Another serious answer...
When I was a child, as I have mentioned here before, I more or less grew up in the Adirondack Mountains. I say more or less because during the week we lived in the city, but every weekend and every summer was spent in the mountains, so I consider that to be my home.

One book that I read that had tremendous impact on me was "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George.

The storyline is that Sam Gribley was a child living in the city with his parents, and had heard about how his family owned land in the Catskill Mountains but never went there. Sam decided to run away from home and go there to live off the land on his own terms- and does so successfully. He describes how he made his own shelters, then how he made a home inside an old hemlock tree and lived there for a year, living on meat taken from a deer shot by a careless hunter who lost track of his game and on acorns and cattails and ferns- a lot of native species that I was very familiar with.

I connected with this book on a very deep level- after all, where I was living had a lot of the same features that Sam's woods had, including the Elmer Fudds that blew away deer for fun.

While I never ran off to live in the woods, I did try out some of the things outlined in that book, and learned much about woodcraft and about the animals I was sharing my home with. It helped make me far more aware of my environment, and gave me faith that if I needed to I could fend for myself in the woods- maybe a little more conventionally than he did as I would prefer to make a structure than to hollow out an old tree, but I could still do it.

One day I will own a chunk of mountain land, probably in West Virginia. At that point I will start making my own shelter out of native materials, at least as much as I can, and try to work with the land instead of against it. I'll still have my place in the city, mind you, but whenever I can I'll become Sam Gribley for a weekend...
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Fri 16 May 2008, 14:25, 5 replies)

Arthur C Clarkes "Rama" Quadrilogy
The 4 "Rama" books by Arthur C Clarke and Gentry Lee;

Rendevous with Rama
Rama Returns
Garden of Rama
Rama Revealed

Are a fantastic reminder that in the grand scheme of the universe humanity is a small insignificant little prick and a blink of an eyelid before we're gone again.

Plus an interesting view that our main instinct is the take over and fuck up any environment we find ourselves in, to the total detriment of any other species that happens to be there.

Human race: insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
(golddust QOTW now revolves around being a cunt, Fri 16 May 2008, 14:22, 8 replies)

Catcher in the Rye
One summer when i was about 13 my dad, half solemly/half awkwardly, gave me a copy of this book. He reckoned that ''every young man at your age should read this book''. Now, up until this point i had never read anything at all and probably thought books were 'gay' but the manner in which he gave it to me compelled me to read it. I read it in almost one sitting and then re-read it all summer. That was the book that introduced me to the world of books and probably still is my favourite.

And i spent a whole year thinking that i was Holden Caufield.I said 'phoney' far too much and probably sounded like a prick.
(BarryChuckle, Fri 16 May 2008, 14:16, 4 replies)

Fiesta
or Mayfair or Knave...
All were much appreciated as a 14 year old as wankatory material.. and while its not a book, one of them came with a flimsy record of Mary Millington using a vibe..apparently but whether it was, who knows..
And yes, I know Ive lowered the tone!
(scowners shagged his mum on, Fri 16 May 2008, 14:13, 8 replies)

Gaia/Revenge of Gaia by James Lovelock and Straw Dogs: Thoughts on humans and other animals by John Gray
Three extremely interesting books which present a very humbling perspective on the human race.

Straw Dogs in particular sets out to make you think in a non human centred (anthropocentric) way and really highlights how relatively insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things. The books certainly make you think about issues like global warming and world conflict in a different light.
(Errorist, Fri 16 May 2008, 14:10, Reply)

Primo Levi's If This is a Man
It's a survivor account of one man's struggle to stay alive and cope with his circumstances during the Holocaust.

Before I read this book, I had been an unenthusiastic, jaded 3rd year theology student who had little time for long books. This book changed the way I thought about my subject, and the way I viewed the people of faith around me. If This is a Man has given me a real passion for Holocaust remembrance, and I am hoping to start a masters course in Jewish-Christian relations next year.
( its_hatorah_bitch is b3ta the devil you know on, Fri 16 May 2008, 14:09, 2 replies)

Homage To Catalonia
When I was but a small, obnoxious, snotty youth (as opposed to the large, obnoxious, snotty auld git I am now), I did that whole angsty questioning thing about what it was all *for*. I was 14, my folks were going through a divorce that made Goatse look pretty, nobody liked me, this girl I really fancied called me Fleabag all the time and I wrote this poem and ... you get the snivelling, nauseating picture

And then God sent me George Orwell's Homage To Catalonia - his account of fighting in Spanish Civil War. But it's much more than that. It's an adventure story, a glimpse of a better world and a harsh lesson in betrayal.

It taught me the meaning of socialism. It taught me to hate conformity. And it taught me to mistrust hierarchy. It led to me to my current political position, which is basically the same as the Diggers.

