Is there a book you still think about? Perhaps a book that made you challenge your beliefs, attitudes about life, work, politics or culture? Has there been a book that deepened your convictions or broadened your worldview? These are among the questions we asked some thoughtful members of our community recently and we’ve shared their responses below.

Maricia Johns | Lifestyle Blogger

That’s easy the book that affirmed what I already knew was written by Bishop T. D. Jakes. The book is Destiny—Step Into Your Purpose. I had already stepped into what I knew was my purpose. My purpose was to become a business educator. As a business educator, I not only teach the subject matter, I teach life skills, and “thisisyourbestyear” allows me to continue to educate–teaching both subject matter and life skills to women of a certain age. Being a lifestyle blogger fulfills the role that I was created for. Destiny helped me to blot out the naysayers, the distractions and allowed me to plot a path–the path that would fulfill my destiny of educating. Read more>>

Louie T. McClain II | Author & Empowerment Speaker

“Spiritual meditation is the pathway to divinity” it begins, and the reader is soon to find himself in tears by the end of this essential guide for obtaining peace. In the midst of using all of my creative ability to help others find the #iAM in themselves, I realized that I still had not come to peace with who I was myself. My Life Coach T Hutton The Motivator would ask me again and again, “Louie! Who are you!?” After spouting off business titles and various other roles I play in life, I still could not give a clear answer. It was equally ironic as it was profound because I had been a gang member in my early journey. When I went to college I became a born-again Christian and started “soul winning” in the downtown streets of Pensacola. After graduation, I became a leader in juvenile justice, but then after seven years I lost my job. Read more>>

Grayson Mask | State Portfolio Business Analyst & Blogger

Recently, I’ve read the book Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. It dives into many concepts but I loved the Charles Darwin passage where it brings up the importance of collaboration, networking, and noticing the talents of others. It showed that many think of Charles Darwin exploring the Galapagos solo and all of his grand discoveries are from his own efforts , when in reality it came from a massive academic network. He had a correspondence with 231 scientific pen pals where he had opportunities to listen to opinions from a vast range of scholars. This highlights that some of the wisest individuals achieved great successes by remaining open-minded and always seeking for new viewpoints. The rest of the novel speaks on range, where talents you gain from one field can actually have benefits in a totally unrelated field. I relate to this a lot because I’ve crossed departments in my current company and have done internships in a variety of industries. Read more>>