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In my life till now that is 14 years I have read nearly 200 books and all these books had heaps
and heaps of information some useful, some just pile of rubbish, and some new and exciting . I
read for pleasure, for education, out of boredom and out of need for information. I read
everything from fiction, to detailed books and thoughtful books on spirituality. When I read a
book, I want to learn one thing. It doesn¶t take a hundred ideas for a book to be any good for me.
I just need one little thing for any book to be worthwhile. After all, one idea is all it takes to
change your life and your results. These are a few of my all-time favorite books and the one
thing they taught me.

According to dictionary a book is ³A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or

blank sheets, made of paper, parchment, or other various material, usually fastened together to
hinge at one side.´ But every time I read a new book I was bound to think that is ti actually what
reading a book means or is it something different a deep heartfelt sensation of self satisfaction.
So here I am going to list out five of those books that changed my way of thinking and outlook
towards life.

Since everyone says that laughter is the best medicine therefore I have decided to add a humrous
touch to my account by starting with the description of this awesome and awspiring work of
fiction by Jerome.K .Jerome, that is ³Three Men in Boat. The story kicks off with Jerome
introducing the four characters ² George, Harris, Montmorency, and himself, and what
hypochondriacs they all are, bar the dog. They feel that they are overworked and need a complete
change in scene. They decide on a rowing trip up the river Thames. First, they settle their
sleeping arrangements. George makes the most sensible remark of the whole story when he tells
Harris and Jerome ³We must not think of the things we could do with, but only of the things that
we can¶t do without´ while they are deciding what to pack. They discuss the food items to take,
somehow manage to finish packing, and fall asleep. They wake up late the next morning. Having
arranged to pick up George later, Jerome and Harris make their way to Kingston, collect the
rowing boat, and embark upon their journey. They are quietly engrossed in their own thoughts
until Harris realizes that he cannot see Mrs Thomas¶s Tomb because they have to pick up
George, at which point he throws a fit. They lunch and find that they are trespassing. Then they
pick up George, who has bought a banjo. He is introduced to work by having to untangle the
towline. They decide to sleep on board that night. They manage to put up the canvas after which
they eat a hearty, long-awaited supper, which cheers them up for the rest of the night ² even
Montmorency doesn¶t try being a nuisance. George actually wakes up early the next day. Jerome
has a spine-chilling bath and drops George¶s shirt into the water. Harris tries to cook scrambled
eggs on board but fails. They lunch a little below Monkey Island during which they wanted
mustard but did not get any. They fail to open a tin of pineapples. They sail to Marlowand
replenish their food. Montmorency almost fights with a tom cat. During lunch (not at Marlow),
Harris disappears while carving a pie. For dinner, George makes an Irish stew and while the tea
kettle is boiling, Montmorency picks up a fight with it, only to lose. Jerome and George almost
get lost when returning from a long walk. The next day they decide who does what work when.
Harris and George force Jerome to do extra work. George finds a dead body in the water. They
get their clothes washed at Streatley. George breaks a giant trout made of plaster of Paris. They
continue up-river to Oxford. They spend two days at Oxford, where Montmorency becomes
himself again and has 25 fights. Jerome and Harris lose two-pence each to George. After leaving
Oxford, they desert their boat at Pangbourne, mainly because of the terrible weather, and end
their river trip two days early. This book is one of my major preferences because of its tender
and juicy humour that keeps the face of reader fixed up with a smile till the end with little foolish
acts by Monmorency. This whole blurb kind of thing about the book even makes one smile.

The next book which I really can evertime and everyday whenever I feel stress ridden or
completely broken down is ³Jonathan Livingstone Seagull´ by Richard Bach an account of a
seagull as he tries of make out a difference and tries to get different ending in life than people
usually have. It is a fable kind of story and a must read! This is a story about a seagull named
Jonathan, who is an outcast, quite experimentive and has a thirst for knowledge. He eventually
gets kicked out of his flock for dishonoring them and lives on his own. One day gulls take him to
heaven. While there, he learns about life and how to fly with perfection from the Great Gull, who
teaches him. The Great Gull eventually dies and Jonathan is left alone and he becomes a teacher
and goes back to earth and teaches the other flocks. They become amazed by his skill and they
learn from him and eventually he meets Fletcher who thought he was stupid and he learned many
things from Jonathan and became a teacher himself.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull was trying to learn to go as fast as he possibly could and he wanted
to show the others that life wasn't about eating and living for as long as you can. He reached
speeds that had never been reached by a seagull. He wanted to be a falcon and make deep dives
because he thought he was so slow. Once he figured out how to bring his wings in and point tips
out he reached incredible speeds. He wouldn't be like the rest of the flock. But then he thought, "I
am done with the way I was, I am done with everything I learned."But he showed off to the flock
one-day and he got banned and was forced to leave because he wouldn't change. He was angry
because he thought that the flock would look up to him and not shame him.

