I was an avid reader as a child and an English Literature major in college. I grew up with my mother’s motto that “books are friends”. As a pre-teen I absorbed The Baby-Sitters Club and Sweet Valley High. In college, I found feisty kindred spirits in Zora Neale Hurston and Dorothy Parker. These days spiritual memoirs by authors like Donald Miller and Anne Lamott sit on my bookshelf.

Of all the books I’ve probably read in my lifetime, many have been inspiring and a few have changed my life.

For example, I was on a much needed vacation in the Dominican Republic when I first read Eat Pray Love. I was nursing a broken heart and feeling overworked and under-appreciated in my professional life. From the first chapter, I found myself in author Elizabeth Gilbert. In Eat Pray Love, a divorce sends the 30-something woman on a soul-searching journey to Italy, India, and Indonesia. As she navigates through the pleasures of eating, spiritual practices, and learning to love, I did the same. It was the beginning of a lot of emotional healing and it helped me discover that the adventure I wanted was in my hands. I count Eat Pray Love as the catalyst for my self-discovery.

So enough about me, on to you. What book inspires you the most? When did a book change your life?