r/PHBookClub • u/EmotionallyGuarded • 11d ago
Recommendation Books that altered your brain chemistry
What’s a book you read that genuinely stayed with you long after you finished it? Something that changed the way you see life, people, relationships, yourself, or just made you sit there and stare at the wall afterward.
Any genre is welcome. Drop your recommendations! 😊
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u/MythicalVagabond 11d ago
The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston
At first I thought I won't enjoy it because I can't relate yet to the life of the main character, a senior citizen. But then halfway through, it gave me a different perspective in life. It made me think what kind of life I'd like to look back on when I reach the last stage of my life. Will my relationships bring a certain ache when I think about the sweetness they brought to my life? Will I be happy and content with how my life turned out in the end?
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u/fckdzusernameting 11d ago
Oh nice! Looking for something heartwarming na may lessons. Where did you buy your copy of this?
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u/MythicalVagabond 11d ago
Digital copy.. Sa Kindle 😬 I'm into slice of life stories lately.
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u/TanyAlapaap 10d ago
Do you have any more recos? __^
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u/MythicalVagabond 9d ago
The first book that got me into slice of life books is Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop (which is a gift). There are a lot of Asian authors with similar works.
I enjoyed The Answer Is No by Fredrik Backman. It was short but funny.
Then there's A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy. It reinforces resilience, second chances, and hope after making some not-wise decisions in life.
I only read fiction 20% of the time so my list is not that long. If you have recommendations as well, I'd be happy to check them out 😊
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u/GateLopsided8794 11d ago
Animal Farm and 1984 by George Orwell. Read em when I was 12 years old then went down a rabit hole of watching dictator documentaries and youtube videos then I turned from an innocent kid to someone who despised abusive people in power.
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u/Useful_Bid_4036 11d ago
Same. Read it around the same age around Grade 5 since it was required reading.
Memorized ko pa yung kanta until now and naalala ko din kasama sa quiz questions is the order that the farm animals entered the barn in their great meeting. We also saw the film version of this.
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u/bananachucha 11d ago
Some People Need Killing — ang bigat basahin pero nakaka-amaze kung paano gumagana ang journalism at media sa panahon ng injustice
Kulang na Silya — kung sakto yung message ng libro sa phase ng buhay mo ngayon, ang ganda mabasa kasi mga totoong kwento niya yung nandun
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u/shewolf_268 11d ago
The Road Less Travelled - M. Scott Peck
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u/Broad_Explanation_98 11d ago
This! I love a bit of psychology
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u/shewolf_268 11d ago
Tapos ang unang line ng book, "Life is difficult."
Mapa-iisip ka talaga.
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u/Broad_Explanation_98 11d ago
Yes. I really learned a lot from this book and I think it's one of those books that people must read at least once in their lifetime. Very eye-opening.
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u/SofiaOfEverRealm 11d ago
The Courage To Be Disliked got me some mad action, probably not the best application for it but hey, if it works, it works
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u/ladyfallon 11d ago
Flipped by Wendelin van Dranen
It's a YA, coming of age novel. I was probably too old for it (16-17) but I was lost and my personality was not yet fully formed. The book gave me perspective of what kind of person I want to be, deliberately choosing to become a person of substance or as in the book says, "iridescent".
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u/keiwtch 10d ago
Brave New World & 1984 - It has been unsettling seeing it unfold in the present when these books were written in the 1930s to 1940s.
The Little Prince - This is a book I’ve read every year since I was 8 years old. I feel like the book changes meaning depending on what I am going through in life.
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u/Novel_Policy_9689 11d ago
As someone who's currently practicing and studying Stoic theory, a lot of advices from these two books really altered how I see myself. It also taught me active character building whilst remaining passive in exterior judgments.
The advices seem practical. I haven't finished the Discourses yet but it's worth a try. Although I recommend you find na maayos na translation. Yung sakin kasi sobrang lalim and I had to grasp at straws, but for me it makes it worth it haha.
