Books that will change your outlook on life.

All readers have their favorite books. Books that they love to read repeatedly and that they can really relate to or that touched their lives in a significant way. There is nothing I love more that sharing my personal experiences to other readers. In my opinion, other readers tend to really understand where I am coming from and also have an insatiable hunger for learning something new and using their imagination.

I absolutely love books that speak to the soul and make me explore my emotions and that make me use my imagination. Here are a few books I have read and wrote about before, that I highly recommend you read for yourself.

First, is The Diary of Anne Frank. An enduring story of a young girl living in hiding with her family over span of two years in an attic during the occupation of the Nazi party in the Netherlands. During this period, she and her family are struggling with what will happen to them if found by the Germans, how they will survive and having to ration everything they have. It is a very touching story of finding affection, love and security in the time of war. While spell binding and scary, The Diary of Anne Frank is also warm, heartfelt and sure to make you grateful for what you have.

The next book I recommend is a powerful true story of the world famous Anna Mae Bullock, most commonly known as Tina Turner. Her biography 'I, Tina' starts out as a very young Anna Mae as a child with a passion for singing in the church choir. Not many understood her or why she chose to sing a certain way, so they easily excused her and ignored her. Anna grew up separated from her estranged father and a very strict mother, away in St. Louis as she was raised by her grandmother in the small hamlet of Nutbush, Tennessee. Once Anna's beloved Grandmother passed away, Anna moved in with her mother and older sister in St. Louis, where she would soon meet the infamous Ike Turner. Ike discovered Anna in an open mic night at a local club which Anna's sister worked in and before she knew it, Anna's future would be changed forever. Anna Mae and Ike soon became close and Ike became more and more interested in her, but what Anna didn't know is that Ike had a flare, not only for making people famous, but for having a very dark, abusive and extremely temperamental side. Anna became 'Tina Turner' on stage and off stage would be dodging painful blows from belligerent and unstable Ike. Anna later divorced Ike leaving everything she earned and worked hard for with the exception of her name. Anna was awarded her stage name and took off on a very successful solo career that we know of today. The story is about Anna finding herself, finding inner peace and remaining calm in her abusive life filled with jealousy, betrayal, greed and fame.

'Flowers For Algernon' is one of my favorite books of all time. It is a novel about a young man in a small town who suffers from a low IQ and has a simple menial job in his home town. The young man who's character name is Charlie Gordon undergoes an experimental surgical technique that increases intelligence.This same technique has been previously tested successfully on a laboratory mouse befriended by Charlie named Algernon. The surgery is a success for Charlie giving him an IQ triple that of his normal IQ. Charlie falls in love with a former teacher he once had named Alice and soon they both realize that due to having such a high IQ, the two are no longer able to relate to each other as does everybody Charlie knows. At the height of his intellectual peak, Algernon's intelligence declines and not long after, Algernon dies, leaving Charlie without a friend or companion. Realizing that the surgery is temporary on himself as well, Charlie decides to move away being angered by his neighbors and loved ones feeling sorry for him. This story has a strong message of acceptance, tolerance and humanity that is strong enough to make even the toughest person weep.

