"It Made Me More Resilient And Made Life Seem Less Dire" – 11 Books That Changed People's Perspective On Life

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18-03-2025

Recently, u/UDSHDW asked r/booksuggestions, "What's a book that changed your perspective on life?" And we thought we'd share some of these recommendations.
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1. When Breath Becomes Air – Paul Kalanithi
Vintage
"It gave me the courage to love despite the fear of losing."
– Late-Elderberry5021
About the book: This life-affirming book chronicles the life of Paul Kalanithi, from being medical student, questioning how to live a meaningful life, to neurosurgeon, to becoming a father, and to being diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. He discusses what it's like to face your own morality, and the relationship between doctor and patient, from someone who was both.
2. The Courage To Be Disliked – Fumitake Koga and Ichiro Kishimi
Allen & Unwin
"We have more control over our lives than we realise."
– CountryAromatic
About the book: This book, framed as a conversation between and their student, is a mindset-changing book that discusses the freedom of self-validation and how to achieve it. Including boundary-setting and fighting the urge to please others, this book reveals how lasting peace happiness can be something generated individually.
3. Parasite Rex – Carl Zimmer
Simon & Schuster Ltd
"A fascinatingly gross book about parasites. There's so little we know about them. Every living thing functions as its own little world. And even some parasites have parasites. It freaks me out and I can't stop thinking about it."
– CityRhymez
About the book: This book is a deep dive into the minuscule, marvellous, and sometimes mortifying world of parasites. We discover how they operate, survive, and travel, and the major impact they hold over the world around us.
4. A Short History of Nearly Everything – Bill Bryson
Crown Publishing Group (NY)
"It's a statistical anomaly that we're even here, and we are such a small part of the history of the universe that it made me realise so many little things are really insignificant in the grand scheme of things."
– redog92
About the book: This is an engaging, fun, and informative scientific look back through history that teaches us how we know things as much as what we know. This book covers a whole lot, from the Big Bang, all the way through the formation of civilisation and scientific discovery itself.
5. Slaughterhouse Five – Kurt Vonnegut
"It was helpful for me as a teenager, right in the midst of that adolescent angst. It was a comfort, a widening of perspective. It made me more resilient and made life seem less dire, the weight of pressure to escape my circumstances seemed lighter and the future less loaded."
– Junimo-Crossing
About the book: This American classic anti-war novel follows the life of Billy Pilgrim, who draftee who is caught up in the firebombing of Dresden. Slaughterhouse Five combines historical and science fiction to recount what Vonnegut himself experienced as a prisoner of war.
6. Turtles All the Way Down – John Green
Penguin
"This book has changed my life, because I don't think people consider mental illness in the correct way; they may not be intentionally disrespectful, but I feel that many are simply just misunderstanding. Turtles represents how people should perceive those that think differently than others in a more accurate manner, in this case OCD. And as someone who was recently diagnosed with this exact disorder, the book has really opened up my mind to the reality of mental illness. It helps when the author also has OCD."
– Nerdfighter333
About the books: Turtles All the Way Down follows Azra Holmes, as she and her best friend Daisy endeavour to solve disappearance of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett. The story is about their pursuit, their friendship, and how Azra is attempting to life and relationships whilst managing the spiral of her own thoughts.
7. Stoner – John Williams
Vintage Classics
"It really put into perspective that even what seems to be a mundane life can still make a story worth telling."
– Smooth_Solid_6345
About the book: This delicately sad novel tells the story of William Stoner, a professor who's life is marred by a series of setbacks and disappointments in both his professional and personal life. What comes across is Stoner's quiet perseverance in the face of his continuous challenges.
8. Return to the Brain of Eden – Tony Wright
Inner Traditions
"I think about it every day. It is now embedded in the way I see the world."
– saltedhumanity
About the book: This book takes us, and specifically our brains, back to a time before hierarchical societies, and suggests that our cognitive functions were more peaceful and fundamentally different when humans lived more harmoniously with nature.
9. The Creative Act: A Way of Being – Rick Rubin
Canongate Books
"Rick Rubin's book on creativity is outstanding. As a life long artist, so much of this work resonated with me. Also, it is very well written."
– JeffCrossSF
About the book: This is an inspection of creativity itself, Rubin sees creativity as its own force, existing in everyone and affecting the way we interact with the world around us. It suggests leaning into our creative, vulnerable, and instinctual processes.
10. The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari – Robin Sharma
Harper Thorsons
"I wouldn't say it changed my life. It does make me think of some things in life differently. I highly recommend it."
– ryrhino00
About the book: This book tells the story of Julian Mantle, who, after a life-altering incident, sets out of an mission to find enlightenment. His journey takes him to India, and teaches him lessons of balance, inner-peace, and finding purpose in his life.
11. The Road – Cormac McCarthy
Picador
"The stark portrayal of survival and the bond between father and son made me appreciate the little things in life and the importance of human connection."
– darklightedge