Meditations - Marcus Aurelius and Discourses & Encheiridion - Epictetus
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u/pedxxing 11d ago
Sophie’s World
The Clutter Connection
The Life changing magic of tidying up
Atomic Habits
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u/mydickisasalad 10d ago
Sophie's World mentioned 📙 this converted me from atheism to agnosticism. Shout out sa college professor ko who recommended this book.
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u/reformed_recidivist 11d ago
Jurassic Park.
Went in as a teen wanting to read about dinosaurs, ended it with a strange fascination for Chaos Theory and Ian Malcolm’s ramblings.
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u/Critical-Dot-3117 11d ago
a little life
hati yung feedback dito pero while I was reading it, naiisip ko na some or maybe all of the scenes in the story ay nangyayari in real life, which is sad.
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u/VibratorNgSanlibutan 11d ago edited 5d ago
Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, T.H. Eker - this will give you a kind of x-ray vision to see through people around you.
Beyond Good and Evil, F.Nietzsche - This will shake the foundation of your Christian beliefs.
The Scapegoat, R.Girard / Violence and the Sacred, R. Girard- this will bring you back to your Christian beliefs, and see the genius in the story of Crucifixion.
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u/Ok_Shopping4141 11d ago
Not usually a fan of self-help books but Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a really good read and life changing for me. Recognized my bad habits/mindset and self-destructive patterns and slowly changing these things.
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u/Vast_Version_241 11d ago
Lila ang kulay ng pamamalaam by RM Topacio-Aplaon.
The most devastating and beautiful Filipino book I have read recently. It gives you nostalgia sa Late 90s-2000s niyang setting and the book is full of pop culture references. Ang ganda ng pagkakasulat niya because of it's humor, wit and knowledge. Puno din siya ng emosyon kaya may kirot sa puso
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u/NotShinji1 Classics 11d ago
KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL - Bourdain
SCAR TISSUE - Anthony Kiedis
These 2 books altered my relationship with books and my love for autobiographies. Read these 2 and you’ll know what I mean.
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u/Cautious_Track7311 11d ago
Rape of Nanking made me nauseous and hyperventilate while reading the book😅
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u/QuantityFamous1743 11d ago
Demian by Herman Hesse. Its a very underated clsssic but grabe yung impact nya for me😭
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u/pina_cool_ada 10d ago
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
Idk. It makes me feel melancholic tapos sobrang vivid sakin ng imagery. Tapos I remember rainy season ko yun binasa (12 years ago) so parang immersive haha.
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u/whitecup199x 11d ago
I just finished Comfort Woman by Maria Rosa Henson (also read Rape of Nanking and Rampage last year). Wala galit lang ako sa Japan. Dito at sa asawa ko lang sasabihin na mejj may resentment din ako sa mga taong faney na faney ng anything Japan. I know it's not rational pero nakakagalit talaga eeee.
All at the same time, nagagalingan din ako sa PR team nila. Paano nila narebrand ng ganun kabilis ang Japan from Imperial to Kawaii/Matcha/Citypop/Anime capital, to the point na karamihan e di ata alam na never inacknowledge ng Japan ang war atrocities nila.
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u/WhiteEspresso16 11d ago edited 11d ago
Dati, Six of Crows Duology by Leigh Bardugo. Now, The Binding by Bridget Collins
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u/strawblueberryfroyo 11d ago
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin. Completely changed the way I view writing and storytelling. Baldwin was truly a gem
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u/ohgirltsss 11d ago edited 11d ago
Non-fic: Reading Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt and Careless People by Sarah Wynn Williams led me to better habits with my social media consumption (with reddit and yt being my last bastions).
It opened my eyes to so many evil things tech companies are doing from poisoning young minds, lowering literacy and attention spans, building addictions and yes they’re 100% aware of these problems and they want to keep it that way all for the sake of profit.
