I don’t remember which book was my first. I remember the feeling: dusty pages, worn edges, the crunch of paper under my fingers and the silence that doesn’t scare. Back then, I didn’t know that words can change the trajectory of life. But now I know for sure - some stories become embedded in us, as if they were written not by someone, but for us.

I reread some books every year. And not because I forget the plot. But because I change myself - and read them with different eyes. The same phrases sound with a new intonation, bring a different understanding, resonate in other corners of the soul.

Here are the ones that became not just books for me, but internal landmarks.

1. "A Little Life" by Hanya Yanagihara
This was not an easy read. In some places, I closed the book to just breathe out. And then I came back. Because Jude's story is not just about pain, it is about how a person can survive, even if no one believes in him. Not even himself. This book changed my attitude to internal resilience, to quiet people, to those who live without shouting about their scars.

I reconsidered how I treat my loved ones. I became more attentive to the phrases "everything is fine", because sometimes they mean "please pay attention". This book taught me to be more gentle. To others and to myself.

2. "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
I did not understand this book at first. The intertwining of times, the names that repeat from generation to generation - all this is confusing. But one night, when I was reading it in the kitchen under a dim light, I suddenly realized that this is not about chronology. It is about the repetition of human pain. About how we make the same mistakes over and over again because we do not know how to truly live the past.

The magical realism of this book made me believe more in intuition, in the incomprehensible, in the fact that sometimes feelings are more important than logic.

3. "Norwegian Wood" by Haruki Murakami
Murakami is generally strange. You read him and it seems like nothing special is happening. But then he stays with you for days, weeks, sometimes months. "Norwegian Wood" became for me a book about silence. About personal sadness that lives deep inside, and which does not need to be explained to anyone.

This is a book that teaches you to accept your vulnerability. Don't hide it, don't drown it out with noise, don't disguise it. Just be in it. And through this — feel others better.

4. "Breathing Lessons" by Anne Tyler
I first read it on a train. We were traveling for a long time, the landscapes outside the window changed lazily, and I almost physically felt the rhythm of this book. This is not a story with a bright climax. This is a story of relationships in which there is so much everyday life that it becomes precious.

Tyler shows that true love is not loud. It is in the little things. In the way one person carries the other a tray of coffee. In the way they argue quietly. In their same habit of keeping silent when they are feeling bad.

This book made me look at relationships differently. I began to notice the rhythm in people, their pauses, their breathing. And mine too.

5. "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl
I did not read it quickly. This is a book that you can’t swallow — you live it. Frankl survived a concentration camp and didn’t become embittered. On the contrary, he began to talk about meaning as the main human force. Not about happiness, not about purpose. But about meaning.

It was after this book that I stopped being afraid of loneliness. I understood that you can be alone, but not lonely. That you can survive when there is nothing left — if there is at least a tiny “why” inside.

This book became my shield during times of internal storm. I returned to it more than once — and each time it brought me back to itself.

Sometimes books speak for us
Since then, I read not to know more. But to feel more deeply. Some books are like old friends: you meet them again, and the conversation begins from the place where you left off.

I don’t always understand why this or that story touched me. It’s intuitive. As if the words pick me up, and not the other way around.

I run my finger along the lines, smile, sometimes cry, close my eyes to hold the phrase inside. And at some point I understand - I have already changed. I am not the same as I was before this chapter.

And what books, in your opinion, can change a person?
The ones in which he recognizes himself. Or - someone he lost long ago.