A book to change your life

Since reading this book, I have asked friends about the book that changed their lives. Some people smiled and answered without skipping a heartbeat. Others had to think about it. My daughter, Ijanaya, said many books were important to her including The Lovely Bones (the story of a murdered girl who tries from beyond to come to grips with her own death) by Alice Sebold, All the Light We Cannot See (about a blind French girl during World War II) by Anthony Doerr and Smiler’s Bones (the horrific, true story of an Eskimo family who were taken to New York to be a living exhibit in a museum) by Peter Lerangis.

But the book she says that changed her life is The Elephant Whisperer by the late, great conservationist Lawrence Anthony.

“This book made me want to touch an elephant,” she said. Ijanaya did her research and flew to Thailand where she was able to interact with rescued elephants. She would not ride an elephant or do anything abusive. She just wanted to feed and hug them; get to know them as well as she could. It was a life-altering experience, she says, and it happened because she read a book.

The first book to make an impression on me was Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge because it was the first book I read that was totally unpredictable. It taught me that not everything has to work out perfectly for a good ending to a book. I loved Little Women by Louisa May Alcott because each one of the March sisters had distinctive personalities. Laurie, the boy next door, was simply divine.

Unexpected twists made this story mesmerising. Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand moved me to tears in more recent years because everyone in the story is a loser who managed to make it in life with nothing more than heart.

But when it comes to choosing the book that changed my life, I would have to say Miguel Street by VS Naipaul. I actually left a very good job at Boeing Commercial Airplane Company in Seattle, got on a plane and flew to Trinidad to see if there really was a place in this world like Miguel Street. There was, so I stayed. I met many captivating characters who reminded me of those in Miguel Street.

My favourite book, beyond a doubt is The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown.

Many interweaving stories makes this a remarkable book.

First, there is the story of a writer who literally stumbles on the best and most unimaginable story possible. Then there’s the story of a poor boy, Joe Rantz. who manages to remain optimistic and caring even though he is treated unbelievably bad by his family.

There’s the story of the 1936 Olympics and Hitler’s Germany; the boys in the boat who had to work together as a team. There’s adventure, philosophy, history, journalism -- all rolled into a moving story set in Seattle, which evoked a sense of nostalgia for me.

I don’t know how I will ever love a book more than this one, but I will continue searching because that’s what good book does for you: make you search for something even better.

If you haven’t found a book yet that changed your life, keep searching. It’s there, somewhere.