All of which made my eventual sell-out even more gut-wrenching. Thanks George!
( calgacus Non sum qualis eram bonae sub regno Cynarae, Fri 16 May 2008, 14:01, Reply)

I'm developing a pet peeve from this topic...
Orwell's book was called Nineteen Eighty-Four. 1984 was the film.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 16 May 2008, 14:00, 26 replies)

All academic bollocks i plagarised to buggery
All the pretensious avent-garde music books that were full of contrived shite that i did not understand had a positive and negative effect on my academic years. Firstly the positive: I plagarised these obscure books that know one ever takes out of the library but this did comer back to haunt me when an i essay i wrote was put forward for the essay of the year competition at the uni. Let me explain dear reader that i plagarised this essay to the Nth degree from all these obscure books as i had not bother to do any real reading or draw up my own thesis. Let me tell you that those few weeks of sweating thinking that i was going to be banged to rights and thrown out of uni were constant hell, all teh hardcore drugs i could muster did not help the paranoia. but low and behold i fucking won,hahaha, and know one ever found out. 500 quid later and my lessons have not been learned, you can cheat your way through life easily with some carefully controlled bolocks and a self help group like b3ta.

Length- get fucked am i saying sorry
(CaptainCuntyBollocks the man who can with a frying pan full of lamb, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:55, 1 reply)

Books, them wot do have words in.
What the Buddha never taught, Tim Ward
The story of a western chap taking a sojurn in a Buddhist monastary and the things he learns/fails to learn whilst there. It's gentle, relaxing and in places comes very close to thought provoking without prodding too hard.
My copy is missing, again.

The Minotaur's Tale, Al Davison
If you're me this one stings like a bastard.
If you're not it may well be a distressingly mawkish tale of overcoming the negative perceptions of society.

Illusions, Ruichard Bach
This one is just plain escapist fantasy fun. Unlike Jonathan Livignstone Seagull which I found irritatingly UberChristian, this book speaks of a much more relaxed anti messiah, a fellow enamoured of the non-prophet motive.
Even now I am wearing my "I am not the messiah" T-shirt, and it feels good.

I may expand on this later, but right now I really need to go and have a sit down.
( DukeEuphoria Comes highly reccomended, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:53, Reply)

slightly off-topic
I was once chatted up by a chap who, on discovering I was doing a degree in English Lit, stared at my chest for a good three or four minutes without speaking and then said :

"I like books. You can, like, learn stuff from them," in a broad Stoke accent.

I had to admit that this was true.

I left about five minutes after that.
(happylittletulip helpless and delicious, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:46, 23 replies)

The Book Wot I Wrote
The book that changed my life was the one that I wrote. No, I'm not boasting and no, it's never been published. The background is thus...

I've never had particularly high self esteem. I was bullied a lot at school thanks to the usual glasses/intelligence/chubby combo (ah well, at least I wasn't ginger) and I would always look on in every as the people around me displayed their blossoming talents for singing, art, musical instruments or sports. I, however, didn't seem to have any innate artistic talents whatsoever, which only added to my depression and self-loathing.

By the time I got to the age of eighteen, I wasn't much happier with life. Then, one day, a friend mentioned that she'd been reading about the therapeutic qualities of creative writing. Intrigued, I gave it ago -- I stated writing down a story that I'd had rattling around in my brain since the age of sixteen or so. I was amazed at how much I enjoyed doing it, especially when I didn't have to show it to anyone or work to a particular deadline. Better still were the compliments that I received from family and friends once I'd been convinced to let them have a read. I'd never really been complimented for anythign that wasn't academic before.

I finally finished writing that novel eight years later, at the age of twenty-four. I put it away in a drawer to sit for a while, although my friends and fammily kept harassing me to approach a publisher. In retrospect I'm glad I didn't.

Last year I began reading a novel called Eragon. I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite its obvious allegory and derivative nature, and was a little amused by the small things that it had in common with my own work. So much did I enjoy this novel that I immediate rushed out and bought the sequel, Eldest. A quarter of the way into this second book my jaw dropped. Here, on the published page, was a story so close to my own that it could almost have been plagarism, if it wasn't for the sold fact that my has never been posted in any kind of public manner, making it impossible for Christopher Paolini to have stolen it.

No, the truth was that Paolini and I had both written novels based on similar (and limited) influences, and he had got his published first, due mainly to having publishers for parents. Still, so shocked was I of the similarity between the two books (certain facts, plot points and character names) that it prompted me to start widening my influences, leading me to discover the works of Alfred Bester, Richard Mattheson, Elizabeth Kostova, Naomi Novik and more. I have read more and greater novels in the last eighteen months than ever before, and I'm loving every minutes of it.

