Anna Nicole Smith Update- She is still dead. More if conditions change.

Today Littlebird Blue was my blog muse and got me thinking about books. Unlike most of those I have encountered in the blogosphere, I am not really a reader. I can count on my hands the number of books I have read cover to cover that were not assigned in school. I do not hate reading or anything like that; I just do not have the attention span to finish 99% of the books I have started. I made it 25 pages into the first Harry Potter book for example before growing bored of it.

Here is a list of some of the books that have affected my life. I hope you find something new to you here. They are in no order.

1. Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach- My most prized possession is my hard cover first printing of this book. It is more than an inspiring book on its own, but also contains some honest secrets of life within its pages. Reading it once will forever change the way you see the world. The one thought from the book that has always stayed with me is this: There is no such thing as a problem without a gift: we seek problems for the gifts they bring. If you have never read this book, go now. If you have, do it again, now. If the stores are closed, improvise, but read it now!

2. The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff- This is an amazing book that uses Winnie the Pooh to teach Westerners the principles of the Eastern philosophy of Taoism. What at first sounds like a silly and comedic book (it is often mistakenly placed in the humor section of bookstores) slowly opens you mind to a new way of looking at life completely foreign to everything we learn about life, yet so much better in so many ways.

3. Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo- I am ashamed to admit discovering this song because of that Metallica song, but at least I discovered it. I read this book three times in the twelfth grade. We were always raised to believe that there were only two options when returning from a war: a hero or dead. This book takes you into the head of a man who found a hidden third option- forever handicapped beyond repair. Without sight, hearing, speech, and limbs this book takes you from dream to memory to agonizing reality without you or the main character ever really knowing which is which. It is impossible to read this book and not come away a conscientious objector to all war forever. This book will stay with you forever after you finish it.

4. The Illuminati Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson- The predecessor for National Treasure and the Da Vinci Code, this is the original conspiracy tale mixing history’s mysteries and secrets with a far out tale of murder and world domination. Covering every known tale from the Free Masons to the Kennedy assassination to Atlantis, this book weaves in and out of multiple times and dimensions, boasts upwards of fifty main characters, and takes about 500 pages to really get started. While it sounds average, what makes this book so amazing is the appendix where it gives the proof to things you would have sworn were fiction and the parts you bought were made up. You will forever question reality after reading this one.

More as I think them up. Thank you for the inspiration Birdie. I hope these interest any of you.