7 Quick Takes Friday — Game Changers

Have you ever read a book that was a game changer? Finishing it forever altered your view of life, love, death, or some other thing which matters? I’m sure you have. I know I have.

I thought it would be fun to devote today’s QT to books which have been game changers for me so far in my 28 years of life.

In no particular order, and only 7 of many, many books which have shaped who I am.

7.

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

It’s funny because I don’t want to include this book. As an adult, I am not a Hemingway fan. I find nearly all of this female characters to be very one dimensional.

But, as an adolescent, I read this book (for fun!) on my summer vacation between 6th and 7th grade. I know I couldn’t possibly have understood most of what I read, but I remember crying and crying at the end of the story. It has a sad ending (which I won’t give away in case you haven’t read it), and I remember distinctly that was the first time (certainly not the last!) I wept because of a story. It was a defining moment of my early adolescence.

6.

Mere Christianity by CS Lewis

I was a junior in college, and I found a copy of this book abandoned on a table one day. I was pretty lost and sad, and I’m (sort of) sorry to say that I took it. I read it cover to cover in two days, and then re-read two more times in the following weeks.

It was huge in the beginning of my reversion to and deeper embrace of my Catholic faith. Ironic, since Lewis was not Catholic.

5.

Dead Man Walking by Sr. Helen Prejean

I’m not going to lie, I have been against the death penalty since I was old enough to understand what it was. The first persuasive essay I wrote in my 9th grade english class was “The Case Against Capital Punishment”.

So, it wasn’t so much that this book changed my mind about the death penalty, as it gave voice to a lot of how I saw the issue, and it inspired me to get involved in activism against capital punishment. That choice has deeply impacted my life and my faith.

But if you do want to know a book which changed my mind on a deeply held belief….

4.

Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) by Pope John Paul II

Technically, it’s not a “book”, it’s an encyclical, but close enough.

The existence of this document, along with a perfect storm of other experiences, led to my conversion from ardently pro-choice, to even more ardently pro-life. Studying this document was the catalyst which the holy Spirit used to change my heart in a drastic way.

It also has a kick-ass section on the death penalty.

3.

Captivating by Jon and Stasi Eldredge.

Haters gonna hate. I don’t care. I loved this book.

The prose is sort of cheesy, and their movie refrences are a little well, cheesy, but the overall message of this book was like coming up for air when I was drowning in heartbreak and insecurity during my last year of college. I cried my way through this book, filling a journal as I worked out so many hurts, real and perceived.

God changed my life through this book. So, hate if you must, but I love it.

2.

The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene

This was the first truly Catholic novel I’d ever read. It’s just phenomenal. If you haven’t read it, please do.

1.

I guess I’m obligated to include the Bible in this list.

In some ways, the bible has changed my life. Or rather, certain passages have spoken to me so clearly that I’ve been driven to change.

On the other hand, the Bible isn’t so much a game-changer as it is the coach, whispering in my ear all along. It’s always there in the background, waiting for me to pick it up and glean the spiritual nourishment I so desperately crave.

It’s the least flashy but the most important of all.

Which books have changed the game for you?

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