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Inspiration June 18, 2018
These books will move you beyond belief.
Stories are powerful.
They provide a glance into the life of someone else, real or otherwise. When stories are told well, they can make you empathize with someone, or at the very least provide insight into experiences that you may have never had and may never have the opportunity to have.
While you may never live these experiences personally, they still can affect you greatly and can be sources of motivation.
Whether they provide you perspective or prompt you to make changes in your life, books, fiction or nonfiction, can be incredible sources of inspiration.
In October 2012, 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head at point-blank range on her way home from school.
A member of the Taliban targeted her after she publicly spoke out for girls’ education. Yousafzai miraculously survived, and since then has used her platform to advocate for girls’ rights to education and other humanitarian efforts.
At 16, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
This story follows a family impacted by terrorism, yet they still fight for what’s right in the face of adversity. Malala’s fearlessness and commitment to equality permeate throughout the words of her story, making it one of the most inspirational books to read.
This book, also known by its movie adaptation of the same name starring Octavia Spencer, Viola Davis and Emma Stone, follows the story of three women living in Mississippi during the 1960s.
The woman each have their own specific roles. Aibileen is a black maid who is raising her seventeenth white child, she is lovingly committed to little girl she acts as a mother for.
Minny is also a maid, but she takes nobody’s crap. Unfortunately, this causes her to lose job after job — until she finds a family to work with who is unfamiliar with her reputation.
Skeeter is a recent college grad who decides to write about the experiences of these women. Despite it being fiction, this story is rooted in a very real and not-so-far-gone history. These women inspire the reader to recognize that you can make a difference. Sometimes that includes breaking a few rules and working together with strong women.
Above all it reminds us: “You is smart. You is kind. You is important.”
Another work of historical fiction, “The Book Thief” predominantly follows the story of Liesel, a recently orphaned girl growing up in Nazi Germany.
Without giving too much of the plot away, Liesel exhibits extraordinary courage and strength in the face of impossibility difficult situations. This ultimately sends a strong message about the necessity of persistence, not only for survival but for life.
Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoir inspires, reminding us we have to remain in an unhappy situation. After a string of difficulties in her life, Gilbert decided to travel the world all by herself, rediscovering her joy through food, spirituality and of course, love.
Her story is one of motivation. If you want to make changes in your life, make them. Often times, the biggest obstacle we face is ourselves.
This story is deeply moving. It follows the stories of Miriam and Laila. The two women are brought together by war in Afghanistan, lasting from the 1960s to the early 2000s.
As the synopsis on Goodreads states, “With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman’s love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love—or even the memory of love—that is often the key to survival.”
These five books tell deeply-felt stories that are sure to stir emotion and evoke reaction from any reader.