So, that's how spending eight years writing a novel helped me to discover that I was good at something, raised my self-esteem and introduced me to a world of wonderful, imaginative and emotive literaure. Changed my life? Just a little. :)
(Orin delurked to post this gibberish on, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:45, 3 replies)

Reading gives me a headache
I tend to read the same line over and over and I really don't get an idea of whats going on...
Don't get me wrong, i'm not thick, I just having trouble reading lots of words :(
Is this a medical condition or am I just weird?
( SkUG >_O i got a couple of stitches in my eyeball... ow, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:44, 7 replies)

Trainspotting
hear me out on this cos it's a weird choice I know. I was a student, I discovered drugs, I had just moved to England from a rubbish tip called Africa and I was on a voyage of self discovery (read: ingesting as much LSD and speed as I could buy). It really is a book that I see as something that defined the early 2000's for me.
(The Archduke of South London I'm in your Girlfriend eating her organs, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:43, 1 reply)

"Fred" by Posy Symmonds.
I think I was 5 when I read this.

We lost our first cat a few days prior, and it helped me deal with it.

Odd I know, but it is a very good book too.
(Half of Stephen Fry's right buttock pissed on your dog on, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:43, 1 reply)

Candide - Voltaire

Because I'm a pretentious twat.

.
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:39, 3 replies)

When the lion feeds

by Wilbur Smith. He taught me that naked women can regularly be found swimming in pools and then they will have sex with you.

This is terribly exciting to a ten year old.

However hanging out by the canal in Slough didn't have the same affect and the only sexual encounter I experienced left me with a sore pooper and a gacky mouth.
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:36, 3 replies)

American Psycho

I now feel far less guilty about all of the prostitutes I've killed.

Although I'm still severly lacking in fridge space...
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:33, Reply)

Descent by Sabrina Broadbent
Not just because it was a wonderful, hilarious and heartbreaking book, but because the author was my English Literature teacher in college.

I was really floundering at the time, having been chucked out of the family home with parents in and out of rehab and a mental hospital, and going through my first serious depressive phase.

I think reading it made me realise that you don't have to be superhuman to get published, you just have to be a talented writer.

I know this is excessively soppy and I apologise, but this book really did change my life because it made me realise that:

a) If she could be a writer, maybe I could too
b) If I could be a writer, maybe life was worth living after all

I'm a full-time writer now at the age of 20, so she must have been doing something right.
(clumsyeloquence is a girl, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:33, Reply)

I recently read
in quick succession The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. Both were unputdownable.

For some time before that I must admit to suffering somewhat from compassion fatigue with the whole thing in Afghanistan (and all points east).

These books changed my mindset completely. They managed to let me humanise the daily news reports of suffering and misery in that area and allowed me to sympathise with human beings in a position that we in the West cannot really comprehend.

Most of us are pretty good at moaning about how petrol's too expensive, how we pay too much tax, how public morals are going to hell in a handcart and whatever else all. Both of these books helped me to understand and appreciate how lucky I am to live in what is (for the most part) a free and democtratic society.
( Ramsay Tupper, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:21, 1 reply)

Not life-changing, but definitely compulsive enough for you to bore people with. Which is kind of the point.
Having worked in Waterstone's for five years (as a post-graduation stop-gap job. Smooth) I came across loads of quality reads, but the ones that stand out are quite shamelessly populist. So whilst I may come across as a poor man's Judy Finnegan (try to shake that mental image), these are the ones that truly floated my metaphorical boat.

1. Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruis Zafon
This was a Richard and Judy book, so shame on me, but was absolutely amazing. Delicately plotted, and a translated book that actually manages to retain a sense of humour. Decent amount of violence and sex with blind people as well. Hurrah.

2. American Gods - Neil Gaiman
The book that managed to convince me that Fantasy wasn't just for bespectacled spotty gimps sporting poor-quality facial hair. Intricately structured, and a nice twist at the end that you completely forget has been set up. Magic.

3. Human Punk - John King
Author of 'The Football Factory', but don't hold that against him. Boston Kickout meets Stand By Me, with a shit-load of punk and a great soudntrack thrown in for good measure. And without Danny sodding Dyer. Arsehole.

4. Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch
The bastard offspring of Blackadder and The Grifters, with a pinch of Snatch (so to speak), some great insults, worryingly inventive torture scenes, and a complete lack of reticence towards killing people off. Jackpot. WARNING: enthusiasm about this book can cause you to pull customers. Fact.
(Nimrod's Son Boredom provokes some interesting habits..., Fri 16 May 2008, 13:17, 1 reply)

Books that should be kept in the fridge.
"The Story of O" by Pauline Reage, "The Delta of Venus" by Anais Nin, "The Dirty Havana Trilogy" by Pedro Juan Gutierrez. You get the idea.

