March 7th is World Book Day, so we thought we'd mark the occasion by asking a group of Hay House authors to tell us about the books which have changed their lives. Read their answers here and let us know which book has most changed your life in the comments below the article!

Robert Holden – Author of Holy Shift!, Loveability and Happiness Now. RobertHolden.org

A Course in Miracles is my desert island book.  I describe the Course as a love letter written from the soul to the ego.  It is the most beautiful book of love and forgiveness I’ve ever read.  I read something from A Course in Miracles everyday. The Course has been part of my daily spiritual practice for the past twenty years. I take it with me when I travel, on my iPhone and computer. Like all great literature, the more I study it, the better it gets.  Whichever page I turn to, the words are always relevant and helpful.

Initially, I had huge resistance to reading the Course.  I couldn't understand why inspiring people – like Marianne Williamson, Louise Hay and Gerry Jampolsky - found the Course so great!  I just couldn't get my head around it.  That was the problem! I was trying to understand it intellectually, rather than letting it touch my heart.  Last year, I wrote Holy Shift! 365 Daily Meditations from A Course in Miracles, published by Hay House.   It’s my hope that this book will introduce a new generation of readers to the poetry and magnificence of the Course.

David R. Hamilton PhD – Author of I Heart Me, How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body and Why Kindness is Good For You http://drdavidhamilton.com/

A book that changed my life is, The Magic Power of Your Mind, by Walter M. Germain (1940). Let me start by saying I haven't actually read it though! I was 11 years old and visiting the school library. My mum had postpartum depression and I dearly wanted to help her. Then this book literally fell of a shelf. I knew it would help my mum so I took it home.

It did help, which meant I grew up in an environment of positive affirmations, and this seeded my fascination with the placebo effect when I became a scientist several years later. 

Shann Nix Jones – Author of Secrets from Chuckling Goat. www.chucklinggoat.co.uk

The book that most changed my life was Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I was so enchanted by the way that Laura’s pioneer family made everything they used, made their own quilts, created their own dolls, even built their own log cabin!

Looking back, I think these books planted a seed of longing, somewhere in my own city-girl mind.  Forty years later, I find myself living a very similar life in the wilds of Wales, milking goats, and making my own bread, cheese, jam, soap and skin cream, just like Laura’s family did. Just goes to show that dreams can come true! 

Sandy C. Newbigging – Author of Mind Calm & Mind Calm Meditations www.sandynewbigging.com

Due to some emotionally-charged experienced during English class growing up I always had an aversion to reading.  It wasn’t until I was 14 years old that I read a book cover to cover and that happened to be Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman.  Often quoted as being a book that ‘changes lives’, it certainly did mine.  

It opened me up to an exciting world of adventure and awakening.  It pointed towards a deeper meaning to the purpose of life and was the first invitation I’d received to live in the present moment.  From then on I was hooked to mind body spirit books and to this day I believe it was one of my main motivations to become a writer myself.  To have the possibility at the end of my finger tips to write books that make a positive difference to people’s lives is a privilege and I’m often grateful for Dan’s book coming into my life. 

Charlotte Watts – Author of The De-Stress Effect www.charlottewattshealth.com

I choose Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, one of the few books I have read over and over again. I return to it about once a decade and am always blown away by how much closer we have inched towards Huxley’s prophetic dystopia.

I first read it in my teens when I was struggling to feel a connection with humanity and although the future description of a society broken down into castes, drugged into compliance and cut off from feeling would seem depressing, somehow it helped me to see how I could find more quality in individual relationships. A cautionary tale, must be read just to see how you might relate to the ‘savage’! 

Kyle Gray – Author of Angels, Angel Prayers and Angel Prayers Oracle Cards. www.kylegray.co.uk

When I read You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay many years ago, I was like ‘this is mind-blowing stuff,’ and I‘ve read it about 25 times. It’s a staple book that I keep very, very handy. I use the list at the back of the book every day with my clients in my readings, and I’ve experienced some amazing situations with it.

For example, I dealt with a lady not that long ago who’d been told she had bladder cancer: a tumour in her bladder. I remembered Louise Hay’s idea that anything to do with the bladder is all about being ‘pissed off’, and a cancer is all about a resentment.

So I said, “Tell me this, you don’t happen to be pissed off at a partner or have resent towards a partner that’s been deep rooted for many years?” And she said, “Yes, about five years ago my husband had an affair and left me when my son had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease and I’ve resented him every day since.”

So we were able to work together to come up with a new positive idea to change the way she felt about her body and her life. But I mean Louise Hay’s list - she probably wouldn’t say this - but I think it’s like a channeled text, it’s like a direct line to God and gives people these ideas that they can heal their bodies and I think that’s fascinating.

Kim Arnold – Editor of The Tarot Masters and author of The Tarot. http://tarotconference.co.uk/

I purchased The Game of Life and how to Play it by Florence Scovel-Shinn in the late 1970’s, it was the first book I ever read which encouraged you to  believe that anything was possible, that we could choose our destiny by positive thinking.  She talks about the joy of giving and receiving and to expect better from your life. Florence, born in 1871 and was a pioneer of positive thinking and years ahead of her time.   

Today, I still take this little book off the shelf and open it on a random page for guidance, it never fails to inspire me.    

Heidi Sawyer - Author of Highly Intuitive People and The Intelligent Guide to the 6th Sense  http://heidisawyer.com/

Being sensitive, I love a book that evokes questions and emotions. I like Do No Harm by Henry Marsh because the honesty of it makes it spiritual. Henry Marsh offers a fascinating insight into the human brain through his work as a brain surgeon and the ‘God’ projection he’s experienced through his very long career.

For me, this book has left a mark because it’s a diary into the deeper aspects of self- reflection, whilst having the very real responsibility of holding someone’s life in your hands. An unforgettable insight into the fragility of what it is to be human whilst at the same time, it brings to life the beauty. Something we sometimes forget.

What's the book that's changed your life? Let us know in the comments below!