Ten Books to Help You Change the World
I often review books about writing, but today I’m encouraging you to take a break from changing the world with your writing. Instead, get some fresh world-changing ideas from this list of books aimed at helping you get inspired, take action and make a difference.
Writing to Change the World by Mary Pipher – My personal favorite book about writing, and one every writer who wants to change the world should read.
Stirring up Justice: Writing and Reading to Change the World by Jessica Singer – Fascinating for writers, readers and world changers. Useful for teachers, parents, mentors, and anyone who wants to engage young people in the world around them and create a desire to change it for the better.
The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them by the Freedom Writers – Studying Anne Frank and others who spoke out against injustice and racism inspired these at-risk high school students (from a range of unbelievably challenging backgrounds and situations) to write their own diaries and become best selling authors. The authors’ proceeds from this book are donated to The Tolerance Education Foundation, an organization set up to pay for the Freedom Writers’ college tuition.
Change the World: How Ordinary People Can Achieve Extraordinary Things by Robert E Quinn – Discusses eight “seed thoughts” that can change the world, drawing on philosophies from a range of world changers as diverse as Jesus, Martin Luther King Jr., and Gandhi.
365 Ways To Change the World: How to Make a Difference – One Day at a Time by Michael Norton – an information-crammed, idea-a-day practical guide to keep you world-changing all year round, from the founder of the UK-based Centre for Innovation in Voluntary Action.
Change the World for Ten Bucks: small actions x lots of people = big change by We Are What We Do – A collaborative effort by We Are What We Do: “a global social change movement that aims to inspire people to use simple everyday actions to make a difference to problems which affect us all – for example: climate change, poverty, social exclusion, crime, and inequality.”
Ten Ways to Change The World in Your Twenties by Libuse Binder – If you’re no longer in your twenties, or haven’t even got there yet, don’t let the title put you off. Most of these simple, innovative ‘greening the world’ ideas will work for any age group. If you are in your twenties, there will never be a better time to read it.
How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas by David Bornstein – If you are, or ever intend to be, an entrepreneur and philantropist, read this book now and harness the power of your ideas. Read about the ”four practices of innovative organizations” and “six qualities of successful social entrepreneurs.” Learn, enjoy, and put into practice.
Teaching To Change The World by Jeannie Oakes & Martin Lipton - Essential reading for teachers and teachers-to-be, highly recommended for anyone who works with, mentors and otherwise influences the next generation.
31 Ways to Change the World by We Are What We Do – by children, for children, this book is full of suggestions from world-changing kids, and is aimed at the 8-12 age group, (but has been enjoyed by the odd 40 year old freelance writer/blogger – allegedly). Give the gift of change to the next child in your life you have to buy for.
Spread the word. Share this post. And if you have more recommendations, feel free to mention them in the comments section.
Twitter: valwilcox
says:
Karen,
Wow, more books to add to my list! I love it. Always glad to expand my horizons with good books suggested by someone whom I trust.
Val
Yes, I appreciate this post! I am going to a book fair soon & some of these have made the list! Keep them coming Karen
Charlene Hall´s last post ..Time Management Tips for Home Based Business Owners
Twitter: Purplesong
says:
I love the way this list is organized, Karen. Good stuff. I have to say I am most intrigued by David Bornstein’s book, “social entrepreneur” is definitely the way to describe most of us artists who seek to make a difference. Thanks, Vanessa
Vanessa´s last post ..Pictures of THRIVE Trust- Healthy Relationships- Validation- Empowerment event
Twitter: writeandchange
says:
Thanks to all of you for your comments. @ Vanessa: The David Bornstein book is an interesting one. Took me a long time to stop thinking of myself as ‘just’ a writer, and realise that in the current writing/publishing climate all of us writers/artists need to become entrepreneurs, whether we want ot or not
And I love the term ‘social entrepreneur’. Certainly applies to what I (and many of the people I follow in cyberspace) are trying to do.
Thanks for all of these suggestion Karen. I really appreciate it!!!
Sherman
Sherman Smith´s last post ..SALSA DANCING AND ATTRACTION MARKETING
Interesting list Karen thanks a lot… more books on my reading list!!!
There are a lot of great suggestions here. I have to say I have not read any of them. I have been reading more of the how-to and strategy books.
I think it is time for a change though. All of these books help to reinforce the reasons why we are doing what we are doing rather than how we will do it.
Thanks for this great list!
Cheryl James´s last post ..“MLM” is a Cuss Word…
Anybody else notice that all the titles had the words “change the world” in them? I’m thinking that Karen hasn’t so much recommended books that she has read, but did a quick Amazon search with that one phrase, then copied and pasted the results and called it an article.
Twitter: writeandchange
says:
Hi Cheryl. I try to read a good balance of ‘strategy’ and ‘inspiration’ when it come to non-fiction. I would say many of these books are both. The Mary Pipher one and the David Bornstein one, for example, are full of practical techniques. I think they are mostly both ‘how to’ and ‘why to’ books
Twitter: writeandchange
says:
Hi Jeff. Welcome to CHANGE THE WORLD with words. The caps are intentional. That’s the name of my blog, my theme and my mission. The fact that all the titles have ‘change the world’ in them is very deliberate. It says a lot about my reading habits that over half of these books were on my bookshelf anyway, but yes, of course I did an Amazon search to find more candidates. What would probably surprise you more than the fact that I’ve read these, is the fact that I’ve read part or all of a dozen others (in real or ebook form) that didn’t make the list because I didn’t feel they were the best fit for my readers. (A couple even got thrown out on the basis that they used the phrase ‘save the world’ rather than ‘change the world’). There is a strategy (beyond my anal retentive need for consistency) in choosing books with ‘change the world’ in the title, but SEO buffs will already have spotted that
Hope you’ll stop by again, Jeff. Your comments are always welcome.
Good response. Class act. Would buy from again AAAA++++++
Twitter: writeandchange
says:
Thanks for coming back, Jeff. I appreciate an AAAA++++++ rating, no matter how tongue-in-cheek. As you would buy from me again, I will keep you in mind if I ever have anything to sell. I would like to offer you a complete, exclusive, no-questions-asked, money back guarantee on every single post on this blog. Read them all for free, and if there is anything you are not 100% satisfied with, shoot me an email and I will refund your $0 in 90 days or more