Dirty books. I love them.
(The Empress it seems you CAN polish a turd!, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:13, 19 replies)

Rollicking good time
Someone put me on to the list of "1001 Books to Read Before You Die".

At the time I had read all the books by my favourite authors, so have been using this list to discover new authors. So far, I've rated every one of the books at least 4 stars on Amazon website.

So the book "1001 Books to Read Before You Die" has changed my life - I'm reading more great books than when I just used to browse book shops hoping to find something to read.
( Pope Shax XIII uses Visio for picture editing, does it show?, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:13, 3 replies)

Digital Film Making by Mike Figgis
Rob's already posted about the KLF's how to have a number one, and this can been seen as a companion.

If you don't want to rush out and make films the instant you read this, you're dead inside. It's just so damned enthusiastic.
( chthonic, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:12, 1 reply)

Targetted at an early age
As many will have gathered by now, there's a certain TV programme that is a particular favourite mine. Growing up in the 70s, Saturday teatime was sacred, as I sat and watched Tom Baker's face fly at me from the screen, accompanied by just the scariest music imaginable to a small child. It was bliss.

Then, somehow, I drifted away for a few years, not really bothering with it anymore. Until a trip to the library opened up a new world to me. I hadn't known that in those days before video recordings, there was a small but growing selection of books based on the TV stories, but there on the shelves were literally dozens of them, all different, with different Doctors in them, and mostly with 'by Terrance Dicks' on their spines. My curiosity was piqued by this, and if I'm honest, also by the pretty colours on the book covers - some fine graphic illustrations by Chris Achilleos.

I picked a couple up and read the blurb on the back. Two tales from before I was even born - I felt a slight tingle as I read - they sounded so bloody exciting! I got them stamped out, along with a copy of War of the Worlds, and took them home with me, eager to get stuck in*.

Within a couple of hours, the first one had been devoured. So I read the second one, again within a couple of hours - about 130 pages was the norm for these adaptations. War of the Worlds was next - took a bit longer, naturally. Then I went back and reread how the first Doctor stopped the Dalek's invasion of earth in the far future, and how the second Doctor stopped the Cybermen on the moon. Then I went back to the library and got some more out. Then I bought some of my own. Then the BBC ran a series of repeats through the week, just after the news - fucking brilliant, a chance to see old episodes. I was rivetted, for a whole 5 weeks, and found myself sucked back into it all over again.

So, not a book, but a whole series of books based on a TV programme, has, I supposed changed my life in a way. The shelves in our place would testify to that as they groan under the weight of videos, DVDs, reference books, some original fiction, Daleks... and a small handful of Target books novelisations, kept for sentimental reasons... If it wasn't for those Target books all those years ago, I wouldn't have become the demented addict I am today, and we'd have more space.

I'm such a geek. I'm sorry.

*Gratuitous innuendo inserted* for Tourette's benefit

*Also, the word inserted. And sucked.

groan's in there as well
( Davros' Granddad a voice of calm reason in a world of spastics., Fri 16 May 2008, 13:10, 1 reply)

My Bestest book
Is Mr Slow...or Mr Bump

Signed

G Bush (jnr)
( KISS.ME.WHERE.I.POO Signed the sex offenders register on, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:10, 3 replies)

others
Sorry, forgot Tiping the Velvet and Lady Chatterleys Lover - read at about 10 yr old...

Nice
(gjb006, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:09, Reply)

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
Bored out of my mind in an Italian mountain village during winter, I read this book, superficially about Siddhartha's search for meaning in his life, but actually relevant to pretty much anyone's life.

It helps that it is written very simply, and not using pretentious dense prose.
( Pope Shax XIII uses Visio for picture editing, does it show?, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:09, Reply)

life changing
Wind in the Willows - just beautiful. The descriptive, the story; it's just an amazing book about nothing.

The Yes Man - written by Dave Gormans mate. Say yes to everything. It really did have a positive affect on my life.

Needful Things, The Shining, IT - books, scary; you bet your sorry ass...

1984 - great for almost 3/4 of the book, pointless monologue, excellent ending.
(gjb006, Fri 16 May 2008, 13:08, Reply)

War and Peace...
I'm making up for the fact that I have read, and enjoyed, all of Dan Brown's books. Whatever people believe etc... they are fun to read.

I decided to fix this imbalance of crap, by reading Tolstoy. I am into the epilogue now, and I can't wait to finish it. It has changed my life, I never knew so much about Napoleon before Sharpe started battering him!:D

I also make myself look ultra-pretentious, thus giving the impression that I am super clever.
(The Kwyjibo A big, dumb, balding North American ape., Fri 16 May 2008, 13:00, 14 replies)