“Ill never forget how brutal and heartbreaking that book is.”

Well,u/Special-Salamander26recently asked the folks over atr/AskReddit, “What book changed your life?”

Thumbnail credits: Warner Bros. Pictures

Mara Wilson as Matilda leans back on a chair while reading a book and smiling warmly

Book covers of "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini and "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak

Cover of the 50th Anniversary Edition of "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller, featuring the text "What's the Catch?" and "Over 10 million copies sold"

Book cover for "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams, illustrated by Chris Riddell, with a quote from Neil Gaiman and a 42nd-anniversary edition label

Book cover for "When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times" by Pema Chödrön. The text is set against a background of a tree-lined path

Cover of "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury, featuring a quote by Barack Obama, with a flame graphic in the background

Cover of the book "We Are the Luckiest: The Surprising Magic of a Sober Life" by Laura McKowen, featuring a testimonial by Dani Shapiro

Cover of "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski, featuring an antique doorknob and a quote from The Guardian praising the book as "genuinely exciting."

Book cover of "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini with a lone figure in the foreground and mountains in the background. Text reads "By the bestselling author of The Kite Runner."

Book cover of John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" featuring an illustration of a man standing on a rural road, with fields and fences in the background

Cover of "Happiness: A History" by Darrin M. McMahon, featuring a decorative illustration and praise as a New York Times notable book

"Cover of 'Timeless Truths for Modern Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to a More Focused and Quiet Mind' by Arnie Kozak, PhD, with an endorsement by Joseph Goldstein."

Cover of "Black Beauty" by Anna Sewell featuring an illustration of two horses in a countryside setting with a stone fence and wooden gate

Book cover of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey, featuring a bird silhouette and clock gears in the background

Cover of the book "QBQ! The Question Behind the Question" by John G. Miller, highlighting personal accountability at work and in life, sold over 1 million copies

Cover image of the book "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein. The illustration shows a child reaching for an apple from a tree