I recently took up the Book Challenge on BlueSky (@waynevisser.bsky.social if you want to find me there). For fun, I'm sharing my picks here too, in batches. The instructions are as follows:
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
Unlike on BlueSky, here I will share a brief explanation or reflection on each. So here goes ...
- Mister God This is Anna by Fynn
This book, which I read in 1986, is in my opinion a work of genius—a story about the joy of living in the moment, the power of love, the school of curiosity, the importance of small things, the heartbreak of loss, and the unwitting wisdom of the child.
- Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach
This book, which I read in 1987, is not only a remarkable feat of imagination, it is full of life lessons and practical philosophy, not least the power of choice. Especially memorable is the opening parable about a community of creatures who live by clinging to the river bed, until one decides to take a risk, let go and let the current take it where it will - a powerful metaphor for trusting the process of life.
- The Aquarian Conspiracy: Personal and Social Transformation in Our Time by Marilyn Ferguson
This book, which I read in 1988, was a remarkable synthesis of research on consciousness and cultural change in the 1960s and 1970s, which pointed to a shift from a rational, mechanistic, reductionist understanding of science and society to a more creative, organic, interconnected worldview. Notably, she used "conspiracy" in its etymological sense - from its Latin roots, "con" (together) and "spirare" (to breathe) - hence referring to a co-ordinated and aligned movement of people with a shared vision of positive personal and societal transformation.
- Memories, Dreams, Reflections by Carl Jung Although this book, which I read in 1988, was Jung’s autobiography, it was really his ideas that powerfully shaped how I see the world – inside and out – from the importance of symbols and archetypes to the psychological dynamics of shadows and projection, or inner male and female energies.
- Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered by E.F. Schumacher This book, which I read in 1991, was the first one that made me think about the flaws in our current economic system - and also how to create a more fair and sustainable alternative. I especially remember the chapter on Buddhist Economics, which suggested that we live in a world of inverted values. Our markets tend to value least those activities that provide the most social or ecological benefit (like education, healthcare or waste management) and rewards most those that destroy sustainable value (like financial speculators, and tobacco or fossil fuel companies).
Feel free to share some of your picks in the comments.