--- title: 50 Great Books That Will Change Your Life description: Real Simple asked renowned authors from every genre in the bookstore to name the title that moved them most. Here are the works they passionately... canonical: https://time.com/3047745/50-great-books-that-will-change-your-life/ author: Real Simple article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-10T11:00:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:42:53.777Z og:title: 50 Great Books That Will Change Your Life og:description: Real Simple asked renowned authors from every genre in the bookstore to name the title that moved them most. Here are the works they passionately... og:url: https://time.com/3047745/50-great-books-that-will-change-your-life/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 50 Great Books That Will Change Your Life twitter:description: Real Simple asked renowned authors from every genre in the bookstore to name the title that moved them most. Here are the works they passionately... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # 50 Great Books That Will Change Your Life > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays to 40,000 subscribers as of August 2026. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Real Simple](https://time.com/author/real-simple/) ## Real Simple Aug 10, 2014 11:00 AM UTC by [Real Simple](https://time.com/author/real-simple/) ## Real Simple Aug 10, 2014 11:00 AM UTC Real Simple asked renowned authors from every genre in the bookstore to name the title that moved them most. Here are the works they passionately recommended—from classic to obscure, wisecracking to wistful—and the discoveries that they found inside. [Visit realsimple.com](http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/entertainment/great-books-00100000101474/index.html) to read the full list. _Here are the first five books:_ ### _Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland_ by Lewis Carroll  “If you have never read this classic, or pooh-pooh it as being only for kids, think again. Alice and her adventures will make you see things with childlike curiosity. The story helps us remember that we need to be playful in love, life, and especially words.” _Recommended by_ **_Lily Koppel_**_, the author of two nonfiction books,_ The Astronaut Wives Club _($28,_ [_amazon.com_](http://www.amazon.com/Astronaut-Wives-Club-True-Story/dp/1455503258/ref=sr%5F1%5F1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367343838&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Astronaut+Wives+Club)_) and_ The Red Leather Diary_($15,_ [_amazon.com_](http://www.amazon.com/Red-Leather-Diary-Reclaiming-Through/dp/0061256781/ref=sr%5F1%5F1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367344079&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Red+Leather+Diary)_)_. **To buy:** $25, [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/Lewis-Carrolls-Alice-Wonderland-Carroll/dp/0763645680). (**MORE FROM REAL SIMPLE**: [5 Ways to Win People Over](http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/inspiration-motivation/win-people-over-00000000045697/index.html?xid=time-rs-books-072214)) ### _Black Tickets_ by Jayne Anne Phillips  “I took a fiction workshop with Phillips in college and was shocked when she assigned her own book. (It’s a collection of stories about everything from serial killers to mothers and daughters.) But I’m glad she did. Never before had a book given me permission to write so frankly about sex and sexuality, to try on different voices, male ones included, and to write from a dark, honest place. The stories are varied, some emotional and others shocking, but they are all authentic and utterly compelling.” _Recommended by_ **_Jennifer Gilmore_**_, the author of three novels, the most recent of which is_ The Mothers_($26,_ [_amazon.com_](http://www.amazon.com/Mothers-Novel-Jennifer-Gilmore/dp/1451697252/ref=sr%5F1%5F1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367344564&sr=1-1&keywords=mothers)_)_. **To buy:** $14, [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/Black-Tickets-Jayne-Anne-Phillips/dp/0375727353). ### _The Best American Short Stories_  “I first read this collection in the early 1990s. Culled annually from magazines, the anthology was my introduction to legends of the short-story form—John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates, as well as then-newcomers Lorrie Moore and Charles D’Ambrosio. I was amazed by the ability of these writers to bring a page alive with sly humor and perfect sentences. To this day, I still consider the anthology the ideal place to discover a new writer or remember why I love one to begin with.” _Recommended by_ **_Curtis Sittenfeld_**_, the author of four novels, including_Prep _($15,_ [_amazon.com_](http://www.amazon.com/Prep-Novel-Curtis-Sittenfeld/dp/081297235X/ref=sr%5F1%5F1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367345110&sr=1-1&keywords=prep)_) and the forthcoming_ Sisterland_($27,_ [_amazon.com_](http://www.amazon.com/Sisterland-Novel-Curtis-Sittenfeld/dp/1400068312/ref=sr%5F1%5F1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367345193&sr=1-1&keywords=sisterland+curtis+sittenfeld)_)._ **To buy:** $15, [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/Best-American-Short-Stories-Series/dp/0547242107). (**MORE FROM REAL SIMPLE**: [What Do Your Fingers Say About You?](http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/finger-reading-00100000109218/index.html?xid=time-rs-books-072214)) ### _Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain_ by Betty Edwards  “I once confessed to a girlfriend (who is a designer) that I was inept at drawing, and she told me about this book. It breaks drawing down into five basic perceptual skills—of edges, spaces, relationships, lights and shadows, and the whole—and provides instruction on dipping into our right brain, which helps develop overall creativity. And who couldn’t use a dose of creativity?” _Recommended by_ **_Elaine Griffin_**_, an interior designer and the author of_Design Rules: The Insider’s Guide to Becoming Your Own Decorator_($25,_ [_amazon.com_](http://www.amazon.com/Design-Rules-Insiders-Becoming-Decorator/dp/1592405061/ref=sr%5F1%5F1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367345777&sr=1-1&keywords=Design+Rules%3A+The+Insider%E2%80%99s+Guide+to+Becoming+Your+Own+Decorator)_)_. **To buy:** $20, [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Right-Side-Brain-Definitive/dp/1585429201). ### _The Inn at Lake Devine_ by Elinor Lipman  “I read this punchy romantic comedy while finding the courage to leave my job as an attorney. The story, which centers on a Jewish girl’s fixation on an anti-Semitic hotel in Vermont, stayed in my mind and heart and filled me with the notion of becoming a writer: _I can do this_, I thought while turning every page. _At the very least, I have to try._” _Recommended by_ **_Emily Giffin_**_, the author of_ Where We Belong_($16,_ [_amazon.com_](http://www.amazon.com/Where-We-Belong-Emily-Giffin/dp/0312554184/ref=sr%5F1%5F1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367346334&sr=1-1&keywords=Where+We+Belong)_), as well as five other novels_. **To buy:** $15, [amazon.com](http://www.amazon.com/Inn-at-Lake-Devine/dp/037570485X). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3047745/50-great-books-that-will-change-your-life/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3047745/50-great-books-that-will-change-your-life/"},"headline":"50 Great Books That Will Change Your Life","datePublished":"2014-08-10T11:00:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:42:53.777Z","description":"Real Simple asked renowned authors from every genre in the bookstore to name the title that moved them most. 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