A review by eksexton
The Books That Changed My Life: Reflections by 100 Authors, Actors, Musicians, and Other Remarkable People by Bethanne Patrick

5.0

Books about books are my favorite genre, especially when I come out of it with about 85 new recommendations. My "to read" list is about 1,000 books long so I don't actually need any more of those.
Anyways! I loved all the various insights into a love of books and reading from 100 very different people. There were a few I could relate to and others that I literally noted with just a big old "?" - Fay Weldon you don't keep, love, and cherish every physical book you've ever read!? And Jess Walter's essay on One Hundred Years of Solitude: this essay was the one that hit me in the gut and had me in tears, a true piece of writing that speaks to exactly what I love about books and stories.
I would estimate that almost half of these essays touched on a love of reading taught and encouraged by parents and/or the public library, so I guess I have a lot to thank my mom for. I am currently teaching English in Thailand, a decision I made in part to determine how I could incorporate a love of the English language, reading, and writing into a career, but so far (and with some major encouraging by the essay's of all these incredible people), I'm learning this isn't quite it. But all the reading I'm getting to do along the way might be bringing me closer to an answer.
A thank you to Bethanne Patrick and all 100 contributors, I can pick out a few books that definitely affected my life, and I think I will look back and this will have become one of them. And it will be sitting in a prized spot on my many shelves of novels, biographies, anthologies, and other shining literary treasures.