When a Book Changes Your Life, It Says More About You Than the Book

I went bowling last week for first time in five years. As a friend and I waited for our lane, I was telling him about the book Chasing Daylight. A woman standing nearby overheard us and jumped in.

This being San Francisco, the chances of her being a technology entrepreneur, venture capitalist, or trans-gendered sex therapist living in a Berkeley commune were very high. In this case, she turned out to work at Hummer Winblad, the local venture fund.

She said, "My boss told me to read Chasing Daylight because it changed his life."

Chasing Daylight had a big impact on me, too. But it won't on everybody.

I believe that when a book changes your life, it says more about you (and what was going on in your life at the time) than the book. A life-changing book (or movie, or trip) is probably well done, but you were also probably really looking for a life-changing experience. So you got one.