Thursday, June 24, 2010

What books have inspired you?

ten inspiring people share their favorite books...
Giovanna of Boho Spirit: "The Alchemist" inspires me as well as "The Prophet". Also my favorite book of all times "The Little Prince", I always find the most beautiful answers on those books.

Lucy of Lucy Snowe Photography on Etsy: So many books have inspired me....I remember reading the diaries of anais nin...probably my first books about the artist's creative process, that fueled my passion for arts of all kinds. I am also inspired by poetry, especially Mary Oliver and the Haiku poets, Basho and Buson.

Charlotte of Plum Pretty Sugar on Etsy: I’m a reader. My bookshelves and Kindle are full! I read all sorts of traditional business books… and some not so traditional. Magazines, catalogs… this world is so full of the written and the photographed. I have recently read several case study and somewhat biographical books about luxury brands and the business of luxury… and what some people say the demise of this category. So many amazing players and such significant business in this country and globally… LVMH, Luxury Brands group, TowerBrook etc.

Sana of Pip and Estella: Well, much of my creative inspiration for Pip & Estella has come from Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens if you haven't guessed. :) Another is "The Third Angel" by Alice Hoffman. It is a book I picked up at the Los Angeles airport on my way to England and oddly enough, without reading the synopsis, my paths crossed with places visited in the plot. It is a pretty heavy book, yet just as beautiful.

Susan of Susan Wickstrand on Etsy: "The Little Prince", "Letters to a Young Poet" by Rainer Marie Rilke, and almost any biography, I always learn something and try to read one biography a month. The last one was, "Portrait of An Artist, A Biography of Georgia O'Keefe" and the one before on Abraham Lincoln, a visionary thinker.

Leigh of An American Girl in Cambodia: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. The Penelopiad by  Margaret Atwood. A Director Prepares: 7 Essays on Art & Theater by Anne Bogart.

Wende of Mireio on Etsy: Book of Qualities by J. Ruth Gendler, Desert Tracings by Michael A. Sells, The Holy Man by Susan Trott, Living Buddha, Living Christ Thich Nhat Hanh
Alex of Vintage by Alex Keller on Etsy: When I started making jewelry again last year, I was inspired very much by the shaman I spoke with.  I purchased a few books on prayer beads and made her some. The books have some great information on the history of prayer beads, what the stones and beads mean, and all the different varieties, including rosaries.  I’ve been meaning to make a rosary for myself. I was raised Ukrainian Catholic, and while I don't go to church every Sunday, I have a love for all of the art.
Since I had my son, I've also rediscovered children's books. My favorites are Winnie the Pooh, Alice in Wonderland, and Le Petit Prince. I love how Pooh learns things, how Alice meets all sorts of interesting people, and how the Little Prince loves sunsets and his complicated flower.

Rachel of Moonflowers on Etsy: This is a funny question. I have many tastes in literature. Hmmm... Interview with the Vampire, and Tropic of Cancer.

Tricia of Equinoxphoto on Etsy: Oh, so many!! The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho felt like it was written for me. I so feel like I am following my "personal legend"  and the universe is conspiring to help me go there.   Think and grow rich, by Napoleon Hill is such a "must read' for any entrepreneur.  "What the mind can conceive the mind can achieve"  This amazing book was written in the 1937 and inspired so many self development authors for the next 73 years!!  I am a personal development junkie and love Tony Robbins, Brian Tracy, JB Glossinger, Jack Canfield and many others!
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as a self-confessed, mostly magazine and decor book reader {hey, i'm a visual girl}, i admit, i haven't read many of these, obviously, super popular books, but, i see a theme here, a 'must-read' so to speak. 

because some of the books i have read; The Secret by Rhonda Burns, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker, The Science to Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles, Living Yoga by Christy Turlington and Everyday Italian by Giada de Laurentiis {just kidding...i have read and re-read all her cookbooks, though} have touched my life so profoundly, i've added a few of these 'popular' recommendations to my summer reading list. i'll be heading to the library today {i love the library, so many pretty books and magazines} looking for: The Alchemist, Think and Grow Rich, Portrait of An Artist, A Biography of Georgia O'Keefe, Living Buddha, Living Christ, The Little Prince and The Third Angel 
and i promise to do more than just look at the pictures, 
they do have pictures, don't they?