Books have a way of finding us at the exact moment we need them. Some arrive like soft lanterns, lighting a path we didn’t know we were searching for. Others shake the ground beneath us, forcing us to grow, to question, to expand. As a writer, I’ve met many stories along the way, but a handful carved themselves into my bones, shaping not only how I write, but how I live, think, love, and fight for myself. These are the books that changed my life, each one leaving a lasting imprint. Here are the five books that changed my life.
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
My relationship with imagination began with Anne Shirley. Long before I picked up a pen with intention, I learned from her that creativity could be a way of living, not just a hobby. Anne taught me that the world is full of possibility if you dare to name it. Her boldness, her hunger for beauty, her absolute refusal to shrink herself, those qualities sank into me. This remains one of the first books that changed my life in a profound, unforgettable way.
I grew up believing in kindred spirits because of Anne. She showed me that friendship can be chosen, that home is something you build with the people who love you, and that dreams can be both tender and fiercely pursued. Even now, when I feel stuck, overwhelmed, or disconnected from my creative spark, I return to Green Gables. Anne always brings me back to myself, proving why it is truly one of the books that changed my life.
The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
This was the book that cracked open the world for me. I didn’t just read The Second Sex, I wrestled with it. It challenged everything I thought I understood about womanhood, agency, identity, and the invisible scaffolding that shapes our lives. Among the books that changed my life, this one reshaped my worldview most dramatically.
De Beauvoir’s central idea, one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman, pushed me to see how much of our lives are constructed by expectations we never agreed to. It awakened a hunger in me to question, to unlearn, to carve my own definitions. This book didn’t simply change my thinking; it changed the way I navigate space, relationships, and power. It gave me permission to occupy my life fully, not politely.
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
If The Second Sex taught me to question everything I inherited, A Room of One’s Own taught me to claim something for myself. Woolf’s essay is simple on the surface, a writer needs money and a room of her own, but its soul is revolutionary. Like the other books that changed my life, this one gently but firmly shifted my understanding of creativity.
For the first time, I understood that creative work is not a luxury; it is a necessity. It is work that requires space, mental, emotional, and physical. Woolf helped me recognize the importance of boundaries, of solitude, of carving out a corner of the world where my voice can breathe. This book didn’t just influence my writing practice; it shaped my understanding of what I deserve as a creator.
The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
I came to this book long after the world it described had evolved, yet somehow it felt painfully familiar. Friedan’s exploration of the problem that has no name, the emptiness many women felt while trying to fit into roles that erased them, was a mirror I wasn’t prepared for. Among the books that changed my life, this one awakened a powerful rebellion in me.
It made me ask hard questions about the stories women are taught to want: marriage, perfection, pleasing, shrinking. It helped me see how many dreams women bury under obligation, and how many parts of themselves they are taught to silence. This book sparked a deep, personal rebellion in me, the decision to want more, expect more, and never apologize for it.
Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés
If the other books sharpened my mind, this one awakened my spirit. Rooted in myth, folklore, and psychology, Women Who Run With the Wolves felt like sitting with an elder who sees straight into your soul. It reminded me of the wild, intuitive, instinctive part of womanhood that the world tries so hard to tame. It is undeniably one of the books that changed my life on the deepest emotional level.
This book taught me that healing is cyclical, that creativity is a sacred force, and that every woman carries a deep-rooted, powerful story inside her. It gave me language for things I only felt before: intuition, longing, rebirth, rage, resilience.
In the end, these books that changed my life didn’t just shape my thinking. They shaped me.
They taught me to imagine boldly, question fiercely, create unapologetically, and live with a kind of wild sincerity. I return to them often, not for nostalgia but for grounding. They remind me of the woman I am becoming and the writer I hope to be.
If you’ve read any of these, I’d love to know how they shaped you too. And if you haven’t, maybe one of them is waiting to find you the way it once found me.
And if you’d like to explore the kinds of stories that shaped me as both a reader and a writer, my own children’s books, His Name is Daryl, Billy and The Stubborn Dandelion, and Ben’s Backyard Dream, are now available for purchase.
