Words to Live By... a series of influential books!

"The worth of a book

is to be measured by what

you carry away from it."

~ James Bryce

A month or so ago I read a book that made a lasting impact on me... a long-lasting one! When I would describe it to others who had not already read it, the only way I could adequately communicate how much I got out of this book was to call it "one of the top 5 most influential books I've ever read." Books are best friends to me, but quite frankly, some books are just better than others! Some books are worth reading and some books profit me so little.

Emerson once wrote

"If we encounter a man of rare intellect we should ask him what books he reads."

And Abraham Lincoln once said

"The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who will get me a book I have not read."

I love to read and I read a fair amount, but what are the books that have really been the most influential to me? I've been thinking about this for a while, and I think I've finally narrowed it down to actually six books. Six because there is a "given" in this equation. So, here begins a new series...

Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting the six books which I consider to be the ones that have had the greatest impact on my life. The titles may suprise you because some of them actually surprised me. I'll post them in chronological order rathern than in order of influence (that is way too hard to figure out!). I'll write a little bit about the book and why it's impact on my life has been long-lasting.

But I need more reading recommendations, so I want you to join in... will you? If you are reading this post, consider yourself "tagged!"

If you have a blog, please join me in posting the most influential books in your life. Then leave me a comment on this post so I can find your site. If you do not have a blog, just leave me your list as a series of comments. And for those of you who have been lurking around here, now's your time to 'fess up and help me create a new reading list!

Stay tuned... the first installment is coming shortly!