Book list
I was recently thinking about books that had a profound impact on my life and compiled the following rough start to a list:
To Find a King by Robert Black <--introduced to AD&D for the first time, with incredible repercussions throughout my life to date
Magical Herbalism: The Secret of the Wise by Scott Cunningham <--introduced to the idea of real world alternative spirituality for the first time, equally huge
The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander <--definitely the series I read and re-read and imagined over most in my childhood
The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud <--I still can't believe I read through this at age 16, very formative
Tesla: Man Out of Time by Margaret Cheney <--ideas and information from this stick with me half my life later
Sandman by Neil Gaiman <--the Chronicles of Prydain of my high school and college years, I still reread them at times - collecting the Absolute versions nowadays
Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery by Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson <--massive effects on my mental and social paradigm, one of the biggest on this list
Changeling: The Dreaming by Mark Rein-Hagen et. al. <--major part of the second phase of my RPG career, the last of the "original" World of Darkness main titles
Man and His Symbols by CG Jung et. al. <--representative of my Jungian bent and archetypal interests
All of these are prior to 9/11 for what that's worth. Because I'd just moved prior to the event I see it and my move as representing the beginning of my "present era". I can't quite see yet what in the current past is having the greatest long term effects. Or I'm over tired. These weren't chosen because they were or are my favorites but because of how they effected my life outside of simply enjoying them. I'm sure there are many more that could be added given my reading habits but paradoxically also my reading so many books as at times diminished the individual impact of them.
To Find a King by Robert Black <--introduced to AD&D for the first time, with incredible repercussions throughout my life to date
Magical Herbalism: The Secret of the Wise by Scott Cunningham <--introduced to the idea of real world alternative spirituality for the first time, equally huge
The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander <--definitely the series I read and re-read and imagined over most in my childhood
The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud <--I still can't believe I read through this at age 16, very formative
Tesla: Man Out of Time by Margaret Cheney <--ideas and information from this stick with me half my life later
Sandman by Neil Gaiman <--the Chronicles of Prydain of my high school and college years, I still reread them at times - collecting the Absolute versions nowadays
Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery by Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson <--massive effects on my mental and social paradigm, one of the biggest on this list
Changeling: The Dreaming by Mark Rein-Hagen et. al. <--major part of the second phase of my RPG career, the last of the "original" World of Darkness main titles
Man and His Symbols by CG Jung et. al. <--representative of my Jungian bent and archetypal interests
All of these are prior to 9/11 for what that's worth. Because I'd just moved prior to the event I see it and my move as representing the beginning of my "present era". I can't quite see yet what in the current past is having the greatest long term effects. Or I'm over tired. These weren't chosen because they were or are my favorites but because of how they effected my life outside of simply enjoying them. I'm sure there are many more that could be added given my reading habits but paradoxically also my reading so many books as at times diminished the individual impact of them.