you go hopeful about everything.

Fight Club-Chuck Palahniuk: Now, this book is way beyond epic! This book is a story of a man who has lost himself in the world filled with failure, lies, and unhappiness. He finds comfort in secret underground fight clubs that are held after wee hours. A brilliant book that deals with western consumerism, failure, dark humour. This book, later, was made into a movie with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton in the lead. It is one of the best movies ever.

A Calendar Too Crowded-Sagarika Chakraborty: When it comes to writing, our Indian writers are no less. I have read this book when I interviewed this writer for a magazine. Oh, she is wonderful woman, a graduate from NLU and ISB, and it is quite amazing to see how grounded she is in spite of all her achievements. This thought-provoking book is a collection of poignant stories and moving poems which does not just make you think but also helps you to learn few important dates in the calendar of the life of a woman. The stories/poems in this book are classified into twelve months. Basically, the book revolves around womanhood and it showcases the miseries faced by women. Also, the book has a strong influence of Indian Mythology. This is a highly recommended book.