Welcome back to Book Break! In today's video we are here to talk about you. We recently shared a
question on our community tab asking you guys which are the books that changed your life,
and you shared with us so many lovely answers, and I'm going to go through some of them
right now. And we were inspired to do this because we have just been reading the wonderful book Dear
Reader by Cathy Rentzenbrink which is all about the power of books to change our lives. This book
has been described as a love letter to stories, It is Cathy Rentzenbrink's personal story of how
books and reading got her through some of the hardest times of her life. It's subtitled
'the comfort and joy of books'. I think that's something we can all relate to! The book is packed
with book recommendations and Cathy Rentzenbrink talks through her own stories of reading some of
these books and the effects that they had on her. So if you're looking for an entire
book packed with book recommendations, look no further. This beautiful book is the one you need.
But now I want to hear some of your guys' stories of the books that changed your lives. So I've got
our community tab open here and I'm going to look through some of your guys' wonderful answers. So
thank you so much for sharing these with us. So for example, as a book that changed her life,
Helen picked The Humans by Matt Haig which she said helped her when she was going through a
particularly difficult mental health time, and it was the first book she was able to concentrate on,
and that helped her feel a little better. So it's amazing the power of books to do exactly that:
to bring some joy back into our lives. And Helen also said that just by coincidence the book was
actually connected to her master's project, and so it always feels to her like that book
came into her life at exactly the right time. And I love that so much because I know exactly
what she means. Sometimes it really does feel like books just sort us out at exactly the right time
we needed them. Then Olivia's catastrophe left a comment - so she is a wonderful booktuber who
recently made a video for us, so I will link to her channel and the video about Shakespeare that
she made for us recently. She left a really lovely comment: 'The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
taught me what forgiveness looks like and means and what regret does too, and therefore shaped me
into someone who forgives more and regrets less.' I think that's such a lovely way of phrasing that.
So I really liked that comment from Olivia. Rachel said the book that changed her life was The Bluest
Eye by Toni Morrison and she said 'I read it for the first time this year and it was just
a phenomenal experience. The writing is in a league of its own. It reminded me of the power
of the novel and its ability to reveal as much about the reader as it does about the characters.'
I absolutely love that as a commentary on reading. It's so true and it's something I hadn't thought
of in those words until now, but now I really want to read The Bluest Eye! I haven't read it before
but I will definitely add it to my TBR. Okay next Katie says 'I have to be honest and say Twilight.
That or any of Jacqueline Wilson's books. They sparked a lifelong love of reading and for that
I will be eternally grateful.' I really wanted to read that comment out because I think it's
so important. People often talk about guilty pleasures when it comes to reading but I don't
think there should be any guilt in reading. It doesn't matter if it's Twilight or Shakespeare.
If something sparks a love of reading in you then that is wonderful and that is something to be
celebrated. Also I totally agree on Jacqueline Wilson. I think it was maybe the Girls in Love
series that sparked my own love of reading. Then we actually have a few more comments like that
about the books that kick-started people's passion for reading. So Jessica said it was Switched by
Amanda Hocking that started her love of reading. kamari's world said it was Percy Jackson. So many
people seem to have in their mind the book that they feel like started it all, so I would love to
know what yours are. Do leave us comments below letting us know which book or series or author
really started your lifelong love of reading. Then I really liked this comment from Chelsea.
So she picked the fire next time by James Baldwin as the book that changed her life, and said it
was because this book gave her that aha moment about racism and recognizing her own privilege,
especially when it comes to the fact that she hadn't really had to notice it that much before,
because that's the luxury of not living the black experience is that you are
able to shut your eyes to it. And I thought this was a really really honest comment and one that
I can definitely relate to myself as well, and I do think it's amazing that books can wake us
up to more of the injustices in the world that we should already have noticed. So if reading
can bring them to our attention, then let's keep doing more of that! Caitlyn had a similar answer:
she picked The Deep by Rivers Solomon which is a fantasy story about generational trauma and the
effect that it can have on the black community, in particular the queer black community. Also I
looked this book up after Caitlyn talked about it and it turns out it's actually inspired by a song
written by Daveed Diggs, as in from Hamilton, so I definitely need to read that one next.
Tamara says The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas was the book that did that for her. I thought it was
really interesting how many people picked their life-changing reading moment as a time when a book
opened their eyes to injustices in the world they hadn't seen before, there's definitely
something that books are really doing for all of us. And then related to that, the username
differentsisters95 picked the book Only Ever Yours by Louise O'neill and said this was the book that
introduced them to feminism. So great way to get started. Only Ever Yours is a YA feminist
dystopian novel inspired by The Handmaid's Tale. We actually made a whole video on feminist
dystopian books so I will link that below. Ff you liked Only Ever Yours then do click through and
watch it for loads more recommendations. Now the next comment moves to a slightly different point.
So J said 'Eat Pray Love really helped me out when I was going through a faith crisis', and I thought
this was a really interesting point, because books really do help us build up and develop our belief
systems, whether that's religious or moral or anything else. So I can really see how if you are
going through a crisis of faith, or just trying to work out how you feel about the world, or
figure out your ethics on anything, books provide a really strong framework for that. Then Anne put
forward an author rather than an individual book. That author was Anne Tyler and I love the way Anne
phrased this: 'I'm an emotional nitwit and she's a master at showing the same story from different
angles, each a person with their own feelings and thoughts and perceptions.' I absolutely adore Anne
Tyler so I agree with every word of that. Other than the bit about you being an emotional nitwit,
those were your words not mine. Then some people left comments talking about very real practical
changes that reading a book had in their lives. So for example Ronnie picked the book
More Happy than Not by Adam Silvera, which by the way is a wonderful but very very sad book,
and from reading this book was inspired to go back into therapy. So that's a wonderful result!
And even ended up getting a tattoo in honour of the book. And Adeline also had a very practical
way that the book changed her life. Reading the book Thanks for the Memories by Cecilia Ahern
inspired her to start regularly donating blood! I haven't read the book so I don't know the
particular significance here, but great result either way. And then we had a few comments about
representation and how truly life-changing that can be, the first time you see yourself
represented in a book, or the first time you see the people you love represented in a book. So for
Amy it was a really life-changing moment the first time she saw a gay character represented
in a book, and that was in House of Hades by Rick Riordan. Yooni was particularly moved by
the representation in When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Opportunities by Chen Chen,
which touches on the struggles of asian diaspora and coping with being queer and Asian and really
hit close to home. And one more like this. Roo said 'We Are Okay by Nina Lacour made me
understand me and my sexuality better', so that really shows how important representation is in
books. We talked earlier about those life-changing moments of books waking you up to other people's
experiences, but also it's really important to see your own experiences represented, because that can
actually help you gain a better understanding of yourself and what you're going through.
But of course sometimes a book can change your life for no other reason than that you just love
it that much. So I'm going to finish with one more comment from Zoe. She picked The Woman in White
by Wilkie Collins, because 'every single word I fell in love with, and it made me want to read
only that'. So for a whole book like this, packed with anecdotes of how life-changing books can be,
do pick up Dear Reader by Cathy Rentzenbrink. And I will also put a link below to a video we made on
books about books, which is all about celebrating the power of books and reading.
And do leave us your own stories of the books that changed your life, I absolutely
loved reading all of your answers so I would love to hear more and i'll see you next time.