A LIST OF INSPIRING BOOKS

Books are windows into wisdom.

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Last week during Limhi.Live, a viewer asked what books have inspired me. I named a few, and decided to make a list of the books that have inspired me throughout my life. I grew up surrounded by books. My parents bought us all kinds of books to read, from classic children’s stories to short biographies of historical figures. I’ve spent countless hours reading books of different genres. In college I formed the habit of carrying a book with me. I would read a few pages right before class, on breaks between study sessions, during lunch, and while waiting for friends or classmates. When I went to law school, I continued the habit of carrying a book to read.

Reading has brought me understanding, joy, excitement, peace, inspiration, knowledge and wisdom, imagination of new worlds and possibilities, compassion and empathy, and so much more. A book becomes a treasure no one can steal, and one that endures forever. When you read, you open up to the worlds and experiences of others. You learn to see things differently. Reading books allows you to be tutored by the great minds of the ages, and to have personal mentors on all areas of life.

Here is an incomplete list of books that inspire me:

The Amazing Spider-Man comics

Aesop’s Fables

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

The Collected Works of Emily Dickinson

The Collected Works of William Shakespeare

Popol Vuh

The Book of Mormon

The Bible (King James Version)

The Koran Interpreted (Arthur Arberry Translation)

The Dhammapada (Eknath Easwaran translation)

The Upanishads (Eknath Easwaran translation)

The Bhagavad Gita (Eknath Easwaran translation)

Tao Te Ching: A New English Version (Stephen Mitchell translation) by Lao Tzu

Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin

The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights by John Steinbeck

The Belgariad Series, The Malloreon Series, The Elenium Series, The Tamuli Series, and The Dreamers Series by David Eddings

The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis

The Complete C. S. Lewis Signature Classics by C. S. Lewis

The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini

The Labyrinth of Solitude by Octavio Paz

Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

Paradise Lost by John Milton

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

The Gift by Hafez

The Essential Rumi

The Harry Potter Series by J. K Rowling

The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho

Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach

Becoming Wise by Krista Tipppett

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield

Steal Like An Artist  and Show Your Work by Austin Kleon

Tribes by Seth Godin

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

On the Shortness of Life by Seneca

Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O’Donohue


Featured Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

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