Books

It was hard for me to choose only three books to talk about after some thought i decided the most influential/controversial books i've read to this day would have to be "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle, "12 Years A Slave" by Solomon Northup and "Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure" by John Cleland. I'll expand a little further into why i chose these three but i have to give honorable mention to a couple of my favorite funny books that aren't very influential or controversial but still some of my favorites. "High Fidelity" by Nick Hornby is insanely funny, as is "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole. "Life of Pi" is a really, really good book too (better than the movie, which was good too). If you're looking for a good read i highly suggest any of the above!

"The Power of Now" - Eckhart Tolle
"The Power of Now" is a guide to spiritual enlightenment that teaches lessons of appreciating the now! The content is a little heavy and might take another pass to really let the book sink in but after reading this book my life was changed. It taught me to appreciate life and not to take things for granted. You'll regret more of what you DON'T do than things that you DO. Take chances, live for today, speak your mind, give off good energy because tomorrow isn't promised. This would be classed as 'influential' more than controversial but regardless it's an extremely inspiring read.

"12 Years A Slave" - Solomon Northup
"12 Years A Slave", similar to "The Power of Now",  is an  extremely heavy read. I'm sure a majority of you have seen the movie and felt first hand the emotional toll that movie took. Imagine weeks of reading through it using only your imagination? I was nervous to turn the page fearing what the next page had in store but on the same note was infatuated with the book and couldn't put it down. The story of a free man sold into slavery for 12 years is imaginably life changing. The will, fight, influence the main character had was inspirational. The book is a memoir/slave narrative by Solomon Northup. (True Story)

"Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure" by John Cleland
This last book is going to easily categorize itself in the VERY controversial section of this blog post. The book is also known as "Fanny Hill" but either way it's been one of the most prosecuted/banned books of all time. It's one of the first English book to use pornography in the form of a novel. It's an extremely erotic book. It was published in 1748 so you can imagine the language/vocabulary that was used in the book. I was excited to get my hands on such a controversial book but i wasn't necessarily impressed. The book isn't great, but for the time it was published and the amount of attention it received (negative attention) i would have to say it's by far the most controversial book i've ever read.