What is one book that positively shaped who you are as a person and how did it influence you? At what point in your life did you read it?
Fiction, non-fiction, graphic novel, audiobook: however you define "book" for yourself is fine with me.
@ShaulaEvans @bookstodon Oh my, this is a very difficult question, as I was long a book aficionado.
I guess I would have to say a biography on Jane Goodall. It opened my eyes to the larger world, and showed that kindness can survive and thrive in the world. This was 19-20 years ago.
I can think of three books that I think are a big part of who I am.
The Discworld books influenced my ethics and morals quite a bit, while being at the same time being funny and witty.
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain was the book I read in college and instead of going to university I ended up working as a kitchen hand. I did eventually tire of the work hours and bad pay, but it was in a kitchen I learned what work ethic looks like.
And of course, The Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy taught me to always know where my towels is.
@ShaulaEvans @bookstodon @alicemcalicepants Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter convinced me to start an Open University degree in my 40s which led to me switching jobs and being a lot happier!
@satsuma @ShaulaEvans @bookstodon @alicemcalicepants
Gödel, Escher, Bach "switched my mind on" when i was 15 years old; i did not understand all in the book, but my mind was altered, and in a positive way. since then i check and double-check everything i read or see (or think).
@ShaulaEvans @bookstodon A random handbook about setting a storefront for a shoe repair business. It was the first (and to a large extent last) time i saw an end to end description of how a work becomes a workshop. How visible and invisible tasks interplay, the role of appearances and underlying reality, balance of flexibility and record keeping, importance of maintenance and tool placement and ergonomics... it also taught me a fair bit about fixing my shoes.
@ShaulaEvans @bookstodon I work in an industry that doesn't understand itself as a workshop, and isn't grounded in identifying process friction or the need for invisible work. That book taught me more that most university classes.
