five books that will change your life
I had a depressing conversation with my neighbour today. He told me that he went to a second hand book shop to ask the owner if he wanted to buy his book collection and the bookseller told him that nobody buys books anymore, so no. We discussed this bleak news with long faces and it got me thinking that without books I would be lost. Adrift on the waves of life in a rudderless boat and all that drifty, lost clichéd shit.
There are specifically five books that changed my life significantly and anchored me to life, here is my homage to those books to which I will always be most grateful. I will never be more inclined to agree that books are the best things about life, regardless of what Mr Secondhand man says. Books are rad and you need them in your life, more than clean knickers, which are frankly optional at the best of times. Seriously.
// Living Magically, Gill Edwards //
I fancy that this book was written for me, I swear Gill sat down one day and thought she'd give young and stupid Emma something to think on. Gill Edwards was the most amazing woman, who shared her gift with the world and wrote the most amazing books about living well and enjoying life. The day this book was recommended to me was the best day of my life. Life changing, life altering, this book gives you a whole new and totally beautiful way of looking at the universe. I love it. I love Gill, I'm her biggest fan, only not in an Annie Wilkes kind of way.
// The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron //
I'm a new recruit to this fantastic book and it's easy to see why it's so loved. This is the book to beat all other books if you are looking to make positive change in your life and start believing in yourself. This is the book that introduced morning pages to the world, loved by millions and life-changing as they are it would be nice to get a morning free once in a while to actually do them in the morning but whatever time of day you pour your heart out onto paper, it frigging works. Read this book if you want to make significant changes, you will love it.
// A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle //
I picked this up on a whim, it whispered my name as I walked past, in Sainsburys of all places, and then I sat down and read it from beginning to end in one amazing, long night. I had never heard of Eckhart Tolle before but I read this and wondered how the fuck I hadn't. The man is a genius, he explains life, love, the universe and letting go of stuff that doesn't matter in brilliantly great detail. I love the simplicity of his message in this book, just breathe, that is all.
// You Can Heal Your Life, Louise Hay //
I bought this for someone else and then couldn't resist sneaking a peek and then couldn't put it down (I have done this too many times to mention, soz to all my friends and family who could have benefited from the many wonderful books I now own). Louise is the original and the best, she is a bona fide self-improvement hero. Her rockstar credentials are that she founded the Hay House empire on the back of her super cool rockstarness. This book helps you to calm the fuck down and get on with life in order to be healthy. I recommend it.
// E-squared, Pam Grout //
A book for the doubters, Pam looks at the practical side of the energy exchange otherwise known as the universe. This book has experiments that prove you create your own reality by attracting energy to yourself, and they really work in a totally freaky, oh my gawd, kind of way. One asks for calling certain coloured cars into your life. I chose gold because you never, seriously never, see a gold car on the streets in the UK (and quite right too). The next morning, I shit you not, a massive gold and gaudy Lexus cruises past the house, my jaw drops, I am gawping. Then we go out and at the traffic lights a tatty gold Ford jumps the lights. Ha, not content with being drawn to me, Mr Gold Ford jumps the frigging lights in front of me. Buy this book, do the experiments and have a laugh, it really is a brilliant read and Pam's writing is chatty, easy and normal, which is incredible considering the woman is a genius!
And a bonus book, just because it's Christmas and I feel like flinging love around.
// Fuck It, The Ultimate Spiritual Way, John C. Parkin //
If you can't be arsed with any of the above and you need some quick and easy spiritual advice then look no further, do like John and say Fuck It, to everything. It works.
