I’ve been reviewing my nearly 1,200 book reviews on this blog and have recalled some titles that were life-changing to be back in the day.
I began 5 Influential Books – Christian Edition, and I follow that up now with 5 Secular works. Again, some titles may surprise you, but each has had a small part in making me the man I am today. They’re listed as chronologically as possible, accordingly to when they first affected me.
1. Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne (1864)
Impact: Teaching me to overcome peer pressure (at least secretly) and to love what I love
I was a freshman in a Christian high school in 1998, fresh off of 6 lonely homeschool years. Our literature teacher assigned this book, and our class of 17 students was meant to read it on our own and discuss together. I recall trying to hate it at much as the senior boys did.
“It’s old. It’s dumb. It’s boring,” they said. It wasn’t.
“I hate it.” They wanted me to agree. I couldn’t. I didn’t.
This book utterly fascinated me, though in class, I felt like I had to pretend otherwise. How could Jules Verne WOW his readers this way and so long ago? He put me there inside those darkened caverns. I can still see the underground lake and feel the storm on my face 27 years later!
Ever since then, I learned that we all have different tastes and books—and most everyone else’s tastes are way off! Well, those of high school senior boys, at least.
2. The Shining by Stephen King (1977)
Impact: Showing me that books are way better than films—and a whole lot longer too
By 2001, I was a senior in high school and beginning to expand my horizons beyond the limits given by my parents. That is, I got a little rebellious. A long-standing rule in our home was “No rated ‘R’ movies, ever.” But I worked in a video rental store, and I had my own TV and VCR down there in my basement bedroom. I’d unhealthily watch upwards of 5 movies a day during those summer months, and while I have never been a fan of ‘Horror’ movies, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining was an exception. I loved that film.
Then one day at a garage sale, I found Stephen King’s novel and began reading it secretly downstairs as well. What shocked me more than anything was the depth the book gave to the characters that film simply couldn’t express. It was total immersion. Beyond this, the book kept me enthralled for many hours over the course of 4 days, and it finally hit me: books are so, so, so far better than their film counterparts! I’d been wasting my time in the wrong pursuits!
By the time I entered college with a Creative Writing degree, my interest in film was waning and my love for books and writing was beginning to flourish. The Shining (and my own rebellion) had a part to play in that.
3. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair (1906)
Impact: Teaching me about life at a time when I had a lot of learning to do
Several years later, as a senior in college, I found this book in a thrift store I’d visit each Saturday to build up my puny library. Far from the Madding Crowd and Jane Eyre and a few other classics made it onto my shelf, but few ever made it into my head. This one did, and it stuck.
What captivated was Sinclair’s honest painting of the filthiness and dreariness of life in Chicago’s industrial sectors at the turn of the century. It was the rawest book I’d ever read about the plight, not only of the immigrant (which was horrible), but of the food industry at the time. It disgusted me and actually motivated me question the unknown histories of the foods I ate and products I used. It didn’t radicalize me by any means, but it forced me to question the news I read and the government I trusted.
As I was wrestling with all this “political” stuff, I was also playing with my friends on an blog—a brand new concept at the time, and we had no idea that other people were reading it. By quoting passages from this book and applying them wildly in mockery of my then-employer, I actually got called into the boss’s office and threatened with termination! I can recall his words clearly, that I was a prime example of “a young man with a talent for writing who was wasting it on tom foolery.”
That experience gave me pause. As much as I loved making my friends laugh, I knew I was close to graduating and going off on my own. Did I want to be known for my talent or “tom foolery”? It was a hard lesson to learn and to work through over the following years.
4. Across China by Peter Jenkins (1986)
Impact: Giving me a thirst to experience Asia for myself
That same senior year, as I looked ahead into the Great Unknown that was my future, I had an inkling that I was supposed to leave the country and work for a year or two as a teacher somewhere. I had already read and loved Peter Jenkins’ more popular books, A Walk Across America (1979) and The Walk West (1981), but I was unprepared for how Across China would affect the course of my life.
I already had a few friends who’d spent time teaching English or nursing in China, so it was a region of moderate interest. But not until I read this book did things really begin to click for me. Jenkins gave such an intimate portrait of the people and culture that I felt, well, not only like I was there but like I wanted to be there. It was an invitation for me to visit and explore and to meet people the way he did, even though doing so would be way outside my comfort zone. I’ve praised this book often to others, and it’s one that’s still alive and kicking in my life.
5. Alive by Piers Paul Read (1974)
Impact: Teaching me that truth is often better than fiction
A third book I read as a senior in college was this true-survival story of the rugby team’s crash in the Andes mountains, the cannibalism, and their escape from the clutches of death 74 days later. This remains one of the few books that has ever made me cry. It’s also one of the few books I’ve read multiple times, and will definitely read again.
No, I’m not a closet cannibal or anything, though my taste in meats here in Asia does differ slightly from most Americans I know. This book is an epic tale of sacrifice and survival, and it’s includes a rescue scene that will never stop shocking me or get my heart pumping.
The snow-covered Andes mountain range was no “desert island” where the survivors could live off scrub brush and toads. This was a desolate, lifeless landscape where they no recourse but to eat the flesh of the dead. And they preserved enough to provide “jerky” to the men willing to climb their way out in search of rescue. Ugh. Even just recalling it now makes me want to read the book again!
Conclusion
These books were life-changing to me in their own way—and if you haven’t yet, check out my 5 Influential Books – Christian Edition too!
So what books from your high school or college days have proven influential in your own life?
©2025 E.T.
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