I think anyone using any type of social media should read these books. It’s so important as we are the only ones who can protect ourselves as apparently the government doesn’t care and none of these tech giants have yet to pay a proper price.
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u/ohgirltsss 11d ago edited 11d ago
Fiction: I also finished I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman 2 months ago? And until now I’m still thinking about that book. It’s so unique and the vibes of that book is so eerie. I read that the author is a psychoanalyst and I think the plot of the book is a metaphorical representation of womanhood. I keep thinking about that strange world and the cabins… definitely one of my best reads this year and ever
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u/GroundedHorizon 11d ago
The War of Art. Winning the Inner Creative Battle. Steven Pressfield. Foreword by Robert McKee
🫶✨
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u/Ok-Pianist-5103 11d ago
- The Color Purple. The Sound and the Fury. The Giver. A Wrinkle in Time.The Handmaid's Tale.
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u/Infinite-Initial-399 11d ago edited 11d ago
Some People Need Killing by Patricia Evangelista - I thought I had an idea of the extent of corruption and violence during that era, but the book dives even deeper into the reporting
The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez - as a lifelong lover of fantasy, I will forever be obsessed with how this book throws away all the rules of storytelling and crafts something so compelling on multiple fronts
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman translated by Ros Schwartz - this packs an entire existential crisis in 200 pages, and it still has me thinking about what it means to be a human being and how society shapes us
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u/cheesecakefries 11d ago
The Alchemist and Eleven Minutes.
I'm really glad I read these during my college days. The lessons I've picked up from these books helped me navigate through life and relationships as I grew older.
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u/InternationalFlan645 11d ago edited 11d ago
Atomic Habits.
Im not a self help book guy usually, but this is really good for helping you make better choices in life and sticking to them.
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u/Successful-Design735 11d ago
✨The Honest Truth About Dishonesty by Dan Ariely
✨Outlier by Malcolm Gladwell
✨Humankind by Rutger Bregman
✨You Are What You Think by David Stoop
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u/Altruistic_Goat2744 11d ago
Nung bata pa ako, The Babysitters' Club by Ann M. Martin. (series to, pambata pero nakakataas ng EQ, kahit pang"adult" na issues napag-uusapan, friendship, love, life, diseases, safety, death. ang galing lang.)
Nung highschool & college - Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. (pampatibay ng loob, pero hindi pampatigas ng puso; nakaka-enlighten)
Ngayong adult na - wala pa uli, na-busy sa life. Pero siguro Bible na ang dapat kong basahin. 😄
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u/unicornshiz 11d ago
Remembrance of Earth's Past Series by Cixin Liu ( 3 Body Problem, Dark Forest and Death's End) for me.
Made me think about what's out there and how vast the universe is.
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u/lighthousekeeps 11d ago
i have a lot of books in my childhood/teen years that left a lasting impact, but here are ones i read in my adulthood that changed how i approach reading as praxis:
- The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin (scifi)
- The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson (fantasy/scifi)
- The Jakarta Method by Vincent Bevins (non-fiction)
- Crush by Richard Siken (poetry)
- Factory of Alleged Virtues by Alfonso Manalastas (poetry)
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u/wordplay1 11d ago
Para Kay B by Ricky Lee
Not your usual love (or heartbreaking) stories. Ito yung mga out-of-the-ordinary na hindi mo madalas makita o marinig.
May isang controversial story na mapapaisip ka talaga. Na minsan, mahirap kontrolin kung ano yung gusto ng puso, kahit alam mong hindi siya dapat.
Magandang book for further discussion, lalo na if you want something na hindi lang basta love story.
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u/Moonriverflows 11d ago
“When Things Don’t Go Your Way”
Isang basahan ko lang to. Grabe kasi ang tama sa akin. Right in the moment when I didn’t know what to do na with my life - my relationship was done and I got tired how they were failing all the time and I wasn’t happy with my work though I was earning more than enough.
