List of (every couple) days: Inspirational Books

Looking over the movie scenes and receiving some feedback I realized that the majority of the scenes are inspirational. Films are powerful and can light a fire in hearts and minds. However, I think books can truly transform someone's life. Personal goals, perception of the world, lifestyle, conscientiousness and knowledge can grow and thrive from the right book. The author has a more personal relationship with the reader than the director of a film does with a viewer. Directors, like Martin Scorcese, who adapt books into films are tremendously talented and unfortunately, I think a lot of their genius is lost in the attention that the viewer plays to the general plot. Books are more thought provoking. Anyways, here are a few books I have read that I think have changed lots of lives and influenced me in some way... small or large.

#1 Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer
This is the story of Pat Tillman, an NFL player who quietly left the game and a multi-million dollar contract to join the prestigious Army Rangers with his brother. The book includes much of his personal journal. The most grasping aspect of the book about Tillman's heroic lifestyle and commitment to his country is the journal entries. He is more human and sympathetic than I would ever have imagined. He criticizes himself, questions his actions and feels guilty for the potential pain he inflicts on his wife and family. I highly recommend any Krakauer book, especially this one.



#2 It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life by Lance Armstrong
Lance's story is well known and this book takes the reader inside his life prior to and during his incredible fight with cancer. Incredible attitude and it is sometimes hard to grasp the strength and oblivious determination that Lance expresses in the book. He is confident to the point of personal obsession and while his confidence and action oriented lifestyle serve him well, they also make him a very difficult person to get along with at times. Again, the general theme of heroes revealing themselves as extremely human through their personal life prevails in this book.



#3 Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston
Mind numbing to the point of insanity. You probably remember Aron's story from about ten years ago. He was hiking alone when a large boulder trapped his arm in a canyon. After days of struggling and slowly moving closer towards death, he managed to amputate his arm just below the elbow and hike miles to help. It shows how incredible the connection between human body and mind is. He tried to amputate and failed over a day before he finally succeeded. Aron writes well and brings the reader in the canyon alone. He had a camera with him and there are some incredible pictures of the ordeal.



#4 Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
The second Krakauer book on the list and there probably could be at one or two more. A great story teller, he is able to explain first hand a disaster on Mount Everest not far from the summit. Starts a little slower than the other books because he takes the reader through the preparation for climbing Everest and introduces all the characters personally. This, like the Tillman book, ends in tragedy while providing a snapshot of man's unquenchable thirst to conquer the impossible. The personal ego's of the characters are major parts and he also accurately shows the growth of Everest as a commercial endeavor and its dissipation the once untouchable, illustrious summit in on the Nepalese-Tibetan border.


#5 All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
The only fiction on the list tells the story of German soldiers in World War I. The new form of trench war fare killed many and terrified many more. I read this when I was younger and remember feeling the hopelessness of the soldiers in the trenches. They were in situations where if you picked your head up too high or stood up out of the trench death was a guarantee. The book does not attempt to glorify warfare and the story coherently illustrates the destruction and importance of World War I and opens the readers eyes to the fact that war destroys human beings on both sides, no matter how wrong or right they are.