Memphis Reads

I would say "Go, Dog, Go" by P.D. Eastman or "Oh, the Places you will Go!" by Dr. Seuss. They are both children's books but I learned to read at age four on the first time. As for the Dr. Seuss book, an ex-boyfriend gave me a copy when I graduated college. Both books remind me being educated and literate will open so many different passages in my life everyday!
 

Michael Pollan's books, especially "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto," definitely changed the way I think, eat and shop.
 

Unbreakable Bonds by Dr. Paul Meier is a great self-help book. It helped me to change the way I think and how I interact with people.
 

I don't even know where to begin...I've been working on my "Top 5 'Must Have' Books for a Children's Library" but just can't choose 5. I have managed to choose these three:
1. "Martin's Big Words"--the life of Martin Luther King, Jr, peace keeper, appropriate for multiple ages, great pictures, girls & boys interest
2. "This Is Our Earth"--by Laura Lee Benson about the beauty of our planet and how we must care for and protect it
3."Players in Pigtails" by Shana Corey--female roles, war changes perceptions, sports, boys & girls interest

As an adult I've raed so many books but I go back to On the Beach by Neville Shute and The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood for my continual questioning of what our world's future holds. Very powerful reads! I could go on and on...but most librarians could!
 

Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank was one of the first "not-happily-ever-after" books I read as a teen, and it was probably the first time I thought about personal integrity and coping in the face of disaster. It also scared the bejeebers out of me about nuclear war.
The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkein was re-released when I was in high school. People who read and loved it became rather clique-ish- you either "got it" or you didn't. Whether someone "got it" was how I chose friends for years after.