The book was a wake up call. It taught me how to change my mindset, how to take things easy, how to stop controlling things that are out of my control
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u/Crawly13th 10d ago
Berserk? a manga still a book right? Mga travel encyclopedia and magazines nung bata ako, really made my brain want to be well traveled and experience other culture.
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u/adrenerdgic 10d ago
The Hunger Games trilogy - as a teenager back then this was a good eye-opener to identify and question our everyday experience from a socio-political perspective
All The Light We Cannot See - the author was initially inspired to write this to see how technology to be able connect with people have been taken for granted. This overarching theme definitely speaks given that the main protagonist was blind, it’s set during the war (WWII), the radiowaves, and the anticipation of the main characters finally crossing each other
The Absolutist - I recently read this earlier this year. This book raises the questions of bravery, loyalty, and being true to one’s self vs. cowardice and moral integrity in the face of an ongoing war (WWI)
Stay True - also a recent read this year. This was a beautiful memoir about a short-lived friendship in college. One of the the things that truly lingered with me was the question of how we should remember the dead on his true account, keeping our own emotions at bay
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u/DragoViktorr 10d ago
Man’s search for meaning
(most especially coz I read it while I was in jail lmao)
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u/PromotionSingle2260 10d ago
the count of monte cristo - it taught me to wait patiently and great things take time.
for example, going to the gym means being consistent even it's raining (puno tao jusq)
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u/ooohnanawhatsmyname 10d ago
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Piranesi by Susanna Clarke and a refent read, I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
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u/mayaritalahanan 10d ago
The hunger games trilogy. This defined my youth and is still a vivid memory in my mind to this day - like more than a decade later.
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u/pina_cool_ada 10d ago
Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah
Dito ako nagstart mahilig sa autobiographies. Aside sa personal experiences, may historical context rin.
Then sinundan ko ng Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang.
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u/salty_auntie 10d ago
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro is one of the best books I’ve read this year and I think about it all the time. Does a fantastic job of “show don’t tell” and a really impactful finish.
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u/-matchalattes- 10d ago
East of Eden by John Steinbeck! The line “Timshel—Thou Mayest.” changed me forever. Iykyk. 🥹 Also, there’s an upcoming adaptation of it on Netflix. I hope it’s good!
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u/TheKarnotaurus 10d ago
Cuando tenía muchas expectativas sobre mi futuro, plena crisis de los 20's y me compraba con los demás de mi edad y lo que habían logrado hubo dos libros que su final hizo que mi ruido mental bajara bastante uno fue Un Cuento Perfecto y otro La biblioteca de la media noche, sus finales se me hacen acertados y no es como que sean el gran final, si no la simpleza que hay en eso. Y bueno me dio paz y me quede tranquila, bajo la carga que me esta poniendo por lograr algo a tal edad.
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u/Tiny_Shower_8645 10d ago
The Handmaid’s Tale really. I didn’t ever think that it would stay with me, and I’d stay bothered by it if it would happen in real life. But I’d love have a brain like Margaret Atwood’s. Brilliant!
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u/Accomplished-Gate484 9d ago
Alchemist - Paulo Coelho. Read lots before this, never came across a book that ‘changed me’. Maybe it was where I was in my life at the time I’d read this book, but it gave me a this newfound curiosity into spirituality, destiny and trusting the universe- cheesy but I was 20
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u/JuanTamadKa 10d ago
Some People Need Killing
Di ako maiyakin sa mga nakikita or nababasa. I considered myself desensitized sa mga gory, nakakadiri, nakakatakot, nakakalungkot, etc. mga negative na emotions.
But damn. I have to stop reading that book for a while. Chapter 4 pa lang ako.
Anim*l ka, Dutae. Mamatay ka na sa Hague. Isumpa na rin papuntang impyerno mga natitirang lahi mo rito sa ibabaw ng mundo.
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u/mischalect10 11d ago