"Jonathan Seagull spent the rest of his days alone, but he flew way out beyond the Far Cliffs."
Two gulls had come and taken Jonathan away. He thinks he has reached heaven. He learns from
the Great Gull, Chiang, grace and perfection. He figures out that there is no heaven, but
perfection is heaven and to reach perfection is to master flight. Chiang finally dies and he has
taught Jon many things about life not just flight. Jon carries on these teachings and goes back to
earth.
It is really a quite inspiring book.
The next book deserves applause is obviously ³The Little Prince´ by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
It is a really spellbounding book about the greedy nature of man and tells that how man in his life
span has even lost time for self assesment. The story unfolds just like any other children's book.
The first thing that catches your eye is the drawing of number one, a hat. Oops, I'm sorry, it's a
boa constricter digesting an elephant. How could I have become such an adult?

The narrator, a middle-aged man, who flies a airplane, suddenly crashes onto the Sahara desert
and is stranded there for quite some time. As he tries to fix his engine, he thinks he is
hallucinating, when a young boy, dressed like a prince, shows up magically, laughing. The first
thing that the young boy says is, "please draw me a sheep." The narrator, having long abandoned
his career as a painter, tells the young boy that he cannot draw, yet after many protests by this
strange boy, ends up drawing him several pictures of a sheep. One is too sickly, one looks like a
ram, and the other is too weak. Finally, the narrator gives up and draws a carrying box and tells
the boy, "your sheep is in that box."

The relationship between the narrator and the boy becomes almost a fantastical journey into the
universe and all that is good and true. As they sleep through the cold desert nights and fight the
scathing sun during the day, the narrator continuously listens to the young boy's stories as he
tries to fix his engine. The boy, who we now know of as, the little prince, recounts to the
narrator, his journey across not continents, but planets. He tells of kings who rule over nothing, a
clown who seeks for admirers, a geographer who records only non-living things, a merchant who
sells pills to replace the need to drink water, and many strange creatures and landscapes,
including the very wise and spirited fox who teaches him the secret of life.

Another book that changed my life was ³Story of My life´ By Hellen Keller. It is a very
fantastic book and forces one to look inside himself and forces one to think that wheather one is
making true use of his capabilities and natural gifts given to him by God and the book also gives
and account of Hellen Keller¶s struggle in life. This autobiography was dedicated to Alexander
Graham Bell who took a personal interest in Helen Keller's blindness and deafness. Helen Keller
also bestows her success of being able to read and speak to her wonderful caring teacher, Miss
Sullivan. The book discusses her struggle for her memory to provide what sight was like when
she was a toddler, where she lost her sight to an illness with high fever. Her mother is
instrumental in Keller's perseverance as she made her daughter depend on her other 3 senses to
survive.
Nature was the driving force for Keller's comprehension of life itself. She studied tadpoles,
cocoons and flowers to understanding growth and change. Beautiful thoughts flow out of Helen
as she feels the dew on the roses, the silk in a corn stalk, the changing of the winds, texture of
leaves, sounds of grasshoppers, size of trees, and many more things. Numerous times in Keller's
pre-teen days she felt overwhelmed and discouraged but made herself be educated. Keller's story
of her life explores the challenges she faced as a death mute sightless child and her means of
communicating with the world.

And thought the books are many that changed my life but I would like to end up with this
emotional piece of fiction written by Maxim Gorkey on Russian Revolution ³Mother´. It is very
touching work that takes you straight back to the times of Russian revolution. The novel is about
the pre-revolution proletariat of Russia and focuses on the role women played in the struggle of
the Russian working class on the eve of the revolution of 1905. Maxim Gorky, who was
persecuted by the tsarist government and forced to live abroad for his ties with the Bolshevik
Party, was moved by the brutal social and economic disparity that existed in Russian society
during the tsarist government. ³Mothers are never pitied´ Maxim Gorkey in his book which later
on went on to become a classic piece of literature.

Though the account of excellent pieces of literature are endless but these are some which have
highly influenced me and have also shown up trace in my life also.