'Great Expectations' by Charles Dickens, is a classic tale of a young orphaned boy named Pip, who falls upon an escaped convict in a church graveyard while visiting his family's graves. The convict talks Pip into stealing food for him to eat and a file to help with the convict's leg shackles. Pip does not tell anyone he knows about the convict who threatens to kill him if he ever did. Pip lives with his abusive older sister and her husband Joe who is much kinder to Pip than his sister. Pip's uncle, Joe is asked to bring Pip over to a very wealthy local woman's manor to play with her niece, Estella. Pip is smitten by Stella who only treats Pip with a very classist and egregious way, which was how Estella was brought up to act. After Pip's first meeting with Lady Havisham and Estella, Pip tried very hard to learn all he can in school to become more educated and polished to win the interest of Estella who only still looks down upon Pip. To no avail, Pip returns to being an apprentice of Joe in the forge where he is obviously unhappy and unfulfilled. Some time later, Pip discovers he has inherited a large amount of money by anonymous benefactor. The benefactor demands Pip to leave London immediately, buy all new clothing and become a distinguished gentleman. Pip does so and in the process becomes very jealous of Estella and somewhat behaves badly in society, squandering his inheritance. He meets Estella later on and finally confesses his feelings for her. Estella warns him of her heart being cold and devoid of affection and simply cannot be in love. Pip refuses to succumb to her frigid self proclamations and proceeds to win her love further. As time moves on, Pip realizes that the wealthy benefactor and sole purpose for his inheritance is in fact the escaped convict he met as a child. The benefactor leaves all his wealth to Pip in thanks for Pip's aiding him in his time of escape. Pip also discovers that Estella is the daughter of the wealthy benefactor. After a long time, Pip returns the money he owes Joe for bailing him out of his debt to creditors and visits the ruins of Lady Havisham's manor where he finds Estella, a changed woman ready for love. This is without a doubt a classic beyond words.

A truly inspiring autobiography by the late Professor Randy Pausch, 'The Last Lecture' is about a man's coming of age, being true to his dreams and what it takes to achieve them. Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer in his 40's and after much deliberation, and treatment, decides that there is nothing else he can do, but to live his life to the fullest, spend all the time he can with his wife and three children, and write about his life. As a young boy, Randy had extravagant dreams and sky high goals, but never really doubted that he could reach them. He always wanted to walk on the moon, well, he didn't walk on the moon, yet instead, got to be affiliated with the space program and experience tours and ride on jets that he often fantasized about as a boy. H e wanted to work for Disney, and after a very long struggle with trying to get his foot in the door with them and after rejection after rejection, he finally got to partake in everything he wanted to. Before his inevitable death, he wanted to give one last lecture at the University where he taught. He honestly did not expect too many to be present for the lecture, but to his surprise, the entire campus got word of his story and his diagnosis, and the hall was overflowing with eager listeners, former students, friends and family to witness his awe inspiring lecture that to many thought would be about work or the cancer he was fighting, but to most everyone's surprise, was about striving to reach your goals, never giving up and reaching for the stars no matter how impossible they may seem. His last lecture was not for the sake of his legacy to his students, but in fact was for the sake of his children whom he loved more than anything in the world.

Who can honestly forget about the famous Erin Brockovich? Erin is a no crap taking independent woman who stops for nobody and does it with pride, style, sass and attitude. Her down-to earth, absorbing and ongoing biography tells how a single mother from Kansas without a bachelor's degree nor a legal practicing certificate can manage to take down some of the most influential corporations in America. She tells of how her willingness to stick to it, stamina, and persistence has gotten her to where she is today. Not many can truly understand just what she has had to endure in order to be at the top of her game and still be where she is now. Her book is not only filled with heartfelt, true stories of family hardships, but endless relationships, court dates, custody battles, sickness, rehab and other of life's obstacles, but of plenty of ups and downs we all know in life. This book will open your eyes to new and interesting ideas of how to successfully be a stronger person and to overcome anything life throws at you.

We all know Ricky Martin is a very popular singer and a former actor on General Hospital. In his biography, Ricky tells of the hardships of holding on to a facade that he did not feel very comfortable with, but had to maintain in order to keep a very large fan base and demographic. Ricky tells in his compelling book of what it took to make it in the music business being who he truly is and how he had to do it, with friends and family never truly knowing the real person inside begging to get out. In this genuinely heartfelt book, Ricky shares his experiences in the media, trying his very hardest to hide his true feelings all the while acting in a manor that was so uncomfortable and his unwillingness to continue any further. Rick Martin tells his story of his absolutely difficult decision of whether to stay quiet or come out and risk loosing his image and potentially his popularity in general. I can definitely relate to this hard story of feeling trapped and what it takes to make such a sacrifice in order to achieve happiness.