As a (not willing to recover) bookaholic, I have come across a few good titles in my 14 years of experience with reading. Therefore, there are sooo many books that have changed my entire perception about life, made me become a better version of myself, inspired me and taught me something powerful and inspiring about life. So I thought why not say a few words about the ones that had the greatest impact on my life (either positive or negative) and maybe inspire and help other people as well?
Starting with the nonfiction genre, there are two titles which had shaped my mind set, helped me improve my life-style and gain important skills. “Atomic Habits” by James Clear and “The Good Psychopath’s Guide To Success” by Kevin Dutton and Andy McNab. Combined, these masterpieces have taught me more about the real world than school managed to do in almost 12 years! Both of them offer great pieces of advice, which has a scientific base and has been tested and experimented for a long time before being recommended to us. The reason why these books became bestsellers is far more solid than the reason “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” has. Unlike Robert Kiyosaki, Jordan Peterson, Napoleon Hill and all the other “writers” who talk too much without actually teaching you something applicable or useful, Mr. Clear and Mr. Dutton know what they are talking about and they explain it in the best possible way. Their books not only kick some motivation into the brain of a professional procrastinator, but they also teach you how to get rid of the toxicity in your life. I always like recommending these books to people that are not satisfied or happy with their current life-style because I know how much they have helped me and other millions of people struggling to make the sort of 180° change that their life needed.
Moving a little bit further, but not quite leaving the nonfiction area, I have to talk about Stephen King’s “On Writing”. This book is literally The Holy Bible of any aspiring writer. It talks about the King’s becoming and it also gives practical advice on how to improve your fiction writing. A nonfiction book teaching you how to write fiction, isn’t it funny?
Speaking of fiction and Stephen King, I feel the need to discuss a little about the works of this humanoid God. Unfortunately, I have laid hands on just a small amount of his writings, but they completely fascinated me. “IT” and “Gerald’s Game” were my first contact with the King’s superpowers. I found it an absolutely genius move to be able to write a whole 300 pages long novel about a woman handcuffed to a bed. King’s descriptions appear to be the only ones that I can read without getting bored to death. The same story goes with “IT”. 1368, that lovely little book has! And it took me three months to finish it. Three months during which Pennywise was a constant leitmotif of my dreams. Now, judging by me, that’s exactly what a Horror novel has to do to you in order to be called a masterpiece.
Sticking to the Horror genre, as it’s my favourite, I have to hand an honourable mention to Sir Edgar Allan Poe. He had inspired most of the Horror short stories that I have written on my blog. Reading his works has unleashed my darkest and toughest and cruellest type of creativity. Which made me capable of putting on paper something along the lines of anyone’s worst nightmares.
When it comes to fiction, my favourite genres are, you guessed it!, Horror and Crime Fiction. However, I have some favourite titles in other subgenres, as well. But the classics, such as “The Book Thief”, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, “Harry Potter” (how my depression was cured by J.K. Rowling’s life story and motivational speeches given through her characters, is absolutely fascinating to me!), “Mary Poppins” , “Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children” or “Christmas Carol”, will always be close to my heart. And I can’t afford passing by without reminding “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” or “Murder On The Orient Express”.
Another great classic which had a surprisingly powerful impact on my life is “The Picture Of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde. (Too bad Wilde was most probably gay, I would have played with an Ouija board and have a long-distance relationship with the dude.) And I guess I just said how much I adored that book. =)) Every single page of this work of art made me fall in love more and more with the whole concept of Art, with all the characters (except from Basil, he was being too boring) and most of the principles that I guide my life after right now, were inspired by His Greatness Oscar Wilde. And honestly, I don’t know if that’s a moral or immoral thing… I’ll have to think about it.
They say that writing requires “stealing” from other writers who are better than you. So the writers that I have “stolen” from are Stephen King, Oscar Wilde, J.K. Rowling and Neil Gaiman. Since Mr. Gaiman is the only one that I haven’t talked about yet, let me introduce you now in the fandom of “Good Omens”. I loved this book, as it is the only Fantasy novel presenting the Apocalypse in such a funny way. Also, the writing style, the word plays, the characters, everything simply amazed me!
As an ending — yeah, finally, the ending! — I will say one last phrase that will probably leave you thinking:
Maybe you won’t like this, but what you read has the power to shape your mind and impact your life in a greater way than you could ever imagine. Therefore, I suggest you to choose wisely the books on your wish list, as to not waste your (otherwise valuable and precious) time on books that don’t teach you anything worthy of that time (either a positive or negative lesson).
Patry's Writings 