5 Books That Changed My Life: Part 1
Nov 14. , 2007 
2 Comments
When I was in middle school, my friend Ian threw fuel on the fire that was my love of reading, when he recommended that I read “Watchers” by Dean Koontz. Reading “Watchers”, I felt like a grown up. Instead of reading the typical kid stories, I was reading a book for the first time that was filled with top secret government experiments, mystery, adventure and the encompassing theme of love and compassion. I’ll admit, that it took me a while to get through this book as it was over 400 pages long – far larger than any book I had even attempted to read.
From a top secret government laboratory come two genetically altered life forms…
One is a magnificent dog of astonishing intelligence.
The other, a hybrid monster of a brutally violent nature.
Both are on the loose…
The characters that Dean Koontz brought to life in this book were amazing. I found myself truly caring about each and every one of them – especially the unnaturally intelligent Golden Retriever named Einstein. There were parts where I was sure I would get in trouble for reading and new words that I discovered which I had to look up in the dictionary.
So why did this book change my life? It’s simple: It was the first actual novel that I read, cover-to-cover, and it left me wanting to read more. It stirred in me the joy of reading created works of fictional characters and events; new, exciting adventures and, in some cases, endless and almost tangible worlds to discover. After reading “Watchers” I stayed with what I knew best at the time: Dean Koontz. I read every book of his I could get my hands on from “Lightning” to “The Door to December” to “The Servants of Twilight”. Even my grandma was impressed with my passion for his books and she fanned the flames by giving me stacks of his books which she had already finished, whenever we visited her and my grandfather. I’ve paid forward the talent of Koontz when I met Keli. Now, anytime a new book of Koontz’s comes out in paperback, we rush out to buy it. My top four books of Dean Koontz are as follows:
Thanks, Ian!
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I think I’ll ride along on my own coattails and recommend another book, then.
“The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger
Easily the best book I’ve read in the last year, and possibly the best I’ve read in much longer. I’m rereading it now with my girlfriend and I am continually amazed Niffenegger’s brilliance.
If you love Koontz (and judging by your faves list), I think you’ll really enjoy “From the Corner of his Eye”. IMO, the best of his “later” novels (I differentiate between his earlier novels–where it seems like the beautiful heroine and the ex-military/cop hero are pretty standard–and his newer ones, which are about more “everyman” heroes/heroines). “False Memory” is another good “newer” novel.
Oh, of his earlier ones? I really liked “Dark Rivers of the Heart” and “The Bad Place”, personally.